Armageddon

Rating:
Summary: Bruckheimer and Bay's Space Movie
Review: Jerry Bruckheimer's Armageddon is a lavishly and expertly produced space epic full of great effects and big stars. It's just too bad they didn't work on the story.

Armageddon begins with a destructive metor shower over New York city. This catastrophe signals the arrival of a doomsday meteor the size of Texas which will crash into the earth in two weeks. In an attempt to destroy the meteor, NASA officials enlist a rag tag group of deep core drillers led by Harry Tasker played by Bruce Willis in a very smirky performance.

The first hour of the film is Harry assembling his crew. These scenes are the most entertaining in the film as we meet the various characters in their wild surroundings. Director Michael Bay does a fair job of giving each supporting character a certain cinematic flair, and non more evident than in the Steve Buscemi's character of Rockhound. This segment of the film performs much like a comedy as we the audience view the heroes go through a grueling NASA training course. There are genuine laughs here as these scenes are editing together like a music video.

Where the film slows down is in it's romantic subplot and the entire second half. Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler are the young heroes of the film who fall in love against the approval of Harry Tasker (Bruce Willis) who is the father of Tyler's character. Affleck and Tyler are Armageddon's answer to Jack Dawson and Rose. Their romance is so unimportant to the main thrust of the film that it slows the story down. The film would be nearly an hour shorter if this subplot was dropped.

Another problem are the unsatifying space sequences. I don't believe that Bruckheimer or Bay have an affinity for space action. Space has a certain elgance in movies and in the right films (ie, Star Wars, Star Trek, 2010, Apollo 13) space action can be very effective. In Armageddon, the effects shots are too fast, the editing is too music video choppy, (we have Bay to thank for that), and the asteroid itself is completely wrong in terms of art direction and design. This asteroid looks like V'ger from the first Star Trek movie.

The film has some saving graces, the humor and acting are fine and the theme song from Aerosmith is very good. But the testosterone level mutes any nobility that these characters should be presented in. These guys are saving the world, and Michael Bay gives them scenes and attitudes which would be more appropriate in a beer commercial.

The Criterion DVD is somewhat satisfying with a commentary and some special features. The commentary sheds some light as to why this film wasn't as good as it should have been as Michael Bay and Bruckheimer arrogantly discuss what makes a great science fiction film and harshly critize the other asteriod movie "Deep Impact" which I suprisingly found to be superior to this film.

Rating:
Summary: Some Cool Special Effects But That's About It
Review: To be foreward, Armageddon is not a bad film but it's one of those films that if the visual effects look cool that's the only reason a moviegoer would have for seeing it, and we don't want THAT to be the only reason.

This is a movie with visually stunning special effects and music but to me the plot is tired and the movie gets ridiculously long at some parts.

However, it seems many only saw this movie for the simple fact of Bruce Willis. Bruce Willis isn't a bad actor and while he doesn't overshadow anyone else you can't help but admit its why most people saw the movie.

The tired plot of an Asteroid approaching Earth so you send up people to blow up this Asteroid could've flowed better. You don't get the sense to care for these characters, you don't grow attatched to them like "Deep Impact". More over, the movie drags on for far too long. Some parts are tediously long and could've been shortened.

The music in the movie is POWERFUL music and definitely gives you this urgency feeling. The music is certainly one of the beter parts of this film and I recommend the soundtrack.

So if visual effects and...Bruce Willis is your thing in movies you'll absolutely LOVE this movie. If you want a movie with the same basic plot but a bit more plot driven then go with Deep Impact.

Rating:
Summary: A Fun Movie
Review: This movie is fun, a little less serious than Deep Impact which came out about the same time, yet it had it's own perspective and plot.

Interesting concept using a well drilling team to place charges on a large asteroid.

Much of the movie involves the relationships of those on Willis's drilling team. There is comaraderie and infighting, yet, they get more serious as they get closer to take off and the rendezvous with meteor.

