Last Impact - Der Einschlag

I had never actually heard about this 2009 mini-series before now in 2023, as I happened to stumble upon it by random chance. And seeing it was a natural disaster-themed mini-series, of course I opted to watch it.

Sure, I wasn't harboring any expectations to this mini-series, as such mini-series tend to be rather questionable affairs. But I still opted to give "Impact" the benefit of the doubt.

The storyline in "Impact" was actually enjoyable. Sure, one can certainly say that it was straightforward, and somewhat generic for a natural disaster-themed mini-series. But it turned out to be entertaining. And yeah, it was predictable, so very, very predictable.

I was surprised to see the cast ensemble in the mini-series, with the likes of David James Elliott, Natasha Henstridge, James Cromwell and Steven Culp. The acting performances in "Impact" were good, and that definitely helped to add to the overall impression of the mini-series.

Visually then "Impact" was adequate enough. Some of the CGI effects were fair and passed as being watchable and believable, whereas other CGI effects were shoddy, questionable and looked like something from an early 2000s computer game.

"Impact" is entertaining if you enjoy movies and mini-series about natural disasters. However, keep in mind that the storyline is somewhat generic, and rather predictable. But it definitely is worth sitting down to watch and spend 3 hours and 7 minutes on. However, it is not something that can sustain more than a single viewing.

My rating of "Impact" lands on a six out of ten stars.

The concept was not unique, but the details leading to the 3 hour crisis was very original. The CGI was pretty good, up until the final few minutes. I liked most of the characters. And I cried a river during the last 25-30 minutes. And watching this with commercial interruptions was a nightmare. Other than that...a nice idea. Nevertheless, the story could have been compressed into something a LOT shorter then over 3 hours. There was too much time spent on relationships between the main scientist (looking like she was going to a formal event all during the movie;), and the scientist who was a widowed father; too much time spent between the widowed father and his children; too too much time spent either the European scientist and his fiancée; etc. And James Cromwell was wasted except for a few emotional minutes. So if you cut down these interactions, up the CGI quality for the last 20 minutes...you have a masterpiece.

Let's face it folks this is a low budget made for TV flick. I'm looking for entertainment and the premise of the moon hitting the earth is a spell-binding one.

It's also Sci-Fi so it's fine to stretch the facts. I'm a professional writer and will admit I'm a bit surprised there wasn't more research on the "real physics." A few hours with a Cal-Tech Professor would have cleared that up, especially regarding Kepler's Law and the difference between magnetism & gravity. But really who cares! If you want to know astrophysics, take a course at your local community college!

Anyway the movie is well paced and edited. Every scene advances the story line nicely. I didn't have time to pick apart details. CGI can be weak, but it gets the story told. Can you say the words, "LOW BUDGET." Despite "Impact's" fours hours the film never lost my attention. That's my definition of a "good, OK, film." I include the "sleepy factor" in rating pictures and I was wide awake for all 240 minutes.

Remember the Walt Disney quote, "The Plausible Impossible?" Sure fits here.

For a made for TV movie, it wasn't all that bad. Apart from the cheesy effects and bad acting, a good way to kill an afternoon while waiting for something better to come on. The worst part of this was the father. What lousy acting. No emotion or warmth. Much potential for a genuinely good story but much better suited to the big screen. The two leads were obviously hired for their looks, not their acting skills. Better actors would have made this a much better film. Despite this, suspend all belief and give it a shot. There is much worse out there. At least there's the beautiful Natasha Hentstridge to look at.

I'm offering this movie a 5 because I feel generous. I mean at least, the kids were looking through the correct side of the telescope and they even depicted a meteor shower relatively accurately. Well, except that the full moon would have made watching a meteor shower much more difficult and that it appeared to be night time, simultaneously, everywhere on Earth. erroneously

Oh my... and did they really need to get a religious debate going in the first few minutes? Really? Was it necessary? Anyhow, this with all the other scientific talk... was mostly nonsense. BTW, Astronomers don't use telescopes to watch meteor showers! Another ridiculous moment is when Natasha Henstridge character kept stating she didn't understand something she clearly should have understood (hint: when an object takes on significantly more mass - Kepler's law clearly states what will happen. It is as if she and the other scientists are unaware of basic physics).

The meteorite hits were rather anticlimactic (read quite unrealistic).

What else did they get right (which helped earn the 5 out of 10)? - Meteorites vs Meteors (right) - Meteorites are not magnetic (mostly true)

Bottom line, this is just a story. Certainly, the events depicted could happen but the reality would be very different. I would have given this story a 7 out of 10 if it had ended at part 1. Part 2, while rather emotional, played out like any other disaster movie with a rather predictable ending.