Meteor is a 1979 American science fiction disaster film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Sean Connery and Natalie Wood. It follows a group of scientists struggling with Cold War as an asteroid is detected to be on a collision course with Earth, it was inspired by a 1967 MIT report, Project Icarus. The screenplay was written by Oscar winner Edmund H. North and Stanley Mann.
The all star cast also includes Karl Malden, Brian Keith, Martin Landau, Trevor Howard, Joseph Campanella, Richard Dysart and Henry Fonda. The film was a box-office flop and received negative reviews, but it was nonetheless nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound.
I listened on my headphones and can agree, the sound is rally good.
The cast of the movie:
- Sean Connery as Dr. Paul Bradley
- Natalie Wood as Tatiana Donskaya
- Karl Malden as Harry Sherwood
- Brian Keith as Dr. Alexei Dubov
- Martin Landau as General Adlon
- Trevor Howard as Sir Michael Hughes
- Richard Dysart as Secretary of Defense
- Henry Fonda as The President
- Joseph Campanella as General Easton
- Bo Brundin as Rolf Manheim
- Roger Robinson as Bill Hunter
- Michael Zaslow as Sam Mason
- Bibi Besch as Helen Bradley
- Sybil Danning as Girl Skier
- Simon Cadell as BBC tv report
Production:
The Director Ronald Neame and Sean Connery disliked script by Edmond H Nort, and a rewrite by Steven Bach, so Stanley Mann was hired to completely re-write the screenplay. This led to a Writers Guild of America dispute over whether North should be credited as a co-writer.
Neame cast Natalie Wood as Tatiana because she was the daughter of Russian immigrants, and she worked with George Rubinstein to perfect an accent.
The following actors, Alec Guinness, Yul Brynner, Rod Steiger, Maximilian Schell, Peter Ustinov, Eli Wallach, Telly Savalas, Theodore Bikel, Richard Burton and Orson Welles were each considered for the role of Dr. Dubov.
Donald Pleasence was cast for the role and filmed a few scenes as the character. However, he departed the production to work on the film Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. He was replaced by Brian Keith, who had been cast originally as General Adlon.
Keith was replaced in that role by Martin Landau.
I think Maximillion Schell would have done a good job as Dr Dubov. Interesting Enouph, he would star later on in another disaster movie as Tea Leoni’s father in the 1998 movie Deep Impact.
Principal photography took place from October 31, 1977, to January 27, 1978, mainly at MGM Studios in Culver City, California, with some location filming in Washington, D.C., St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Hong Kong.
The release date was scheduled for June 15, 1979, but it was pushed back to October 19 due to special effects reshoots after special effects director Frank Van der Veer was fired.
The Plot
After the asteroid called Orpheus is hit by a comet, dozens of fragments are sent on a collision course with Earth, along with a five-mile-wide fragment that will cause an extinction-level event. While the United States government engages in political bullshit, this takes place during the cold war, after all, the smaller fragments wreak havoc on the planet, revealing the threat.
The United States has a secret nuclear missile satellite named Hercules that was designed by Dr. Bradley. It was intended to defend Earth against a threat like Orpheus, but instead was commandeered by the U.S. Armed Forces to become an orbiting weapon now aimed at the Soviet Union. After many calculations, the fourteen nuclear missiles on board Hercules are not enough to stop the asteroid.
Knowing that the Soviet Union also has a similar weapons satellite in orbit called Peter the Great, with its sixteen nuclear warheads pointed at the United States. Needing the additional firepower to stop Orpheus, the President goes on national television and reveals the existence of Hercules, explaining it was created to meet the threat that Orpheus represents. He also calls out the Soviets by announcing that they have the same program and their own satellite weapon. To coordinate the counter-effort between the two countries, Bradley requests a Soviet scientist named Dr. Alexei Dubov.
Bradley and Harry Sherwood meet at the control center for Hercules, located beneath Lower Manhattan. Major General Adlon is the commander of the facility. Dubov and his interpreter Tatiana Donskaya arrive, Dubov agrees to Bradley’s proposal that they work on the “theoretical application” of how a “theoretical” Soviet space platform’s weapons would be coordinated with the American platform.
