source: Meteor

Trailer—Meteor

Meteor

I just watched this again and it still stands as an OK disaster flick. Not as good as the underrated "Cassandra Crossing" perhaps, but much better than "Earthquake" and "Airport 1975", for example. Some of the effects are dated (the comet itself never looks particularly big or threatening), some are just stock footage (the demolition of New York skyscrapers) and others are quite impressive for their time (the tidal wave). The "muddy" finale is quite boring and fails to create any tension, and big-name actors like Henry Fonda and Trevor Howard have essentially cameos. However, one of "Meteor"'s praiseworthy qualities is that it presents the Russians in a quite positive light, and politically it keeps an objective tone throughout. (**)

Meteor (1979) 2 of 5 Dir: Ronald Neame Stars: Sean Connery, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden Connery built a armed orbiting platform to protect the earth from s celestial attack. But like the government always does they take over the project and trains the nuclear payload smack dab at the old red menace. Connery is once again called back to realign the project when it is determined that a huge meteor that deflected off a comet is making a b-line to Earth. Together with the Russians will we be able to stop it? 'Meteor' is a fun movie with an all-star cast but the special effects are for the most part just plain bad. Even compared to films of the day ('Star Wars' and 'Alien' to name a few) they just can't quite cut it. It was a favorite as a kid but it gets a bit of groan out of me now. I guess so much for nostalgia.

Now there have been some good disaster movies such as The Poseidon Adventure but there have also been some bad ones. While not the worst movie ever, Meteor I thought was a bad movie. Now I loved the concept and I liked the score, plus Sean Connery gives a charismatic enough performance in possibly the nadir of his acting career. However, what didn't work so well is that the special effects and production values are very dated. Also the script is utter nonsense, the story is poorly structured with a tacked on romantic subplot and a ending that runs out of steam, there is some pedestrian pacing and the direction is meandering. In terms of acting the only actor who impressed was Connery; Natalie Wood was a lovely actress but wasn't given much to do while Martin Landau(the same Martin Landau who was so good in Ed Wood) is embarrassing as the General. Overall, disappointing, had so much potential but didn't work. 3/10 Bethany Cox