Deep Impact

A seven-mile-wide space rock is hurtling toward Earth, threatening to obliterate the planet. Now, it's up to the president of the United States to save the world. He appoints a tough-as-nails veteran astronaut to lead a joint American-Russian crew into space to destroy the comet before impact. Meanwhile, an enterprising reporter uses her smarts to uncover the scoop of the century.

Critics largely dismissed Deep Impact as melodramatic and tension-free, with its disaster-film ambitions undercut by what many saw as flat, emotionless performances. The one consistent point of interest was its attempt at a quieter, more reflective register — though whether that counted as a feature or a flaw was itself a matter of debate.