Man: We're live in 10 seconds.
Cue the president.
Mr President, 5, 4, 3...
Hello, America.
It is my unhappy duty to report to you
that the Messiah has failed.
This computer-enhanced radar image from Houston
shows how the detonation succeeded,
however, did not destroy the comet.
There are now 2 pieces-- one 6 miles wide,
the other, a mile and a half.
Both are still on a path towards Earth.
We've lost communication with the Messiah spacecraft,
although we continue to track it visually.
We don't know how many are alive.
We don't know their condition.
Now, we have to make some decisions together.
What do we do?
You have a choice. We have a choice...
Right now.
Ever since the comet was discovered,
we've been hoping and working for the best,
but we've also been planning for the worst.
Our strategy has been two fold.
First, our strategic missile command
is preparing to coordinate with the Russians
a massive strike of Titan missiles
to intercept the comets.
If we can deflect these comets enough,
they will bounce harmlessly off our atmosphere
and head on out into space.
Unfortunately, the Titans cannot be launched
until the comets are only a few hours away.
And while we are confident the missile attack will succeed,
it is only prudent that we now take cautionary steps
to ensure the continuation of our way of life,
to guarantee that there will be enough of us left
to rebuild a new world
in the unlikely event that the comets do strike the Earth.
So, in the soft limestone of Missouri,
we've been preparing a network of immense caves,
and they're almost finished.
And we can put a million people in them.
And that million people can survive there, underground,
for 2 years,
until the air clears and the dust settles.
Now, the cave is more than a dormitory.
It's our new Noah's Ark.
We're storing seeds and seedlings,
plants, animals, enough to start over.
On August 10th, a computer
will randomly select 800,000 Americans
to join the 200,000 scientists, doctors, engineers,
teachers, soldiers, and artists, who have already been chosen.
Other countries are preparing similar caves
along whatever lines they feel are best
to preserve their way of life.
This is ours.
Beginning tonight and continuing until the crisis passes,
I am declaring a state of martial law.
The armed forces and the National Guard
are working with local law enforcement.
A national curfew begins at midnight tonight.
Now, wherever you are, go home.
Stay offthe roads after sunset.
Crimes against persons or property
will be dealt with swiftly and harshly.
News stations around the nation are being faxed copies
of the lottery procedure as we speak,
and they'll be broadcasting the details to you
in a few moments.
I wish...
No.
Wishing is wrong.
It's the wrong word right now.
That's not what I mean.
What I mean is...
I believe in God.
Relax.
I know a lot of you don't,
but I still want to offer a prayer...
for our survival.
Mine included.
Because I believe that God,
whom ever you hold that to be,
hears all prayers,
even if sometimes the answer is no.
So, may the Lord bless you.
May the Lord keep you.
May the Lord lift up His divine countenance upon you...
and give you peace.
Woman: And in 5, 4, 3, 2...
We now have the details for the national lottery.
"Those of you who have been preselected
will be notified within the next few minutes.
For the rest, on the night of August 10th,
those whose social security numbers
have been randomly selected by computer will be notified.
While some Americans... over 50 years of age
have been preselected for the ARK
due to their expertise in a necessary field of study,
no men and women over 50 in the general population
will be included in the lottery.
The...
The evac--The evacuation of those
who have been selected for the ARK
will take no longer than 2 days,
beginning on August 12th.
During this 2-day period,
no unofficial travel will be permitted.
Those selected will be taken by bus and train
to the underground ARK site by military personnel.
Civil defence teams have been formed in every town
with a population over 5,000.
They will distribute supplies and organize group shelters
in underground parking facilities
and other appropriate sites.
Construction plans..."
"Equipment lists,
and locations for securing the necessary provisions..."
Ellen: Hello?
Yes, this is Ellen Biederman.
Jenny: "...on how to grow your own food underground
and how to purify water
are now available on the internet at www..."
We've been preselected.
Jenny: "...fcda.gov."
Chuck? Chuck? Where are you going?
Our phone. They could be calling.
Jenny: "...beginning on August 9th.
The only phones that ring
will be those of the people selected."
That's it.
