Customer Reviews

Impact

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

"Impact" was originally a made for TV mini-series so it is lacking the big Hollywood studio "feel". This is actually a good thing if you want the drama and character development that is possible in a movie that is 3 hours and 10 minutes long.

No plot spoilers from me; the movie centers on the events that occur immediately after what is believed to be an asteroid hits the moon (which happens very shortly after the movie starts), the effects it has on the earth, and the efforts of the governments and scientists of the world to set things right... before the world is destroyed.

I am a Sci-Fi and disaster movie junkie, so I likely rated this higher than many movie purists would since there are a lot of scientific faults, implausible events, and has almost every cliché from just about every other disaster movie. The special effects ranged from laughable to outstanding, but the cinematography was actually very good. The acting was right on par for a TV movie and the characters well played and given time to develop.

While all movies of this type require some suspension of disbelief, there were several things that bothered me more than the obvious technical and scientific flaws, and the biggest was the portrayal of the government and military leaders as obstructionist and paranoid to the point where they would risk the lives of every person on the planet. That is a cliché that needs to be let go of.

Overall, this was a watchable and even enjoyable movie if you are a disaster movie fan.

I really enjoyed this movie. The science behind the science fiction, was flawed, however, saying that, the acting and the story line where where both superb.

Don't watch this movie for the science, watch it for entertainment, like you would watch Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. It has happeness, sadness, and love, all the things that make up a good movie. The movie is as long as Gone with the Wind, and will keep you interested from start to finish.

Great movie... getting a lot of details right.

The few shortcomings don't really diminish the viewing experience.

Don't expect a Hollywood type movie - some special effects are not of that standard. However, the movie excells in story telling, characters and message.

Especially surprising - details in Germany are accurate - e.g the THW sequences - Technical Help Organization.

Movie captures "atmosphere" in Germany very well.

Watch it.

Sorry. No blood or dismemberment. Just a very enjoyable, entertaining movie. The screenplay is very well written, the special effects are tastefully done, and the actors offer the vehicle for a storyline that moves very quickly. Is the plot realistic? I truly don't care. Did I find myself drawn into the movie? Absolutely! I'm so tired of travelog in depression movies, so popular today. This one is exciting and heart lifting. Please, don't pass this one up.

Acht Du Leber! What a ripoff... The studios behind Armageddon & The Day After Tomorrow must've given the OK for this. It's a cheesy, made-for-TV-movie_ish ripoff of them both. H*ll, they even had a Dennis Quade lookalike. I paid $1.99 for a weekend rental special. I think that was a bit high for this. This is one of the few times I'm glad I don't have a dog. The poor thing would be howling for an hour over this.

Ok I am a Science Fiction geek, to the core. I read the description of this movie and since it got 4 stars I was like oh it must be good. But holy cow, are you people rating this with 4 stars on drugs? First off the science in this film is worse than fantasy, they might as well had wizards and goblins casting spells from the moon. They ignored simple and primitive scientific principles, and the acting felt like I was watching a soap opera. Just absolutely horrible...

This miniseries is one more case of a clever sci-fi plot idea wasted by a bad development, with a dull and melodramatic script, and a mediocre acting (particularly the performance of the two main characters is lousy). Furthermore, science fiction is supposed to be based on scientific rigor with a license for logical and credible extrapolation. The scientific adviser for the miniseries must have been sleeping during the whole shooting because the list of violations of scientific laws and basic knowledge is endless.

The following is a short list of the worst inaccuracies or impossibilities: (i) a full moon that is seen simultaneously in Earth's day side (U.S.) and in the night side (Europe); (ii) the moon looks bigger from Earth's surface than from space; (iii) electro-magnetism lifting non-metallic objects; (iv) assuming an anti-gravity effect was possible, cars and people floated but small objects did not; and (v) the lousy handling of the brown dwarf physical properties, which do not follow Newton's nor Keppler's laws.

A small brown dwarf has a mass similar to Jupiter (Jupiter mass is around 320 times that of Earth) and a big one could be 80 times that, so in good faith let's assume that it was just an splinter that hit the Moon. So if this "dwarf" splinter has a mass two times that of Earth (consequently its mass will be 12 times that of the Moon) then: (i) any decent observatory would have detect it approaching because the gravity of such big mass would have affected the orbits of all planets in the Solar System; (ii) the Moon would have been completely smashed on impact and not just cracked; (iii) the Moon's orbit would have completely altered after impact, following more or less the brown dwarf original trajectory and no longer locked to the Earth; and (iv) the Earth's orbit would have been altered too, now becoming a satellite to the Moon + Brown Dwarf system.

As for the special effects their quality is poor even by a TV series standard. SFXs look like late 70s technology: some of the astronaut scenes look like the TV episodes of the original Start Trek series and the low resolution the lunar surface is a shame, I wonder if was actually a painting.

Definitively not recommended. And for the sci-fi fans I do recommend instead the novel, Moonfall, which has a similar Moon impact plot but more plausible (real hard science fiction).

This is Movie is not available in UK, so I have to purchase it from US.
I watched the first part on Internet, it's great. But the second part was not uploaded for months.
After the DVD arrived in London, I know why, because the 2nd part is so bad that no one would willing to upload the rest of it.

Don't buy it, or just watch the first part.

Impact is an enjoyable movie for the whole family. The special effects are great along with a story line that holds you to the very end. While looking at this movie, it makes you think, "What would I do if it were me in that situation". Highly recommend this movie to all. I had heard about this movie so had to get it for my collection.

5 stars to offset the 1 star reviews from individuals who shouldn't watch this type of movie in the first place if they're not willing to suspend their disbelief long enough to enjoy an end of the world thrill ride. My wife and I thought this movie was pretty good, not absolutely spectacular, but pretty darned good. It had a few unique ideas, it was entertaining, it was well worth the few $$$ I spent on it to add it to my collection. Obviously our current civilization has never been faced with this type of disaster before so any movie that attempts to create the scenario will have to improvise as well as entertain. This movie filled those requirements nicely. -kd5-