Long before Armageddon and Deep Impact sprang from the not-so-fertile imaginations of Hollywood imitators, Meteor splashed across theatre screens. Not that it was the first-ever asteroid movie, but it was at least the only one to come out in 1979. And this blockbuster boasted much more than big special effects. The cast included a host of huge names: Sean Connery, Natalie Wood, Henry Fonda, Karl Malden, Brian Keith, Martin Landau and others. The director, Ronald Neame, had made another successful disaster movie, The Poseidon Adventure, seven years before. The concept? After a collision between huge asteroids near Jupiter, a massive chunk – five miles across – is knocked free and sent on a collision course with Earth.
In the U.S., the call goes out to Dr. Paul Bradley (Connery) a scientist who designed a secret weapon that the government hopes might be the answer. Bradley is disaffected because he designed the weapon that orbits the planet to defend against just this kind of threat, but it was taken by the military and used to instead aim nuclear weapons at the U.S.S.R. – an illegal plan that has been kept secret. When Bradley and his government contact, NASA chief Harry Sherwood (Karl Malden), determine that even their secret weapon won’t be enough, they turn to the Russians, who have a ‘secret’ weapon of their own. The Soviet’s lead scientist Dr. Alexei Dubov (Brian Keith) and his assistant/translator (Natalie Wood) arrive at the command centre in New York City to help co-ordinate the shared effort to save the world. The cast also includes Henry Fonda as the U.S. President, Joseph Campanella as a U.S. general and Trevor Howard as a British scientist.
Meteor is a disaster film with a split personality. It has some genuinely gripping moments, along with poorly written campy stretches. It includes several good performances, particularly by Connery and Malden along with some embarrassing ones, especially Keith’s as the Russian scientist who smiles stupidly for most of the film and Martin Landau’s as a paranoid U.S. general. Some of the special effects are good (considering the standards of 1979) and others are terrible – including the use of demolition films to supposedly show the devastation when a meteor hits. Nobody explains how a huge meteor strike could cause just one building to fall, while others around it remain standing.
The biggest disappointment here is that so many opportunities are missed. More could be done – Dr. Strangelove-style – to have fun with the politics of a Cold War scenario in which co-operation between the U.S. and the Russians is essential. And the romantic sub-plot between Bradley and Tatiana Donskaya (Wood) doesn’t go anywhere.
In the realm of asteroid movies, this one belongs in the middle of the pack. There’s nothing remarkable here (except for the big names in the cast), but it’s passably entertaining and it’s notable as one of the last films for Natalie Wood and Henry Fonda.
