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1093 comments in total

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161 out of 215 people found the following comment useful :-
My Ultimate Guilty Pleasure- how do you assign a rating to that?, 24 April 2006

Author: madmaxmedia from Los Angeles, CA

This movie is my ultimate guilty pleasure. It's inane, manipulative, has hyperactive cutting, a ton of glaring inaccuracies (pointless to even discuss or debate), and probably 29 other glaring faults. And why in every dramatic slow-mo emo shot are there 3 helicopters flying in unison overhead? What's the point of having 3 helicopters flying really close together? Who cares! It looks cool. If one day I am having a heartfelt talk with my daughter, I hope there are 3 helicopters flying overhead to really 'bring it home'.

Despite it all, I still love watching this movie. Anytime it is on TV I can watch it 'til the end. Bruce Willis does a great job doing his Bruce Willis 'thing' (be a smart alecky tough guy), and the supporting cast is really great. Steve Buschemi in particular gets the best lines.

I think it was also conceived by suits in a studio office (no really), which is I guess another strike against it. Yet only a bunch of suits could come up with a 'high concept' like this (so high it's almost bordering on parody.) And only a director like Michael Bay could make it. He's far more suited to these types of movies, rather than big historical epics like PEARL HARBOR (which I really, really disliked.)

I read somewhere once that this movie is as close as Hollywood gets to pure cinema, in that it is basically completely divorced from reality of any kind. Is that good or bad? I don't know. I do think if you're going to ditch convention and any semblance to reality, you may as well go all the way. It's better than having something that is a confused mess that tries to be different things. There will be no 'it could really happen!' here.

So after all this, believe it or not I am going to give this movie a big fat whopping 8. Why? Because IMO it unabashedly succeeds at what it tries to set out to be, whatever that is. That makes no sense, since I am basically saying by all logical accounts this movie may actually suck, yet I am giving it a 8. But hey I loved this movie.

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108 out of 150 people found the following comment useful :-
Fun, Action-packed movie., 15 May 2003

Author: XJoey from United States

This movie seems to be a movie that many people love to hate. I don't see why it has such a bad reputation. It is meant to be an Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi movie, and it definitely lives up to this. It is what it is. Many people have tried to compare it to Apollo 13, but that's like comparing apples and oranges. They are entirely different fruit. Apollo 13 is based on a true historical event (Docu-drama), while Armageddon is an Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi movie. It has plenty of action and adventure, a lot of humor, and a bit of romance. Is the story realistic? Not hardly, but name ANY Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi movie that is. That's why they call it Science FICTION... For those who criticize this movie, nothing will change their minds. However, if you HAVEN'T seen Armageddon, take a chance, watch with an open mind and try not to let all these negative reviews spoil your enjoyment of a really fun movie. Remember, a movie is meant to ENTERTAIN, and Armageddon does just that, if you let it!

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142 out of 225 people found the following comment useful :-
I don't care if it is shallow, i love it, 15 January 2005

Author: mjw2305 from England

What did everyone expect when this film was released, i expected exactly what i got, stunning visual effects, good surround sound and plenty of action (and yes i expected the traditional dose of sentiment too)

This movie is pure escapism fun, which has its place in my collection, movies like Independence Day and Armageddon are great fun to watch and as a bonus the characters weren't bad the script was reasonable and action was indeed plentiful. There were a great deal of laughs too (mostly intentional) anyone who hasn't seen this but just wants relax and enjoy a good (yet Shallow) action flick then this certainly fits the bill.

For pure entertainment value i score it 8/10

If this is for you then check out The Core and Independence Day, avoid the Day after Tomorrow and Deep Impact, there not really for action fans.

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95 out of 154 people found the following comment useful :-
The All Time Popcorn Movie, 28 April 2003
Author: somecompany

People always seem to be flaming this movie left and right because it's stupid or long or it has no logic... Everyone has something to hate about this film but the movie wasn't intending to be 'Gone With The Wind'. This is the essential Friday night movie.

Not Saturday Night but Friday Night. Sure, a lot of it is illogical and Michael Bay graduated in the MTV style of directing college but, at it's heart, it's just a great entertaining popcorn movie. Even Bay has admitted that was what he was aiming at. And for a popcorn movie, it's a very strong movie indeed. The acting is impressive with Bruce Willis making you cry for real in that last scene of his where he proves to be the ultimate superhero and he doesn't even have to say "yippee ki-yay". Ben Affleck is doing his nice hammy acting in this film but he gives a really genuine performance in a lot of the scenes. Liv Tyler is stunning and excellent as Bruce Willis' daughter and Ben Affleck's fiancee. Billy Bob Thorton has a nice little role at the NASA headquarters. Steve Buscemi is the best part of the film. Funny yet still a great actor, this is one of his best performances. Michael Clarke Duncan is light in his role as one of the astronauts / oil driller and Owen Wilson lights up the screen just like in 'The Royal Tenenbaums'. That's only some of the cast that I'm going to list and those are the most recognizable names in the list. The script by 'Die Hard With A Vengeance' scribe Jonathan Hensleigh and 'Roadkill" and upcoming 'Superman' writer J.J.

