Earth's Final Hours : Le compte à rebours est déclenché

Right, another fabulous disaster movie, where the Earth is at the brink of extinction, and yet is miraculously saved by a group of very unlikely American heroes...

Yes, that is what I thought as well when I sat down to watch "Earth's Final Hours". And I was right, as this movie turned out to be every bit just that.

"Earth's Final Hours" follows the shamelessly abused blueprint of how-to-make-a-generic-disaster-movie, true! However, it does manage to lift itself up and out of the mediocrity that tends to permeate the disaster movie genre. There just was something a bit more enjoyable and watchable to "Earth's Final Hours".

The story, well, it can be summarized fairly easy. Actually, just read my opening statement, and you have the entire movie summarized right there.

It was the fast pace of the movie and the progression of the storyline that actually made "Earth's Final Hours" stand out where many other disaster movies failed and sunk deep into mediocrity. But also the acting performances, as they weren't as generic and mediocre as they tend to be in this genre.

As for the special effects, well let's just say that they had CGI special effects and that these effects served their purpose well enough. However, it is not effects that will blow you away or leave you impressed in any way. So don't get your hopes up.

I was actually quite surprised with the performance that Robert Knepper put on in "Earth's Final Hours", because he really carried the movie quite nicely. And it was also nice to see Bruce Davison here as well, although his character was a very generic one to say the least - not saying that his performance was generic, just the character.

"Earth's Final Hours" is not the best of disaster movies, it is nowhere near the likes of "2012" or "San Andreas" in terms of CGI and entertainment where you just sit back and enjoy the effects. However, it did distinguish itself from many other generic disaster movies.

If you enjoy the disaster movie genre, and if you have nothing better to do or to watch, then take the time to watch "Earth's Final Hours". I was actually quite entertained by it.

This movie is a total waste of time. Trailer looked good but don't be fooled..

Too many far fetched inconsistencies and coincidences.. Throw darts the floor if you want to have more fun.

It starts with one of the only people who knows how to save the world getting a hole blown through his chest where his heart and lungs used to be, and somehow manages to talk.

Don't bother watching it..

How it was ever rated a 7.9 is beyond me, must have been based on 2 votes.

I can enjoy a stupid movie, but the filming of this movie was just unbearable. The camera was constantly bouncing around for no good reason. Even calm scenes indoors where everyone was still, the camera is bouncing, panning, and zooming back and forth... I found it nauseating, and could not bear to finish watching it.

I don't care about the plot so much. Like I say, I can enjoy a stupid movie, so if the camera were just held still at least sometimes, this movie would get a much higher rating from me.

The filming location is very nice and scenic, so there is something good to say... Again, if only the camera were ever still, I could have at least enjoyed the landscape.

PS. This show was so bad that I signed up just to post this review.

Something called "energy displacement" attacks our planet Earth. In the great American northwest, a man's midsection is hit by a meteorite. Ouch. The threat is formidable. It's a sucking "White Hole". The opposite of a Black Hole, which sucks matter in, the "White Hole sucks matter out." By now, you have probably guessed how the White Hole manifests itself. That's right, it stops the Earth from turning on its axis. This looks like a job for Superman, but he's not around...

We do have FBI agent Robert Knepper (as John Streich) and his slightly rebellious teenage son Cameron Bright (as Andy). He has perfect eyebrows. They are assisted by beautifully-figured Julia Benson (as Chloe Edwards) and pretty Julia Maxwell (as Michelle Fulton). Possibly mad scientist Bruce Davison (as Kingsley Rothman) plays the veteran actor in a supporting role. The cameras are unsteady, but director W.D. Hogan keeps cast members in range.

*** Armageddon 2012/ Earth's Final Hours (6/1/11) W.D. Hogan ~ Robert Knepper, Julia Benson, Cameron Bright, Bruce Davison

First of all, what's up with IMDb's "star number rating" system? When I rated and wrote the review for this movie, the system reported 8 votes with an average rating of 7.9 stars. At the time there were six reviews with star ratings of 2, 1, 6, nil, 1, and 3; using actual math, something of which the makers of this movie have no grasp, and using the most generous numbers, the average rating should be about 5.4 stars.

Regardless of IMDb's rating system, this movie is yet another Sci-Fi Channel stinker. I will agree with an earlier reviewer that the first 30 minutes of the movie seemed promising, though it contained some silliness. In the end, the only redeeming quality of this movie is that the CGI FX seem above average for most SyFy movies. The plot is weaker than most, the dialogue is weak, and the science was laughable. Also usual for a SyFy flick, many of the characters do not behave like actual humans would. Ultimately, the movie is actually painful to watch. If a movie this bad can actually be produced, then how bad are the rejected scripts?

Once again, the only fun way to watch this movie would be to create a drinking game around it. When a character says something lame or predictable, have a drink. When scene is so bad it makes you cry, down your entire drink, and so on. And never pause the movie while you refill your glass.