After successfully releasing Bad Boys and The Rock, (not a biopic about Dwayne Johnson) filmmaker, Michael Bay, (Transformers series, Pearl Harbor) was recruited by Touchstone Pictures, (a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) to direct a Sci-Fi Disaster film called “Armageddon,” in response to the massive box office success of Independence Day, in an attempt to replicate the same success Roland Emmerich made for combing Sci-Fi and Disaster elements into one complete package. Bay accepted the offer after reading J.J. Abrams screenplay for the film and Jerry Bruckheimer also produced the movie.
Released in the summer of 1998, Armageddon became the highest grossing film of the year. However, it received negative reviews from critics including Roger Ebert, he added this to his “Most Hated Films List.” To put salt in the wound, Bruce Willis won a Razzie Award for Worst Actor.
This movie ain’t the only film about an asteroid, Dreamworks produced their own Sci-Fi Disaster movie called “Deep Impact” which was also released two months before Armageddon. 1998 was the year Disney and Dreamworks going head to head with their own films such as A Bugs Life and Antz. Kinda like McDonalds and Burger King or Coca-Cola and PepsiCo competing for business revenue.
In response to another Sci-Fi Disaster related film called “Geostorm,” coming out this October, with Roland Emmerich’s sidekick, Dean Devlin, directing this upcoming movie with Jerry Bruckheimer co-producing. Lets see what the contents for this film contains any good or bad elements. Shall we?
The following article doesn’t contain any potential SPOILERS. You’re allowed to read it, just in case if you never had a chance to view it.
Positive: Most of The Main Cast including Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Steve Buscemi, Michael Clarke Duncan, & Owen Wilson, did a good job on their respective performances as The Crew.
Supporting Cast including Billy Bob Thornton, Peter Stormare, Keith David, & William Fichtner, also did a good job on their performances.
Opening Scene begins with Charlton Heston narrating about Earth’s history involving meteors.
The Visual Effects looked eye poppingly gorgeous. Set Pieces were created for The Team to explore the environment of The Asteroid.
Intense Sequences got me off the edge of my seat. My favorite part is when The Crew are struggling to land the ship.
One of the members of The Team mentions Pulp Fiction. Bruce Willis also starred in this film. I call this meta-reference. Don’t forget Steve Buscemi’s cameo in Pulp Fiction.
Tell me if this is a good thing or a bad thing? Michael Bay makes a cameo appearance as a NASA employee. I’ll let you decide if it’s a positive or a negative.
An Easter Egg featuring several Godzilla toys. Roland Emmerich’s god awful remake of the same name, came out the same year as Armageddon.
During a scene when the gang gets recruited. The song “Come Together,” is played in the background. This song is also featured in a trailer for Ben Affleck’s upcoming Justice League movie. Must’ve been a coincidence involving Ben Affleck teaming up with a rag tag group of characters trying to save the world.
NASA’s location is in Texas. I’ll give this Bonus Points because I’m from Texas.
If you’ve seen the entire film, The Ending is gonna make you cry. If you’re a guy, you’ll shed manly tears. I’m one of those people who shed manly tears.
A few Aerosmith songs appear in this movie.
Fun Fact: Liv Tyler, who plays Ben Affleck’s love interest, is the real life daughter of Aerosmith frontman, Steve Tyler.
Negative: Chemistry between Ben Affleck & Liv Tyler’s characters were kinda distracting and I didn’t know anything about their relationship and the reason why Bruce Willis’ character, Harry Stamper dislikes him.
Dutch Angles often appear in certain scenes.
NASA employees didn’t properly train The Team on specific technology such as a minigun. Which resulted in a complete disaster. They made NASA employees act like a bunch of incompetent morons.
The Film is unintentionally dated, for example, The Twin Towers are in the film. This was before 9/11 happened. Look, this picture came out in 1998 prior to that fateful event.
The Final Verdict: B-
In my opinion, I thought the film was alright. I don’t see why Armageddon is painfully bad. I enjoyed it, despite a few blemishes. If it weren’t for the romance or idiocy involving NASA employees, it could’ve been on the same Grade A level like Independence Day. If you’re haven’t seen this movie before, go give this one a try.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 