The Asylum Home Entertainment's "Meteor Apocalypse" comes 10 years too late to piggyback off the success of space-rock disaster extravaganzas "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon," but right on time to tap into the ol' family values conservative movement.
See, despite its sci-fi trappings, "Meteor Apocalypse" is branded as a Faith Films production, "a Christian apocalyptic thriller in the tradition of ... 'Left Behind.'" In other words, amid all the action, you get a sermon wedged into a character's monologue, scenes of survivors taking refuge in a church, and a big ol' happy ending "? just enough faith to justify the label without scaring off everyone else.
Joe Lando (paging "Dr. Quinn") is David DeMatti, a family man whose unity threatens to crumble when the Earth is due to be pummeled by a series of meteors "? enough to deem an apocalypse, one might say. Although his wife is played by "Babylon 5" star Claudia Christian, she's absent for much of the film, leaving him to drive and run around with cutie Lynn (Cooper Harris) and dodge all the rocks, which result in impressive explosions.
By the time the squadron of ATV riders shows up bearing automatic weapons, I thought I was watching an Italian post-apocalyptic action film from the 1980s for a second. Nope! This is Syfy-level stuff "? competent and inoffensive, but stunningly average. Like faith-based thrillers "The Omega Code" and "Hangman's Curse," it's easier viewing if you don't take it seriously.
The disc features trailers for a handful of other Asylum films, including the disaster epic "Megafault." Two minutes of bloopers and a few more minutes of behind-the-scenes footage fill out the package.
Fun fact: One of the credited actors is named Sex Henderson. "?Rod Lott
