Impacto

Yeah, I kind of got a kick out of it, but not for the reasons the film-makers intended. This is one of the few disaster movies that makes "Armaggeddon" look like it was written by geniuses and "The Core" like it was made as an instructional film for use in college geology courses. The wide liberties taken with actual fact (and common sense) make for a rollicking time, but it scares me that we're failing in educating the youth of today.

I mean, this is only 3 hours long, but in that time you learn that the screenwriters (1) think that the moon has a magnetic field emanating from a core, (2) believe that the "laws of gravity" are that "little objects are attracted to big objects," (3) don't know that cruise missiles are air-breathers and won't operate or even steer in the absence of an atmosphere, (4) don't understand the difference between electromagnetics and gravity, (5) think that it takes longer to walk back to town from a car breakdown than to program, launch, and deliver 87 rockets with nuclear device payloads all the way to the moon, (6) have some bizarre ideas about what a brown dwarf star is, and so forth.

But it IS entertaining. Just make sure to have a chat with your kids afterwards to make sure that (a) your son didn't spend the entire movie following Natsha Henstridge's boobs, and (b) that your daughter understands that the science end of it was all BS so she won't be afraid to get her graduate degree in physics. After all, any exposure to the "scientists" in this film is an almost guaranteed turn-off for budding researchers.

I am not one much to write a review about anything, but certainly feel the need to defend this. Almost everyone that has been trashing it say they are going to continue to watch it to the end. Why would they do this? Because it's not all that bad. Yes the movie is low budget, yes the movie is imperfect, but the movie works none the less. This series, presents in a simplistic manner, a completely plausible, yet illogical story, but that is the point. The characters developed nicely, the story was compelling, and the writing was acceptable. Watch this movie without cynicism and take in it's entertainment value and it is certain to captivate your attention.

That's the best thing you can do. It's a made for TV movie, and believe me it doesn't transcend that stature, nor does it really try to. Once you get it through your head that it won't have the production values of a Michael Bay movie or the big name stars, it's actually alright for what it is. It's a globe spanning disaster movie with a pretty cool premise - the moon hitting the planet.

Because it's on TV, the only thing it asks of you is your time. Honestly, if you don't like it (and you'll know immediately whether or not) you can just as easily click away. I won't blame you if you do, but if you're up for a disaster flick that's halfway decent and free to watch, you can do much, much worse. Yes, the acting can be, well, bad at times, but for the most part it's serviceable. After all, you just need the characters to act shocked and sad at the news and events so yes, they do that well enough.

If I had to pay to see something like this, yeah I'd be upset. But it's free and with the summer TV season in pretty bad shape it's a nice way to blow off four hours. It's completely inoffensive and that's leagues better than most made for TV movies.

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.