Meteor (Ronald Neame) -1979

I like bad disaster movies but this one is just not that much fun.  Sean Connery and his toupee are summoned from a boat race because a huge chunk of an asteroid is going to hit the planet in seven days.  Did they really need him?  I think those NASA scientists could have aimed those rockets without him.  And what is the purpose of dragging Natalie Wood (1938-1981) along as the Russian interpreter?  She could really rattle off those Russian phrases but what's the point?  I suppose that she served as the love-interest for Connery who was separated from his family for no good reason.  Henry Fonda (1905-1982) is a rather wimpy president who announced his plans to the world before he called the Russians and then had to rely on Connery to negotiate with the miscast Brian Keith (1921-1997).  Also miscast was Martin Landau as an out-of-his-mind general.  Why was the command center located in New York City?  That makes no sense.  The only reason I can imagine is that it allows the main cast to be in peril as a big chunk of the rock hits the World Trade Center.  The special effects budget must have been dwarfed by the salaries of the all-star cast.  Besides NYC, rocks destroyed just Hong Kong and a ski lodge in Switzerland.  There were waaaay too many shots of rockets turning slowly and flying into space.  And, there was one very helpful chart in command center that showed the meteor's seven-day path toward Earth.  In addition to Connery, Wood, Fonda, Keith and Landau, the talents of Karl Malden (1912-2009), Trevor Howard (1913-1988), Joseph Campanella , Clyde Kusatsu and Sybil Danning were wasted on this awful movie. [JAM 3/28/2010]