Big Rocks from Space Crash to Earth

[John Morgan]

I watched Armageddon on ABC the other night.  It was, (How can I put this gently?), OVER THE TOP AND JUST PLAIN BAD.  I can't believe people think Godzilla movie plots are outlandish. (Landing on an astroid, a drilling machine that can crash though big rocks while a shuttle is knocked out by a little fragment, Split the thing in tow so both halves will go around the earth, etc.)

Anyway, the movie did get me to thinking.  How many movies are there were an asteroid or a comet or whatever kind of big rock from space is about to hit the Earth and wipe out everything?  I know of Meteor, Deep Impact and Armageddon and a made for TV movie, but which one is "the best" out of the lot?

[Flangepart]

Well....of the three you mention, Deep Impact is the most serious of them. Not as goofy as Armageddion. But, the goofy character parts were the best part of Arma(Ect). "Get off...the nuclear...warhead." Steve B. was a trip in that flick. The miners were fun. Meteor?....ah....definatly needs the MST3K treatment. I kind of liked the one where a comet hits Arizona. I think Richard Crenna was in that one.

[The Honn]

I despised Deep Impact. It bored the hell out of me, Armablergh was much more fun.

[AndyC]

In the 50s, there was When Worlds Collide. That had another solar system pass through ours, causing geological disturbances and the eventual destruction of Earth. A lot of hokiness in this movie, but the story is one of the more intelligent of the time. I rather liked the idea of building space arks to transport people to a habitable world around the other star.

[Squishy]

There's a slew of TV trash, including A Fire In The Sky--in which a comet wipes out Phoenix (get it?)--Asteroid, which is effing hilarious throughout--and Meteorites!, the worst of the lot. Meteorites! contains several right-on-target "mysterious deaths" until someone figures out the exact same region is being subjected to meteor falls every 24 hours (!); there's the old we-can't-evacuate!-we're-having-our-annual-celebration! subplot from Jaws and a million imitators; and every time the evacuation party is about to reach salvation (a bridge, a cave), just then a meteor lands in front of them, wrecking it. That's good shootin', Tex, for random falling debris. Well beyond absurd.

[Flangepart]

A Fire In The Sky. Thats the one i ment! Yeah, Meteorites is just Goofy. The Kidnap sub-subplot, the way the rocks home in on plot points.......dang, we need Joel and the bots more then ever!