Underrated Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (3 November 1998)

After a meteorite storm ravages New York City, NASA discovers that an asteroid the size of Texas is speeding toward Earth. With just eighteen days before impact, NASA executive director Dan Truman (BILLY BOB THORNTON) discovers that he has only one viable option -- to drill a hole in the asteroid and then plant and detonate a nuclear bomb hoping that the internal explosion will split the rock into two pieces that will miss Earth. Thus, Truman enlists Harry Stamper (BRUCE WILLIS) and his deep core oil drilling team, known to be the best in the world. Harry's got other problems, however -- most notably trying to keep one of his gung ho workers, A.J. Frost (BEN AFFLECK) ,away from his beautiful adult daughter, Grace (LIV TYLER). Even so, Harry realizes he has to go and save the world and agrees to do what he can. Thus, he and team -- which includes Frost; his best friend, Chick Chapple (WILL PATTON); a squirrelly geologist, Rockhound (STEVE BUSCEMI); big man Max Lennert (KEN CAMPBELL); and an odd assortment of other characters train for their dangerous mission.Blasting off into space aboard two space shuttles, Harry and his team are accompanied by NASA astronauts Colonel Willie Sharp (WILLIAM FICHTNER), co-pilot Jennifer Watts (JESSICA STEEN), and mission specialist Gruber (GRAYSON McCOUCH). There they dock with a Russian space station where cosmonaut Lev Andropov (PETER STORMARE) joins them after a calamitous accident. From that point on, the assembled team races toward the asteroid. Encountering various obstacles and bureaucratic blunders back on Earth, Harry and his team race against time to drill eight hundred feet into the rock, plant the nuke, and blast off before the asteroid plummets into the Earth, completely destroying it in a fiery Armageddon. This is a great film and one of the best that came out this summer with a great mix off action,comedy and drama and much more entertaining than DEEP IMPACT and if you like Michal Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer then you will not be disappointed. Well if I´m only gonna say this once THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST FILMS EVER MADE.....