It's practically impossible to talk about Mimi Leder's 1998 comet-based disaster film "Deep Impact" without also cursorily mentioning Michael Bay's 1998 comet-based disaster film "Armageddon." Leder's film was released on May 8, and was presented as a stern and realistic view of what might happen to the Earth if a massive, Mount Everest-sized comet struck. Bay's film was released on July 1, and presented a much more cartoony, ultra-macho version of the same story, this time with a comet the size of Texas. The former was about somber politicians planning for the worst, the latter was about muscular, blue-collar miners flying into space. Curiously, both films were hits; "Deep Impact" made $350 million on a budget of $80 million, and "Armageddon" made over $550 million on a budget of $140 million. 

Of the two, "Deep Impact" is the "classy" choice, featuring a wide ensemble of recognizable actors, each doing their best to prepare for -- and...