That's all there is.
Tanner: The interior camera circuitry is shot.
So, Andy, can we get back into the cargo bay
to reroute the video functions?
Baker: Starboard cargo porthole's blown.
We could go in with the EVAs,
but there's not much left in the life-support packs.
Simon: We should be able to raise Houston
on the low band once we get closer.
And the Orion is still functioning?
System check was OK,
but I don't know about the radiation shielding.
So, if we fire it up,
we beat the comet back to Earth,
but we may end up glowing in the dark. Right?
Tanner, Laughing: OK, so, uh...
Anybody?
Let's go home.
OK.
Robin: I have to say it's liberating
knowing that I'm not going to be called.
I don't think I've ever been happier.
I've even stopped smoking.
What are you gonna do with all that extra money you save?
Do you know the National Gallery
is saving all of the art?
They're shipping it to the caves.
I've given them my beautiful 18th-century desk
from New England and all the Sheraton silver.
I really feel like I'd protected something
when I gave them.
You should see my apartment.
There's nothing there.
It's practically Japanese.
Seems kind of unfair that I got picked.
You know, I'm not a doctor or a scientist.
People need continuity.
Everyone knows you.
And they trust you.
But I...can't help you.
Don't worry about me.
I'm gonna be happy
as long as I know you're going to live.
Mr Hotchner?
Who did I think I was going to be
when I bought that bike?
Well, every kid on the block wants one now.
Every parent on the block hates you for it.
That's the best news I've had in years.
Um, sir?
Could you give me a hand over here for a second?
Yes, sir.
I just want to get these bars up.
Hi, Mrs Hotchner.
Jenny On TV: A mob attacked and killed
a Miami rental yard operator
who was charging $5,000 an hour
for backhoe and tractor rentals.
Marines intervened to stop the violence.
Mrs Hotchner?
Sarah's on the hill.
thank you.
Where were you today?
I've been looking all over for you.
Why weren't you at school?
My dad said I didn't have to go.
He said there's no point.
I talked to Civil Defence.
They said if you and I got married
we'd be family, and I could get you in.
What about my parents? They're not your family.
I don't want to go without my parents.
You don't have to. I'm the famous Leo Biederman,
and I haven't used my fame for anything,
but I got them to let your family go, too.
You--This is your only chance to survive.
Jenny: Across the country,
looters continue to set fire to abandoned stores.
The fires have been left to burn since many firefighters
have been called to help prepare shelters.
Throughout Latin America's major cities,
business districts have been abandoned to looting gangs...
Airlifts have been ruled out as too dangerous.
More street fighting in Moscow
as food and fuel shortages continue.
Priest: Believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child,
I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
For now we see in a mirror dimly,
but then face to face.
Now I know in part,
then I shall understand fully,
even as I have been fully understood.
Do you, Leo, take Sarah to be your wife...
to have and to hold from this day forward...
for better, for worse...
for richer, for poorer...
to love and to cherish?
I now pronounce you husband and wife.
Here, let me help you.
I'll get it.
Yeah. How you feeling?
All right.
I want to tell you something.
You children didn't bring any real books to read,
did you know that?
I brought MobyDick and Huckleberry Finn
and Baker and Simon had never read them.
Now, I'm afraid to ask you,
have you ever read Melville or Twain?
Hmm?
Hey, I'm a child of the movies, Fish.
OK, I see.
So...
You got a shitty deal, Oren, you know that?
You really did.
Don't worry about me.
Yeah.
I mean that. Really.
Don't worry about me.
My whole life I...
You know how it is for guys like us.
You--You and I, we're the same.
What do you mean by that?
Gotta be the best.
Oh, I see.
Be...the best.
Sometimes I see flashes of light...
You know, like...colours.
Yeah.
I fall asleep...
and I dream.
But there's a part of me that's always awake.
And I can see myself dreaming.
I'm seeing things differently, Fish.
Well, that's good.
Fish...
why the hell do they call you "Fish"?
Well, I...
Spurgeon, sturgeon, fish.
Took about 15 minutes of my first day
at the Naval Academy.
Yeah.
