A bizarre amalgamation of disaster and blaxploitation thrillers which never really gels, this uneven adventure story unsurprisingly went straight to video on first release. As a science fiction disaster movie, it offers little of interest; the story behind the asteroid is barely explained and the threat itself limited to some mega-cheesy computer effects of bits of it hitting the earth and destroying various towns. Instead the plot focuses on the hunt for the cult leader by the buddy-buddy teaming of Ice-T and Suzy Amis, keeping things so small scale that the cult consists of about two people - yes, it's got that low a budget. The action sequences are few and far between, which is rather good because they always verge on silliness (this is one of those films where bad guys open fire with a dozen sub machine-guns and still fail to hit the good guys) and are still somehow routinely played out.
Playing the role of an unpleasant and violent criminal, Ice-T fits into the role like a glove in a part he seems to have been born to play. His acting is good, if you can call this real acting. Suzy Amis is colourless as the FBI agent and her part largely unwritten; an aimless void at the centre of the movie. The only really good performance is from Mario Van Peebles as the mild-mannered but ruthless cult leader who believes that the asteroid is a message from God, putting in a nicely underplayed turn when he could have easily just been over the top (I'm thinking Basil Wallace as Screwface in MARKED FOR DEATH here). The scientist is played by Linden Ashby - whoever thought of that casting needs to be shot - with slightly less woodenness than your average pine tree. JUDGMENT DAY is a good example of the cheaply-made and unimaginative television-style movies pouring out of America these days; it offers a few minor thrills and interests here and there but fails as a whole through being just too mundane.
Playing the role of an unpleasant and violent criminal, Ice-T fits into the role like a glove in a part he seems to have been born to play. His acting is good, if you can call this real acting. Suzy Amis is colourless as the FBI agent and her part largely unwritten; an aimless void at the centre of the movie. The only really good performance is from Mario Van Peebles as the mild-mannered but ruthless cult leader who believes that the asteroid is a message from God, putting in a nicely underplayed turn when he could have easily just been over the top (I'm thinking Basil Wallace as Screwface in MARKED FOR DEATH here). The scientist is played by Linden Ashby - whoever thought of that casting needs to be shot - with slightly less woodenness than your average pine tree. JUDGMENT DAY is a good example of the cheaply-made and unimaginative television-style movies pouring out of America these days; it offers a few minor thrills and interests here and there but fails as a whole through being just too mundane.