Armageddon (1998/I)

Director:

Michael Bay

Writers (WGA):

Robert Roy Pool (story) and
Jonathan Hensleigh (story) ...

Release Date:

1 July 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

It's Closer Than You Think.

Plot:

When an asteroid the size of Texas is headed for Earth the world's best deep core drilling team is sent to nuke the rock from the inside.

Plot Keywords:

Disaster Film | Meteorite | Saving The World Mission | Psychologist | Gratuities

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 27 nominations

Cast

Bruce Willis	...	Harry S. Stamper
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Dan Truman, NASA Administrator
Ben Affleck	...	A.J. Frost
Liv Tyler	...	Grace Stamper
Will Patton	...	Charles 'Chick' Chapple
Steve Buscemi	...	Rockhound
William Fichtner	...	Colonel William Sharp, Shuttle Freedom Pilot
Owen Wilson	...	Oscar Choi, Geologist
Michael Clarke Duncan	...	Jayotis 'Bear' Kurleenbear
Peter Stormare	...	Lev Andropov, Russian Cosmonaut
Ken Hudson Campbell	...	Max Lennert (as Ken Campbell)
Jessica Steen	...	Jennifer Watts, Shuttle Freedom Co-Pilot
Keith David	...	Lt. General Kimsey
Chris Ellis	...	Walter Clark
Jason Isaacs	...	Dr. Ronald Quincy, Research

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi disaster action, sensuality and brief language.

Runtime:

150 min | USA:153 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-12 (1998) | Philippines:PG-13 | Taiwan:PG-12 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Brazil:12 | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIA | Iceland:LH (video rating) | Iceland:L (original rating) | Italy:T | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #36122) | USA:Unrated (director's cut)

Filming Locations:

4th Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

Director Michael Bay said in a magazine interview that the solution in the movie for dealing with the asteroid was very clever but not realistic, but that one idea for countering the threat was in line with actual NASA research (anti-gravity systems). He also said that a problem with a film like this was that it would make Americans erroneously think that if a situation like the movie actually occurred then there was anything that could be done about it.

Goofs:

When Harry shoots at A.J, the wound appears on one leg. However, in the next shot, when A.J is hopping, it is clear that the wound has changed legs

Quotes:

[first lines]
[Camera shoots past the moon to slowly zoom in on the Earth]
Narrator: This is the Earth, at a time when the dinosaurs roamed a lush and fertile planet.
[From behind the camera, a giant asteroid appears, speeding towards the Earth ahead of it]
Narrator: A piece of rock just 6 miles wide changed all that.
[Blazing through the atmosphere, the asteroid impacts with a spectacular display of fire and destruction]
Narrator: It hit with the force of 10,000 nuclear weapons. A trillion tons of dirt and rock hurtled into the atmosphere, creating a suffocating blanket of dust the sun was powerless to penetrate for a thousand years. It happened before. It will happen again. It's just a question of when.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 'Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty' - Making of the Hollywood Game (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

Wish I Were You

I haven't seen many movies that have disturbed me, but...

Tense, tightly wound morality play, full of immoral people enticed by the root of all sorts of evil, the love of money. Several plot twists but a less than satisfying ending that I'll not go into here. Definitely worth a watch. I just wish the company that put out the DVD had thought more of it; this is about as sparse a DVD (as far as extras and closed captioning is concerned) as I've seen. I was listening to Kevin Smith's podcast (SModcast) a week ago and he noted this film. He stated that the film was great, but Don't expect brilliance in the movie (though there are some decent surprises), but look to the actors to move you to where you need to be.

Though not exactly disturbing, per se, I just saw "The King of Comedy" last night, and, though I was laughing the entire time I was watching it, I still feel a little uneasy today.