Throwback Thursday: "Night of the Comet"

Calling Night of the Comet a little bit '80s is like saying that Amy Winehouse is a little bit troubled or that Steve Carrel is a little bit funny.

While Comet is late '80s, it bears all the lovable tropes of your favorite '80s flicks. Foremost, it really reminded me of the sweet mini-series V. You have concepts that are extremely difficult to portray without a big budget, so you skirt around it a bit with lighting effects, cool sounds, and lots of stuff that happens off-screen. It really works, for the most part.

So a comet passes by leaving most everyone dead, leaving the partially protected insane zombies, and leaving the wholly protected (it seems metal is the magic material in this case) untouched. Though the sporadic zombies then become an obstacle to be reckoned with.

Notice I said "obstacle" not "force." There aren't too many of them, though they - too - are relegated to '80s garb and uber-cool accessories such as sunglasses worn in the dark and shiny cover-alls.

The story is okay, and the main characters are all likable if a little unrealistic in their acceptance of the circumstances.

Looking at a film purely by its ability to entertain, Comet is good stuff. It's well-paced, with some action, comedy, and cool era effects - especially for fans of circa '80s sci-fi. Don't look to it for another Armageddon or Deep Impact, but then again, how many of those do we really need anyway?