Your kids go there?
Yeah, they did. They did.
And they're good men, both of them.
I don't see as much of them as I used to
when Mary was alive.
You don't have to talk about it. It's OK.
No, it's OK. It's OK.
You're a married man. You know what it's like.
Every marriage has its good years and bad years.
We ended on a great year.
Yeah.
Anyway, let's get started.
Moby Dick. Chapter one.
"Call me Ishmael.
Several years ago, never mind how long precisely,
having little or no money in my purse...
...grim about the mouth...
Whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul,
whenever I find myself...
...knocking people's hats off,
then I account it high time
to get to sea as soon as I can."
Listen up!
Hold it right there!
- Biederman? - That's us.
IDs, please.
Yeah. Got them right here.
There's 4 of us.
Lieutenant: Lewis?
This is my wife Sarah. We have a marriage licence.
Um, I have it right here.
OK.
All right. Let's go. Let's move it out!
Mom? Sir? My parents are coming, too.
Wait! The Hotchners.
H-O-T-C--
H-N-E-R.
It's not here.
It has to be there.
FCDA sent their names to the White House.
They're not there.
Check the list again.
Ellen: They must be there.
Dan: Give me your bag, sweetie.
They're not on the list. I'm sorry.
Let's go!
Sir! Could you check it one more time?
I put you on the list. They said you're on the list.
I put them on the list!
We're not on the list.
Lieutenant: I need the Biedermans on the bus now.
- What? - I want to stay.
No, no, no, no!
I need to stay with you!
Sarah! Sarah, you need to go.
No. I have to stay with you.
I'm not going anywhere without you!
Honey, get on the bus!
Young lady, this bus is moving out.
Dan: On the bus! Get on the bus!
Chuck, we'll work it out when we get there.
Jenny? There's a phone call for you.
Yes?
This is she.
Is Robin Lerner my mother?
When?
Uh, 61 .
I'll come down there then. thank you.
thank you very much.
Jenny, do you want us to do something?
You're too late. I already took care of everything.
Come. Inside the car. You're getting sick. Please.
I want to talk to you.
Please, come.
I don't give a shit.
Go home and tell it to Chloe.
I can't. She left me.
She's with her mother. They both got scared.
Come. I want to talk to you.
I need you.
How does it feel?
I feel like an orphan.
Jenny!Jenny!
Stop.
Welcome to the ARK. I'm section leader for Orange 254.
That's where you'll be calling home the next 2 years.
So gather your things and follow me to the orientation gallery.
P.A.: If you have been designated
as a civilian section officer,
report to section Red 116 upon entering.
Once again, if you have been designated
as a civilian section officer,
report to section Red 116 upon entering.
Dan: Leo...
I'm not coming.
Leo, come with us right now.
I have to go back for Sarah.
Leo--
Mom, I'm going.
Don, what are you doing?
Giving him something to trade, that's what I'm doing.
I want you to take this.
Dad, that's enough.
Goddam it.
You take care of yourself, OK?
I'm gonna make it.
Worth: What about Entrekin?
I don't know. He hasn't returned my call in 2 weeks.
- Excuse me, Jenny? - Yeah?
Your father's here.
Hello.
I can't stay long. I'm leaving the city,
but I wanted to show you something.
I wanted to show you that you're not an orphan.
I have proof that you're not an orphan.
Here.
Look.
Where's Mom?
Behind the camera.
She took this?
Mm-hmm.
And this one, too.
She was such an artist, don't you think so?
You don't remember when we take them, hmm?
I'm 5 years old. How would I remember that?
Some people do remember when they were 5 years old.
It was such a beautiful day.
All alone on the beach.
And, of course, she would have been in the picture,
but there was no one else to hold the camera,
and...she insisted.
You know how she is.
How she was.
Jenny.
It was such a good day
for all of us.
Don't you remember?
Keep them.
Goodbye.
Radio: We have now confirmed the launch
of all the Titan missiles
from their positions in North Dakota and Wyoming.
The comets are now approximately 14 hours
outside of Earth's atmosphere,
and we are told it should take these missiles
less than 20 minutes to reach their target.