The special effects are a little more spectacular than those on Deep Impact, yet the scenes on the meteor itself are a little bit unreal.

The cast is an interesting broad spectrum of characters, many whom have come into their own since Armageddon. I think for special effects and action Armageddon is much better than Deep Impact, yet the plot and story of the latter is much better.

Armageddon though does show a group of very tough men with a challenging job ahead of them, taking things both in stride and with a sense of confidence.

Rating:
Summary: great movie!!!
Review: i liked this movie... i'd watch it over and over again... just so i can laugh and cry......

Rating:
Summary: Awful Garbage...
Review: Watching "armagedon" was like watching "The Right Stuff" dumbed down for an audience of subhumans.

Bruce Willis ought to be condemned to living out his life in a garbage can for having had anything to do with this rubbish.

I guess if you believe that it'd be easier to train twelve roughnecks to be astronauts than it would be to train twelve astronauts to be oil riggers, then maybe you'll be stupid enough to accept the premise of this peice of unadulterated drivel.

Rating:
Summary: I really enjoy this film
Review: There is a part in this movie I think does get slow, and you want it to move on to the exciting part, but by the end you will (well maybe not but I do) get weepy. No matter how mnay times I've seen this film, by the end I need tissue!!! The special affects are awesome, and the movie has a human touch that's unexpected. The cast in the film is GREAT!!!! The movie is about some guys who normally drill for oil being called upon to save the world. They do it in their own special way, but sadly everyone does not make it back, but they all become heroes. I LOVE this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Romantic and aciton packed
Review: While Deep Impact gave me more of an experience, and it more the type of movie I'd watch at home, Armageddon is more the type of movie the mainstream movie-going public wanted back in the 98. Armageddon serves as effective action movie, a very effect romance movie, and all-around great pop-corn flick.

Armageddon is based on the Idea of an asteroid on a collision course with earth and a team odf deep sea oil drillers (lead by bruce willis) that is sent along with a team of traditional astronauts to land on the asteroid and plant nukes to destroy it. if this sounds familiar it's because it was done very similarly though with a different attitude in "Deep Impact" which was released around the same time. While "Deep Impact" was a Disaster movie in every way, focusing on the effects of this natural disaster on society, individuals lives and the world in general... Armageddon is told from a more... "hollywood" viewfinder.

Instead of taking on the persona of a disaster flick, Armageddon does a nice job of transitioning a sci-fi/disaster movie plot as a medium via which to deliver an action romance movie. The romance in Armageddon is done well, with Bruce Willis's daughter and one of his crew being involved in a passionate love affair that is going on underneath daddy's nose. The 'disaproving father' dynamic isn't the most original but makes an interesting emotional angle, especially at the end. The effects in armageddon are good, but the movie is more centered around the action-based and love-inspired events of our characters rather than the ramifications this disasterous event would have on our planet. You'll see some nice CGI impacts, but most of the effects are space based here.

The real way in which armageddon becomes a good movie is the way the action, romance and intermittent humor is in a very nice balance throughout. You'll laugh... you'll cry (or want to cry)... and you'll be on the edge of your seat more than once. This is what the mainstream asks of a movie, and in the end is the main reason Armageddon is remembered as being better than deep impact by most people I know. Indeed Armageddon does feel like a better, more consisten cinematic endevour than it's rival, though it lacks many dimensions to it that "Deep Impact" picked up perfectly.

All things considered most people will be pleased with Armageddon, whether you're looking for a fun, action movie to pass the time, or a heart throbbing romance. The end of the movie will leave you feeling satisfied, and entertained, where as the end of Deep Immpact will leave you feeling sad and disconcerted as you ponder the sobering realities of the basis of the plot. I saw this movie in the theater and everyone enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: Setting new precedents for awful movie making
Review: This is the sort of movie that makes me afraid for the future of the human race. Seriously. You watch something this bad and read thousands of positive reviews on Amazon and it just makes you wonder. Where does such a trend end? Will future generations find it entertaining and worthwile to smash their heads with hammers?

