Armageddon is a 1998 disaster/science fiction-action film about a group of blue-collar deep-core drillers who are sent by NASA to stop an Asteroid on a collision course with Earth. It was directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and released on Disney's Touchstone Pictures label. It stars Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Michael Clarke Duncan, Peter Stormare and Steve Buscemi.
Armageddon arrived in theaters only two and a half months after a similar impact-based movie, Deep Impact, which starred Morgan Freeman. Astronomers described Deep Impact as being more scientifically accurate,[2] and it was better received by critics[3] [4], but Armageddon fared better at the box office.[5]
Due to a fire that destroyed the master print of the film, if Armageddon were to be released on Blu-ray, it would have to be remastered.[6]
Plot
After several meteoroids destroy the Space Shuttle Atlantis and bombard New York City and several other parts of the world from Finland to South Carolina, NASA discovers that an asteroid the size of Texas is on a direct collision course with Earth, at 22,000 miles an hour and will likely destroy all life on the planet; not even bacteria will survive. It is not publicly revealed that it will hit the Earth within 18 days, due to fear of panic. The scientists at NASA in cooperation with the Russian, Japanese and French national space agencies devise a plan to detonate a nuclear bomb at a precise point under the asteroid's surface which will split it in two, causing it to miss the Earth. The drilling maneuver is absolutely critical as the bombs must be buried at least 800 feet below the surface within eight hours of landing, and no later than four hours before Earth impact.
NASA locates the best oil driller on the planet, Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis), to get advice. When invited to NASA, Harry brings his daughter Grace (Liv Tyler) to keep her away from A.J. (Ben Affleck), a young rambunctious member of Harry's crew who has become - to Harry's unfortunate surprise - her lover, which angers her. At NASA, Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton), the head of NASA, informs him of the dire situation. Harry immediately recognizes that he and his crew must accompany the astronauts on the mission to ensure the job is done properly. After Harry's crew is collected from across the country and NASA acquiesces to their demands, they are put through a brief 12-day training program and outfit a drilling rig with the proper equipment (basically Harry's rig design + prototype hardware NASA has been building for its manned Mars project) for the job.
When a meteorite strikes Shanghai, China, destroying the city and causing a tsunami, around 50,000 people die. At this point, the pending mission is revealed to the world. Two "X-71" military shuttles (the design's been classified until now), Freedom and Independence are launched simultaneously and shortly dock at a Russian space station (crewed by Lev Andropov) 67 minutes later to refuel with liquid oxygen propellant. A.J. encounters a problem stopping the pumps after the ships tanks are full and the station explodes. The crews and Lev Andropov escape. 60 hours later, the two shuttles perform a high G-force powered slingshot, procedure, or 'Roadrunner thrust move', around the Moon traveling at 22,500 miles per hour to tail behind the asteroid.
However, as they enter the trailing debris of the asteroid, the Independence is struck and crash lands on the asteroid, all hands believed to be lost. The Freedom manages to land on the surface but misses the target landing zone. They land on an area of hard iron which will be difficult to drill through. The Freedom team try to drill but suffer several setbacks and losses due to the unexpected conditions. After losing communication with Earth,the mission was put on hold, as the bomb's Timer is activated by orders from the President to ensure the success of the mission. However, a surface explosion would not be sufficient to divert the asteroid from hitting the Earth. Harry is able to convince Colonel Sharp to help them attempt to finish the job. During this time, with just 250 feet left to drill, their drilling machine is blasted off the asteroid by a gas vent and all seems lost. As the world prepares for the end, another meteorite wipes out much of Paris, France.
The Freedom crew learns that the other team managed to survive the crash thanks to Lev Andropov and A.J. and have driven the second drilling machine to the site. Harry puts A.J. in charge of finishing the drilling and they successfully drill to the necessary depth. The team lowers the nuclear bomb into the hole, but are caught in a vicious rockstorm which ends up killing Gruber. After the storm, the bomb starts to be lowered when Sharpe looks at the bomb horrified. It appears that the rockstorm has damaged the remote on the bomb, rendering remote detonation useless. With just 18 minutes left, Truman tells the team that someone is going to have to stay behind to detonate the bomb manually to destroy the asteroid. A.J. is picked to stay behind remotely after drawing straws, but Harry deliberately disables his air supply and takes his place. As the shuttle prepares to depart, Harry sends a final message to his daughter and gives his full support for her to marry A.J.
