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
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