Possibly one of the worst movies ever . There is nothing redeeming about this movie. No. I'm sorry. There's no negotiating with that. I don't care if I come back and see "0 of 2,000 people have found this review helpful" I won't change my opinion. This movie is just flat out BAD! Why is it so bad? I could write a book on it, but I can sum it all up by simply saying it is your typical disaster film. It follows every single cliche in the book. And I don't mean fun cliche like horror movies, I mean like you know what's going to happen the entire movie five minutes in.     1. Natural disaster of ludicrous proportions hits America. No other nation is affected, of course, or if they are only to a slight degree.  2. Government leaders go, "OMFG WTF?" and try to prevent it. Initial destruction is prevented by blocking up the storyline with subplots.  3. Some cockamany idea to stop the disaster is attempted. It works...  4. ...for about five seconds. Then real disaster hits and millions die. Let's think seriously here: how many mega natural disasters have befallen major American cities? Like serious disasters? I can think of two: San Francisco in the early 1900's and recently New Orleans. Yet somehow in movies when a natural disaster hits, it ALWAYS hits a highly populated area.    There's loads more cliches - hell, a section in Part Two concerning people escaping a destroyed casino is basically a thirty minute "Poseidon's Adventure." With such ingenuity, you wouldn't expect too much character development, would you? I hope not, because this movie has the most typical assortment of characters you'll ever find:    * The government official who tells other characters what's going on and shoots people worried looks.  * The typical government leader (in this case, the president) who mostly does yelling and pity-playing   * The feisty, independent daughter who has a coming of age moment - and who by the way, happens to be the president's daughter and happens to get her father to ask the Secret Service to leave her alone. Um...the president doesn't even have the power to tell the Secret Service to leave HIM alone.  * The wife trapped in a building who turns out to be pregnant.  * The two brothers who hate each other but learn to cope with one another before one of them dies.  * The guy who yells "I'm getting out of here!" and gets killed upon trying to escape.  * The worry-wort girl who is told "You'll make it out of here" only to die two minutes later.  * The stubborn old folks who refuse to leave their home, even with immenant death and destruction headed their way. Why? "This is our home!" Your suburban house in Houston? PLEASE! Unless you're living on freggin' Indian burial grounds, don't tell me your small patch of turf is worth getting yourself killed for.    You're supposed to care for these people. You're supposed to feel bad when they die. But since they're the same cookie-cutter characters you've seen a hundred times in a hundred different disaster movies, you really don't care.     But let me get to my biggest beef with this movie...WHO THE HECK DIRECTED THIS?! Lemme check IMDB...John Lafia? Hey John - DON'T EVER DIRECT AGAIN! Or if you do, here's a little advice - KEEP YOUR DAMN CAMERA STILL! Every single shot is either shaky cam or zooms. Yes, zoom. Zoom in. Zoom out. Zoom in. Zoom out. Every single shot. Doesn't matter the mood, tone, or action. Zoom in. Zoom out. It's like they didn't plan out any of the scenes and the camera man had to correct every shot. This gets old in about five minutes. No, actually, it got old in ten seconds. And considering this is a two-part miniseries, about an hour and a half long each, it's enough to have someone commit suicide.    Is this movie good? No, because I've seen it already. I saw it when it was called "Deep Impact." I sall it when it was called "Armaggedon." I saw it when it was "Dante's Peak." I saw it when it was "Volcano." I saw it when it was "Asteroid." I saw it when it was...ARG!! My apologies for the bitter review, but this movie really tried my patience. I cannot understand how there are people out there that like this. I suppose there is a secret cult of self-mutilating masochists out there who enjoy punishing themselves by watching bad movies for their own sick, evil amusement. Then again, perhaps I hate and love this movie as much as I hate and love myself..
Output: NEG