Jenny: OK, here's what we're looking at.
All of the Titans have been launched.
We still won't know if they've made a difference.
The comets have to travel for a while
before the radar tracking stations can see
if they've been pushed to a safe course
that'll bypass the Earth.
So, one more time we have to wait.
Are we on?
Cameraman: We're on, Mr President.
Our missiles have failed.
The comets are still headed for Earth...
and there's nothing we can do to stop them.
So, this is it.
If the world does go on...
it will not go on for everyone.
We have now been able to calculate
the comets' final trajectories,
and we have determined where they're going to strike.
The smaller of the 2 comets, Biederman, will hit first,
somewhere along the Atlantic Seaboard
probably in the waters off the coast of Cape Hatteras
in just under 12 hours at 4:35 p.m. eastern daylight time.
The impact of the comet is going to be...
Well, disastrous.
There will be a very large tidal wave
moving quickly through the Atlantic Ocean.
It will be 100 feet high,
travelling at 1,100 miles an hour.
That's faster than the speed of sound.
As it reaches shallow water, it's going to slow down,
but the wave height,
depending on the depth of the shelf off the coast,
will be anywhere from 1,000 to 3,500 feet high.
Where the land is flat,
the wave will wash inland 600 to 700 miles.
The wave will hit our nation's capital 40 minutes after impact.
New York City, Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia...
all will be destroyed.
if you have any means of getting away from the path of this wave,
leave now.
The impact of the larger comet
will be nothing less than an extinction-level event.
It will strike land in Western Canada
3 hours after Biederman.
Within a week,
the skies will be dark with dust from the impact
and they will stay dark for 2 years.
All plant life will be dead within...
4 weeks.
Animal life within...
a few months.
So that's it.
Good luck to us all.
Fish: Could I bother everyone for a minute?
Let's take a look at the big one.
Now, the outgassing has created a vent
a half mile wide and at least 2 miles deep.
Comet gets closer to the sun, sun melts the ice,
ice turns to steam, we get a big hole, OK?
So, how many nukes do we have left in the back?
4.
If we can get the remaining bombs in that vent,
there shouldn't be anything left bigger than a suitcase.
We can't do anything about the little one,
but it just might give them a chance.
Without the arming codes,
we're going to have to wait to set the bomb timers
until we get closer to Earth to raise Houston.
We may not have enough life support left
to get back into the cargo bay for the nukes,
much less to go down to the comet.
We sure as hell don't have enough propellant left
in the Messiah to manoeuvre with.
How are we supposed to get back off the surface
once we've gotten down there?
We don't.
Well, look at the bright side.
We'll all have high schools named after us.
Tanner: Houston, this is Messiah.
Houston, this is Messiah.
Nice of you to call, Messiah.
We were beginning to wonder
what you were doing up there.
Tanner: Admiring the view, Houston.
Fish, is that you?
Yep. We don't have time to talk, Houston.
There's nothing we can do about the smaller one,
but we do have a plan.
We need the arming codes for the last 4 nukes.
Arming codes? What the hell for?
We can do or we can teach. What's your pleasure?
Get the arming codes! Get the goddam codes!
We have one helicopter. Holds 7 people.
We can ferry 6 people to high ground in West Virginia
and take Jenny to the ARK.
Short stick goes.
I thought it was women and children first.
if you get the short one, you can give up your seat.
Tim: Thank God.
Well, that makes sense.
I got a stick. I got a stick.
Worth: I'm sorry, Beth.
Beth: OK, honey, here we go.
Let's go now.
Beth...
There's always the road. We'll be OK.
Come on. Ah, that's my girl.
OK, that's it.
Sarah!
Where's that key?
Where's the key?
Come on! Hurry up! Come on!
No, wait.
What are you doing?!
We have to go now. Come on! Come on!
Beth, what are you doing?
The road was so crowded. We weren't gonna make it.
I thought if the wave comes, we should be here
because she likes it here.
And we're on the 15th floor, so maybe we'll be OK.
Say goodbye to Jenny-- What are you doing?!
Move! Come on! Go!