Before what's left of both shuttle crews can leave however, the Freedom shuttle, the only operational shuttle left and the crew's only way off the asteroid malfunctions and dies. Fortunately, out of pure luck, they manage to re-start the engine and leave the asteroid. As the asteroid quivers, Harry is badly injured and the trigger slips from his hand. Both that and the fact Harry couldn't detonate the bomb while the crews were still on the asteroid only gave more time for the asteroid to get closer to the Earth, but Harry manages to get the trigger and, during a period where scenes of the operations control room, Grace, and Harry flash by, uses it to detonate the Nuclear bomb seconds before the critical deadline, this causes the asteroid to explode,split in two and successfully miss the Earth by 400 miles. The remaining crews of Freedom and independence return to Earth as heroes, A.J. reunites tearfully with Grace while the others are met by their loved ones. Grace and A.J. soon marry, while Harry and the other lost crew members are memorialized.
Cast
Freedom shuttle crew
- William Fichtner as Colonel Willie Sharp: Pilot of shuttle Freedom
- Jessica Steen as Jennifer Watts: Co-pilot of shuttle Freedom
- Grayson McCouch as Gruber: Munitions specialist of shuttle Freedom
- Bruce Willis as Harry Stamper: Protagonist and leader of shuttle Freedom drill team
- Will Patton as Charles "Chick" Chapple: Harry's best friend and drill team member of shuttle Freedom
- Ken Hudson Campbell as Max Lennert: Operator of the Armadillo
- Steve Buscemi as Rockhound: Geologist of shuttle Freedom
Independence shuttle crew
- Ben Affleck as A.J. Frost: Secondary protagonist; leader of shuttle Independence drill team and Grace's love interest.
- Marshall R. Teague as Colonel Davis: Pilot of shuttle Independence
- Anthony Guidera as Captain Tucker: Co-pilot of shuttle Independence
- Greg Collins as Lt. Halsey: Munitions specialist of shuttle Independence
- Clark Heathcliffe Brolly as Freddy Noonan: Member of the shuttle Independence drill team
- Michael Clarke Duncan as Jayotis "Bear" Kurleenbear: Operator of the armadillo for shuttle Independence
- Owen Wilson as Oscar Choice: Geologist of shuttle Independence
- Peter Stormare as Lev Andropov: Russian Cosmonaut
NASA and others
- Billy Bob Thornton as Dan Truman: Head of NASA, discovers the asteroid and organizes the plan to destroy it
- Liv Tyler as Grace Stamper: Daughter of Harry Stamper and A.J.'s girlfriend
- Keith David as General Kimsley: Member of US government, helps Truman organize the plan to stop the asteroid
- Jason Issacs as Dr. Ronald Quincy Head scientist at NASA who proposes using nukes to bow up the asteroid.
Reception and criticism
The film was given mixed reviews and, although it was an international box office success, it received a large amount of criticism from film reviewers. On Rotten Tomatoes it scores 41%;[7] on a similar website, Metacritic, it similarly scores 42%. The film is on the list of Roger Ebert's most hated films: in his original review, he stated "The movie is an assault on the eyes, the ears, the brain, common sense and the human desire to be entertained".[8] In contrast, his long-time friend Gene Siskel from the show Siskel & Ebert gave it a "thumbs up." Roger Ebert considered it the worst film of 1998 as seen in Siskel and Ebert's annual "Worst of" shows.[9]
The film received the Saturn Awards for Best Direction and Best Science Fiction Film (where it tied with Dark City). Only one Razzie was awarded: Bruce Willis received the Worst Actor award for Armageddon, in addition to his appearances in Mercury Rising and The Siege.
