Bruckheimer and Simpson weren't the first to discover the idea of High Concept. Simply, it allows studio executives to discuss the plot for a film in one line. Ronald Neame, who made a successful ocean-going disaster flick in 1972 - The Poseidon Adventure - was picked to direct a story of two planets colliding in the region of Jupiter. One of the fragments is now heading straight for Earth.
At the height of the Cold War, both the Americans and the Russians have developed strategic systems to defend their homelands from missile attack. The American system was developed by scientist Connery to stop asteroids before being filched by the military for darker purposes. So he's the go-to guy when the asteroid heads for Houston. Some interesting effects, big names (including Henry Fonda in one of his final performances) and smouldering chemistry spanning the East-West divide between Connery and Russki interpreter Natalie Wood.
Meteor is a Film programme that first aired in 1979 and has been classified a PG certificate.
