Asteroid Details

A reported 75 million Americans watched this disaster adventure when it first aired as a two-part mini-series. Shorn of around an hour, to squeeze it into a feature format, the pace picks up considerably, but at the expense of some much-needed suspense. The opening section, in which astronomer Annabella Sciorra first becomes aware of the coming catastrophe and tries to convince others of her fears, is creditably mounted. But once interstellar debris begins reducing downtown Dallas to rubble, the action becomes as predictable as which characters will survive the onslaught. The effects are serviceable, but Bradford May's direction is decidedly pedestrian.