Deep Impact 4K UHD (1998) hits on May 2

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by bookcase

You summed it up perfectly. Deep Impact has always been a favorite of mine, and that's due in large part to the directing by Mimi Leder. She didn't sacrifice the characters in favor of the destruction.

It's skillfully directed, definitely, but I think that balance is also Spielberg, as much as anyone else. He developed the script, from what I've read, with the intention of directing it. The estranged father/daughter plotline is classic Spielberg.

I think the focus on character, rather than spectacle, also comes from him. I've read both the shooting script (from which a LOT was cut in the finished film) and an earlier draft, from when I think he was still directing it, and while some things changed, the focus on intimate human drama was there all along.