meteor, 1979, astronaut, disaster, movie, new york, recommendation, satellite, science...

James Bond Fails To Stop New York From Getting Atomized

Long before there was Armageddon or Deep Impact, or even the fear of our own falling spy satellites, there was Meteor. Sean Connery goes into full science mode as he tries to stop a huge meteor named Orpheus from crashing into the Earth. The good news: he's partially successful. The bad news: Oops, sorry about that Hong Kong and New York. The opening scene, where astronauts watch the cosmic ballet of a comet striking an asteroid just before it obliterates them and their ship, is worth the price of admission alone.

The 1970s were obsessed with large-scale disaster movies, offering audiences everything from Earthquake to Airport were all about massive mayhem and destruction with massive casts featuring top stars of the day, and Meteor stands as the bookend to that obsession. What's really impressive about the movie (besides the cast, which also included Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, Brian Keith, Martin Landau, Trevor Howard, Henry Fonda) was that it was based on an M.I.T. student science project called Project Icarus. If you've ever wondered how to stop a four-billion ton rock from hitting the Earth, then you might want to rent the movie, and pick up the book of the science project. Oh, and keep Sean Connery on your speed dial.

2:30 PM on Mon Feb 18 2008
By Kevin Kelly
1,753 views
12 comments

Comments

MasterOfPastures at 02:43 PM on 02/18/08
Reply by Email
*

Meteor to destroy NY? You just need a fleet of comercial pl...
Whoops! Too soon?
NefariousNewt at 02:45 PM on 02/18/08
Reply by Email
*
Connectedness Index: 695

This looks like a job for...
Frozen-Tex at 03:12 PM on 02/18/08
Reply by Email
*

I had Connery on speed dial anyway, so I'm half ready.
sled_dog at 04:30 PM on 02/18/08
Reply by Email
*

The best part of this movie is the musical sting used every time we saw the meteor cruising through space.

HHHAAAAWWOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG!
Ghede at 08:51 PM on 02/18/08
Reply by Email
*

@MasterOfPastures: Meh. I've heard worse. Do a search for "9/11 Marketing" That came out about a year after the attacks, and they were ten times worse/funnier than your "Joke"

*yawn*
antimatty at 09:01 PM on 02/18/08
Reply by Email
*

@MasterOfPastures:
no not at all, i wanted to make a painting with exactly that in mind . a worms eye view of hundreds of plains above new york.
SeeingI at 07:15 AM on 02/19/08
Reply by Email
*

I have a strong, indelible memory from my childhood of this film being shown on TV. What's such a strong memory is the announcer's deep, ominous voice on the commercials saying "METEOOOR!"
CharlesRockyPamplin at 07:51 AM on 02/19/08
Reply by Email
*

@sled_dog: the thing that makes that noise has and interesting story itself; it's a called The Blaster Beam- a 20 ft long musical instrument that could apparently induce orgasm!

[en.wikipedia.org]
strider_mt2k at 09:15 AM on 02/19/08
Reply by Email
*
Connectedness Index: 717

Lucifer's Hammer, anyone?
Pouncer at 11:22 AM on 02/19/08
Reply by Email
*

My TiVo decided to record this last fall. It was hilarious. So anachronistic in all the details, with bonus Cold War-era paranoia amidst the cooperation to save humanity.
Josh from Marietta, GA at 11:32 AM on 02/19/08
Reply by Email
*

I haven't thought of this movie in YEARS, since my dad ran across it on the satellite one day and we watched it, and I kept asking "what the heck is going on, Dad?"

*shrug*
picardia at 01:34 PM on 02/19/08
Reply by Email
*
Connectedness Index: 0

@Pouncer: I tried to watch this last year too, and it was too bad even for the kitch fun, at least after about 10 minutes. Natalie Wood = least convincing Russian ever.