An Hour and 24 Minutes You Won't Get Back
Things are going in to meltdown due to a strange radiation storm as space debris pelts the Earth and defence systems are wiped out. As FBI agent John Streich (Robert Knepper) looks into things he not only finds himself having to take his hacker teenage son Andy (Cameron Bright) with him due to a run in with the police but also scientist Chloe Edwards (Julia Benson). As they try and make sense of this nightmare unfolding in front of their eyes they believe that what ever is causing this phenomena may lead to the Earth stop spinning and some how with the help of disgraced inventor Kingsley Rothman (Bruce Davison) they must find a way to prevent it from happening.
There was a time when I would look forwards to watching one of these made for TV disaster movies where come sort of storm, science experiment, galactic event would put Earth in the firing line for a grizzly end. But after watching more of these movies than I care to remember the enjoyment of these bad movies has diminished to the point that they are now more often than not a chore to watch. And sadly "Earth's Final Hours" is another which is a chore to watch as other than some special effects the majority of what is served up is cliche.
So the positive when it comes to "Earth's Final Hours" is that the special effects are okay. What I mean by that is the CGI of things firing out of the Earth and pretty lights in the sky are not bad and in some cases superior to other made for TV disaster movies. Unfortunately the staging of the sets when it comes to the CGI still has that manufactured look and lack the grit and damage you would expect to see on objects when things come smashing out of the sky.
But beyond the effects what we have is quite typical were we have the single agent and the attractive scientist working together to try and find out what is going on and save the day. At the same time we have a couple of teenagers involved in this which of course means they end up in danger at some point. Oh and just for good measure we have some nefarious activity by men in suits and a kid who hacks with ease because the important thing is that he can hack not that he does so in an authentic, believable manner.
What this all boils down to is that "Earth's Final Hours" is just a typical made for TV disaster movie which tosses up a lot of cliche with just a few different bits of science mumbo jumbo to try and make it fresh.