Jenny! Oh, my God! Caitlin!
- Come on! - Caitlin! Catie!
Come on! Faster! Faster!
Beth: No! No!
Come on! Let's go!
Hang on. No room for this!
She's going with you!
You're taking my seat!
Come on!
Go! Go!
Jenny, thank you!
Get her in there!
That's too many.
I'm not going.
What?
I'm not going, Erik.
Go!
Sarah!
Sarah, look!
Leo!
Leo Biederman! Leo!
- Leo! - Oh!
You don't have any time. You have to go now.
No! Put this on!
Daddy, what are you doing?
I want you to take the baby.
What? No! Mom!
No arguments, please!
I don't want to go!
Grab his foot, honey.
Let's go.
Mom? Mom!
Sweetheart, listen to me. Let go. Put this on.
- I love you, too. - I love you.
I've always loved you.
I love you.
I don't want to go!
Take care, honey. Put this on.
I'll see you soon! I'll see you soon!
Chuck: Get out of here. Go to high ground.
When I was 11 , I took $32 from your wallet.
When you were a baby...
I once dropped you on your head.
When you came to the studio and brought those pictures,
I lied when I said I didn't remember.
I remember everything.
I remember that we were right over there,
and that's when Mom got that picture of the house.
It was a perfect, happy day.
I came down here to let you know that.
thank you.
I've missed you since then.
I missed you, too.
Biederman.
Daddy.
Hold on!
Tanner: This is Messiah. We're ready to begin our run.
Are our families there yet?
They're on their way, Messiah.
Disengage auto path.
Here we go.
We're at perigee.
Wolf contact in 4 minutes, 45 seconds.
We'll never be closer to home than we are right now.
Come on!
Messiah, we got some people here
that want to talk to you.
Wendy, honey...
you promise me you'll keep doing your church thing,
and I'll be there right next to you,
haunting you.
You better come back and haunt me.
I love you.
There's Mommy.
Hello, Mommy.
Baker: Hey, you take care of Daddy for me, OK?
She does a good job.
She misses Mommy.
Baker: I miss you.
I love you, Mommy.
I love you. Very, very much.
David.
You know what I want to say.
David: I know.
Leo: Come on!
Baker: Wolf contact in 2 minutes, 30 seconds.
Hefter: Oren, Mariette's up at your folks' place in Utah.
We sent a plane, but she isn't here yet.
Fish, your sons are both on active duty.
We tried to get them back,
but we couldn't get them here on time.
I'm sorry.
Well, Mitch, uh...
I want to say goodbye to Mary.
I want to tell her I love her...
and that ever since we've been apart,
every day, I think about her.
Mary, I'm coming home.
Baker: Coming up on target, 625 miles.
Range 600 miles.
Wait! Oh, God, wait!
Wait!
I'm coming!
Oren? Oren, are you there?
Mariette? I'm here. I can hear you.
Hi, sweetie. This is your father.
His name is Oren. I named him after you.
Monash: Hello, Oren.
Show him what you brought him.
He's holding up a little rocket.
That's a mighty powerful rocket you got there.
Simon: He's laughing.
I can hear him. I know.
Mariette...
I'm hugging you both right now.
I'm holding you.
Baker: 25 seconds.
Prepare to synchronize the nukes.
23...
22...
21...
20...
19...
18...
17...
16...
15...
It's been a pleasure serving with you, Commander.
The honour's all mine, Andy.
Be good, Oren.
Be good.
Beck: We watched as the bombs shattered the second comet
into a million of pieces of ice and rock
that burned harmlessly in our atmosphere
and lit up the sky for an hour.
Still, we were left with the devastation of the first.
The waters reached as far inland
as the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys.
It washed away farms and towns...
forests and skyscrapers.
But the water receded.
The wave hit Europe and Africa, too.
Millions were lost.
Countless more left homeless.
But the waters receded.
Cities fall...
but they are rebuilt.
And heroes die...
but they are remembered.
We honour them with every brick we lay...
with every field we sow...
with every child we comfort and then teach to rejoice
in what we have been regiven.
Our planet.
Our home.
So now...
let us begin.