Search - Meteor on DVD

Keith A. (Keefer522)
Reviewed on 8/28/2013...

In this 1979 disaster flick (with the customary all star cast that included Sean Connery, Brian Keith, Henry Fonda, Natalie Wood, and Martin Landau), a 5-mile wide hunk of asteroid is going to leave a very large skid mark on Earth unless the U.S. and the Russians can put aside their Cold War differences, work together, and use the combined power of their nuclear weapons satellites to blow the hell out of it.

...Obviously the Cold War era storyline is badly out of date now, but this was still fun to watch. The late '70s fashions and technology are a scream of course, and we got some cool old-school mayhem and destruction from time to time as little splinters of the meteor hit Earth while the "big one" was still on its way.

I'll take this movie over the '90s version of the same story, Michael Bay's uber-retarded "Armageddon," any day of the week.

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Larry W. (Blackettle) from NAMPA, ID
Reviewed on 8/17/2009...

We want bombs in space. Lets make a movie showing what a good thing it is and the public will support it. Lame. As it's an older movie the Computer images are poor and the acting less then stellar. You get the impression the actors were under contract to make the film. Brian Keith as Russian....ah come on! Where was Natalie Wood...did I sleep through that part. Sean Connery not the young hunk in Darby O Gill or the Man form the Rock, somewhere nutured inbetween.

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Superb forerunner of recent hits

02/07/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When you see this, you may learn where some of the inspirations for ARMAGEDDON and DEEP IMPACT came from. Sean Connery gives a strong performance as a scientist trying to convince the military and government that a giant meteor five miles wide(apparently a rock from the producer's back garden was used and it shows!) is heading for Earth, preceeded by deadly fragments. After the talk comes some action and effects which were good for the time, and sometimes still look great even now. An avalanche in Switzerland, a tidal wave flooding Hong Kong, and as a preview of ARMAGEDDON, a huge fragment demolishes New York(although you can tell it's stock film in parts, even though it's kept to a minimum). And the space scenes towards the end of the movie are great! The characters are much more well-created and acted than in many films of this genre from the 1970s, particularly Connery(he makes anything worth watching when he's in it, with the obvious exceptions of ZARDOZ and HIGHLANDER 2: THE QUICKENING), Henry Fonda(as the President), Brian Keith not speaking a word of English except when he mocks the Brooklyn Dodgers(!), Natalie Wood as his interpreter and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE's Martin Landau as a caricature hot-headed Air Force general! Altogether, if you enjoyed DEEP IMPACT and ARMAGEDDON, don't miss METEOR. You'll be just as entertained!"

Meteoric Disaster

Cassandra A. Morrison | Minneapolis, MN | 01/11/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I love this movie and I don't care who knows it. Sean Connery and Natalie Wood are fantastic together---Brian Keith (who committed suicide in 1997) is great as the Russian Counterpart of Connery's character. Martin Landau (CLEOPATRA, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, SPACE 1999, ED WOOD, SLEEPY HOLLOW---and probably most famous for producing daughter Juliet--hey, does that mean Bela Lugosi is the father of Drusilla? Probably not) is great as the Air Force General who, in the end, puts service to his country ahead of his own ego. And Karl Malden turns in his usual performance---meaning top-notch. The special effects are a bit cheesy by 2009 standards but they worked at the time.

And you should notice the name of the spacecraft that gets destroyed early in the film. It is the Challenger 2. Now remember, this movie was released 1979--seven years BEFORE...well, you know.

The radio station from New Jersey they are hearing in the subway WAS a real station---WKBW. It's no longer around but it's recreation of Orson Welles' WAR OF THE WORLDS broadcast---first in 1968 (on the 30th anniversary of the Welles Broadcast) and then all over again in 1971 earned their science fiction street creds before their appearance in this film.

You can learn more and hear the broadcasts here: http://wkbwradio.com/page2.htm



Finally mention must be made of Henry Fonda as the President---Mr. Fonda was the kind of man I would have voted for until thew cows came home...and then I'd have held a gun on the cows until THEY voted for him too!

You will LOVE this movie!

"

Boy This Takes Me Back !

A. Olmo | Brooklyn, NY USA | 04/09/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Good little film Meteor is, and it's one of the one's I saw with Connery in the lead not too long after giving up on Bond for good.



Meteor may never go down in history as the best movie of it's type, but I think for those that even remember it, it deserves a place as the first film of it's kind. Remember this was long before "Armaggedon" "Deep Impact" and all those knockoffs you see on the Sci Fi Channel such as Asteroid and the like.



Indeed I believe Meteor was the first...and best of the "giant rock hurtling to Earth at blazing speed is going to cause our doom" movies. Yeah Armaggedon had all the high priced special effects and high priced cast, same goes for Deep Impact, but I sincerely believe they never did it better than Meteor did. You can say Armaggedon, Deep Impact and Sci Fi's Asteriod are all variations on a theme, a theme that originally began with Meteor, so in that respect it was the first of this type of movie where the main theme is a very common one today in Sci Fi and action movies.



You can say the others are better produced, acted, you like the stars better, whatever. Nothing in my opinion did the subject justice as the film Meteor did."