Deadly Skies (2006)

hyped garbage

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Dr. Madison Taylor (Rae Dawn Chong) at Near Earth Asteroid Tracking Society has discovered a hidden asteroid on course to destroy the world in a day's time. General Dutton (Michael Moriarty) at the US government's Project Safe Skies dismisses her. Her only hope is former air force Major Richard Donovan (Antonio Sabato Jr.) and an asteroid-destroying laser which might be no more than a government boondoggle.This is Deep Impact without the explosive CGI or the reasonable characters. I like the idea of a government boondoggle and secret weapon. Everything else is less compelling and less well-written. The miniature budget does limit the production. I got bored with Chong and Sabato in a long back and forth. This is cheap TV with one interesting idea among a sea of weak writing and production.

If you wanna get a decent feel for this movie going in... really try'en picture pretty much any crappy action/sci-fi movies since the 80's- for anyone who's a fan of genre you'll understand what I mean, if that's not your thing then you'll sit through his looking at your watch going Jesus Christ please just end now.If that is your kind of thing make sure you watch the version of this called Force of Impact, unless you are also in fact a fan of gay cinema... don't worry boys it's pretty hard to get the 'gay' themed copied... I should know I had to dig high and low for it.For those of you looking for the unedited copy good luck... But this is what I really want to impress upon people. Pay attention: this is a b-grade action movie where two of the protagonists happen to be gay (cute together too). Now there was an earlier review on here complaining how no 'gay' movies have any substance and the ones that do are written by straight people and so on. Well I won't even try'en discuss the fallacy of logic on complaining about straight people working on gay movies...But about quality... now gay people do this all the time... they complain about Dante's Cove and about Hellbent and so on... and about how these movies don't depict the gay lifestyle accurately and there all bad soap operas and that they all make gay people look like their crazed sex addicts... and usually after that complaint will come the statement... the only good 'gay' movie was Brokeback Mountain and that was made by straight people... Have you ever seen Brokeback Mountain... seriously... what a piece of crap- I'd rather poke my own eyes out than... But that's beside the point...There for entertainment purposes only folks... not an autobiography for the gay community... if I what something close to real life I'd become more involve in reality TV... yuk...I mean my god not everything made has to be an earth shattering revelation about what it's like to be gay... speaking with insider information... it's not entirely different from being straight.

Who can tell why this film was made? FORCE OF IMPACT (aka DEADLY SKIES) was apparently made for TV though it seems highly unlikely that it was ever screened. Not that the story itself is a problem: giant asteroid is sailing toward the earth with the potential of destroying the planet unless someone is smart enough to out guess the logistics. In this film the smart one is Rae Dawn Chong in a role she can sleep walk through. The government is not eager for her company to employ its 'better than government issue' strategies: Rob LaBelle and Michael Moriarty have a great time being mean. But it is Rea dawn Chong who remembers a terrific mind in the form of Antonio Sabato, Jr. who can save the planet....And that is where the difference lies - Chong encounters Sabato and his lover Michael Boisvert en flagrante in a completely nude sex scene that is as sensual as any found in the movies. Nothing much is made of the reason for Sabato to be gay and that is good: he just happens to be a gay man in a healthy relationship, and the chemistry with Boisvert is definitely there. But that is about all we get, other than an opening scene when two beautiful young au naturel women make it in a swimming pool while a mini-asteroid collides in the water.So it is another routine space age flick, but add to the salad the eye candy offered, and it is almost worth sitting through the movie! Pretty people help keep this one afloat.

On the surface, this strikes me as an oddly constructed movie. It's a stock sci-fi thriller whose hero and his friend/sidekick happen to be lovers. This fact is brought out in two bedroom scenes and is mentioned very briefly in a couple of other lines of dialog. But other than these brief, isolated moments it is never mentioned, never referred to, and it has absolutely no bearing whatever on the story as our hero battles to save the world from destruction. A standard subplot in this kind of action film is a romantic triangle of some sort, but these two lovers are in league with an extremely attractive computer jock and they never even notice him. Someday there may come a time when an action hero can be gay just because he is and it would not have any impact on the story, but we're not there yet. I'd bet good money that this movie was originally made as a standard thriller, that none of the cable services bought it, and that turning the hero gay was an afterthought accomplished by an additional day or two of shooting new footage in order to open up the gay cable network market. Whether or not the hero is in love with his buddy, the film is a decent low-budget thriller. You can see worse on the Sci-Fi Network any night of the week. Michael Moriarity is clearly having great fun as the scenery-chewing military villain and the gay moments give the producers a chance to get Antonio Sabato naked, which is never a bad thing. In short, it's definitely an enjoyable movie - just don't expect any dramatic revelations about gay action heroes.