Meanwhile, meteorite fragments strike Earth ( Siberia),where a father stands forever looking at the comet as it barrels towards him. Them for some reason, he and his family try to outrun it.
the Soviets finally agree to join in the effort. Both satellites are coordinated and turned toward the incoming large asteroid as smaller fragments continue to strike the planet, causing great damage, including a deadly avalanche in the Swiss Alps which kills a bunch of skiers including a cameo by Sybil Danning. Who also was wearing too much clothing lol.
a tsunami devastates Hong Kong. As the people run for safety, a father runs to his wife and child, including the dog. They are killed in the tsunami. As everyone was running for their lives, I was waiting for someone to yell, GODZILLA!!!!!!!!
Peter the Great‘s missiles are launched first as planned because of its relative position to the asteroid, and we get a long drawn out scene of the missles launching and heading towards to comet.
Hercules‘s missiles fired forty minutes later in another long drawn out scene.
The missles look more like bowling pins.
Immediately prior to Hercules‘s missiles being launched, a splinter fragment is discovered heading toward the command center in New York City. If the center is destroyed, Hercules will not be able to launch.
With seconds to spare, Hercules receives the signal to fire from the command center and launches its missiles. The splinter impacts the city, destroying the top half of the twin towers in a direct hit, and creating a large crater in Central Park.
Several workers inside the control center are killed when the facility is partially destroyed by the collapse of the building above, and the survivors are forced to work their way out of the control center by going through the subway system, which becomes a trap due to water from the East River flooding the tunnels.
Meanwhile, the two flights of missiles link up into three successively larger ones. The Hercules crew reaches a crowded subway station and waits while others try to dig them out.
Eventually, the missiles reach the meteoroid. The first wave of missiles strikes the rock, causing a small explosion; the second wave follows with a larger blast, and the third wave creates an enormous explosion. the asteroid is destroyed.
In New York City, the radios broadcast the good news: Orpheus is no longer a danger to Earth. Just then, the subway station occupants are rescued.
Later, at an airport, Dubov, Tatiana, Bradley and others exchange goodbyes before Dubov and Tatiana depart on a plane for the Soviet Union.
Thoughts on the movie.
I was kind of disappointed with the beginning titles. I was expecting the Superman style 3d titles like in the trailer. We had the trailer music but the titles were bland.
There is a voice over intro about space being vast and limited and how comets terrorize man. I felt like I was at a school outing at a science centre.
Sean Connery’s character was off and running when he was stopped by the coast guard during his sailing race.
My oh shit moment came in the scene with Bebe Besh that plays Sean Connory’s wife. Star Trek fans will recognize her as Doctor Carol Marcus is Wrath of Khan.
I loved the 70s decor and vehicles.
The challenger sequence was cool.
I liked the shots of the vastness of the asteroids compared to the challenger.
Theres no long loss between Sean Connerys character and Karl Maldens. I liked there sparring with one another
Sean Connery telling Natalie Woods character that she is attractive, was true but awkward, he then plants a big kiss before she boards the plane at the end. Something that wouldn’t happen today.
I liked Henry Fonda as the president. He was very presidential.
I think Martin Landau was waisted in this one.
I enjoyed Natalie Wood in this one.
If Sir Michael Hughs the guy on the monitor looks familiar, played by Trevor Howard, he was in Superman as one of the elders.
To save money on budget, we get re-used shots of buildings blowing up.
There is a funny shot of a cockatoo in the Hong Kong that squawks just before the tsunami hits. I’m thinking he said, “well fuck” just before getting swept away.
I love the line Sean Connery says to Martin Landau, “Someone tell this asshole that Morpheus won’t blow up.
There is a couple in the New York bunker. As soon as I saw that, it was foreshadowing that one of them was going to die. Sure enough, the female of the couple gets crushed in the rumble.
Soundtrack was well done and composed by Laurence Rosenthal. He scored many TV films and miniseries. Including Peter, the Great, oddly enough.
The movie is just under 2 hours. It suffers heavily on editing, especially during the missile sequences. They could have shaved 15 or 20 minutes alone by editing those scenes.
Martin Landau also took me out of this one with his over the top yelling. Which is a shame because he is a fantastic actor. This wasn’t role was not for him.
i give this movie a 8/10 rating.
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