History Film / Meteor

* MonumentalDamage: The last chunk of Orpheus heads for New York, and manages to hit the AT&T building, as if the asteroid knew where the launch was being ordered from.

!!This film provides examples of:

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Manned flights to Mars and orbital missile platforms are the norm, something that couldn't be said for the late 70s.

** The asteroid belt is ''not'' an AsteroidThicket. The asteroids are actually spread out; you could fly a ship through the asteroid belt and barely come within sight of any. This is why probes are able to fly to the outer planets without a problem[[note]]In fact, they pay almost no attention to whether there might be any in the way (with the exception of one or two of the genuinely big ones like Ceres) - you couldn't see them anyway, and the chances of an actual collision with anything is so remote as to effectively be zero[[/note]].

* CuttingTheKnot: Neither the United States or the Soviet Union are willing to admit they have a satellite with nuclear weapons pointed at the other country. So the President goes on television saying that both countries have a satellite put up to avert an incoming meteor and saying he'll be asking the Soviets for help. This way everyone can get on with co-ordinating their efforts instead of wasting time in diplomatic denials.

-->'''Harry Sherwood''': Why don't you xerox 100 copies of that report [risk analysis of revealing "Hercules"], pass them out among 100 guys in Washington and then organize 100 meetings to discuss it, and by that time the meteor will have hit and we won't have any more problems!\\
'''Russian Minister, after the President announces to the world the existence of both missile satellites''': The President is an alchemist. He has just turned hypocrisy into opportunity.
* KillSat: Both "Hercules" and its Soviet counterpart "Peter The Great" are orbital nuclear missile silos that are aiming straight down onto both Russia and the United States. The drama of most of the film comes both from Dr. Paul Bradley (the man who designed "Hercules") being ''pissed'' at the fact that his baby was repurposed as a weapon of mass destruction when it was originally made for the exact thing it's being needed for now, and the fact that both governments (with General Adlon being the most belligerent voice on the American side) would rather let the damn asteroid kill everybody before letting any kind of potential secrets (up to and including the fact that the platforms exist) be known.

* LastStand / MonumentalDamage: The last chunk of Orpheus heads for New York, and manages to hit the AT&T building, as if the asteroid knew where the launch was being ordered from.

* {{Novelization}}: By Franklin Coen and the film’s co-writer Edmund H. North.

* ScientistVsSoldier: The main conflict between Dr. Paul Bradley (and his friend Harry) and General Adlon is that the Bradley created the "Hercules" satellite (an orbital nuclear missile silo) in order to protect Earth from possible asteroid strikes (like the one that is coming towards Earth), while the general was one of the men who advocated putting it on Earth's orbit... only pointing down towards the Soviet Union instead. After Dr. Bradley and Harry figure out that there is not enough firepower on "Hercules" alone to prevent the asteroid from destroying Earth, they enlist (with the help of the President) the assistance of Dr. Dubov, the scientist who helped develop "Peter The Great" (the Soviet counterpart to "Hercules", which is also in orbit and pointing down towards the U.S.). None of the scientists have a problem helping each other, but the military men on both sides are absolutely raging about it, quipping about the necessity to keep their existence and specific details secret (and Adlon is the most belligerent of them all). At one point a barrage of smaller rocks that are preceding the main asteroid burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere and Adlon takes it as perfect proof that the big asteroid (you know, the one ''the size of Manhattan Island'') is going to be harmless and everybody else is just being alarmist.

* ChummyCommies: Typical of a film made during the 1970s détente period, it features Soviet-American cooperation against [[EnemyMine an external threat]]. And while the Soviets do engage in some UsefulNotes/ColdWar shenanigans, they're portrayed as no worse than their American counterparts in that regard.

** The asteroid belt is ''not'' a jumbled mess of rocks. The asteroids are actually spread out; you could fly a ship through the asteroid belt and barely come within sight of any. This is why probes are able to fly to the outer planets without a problem[[note]]In fact, they pay almost no attention to whether there might be any in the way (with the exception of one or two of the genuinely big ones like Ceres) - you couldn't see them anyway, and the chances of an actual collision with anything is so remote as to effectively be zero[[/note]].

* TranslationWithAnAgenda: General Adlon bring along an extra translator to make sure the Russians won't be able to do this. Dr. Bradley sends the extra translator away, being GenreSavvy enough to know that this is the kind of movie in which the Russians can be trusted.

-->'''Russian Minister, after the President announces to the world the existence of both missile satellites''': The President is an alchemist. He has just turned hypocrisy into opportunity.

''Meteor'' is a 1979 impact event film directed by Ronald Neame, one of the last attempts to maintain that decade's DisasterMovie genre (although given the basic premise of [[Film/{{Armageddon}} two of the blockbusters]] [[Film/DeepImpact of more modern times]], maybe it was prophetic).

* TactfulTranslation: After General Adlon goes on an angry rant which includes the DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment quip above (he is pissed at being pretty much booted out of the "Hercules" command center because he's not being useful), Dr. Dubov goes on an angry rant of his own in Russian and goes to one of the center's offices. His translator then says that he said he needs to use the phone to contact Moscow.

