METEOR (1979) Mostly craters

So why would I recommend this near-disaster of a disaster movie? Not for the special effects (cheesy). Not for the Love Boat-type "all star" cast (grim Henry Fonda, sleazily mustachioed Sean Connery, clown-nosed and comb-overed Karl Malden, super-hammy Martin Landau, waxworky Trevor Howard, etc.). Not for the predictable script (a precursor to every "nature vs. earth" movie that followed) or acting (runs the gamut from cardboardy to overwrought). Not even for the plot (five-foot mile wide meteor threatens to obliterate a few continents, preceded by meteor "splinters" that trigger avalanches, tidal waves, running and screaming Japanese people, even a POSEIDON ADVENTURE-style escape). And yet ... there are at least two reasons to go METEOR watching: one, to see what a subtle actress and lovely a woman child star Natalie Wood had become at 40 (two years before her death) ... and two, to enjoy the exquisitely entertaining scenery-chewing of Brian Keith as a charming, effusive Russian astrophysicist. He rattles Russian off like a Cossack, and oddly enough, he's the most credible character in the film. Most of Keith's Russian was probably dubbed, but that of Ms. Wood, who plays his assistant and translator, looks undubbed and sounds spot on. And why not? She was born Natalia Zakharenko, the daughter of Russian immigrants. Oh, and there's one more reason to discover METEOR ... it's kinda fun even if it is full of holes.