Rating:
Summary: Complete Lack of Reality Makes For A Lot of Fun
Review: After watching Armageddon I am sort of reminded of the release of The Arrival and Independence Day where both movies dealt with a similar plot and one tried to be somewhat realistic while the other went the campy B route. The same can be said of Deep Impact and Armageddon. Like Independence Day, Armageddon is a big budget B movie. Also like Independence Day, it is a lot of fun.

In this movie an unseen comet slams into the Asteroid Belt and sends a bunch of rocks toward Earth. A brief, but very destructive, meteor shower precedes the main event that will be played by an asteroid the size of Texas. In the eighteen days that Earth has left a team of the world's fines oil drillers is assembled and sent into space to plant a nuke to blow up the asteroid. A simple plot.

During the course of the movie we realize that the writers no nothing about Oil drilling, oil companies, astronomy, NASA, gravity, or most any other topic raised in the movie. There are a number of things I found particularly amusing. The first was the rough-neck driller (Bruce Willis) who is also the owner of the Drilling Company and drilling rig and is also a multi-millionaire. The rest of the drillers also seem to earn far more that their real-life counterparts. I was also amused at the fact that with all life on Earth being threatened, including bacteria, that the President of the United States has the authority to scrap the mission to save the world (there are at least five countries directly involved in the operation).

Among some of the other amusing points are the space shuttles (with a metal skin and not ceramic tiles) have the maneuverability of an F-14 Tomcat. They do some wonderful daredevil flying that is a credit to Top Gun (and without atmosphere yet). The asteroid, which resembles a giant black snowflake, has some gravity. There is enough that people don't move any differently than on Earth but little enough that a jump can carry you for miles or break out of the gravity well. Then there is the aging space station that blows up. Although the fuel is in a pod at the end of a long extension, there seems to be highly explosive material in every inch of the station. The first meteor that hits lands next to a guy arguing with another guy. The other guy is struck dead (no pun intended) and resulting in a hole that goes through to the subway system but leaves the first guy just a little dusty.

While Armageddon is a B movie it does have elements of other classic films including The Right Stuff. I also liked the pro NASA and pro Space Program plugs that keep popping up (Thornton is excellent). This is a fun movie but the plot and continuity have more holes than the average storm-door screen. If you want a fun movie, this is the one to watch, if you want something a bit more serious, check out Deep Impact instead.

Rating:
Summary: Armageddon (1998)
Review: Director: Michael Bay
Cast: Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Will Patton, Steve Buscemi, Michael Clarke Duncan.
Running Time: 151 minutes.
Rated PG-13 for violence and some language.

"Armageddon" opens with a NASA spacecraft being torn apart by numerous small asteroids, destroying the ship and killing all of the inhabitants. Large cities across the country are then bombarded with meteors, causing NASA to investigate the strange phenomenom. They conclude that a massive, mother asteroid the size of Texas is on course to directly hit the planet Earth, killing all civilization and life as they know it.

NASA excecutive director Dan Truman (Thornton) decides that the best way to defend the world against this devastating threat is to hire a group of oil diggers (?) and actually send them onto the meteor (?) in order to plant an explosive inside the middle of it (?) so it can be destroyed before it makes contact. Bruce Willis stars in an adequate performance as the leader of the ragtag team of riggers, taking his team (which includes daughter Tyler and her lover Affleck) to the core of the planet's brink of elimination. While the story is so farfetched and ridiculous to be that realistic, fine performances throughout coupled with some hilarious, quirky dialogue saves this film from being a run-of-the-mill special effects guru blockbuster.

Superb special effects, riveting and off-the-wall cinematography created by the one-and-only director Michael Bay ("The Rock"), a fantastic musical score featuring the Aerosmith great, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", and a touching, powerful ending. Fun, enjoyable; this rock-em, sock-em roller-coaster of a film is what summer movie-going is all about--even if its on DVD.