* FingerWag: While playing a game of chess, Dr. Dubov does this to discourage his opponent from making a specific move.

** The asteroid belt is ''not'' a jumbled mess of rocks. The asteroids are actually spread out; you could fly a ship through the asteroid belt and barely come within sight of any. This is why probes are able to fly to the outer planets without a problem.

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: In spite of having not one, but ''two'' scientific advisors:

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: When discussing Hercules, Dr. Dubov says that it took three years for the Germans to destroy Stalingrad. The Battle of Stalingrad lasted for five months. The Siege of ''Leningrad'' lasted three years.

An AllStarCast -- including Creator/SeanConnery, Creator/NatalieWood, Creator/KarlMalden, Creator/BrianKeith, Creator/MartinLandau, Creator/TrevorHoward, and Creator/HenryFonda -- work to stop a five-mile wide meteor (yes, a five-mile wide space rock is called a meteor, not an asteroid) from hitting the Earth in six days after it's detected within the asteroid belt.

An AllStarCast -- including Creator/SeanConnery, Creator/KarlMalden, Creator/BrianKeith, Creator/MartinLandau, and Creator/NatalieWood -- work to stop a five-mile wide meteor (yes, a five-mile wide space rock is called a meteor, not an asteroid) from hitting the Earth in six days after it was detected within the asteroid belt.

And somewhere...an astronomer is crying.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/meteor1979_1906.jpg]]

''Meteor'' is a 1979 impact event film, one of the last attempts to maintain that decade's DisasterMovie genre (although given the basic premise of [[Film/{{Armageddon}} two of the blockbusters]] [[Film/DeepImpact of more modern times]], maybe it was prophetic). An AllStarCast including Creator/SeanConnery, Karl Malden and Creator/NatalieWood work to stop a five-mile wide meteor (yes, a five-mile wide space rock is called a meteor, not an asteroid) from hitting the Earth in six days after it was detected within the asteroid belt.

''Meteor'' is a 1979 impact event film, one of the last attempts to maintain that decade's DisasterMovie genre (although given the basic premise of two of the blockbusters of more modern times, maybe it was prophetic). An all-star cast including Creator/SeanConnery, Karl Malden and Creator/NatalieWood work to stop a five-mile wide meteor (yes, a five-mile wide space rock is called a meteor, not an asteroid) from hitting the Earth in six days after it was detected within the asteroid belt.

** When Orpheus passes by, the sun is in ''eclipse''!
** Some of the missiles launched seem to run out of fuel and fall...in space. Rockets are supposed to run out of fuel and glide to their destination.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: When discussing Hercules, Dr. Dubov says that it took three years for the Germans to destroy Stalingrad. The Battle of Stalingrad lasted for five months. The Siege of Leningrad lasted three years.

* CuttingTheKnot: Neither the United States or the Soviet Union is willing to admit they have a satellite with nuclear weapons pointing at each others country. So the President goes on television saying that both countries have a satellite put up to avert an incoming meteor and saying he'll be asking the Soviets for help. This way everyone can get on with co-ordinating their efforts instead of wasting time in diplomatic denials.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: "When common sense is restored, and the President....Has returned the control of this center to ME.....I SHALL RETURN! TO THIS CENTER!"

* KillSat: Both "Hercules" and its Soviet counterpart "Peter The Great" are orbital nuclear missile silos that are aiming straight down onto both Russia and the United States. The drama of most of the film comes both from Dr. Paul Bradley (the man who designed "Hercules") being ''pissed'' at the fact that his baby was repurposed as a weapon of mass destruction when it was originally made for the exact thing it's being needed for now and the fact that both governments (with General Adlon being the most belligerent voice on the American side) would rather let the damn asteroid kill everybody before letting any kind of potential secrets (up to and including the fact that the platforms exist) be known.

* LicensedPinballTable: No, seriously. [[Pinball/{{Meteor}} Click here.]]

* ScientistVsSoldier: The main conflict between Dr. Paul Bradley (and his friend Harry) and General Adlon is that the Bradley created the "Hercules" satellite (an orbital nuclear missile silo) in order to protect Earth from possible asteroid strikes (like the one that is coming towards Earth), while the general was one of the men who advocated putting it on Earth's orbit... only pointing down towards the Soviet Union instead. After Dr. Bradley and Harry figure out that there is not enough firepower on "Hercules" alone to prevent the asteroid from destroying Earth, they enlist (with the help of the President) the assistance of Dr. Dublov, the scientist who helped develop "Peter The Great" (the Soviet counterpart to "Hercules", which is also in orbit and pointing down towards the U.S.). None of the scientists have a problem helping each other, but the military men on both sides are absolutely raging about it, quipping about the necessity to keep their existence and specific details secret (and Adlon is the most belligerent of them all). At one point a barrage of smaller rocks that are preceding the main asteroid burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere and Adlon takes it as perfect proof that the big asteroid (you know, the one ''the size of Manhattan Island'') is going to be harmless and everybody else is just being alarmist.