Product Description

Outer space can hardly contain all the stars who round out the extraordinary cast in this spellbinding thriller about a five-mile-wide meteor on a catastrophic collision course with earth. Natalie Wood and OscarÂ(r) winners* Sean Connery, Karl Malden, Martin Landau and Henry Fonda shine in this 'thoroughly engrossing (The Hollywood Reporter) sci-fi special effects spectacular thatrockets across the screen like a speeding comet. A brilliant scientist, Dr. Paul Bradley (Connery)is summoned to Washington by NASA chief Harold Sherwood (Malden), who informs him that a huge meteor will smash into earth in six days. The only chance to destroy the meteor is to work with the Soviets, revealing to them top secrets. But as the clock is ticking, fragments of the meteor split off and come crashing to earth, causing enormous damage. And as avalanches and title waves take a devastating toll, Bradley works against all odds to eliminate the greatest threat the world has ever known.*1987: Connery, Supporting Actor, The Untouchables;1951: Malden, Supporting Actor,A Streetcar Named Desire;1994: Landau, Supporting Actor, Ed Wood;1981: Fonda, Actor, On Golden Pond; 1980: Fonda, Honorary Award

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18170 in DVD
• Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
• Released on: 2000-02-29
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.com
Sean Connery leads a team of asteroid-battling astronomers in Meteor, one of the last and most unusual examples of the disaster movie craze of the 1970s. In this one, a killer asteroid named Orpheus threatens to collide with the Earth, and Connery must come up with a plan to stop it. Cold war politics date the picture a bit, but they also add some weight to the impending doom facing humanity. Like any good disaster flick, it's populated by an all-star cast, including Karl Malden, Martin Landau, Natalie Wood, Richard Dysart, Henry Fonda, and Trevor Howard. Brian Keith plays Connery's opposite number in the U.S.S.R. While the pacing and special effects are weak compared to similar celestial menaces depicted in Armageddon and Deep Impact, Meteor displays all the benefits of its more powerful cast… not to mention Hank Fonda as President. --Mark Savary

Customer Reviews

Superb forerunner of recent hits
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!

Better than Deep Impact, less noise than Armageddon
This is one of those movies that is a guilty pleasure, kind of like
"The Neptune Factor". Sure, it's bad. But that's half the
fun!

"Meteor" is one of the very first space-based
disaster films from the era of disaster films (Airport, Towering
Inferno, Earthquake). The effects range from good (rockets launched
from orbiting platforms), to terrible (Skylab as a deep space probe,
and a two-by-four building trying to pass as a skyscraper).

One of
the opening scenes, of a sailboat crossing a starfield, is
inspired.

Whereas Deep Impact had good effects, and Armageddon was
nothing but flash and NOISE, "Meteor" has a touch of
class. This despite the bad acting and cheesy effects.

Try this one
out. It's a fun watch!

Meteoric Disaster
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!