Asteroid (1997) (TV)

Director:

Bradford May

Writers (WGA):

Robbyn Burger (written by) and
Scott Sturgeon (written by)

Release Date:

16 February 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The End Of The World Is Just Beginning.

Plot:

With the discovery of an incoming asteroid, the government of America formulate a plan to destroy it...

Plot Keywords:

Firefighter | Asteroid | Dallas Texas | Astronomer | Doctor

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Michael Biehn	...	FEMA Director Jack Wallach
Annabella Sciorra	...	Dr. Lily McKee
Zachary Charles	...	Elliot McKee (as Zachary B. Charles)
Don Franklin	...	Ben Dodd
Carlos Gómez	...	Adam Marquez (as Carlos Gomez)
Michael Weatherly	...	Dr. Matthew Rogers
Jensen Daggett	...	Dr. Valerie Brennan
Anne-Marie Johnson	...	Karen Dodd
Frank McRae	...	Lloyd Morgan (as Frank Mcrae)
Denis Arndt	...	President
Gerry Becker
John Lindsey
Anthony Zerbe	...	Dr. Charles Napier
Brian Hill	...	Max (as Brian Alan Hill)
Christopher Murphy	...	A.J.

Also Known As:

Asteroid: The Sky is Falling (Philippines: English title) (video title)

Runtime:

Finland:123 min (video release) (1998) | Canada:120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Ireland:15 | New Zealand:M | Finland:K-16 | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Denver, Colorado, USA

Company:

Davis Entertainment

Trivia:

Parts of the show were filmed in Denver, Colorado and at the time the University Hills Mall was slated for demolition. For the mass destruction after math scenes, they used areas of the mall which had been demolished already and actually blew a few more things up themselves. Concerned citizens nearby thought the black smoke they were seeing was indicative of a real emergency and promoted over 100 calls/minute to 911.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Airborne lasers used against the asteroid are depicted as being mounted on regular jet fighters. In fact, this kind of weapon requires a much larger aircraft and extensive modifications to the ship's nose.

Movie Connections:

References Independence Day (1996)

US Aircraft LASER weapon defies all physical laws!

A real disappointment!

First, credibility approaches zero, as a trillion-ton rock, moving at 15 miles per second is stopped by the LASER beams of two small aircraft on earth. Has anyone read physics? It is as if a mosquito would stop an express train.

Meteorites rain on the same spot for hours, even though earth rotates.

Meteorites are seen entering earth's atmosphere several minutes before they hit ground. Are there parachutes attached to them?

In the two more well-known films on this subject, Armageddon and Deep Impact, the meteor is stopped by bombing it with thermonuclear devices - a completely sensible theory. I like Science Fiction, but 'Asteroids' isn't SciFi, the film violates every possible physical law, the creators treating the observers as imbecills.

Every building and vehicle in the film seems to be filled with gasoline - everything explodes (by the way - when will we see a film where cars and houses don't explode and diesel oil doesn´t catch fire?).

The second part of the film is an endless display of fires, roaming people and military vehicles. This would certainly put you to sleep were it not for the monotonous engine noise and fire sound.

And in every dramatic scene you are faced with the difficult and thrilling questions: "Will they find each other???", "Will the hero survive???".

I long for a meteor movie that blasts everything away, killing everyone including the hero.