Despite the general critical disdain, a DVD edition of Armageddon was released by The Criterion Collection, a specialist film distributor of primarily arthouse films that markets what it considers to be "important classic and contemporary films" and "cinema at its finest".[10] In an essay supporting the selection of Armageddon, film scholar Jeanine Basinger, who taught Michael Bay at Wesleyan University, states that the film is "a work of art by a cutting-edge artist who is a master of movement, light, color, and shape—and also of chaos, razzle-dazzle, and explosion". She sees it as a celebration of working men: "This film makes these ordinary men noble, lifting their efforts up into an epic event." Further, she states that in the first few moments of the film all the main characters are well established, saying, "If that isn't screenwriting, I don't know what is".[11]
Despite the poor reviews and criticism, Armageddon was nominated for four Academy Awards (Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Original Song).
Scientific inaccuracies
Armageddon is noted for its large number of scientific inaccuracies. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Michael Bay said that the solution for the asteroid situation was great for the movie but not possible in real life, while adding that real-life "anti-gravity" systems for such a situation were being worked on by NASA. Bay also said that people who might think that it was possible to deal with an asteroid in the manner depicted in the movie would be mistaken.
The physics and scientific approach of Armageddon was criticized[who?] for its poor adherence to the laws of physics, such as the asteroid having gravity similar to Earth. This has led NASA to show the film as part of its management training program. Prospective managers are asked to find as many inaccuracies in the movie as they can. At least 168 impossible things have been found during these screenings of the film.[12] For example, Shuttles could not be landed on an asteroid. And even if they could, they would not subsequently be able to leave. It also wouldn't be possible to build the shuttles fast enough, whether building from scratch or modifying existing shuttles. (Although an earlier scene alludes to the fact that the shuttles had already been built, and were being kept secret by the military, until such time that they were needed.) The movie also adheres to standard Hollywood conventions when it comes to science, such as depicting there being noise in space. Explosions were also shown to be sustained in the vacuum of space.
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
Following the 2003 Columbia disaster, some screen captures from the opening scene where Atlantis is destroyed were passed off as satellite images of the disaster in a hoax.[13] Also, in response to the disaster, FX pulled Armageddon from that night's schedule and replaced it with Aliens.[14]
Box office
- Budget - USD$140,000,000
- Marketing cost - $60,000,000
- Opening Weekend Gross (Domestic) - $36,089,972
- Total Domestic Grosses - $201,578,182
- Total Overseas Grosses - $352,131,606
- Total Worldwide Grosses - $553,709,788
Soundtracks
Armageddon: The Album
The soundtrack features the song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", performed by Aerosmith. The soundtrack also features the song "Remember Me", as performed by Journey. This song was the first studio recording with new lead vocalist Steve Augeri, who was hired to replace long-time singer Steve Perry after his departure from the band.
Armageddon: The Album (Sony, June 23, 1998):
- "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" - Aerosmith
- "Remember Me" - Journey
- "What Kind of Love Are You On" - Aerosmith
- "La Grange" - ZZ Top
- "Roll Me Away" - Bob Seger
- "When the Rainbow Comes" - Shawn Colvin
- "Sweet Emotion" - Aerosmith
- "Mister Big Time" - Jon Bon Jovi
- "Come Together" - Aerosmith
- "Wish I Were You" - Patty Smyth
- "Starseed" - Our Lady Peace
- "Leaving on a Jet Plane" - Chantal Kreviazuk
- "Theme from Armageddon" - Trevor Rabin
- "Animal Crackers" - Dialogue by Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler; vocals and piano by Steven Tyler
Chart positions
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 1998 |
The Billboard 200 |
1 |
Armageddon: Original Motion Picture Score by Trevor Rabin
There was also an instrumental score titled Armageddon: Original Motion Picture Score by Trevor Rabin. Rabin was formerly a member of the progressive rock band Yes.
- "Armageddon Suite"
- "Harry & Grace Make Peace"
- "A.J.'s Return"
- "Oil Lube"
- "Leaving"
- "Evacuation"
- "Harry meets World"
- "Back In Business"
- "Launch"
- "5 Asteroids"
- "Underwater Love"
- "Doing Grace"
- "Armadillo"
- "Short Straw"
- "Ride It"
- "Death of Mir"
- "Armageddon Piano"
- "Long Distance Goodbye/Landing"
Novelization
A novelization was written by C. Bolin, based on the screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh, J.J. Abrams, Tony Gilroy and Shane Salerno and the story by Jonathan Hensleigh and Robert Pool.
See also
References
External links
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