Impact

Many of my friends ride me about my tolerance of certain really bad flicks, particularly in the genres of science fiction and horror. This frequently comes up as a topic of conversation when I am reviewing one of the SyFy channel’s ‘original movies’. These movies have become known as ‘Saturday Night Specials’ since the typical are shown on that evening which has been all but abandoned by the other networks. The irony here is there is most times the only way the term ‘original’ can be applied to three flick is most were specifically commissioned by SyFy and not seen prior to there. The plots are often tired re-treads unabashedly culled from dozens of previous films in the genre. The casting typically contains a few proven actors in the genre seemingly hired at some Sci-Fi or comic book convention; this to supply a degree of respectably and a modicum of fan recognizably. Most of these are excellent actors with proven ability so you shouldn’t blame them for wanting to work on matter what the role may be. Part of their career management is to keep their names and faces in front of the public so I rarely if ever blame an actor for wanting to work. As far as the lack of coherent story goes I feel my increased leniency is due in large part to the factors that initially introduced me to my lifelong love of cinema. Many of those flicks were, to put it politely, crap. I have actually gotten into movies that had monsters wearing costumes were the zippers were visible or the hand and stick pushing the alien invader are quite visible just in frame. These were the movies that percolated into my impressionable young mind as I sat in the darken theater entirely entertained by the excuse for a film. The thing is this is what we did back then; go to the local movie house for a matinee mostly because it was the only thing to do. Well the habits stuck and I give a pass to these SyFy specials. One such movie that stretched even my liberal standards id ‘Impact’ I can take wooden acting, a poorly written story but when there isn’t even an ounce of scientific reality to the proceedings. Now usually even that can be forgiven but what passes as science here is transparently wrong to anyone that has seen more than two episodes of Bill Nye the Science Guy.

The string of dialogue snippets that passes for a plot involves meteor shower purported the best in 10,000 years. I was waiting for everyone to go blind and the Triffids to start spitting poison. Instead the beautiful full moon is disrupted when something slams into it causing the noticeable ejection of debris. It turns out that what hit the lunar surface was a piece of a brown dwarf affecting the magnetic field of the moon. First of all there is no lunar magnetic field; that usually requires a molten core of paramagnetic material. Further destroying any semblance of believability is this alteration in the non-existent lunar magnetic field somehow interacts and disrupts the gravitational pull of the earth causing people, cars and trains to start floating up to the sky. The author of the teleplay, Michael Vickerman, would have to achieve the Holy Grail of Quantum Physics unifying gravity and electro-magnetism. His prior works were more grounded with flicks like ‘Superfire’ and the modern gothic horror thrillers such as ‘The Haunting of Sorority Row’ and ‘Intimate Stranger’. Aside from the unforgivably large scientific blunders he does a fairly solid job of presenting a character driven melodrama. Unfortunately, the bad science is the complete foundation of this miniseries. What remains is a standard disaster flick complete with the requisite parallel story lines and persona dramas on a collision course to the conclusion. According to the disaster flick guide book there has to be an ‘A’ and ‘B’ romantic thread which, admittedly, is well processed here. The ‘A’ coupling is between the two scientists in charge of understanding and coping with the threatening moon. Dr. Maddie Rhodes (Natasha Henstridge) and JAG’s star David James Elliott as the ruggedly handsome and brilliant Alex Kittner form the main power couple. He is recently widowed and well she has increased her bust size (post partum) significantly so I suspect she may be partially responsible for the gravitational shifts. The second tier lovers hail from France providing a little continental flavor. Benjamin Sadler portrays the resourceful astronaut/scientist Roland Emerson (Benjamin Sadler) and his lovely fiancée Martina (Florentine Lahme). Naturally during the worse of the effects she is traveling on a train just as it lifts up off the tracks sparking another genre requirement; the long trek to be reunited with a loved one.

Let’s face it; this project was not approved for the drama or romance it is a showcase for some pretty cool special effects. Actually, the movie did pick up a few awards for ‘Best Special Effects’ along the way. Mike Rohl did a solid job of directing this television miniseries but that is not a surprise. He has helmed son of the more interesting Sci-Fi faire on TV including ‘Dead Zone’, ‘Smallville’ and the cancelled before its timer ‘Defying Gravity’. Rohl’s forte is infusing a humanistic appeal into otherwise farfetched circumstances. Grounding the story are plot threads that provide commentary to the larger picture of important societal issues. Maddie’s ex husband is a reporter who wants to pace his way to the journalistic apex by leveraging his relationship for the story of a life time. This questions the ethics of free press verses not creating a general panic. It also turns out that Maddie is an atheist forced to ponder the whole creation (or end thereof) and scientific rationale. The pacing and dispersal of the heavier questions to ponder do manage to help but I just couldn’t get past the exceptionally poor science. Over all the film could hold together long enough to scarf down a tub of popcorn but little else.

Posted 12/31/2010