Abrahams is fun and enjoyable with some real quirky dialogue and real funny bits. There are also some genuine moments of suspense and drama. The look of this film is obviously special effects orientated with the New York asteroid shower opening sequence and the destruction of Paris standing out. Of course, this film is just an enjoyable popcorn film and is actually deserving of it's place in "The Criterion Collection" of DVDs since it's that enjoyable kind of film that only comes along once in a while. But add to that the fact that there are some real sad moments and great acting in there and, there you have it, the perfect ingredients for a Friday night movie.

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74 out of 119 people found the following comment useful :-
Has all the ingredients of a good action movie..., 29 June 2003
Author: Andrew DiMonte (ThatIsNoArrow) from My House, Canada

...that's exactly what this is: an ACTION movie. It's not supposed to sweep the Oscars, the acting isn't supposed to be perfect, and it's not supposed to make perfect sense.

The story follows a group of oil drillers sent by NASA to stop an asteroid that will strike the world in eighteen days. The drillers are taught and trained to become astronauts (in a very comedic scene) and then sent to the asteroid to drop the nukes and blow it up. After that, a whole lot goes wrong.

I loved this movie, and I hate how everyone's been calling it 'mindless action'. It's not mindless, it's actually very dramatic. The acting is great from pretty much all accounts, even Ben Affleck does a good job.

Bruce Willis captures the 'reluctant hero' role, and Liv Tyler does well as his daughter. Steve Buscemi delivers a great comedic performance as the genius who goes insane once they land on the asteroid.

Great, funny, intense, dramatic movie. 8/10.

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57 out of 90 people found the following comment useful :-
Badly written and offensive, 25 August 2006

Author: bluejamie from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I saw this film last night.

And I'm worried I'm turning into one of those left-wing liberals they rightly make fun of in South Park. Because I found it hugely offensive. Am I being ridiculously sensitive? Firstly, there's the old staple that is America being the only country in the world that is physically capable of anything, ever.

Secondly, and chillingly, there is the early meteor strike hitting some (unnamed – why do they need a name?) Asian country. The reaction to this is to look at it as a warning. As in "my god, imagine the tragedy that *could* happen". Because, you know, it happened to Asians. It might happen to white Americans, and *that* would be tragic.

Then, later on, a bigger meteor hits Paris. Our cast on the ground are irritated, because this might mean our boys have less time than they thought. Not much upset in America. No mention that a lot of people have died.

Then there's Michael Clarke Duncan. A wonderful actor, wasted. Never has a black man been so token. Among a team of hardcore drillers, his job seems to consist of standing in the back, occasionally saying "Hey, you da man." Really. Why did they even bring him? It's not like he's petite - he weighed down that shuttle for nothing! Not once does he lift a tool, steer a space ship or even help fix anything that blows up.

Even if you ignore the Russian Cosmonaut (Peter Stormare, another great actor wasted in a pointless role), who seems drunk most of the time and hits things with spanners instead of fixing them because "Dat's how we do dese dings in Russia", it's pretty horrific.

All cemented of course by the site of blond, blue-eyed American children all celebrating in corn fields at being saved and everything being all right. Because all the death and destruction to the rest of the world is irrelevant.

You expect the bad script, the dodgy acting, the implausible plot (fat, middle aged men being trained in 12 days to be astronauts? Including one who appears to be retarded?). But I couldn't believe the racism and xenophobia implied in the film, and the callous disregard for the lives of anyone not corn-fed American.

It's a chilling indictment of the attitude of a section of Western Society to the world.

And it's a crappy film too.

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32 out of 48 people found the following comment useful :-
far fetched, over the top, funny. i like it!, 21 December 2004

Author: polkadotlegwarmers from Matlock UK

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

*minor spoilers* This film follows the basic asteroid going to hit earth plot. They find out about the asteroid, some brave souls are sent to destroy it, they get into problems, and one has to die to save the planet. With one major twist. Does NASA send a group of highly trained astronauts to save the earth from destruction? No. instead they call on Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) and his gang of oil drilling misfits. This happy gang are rounded up from a strip club, casino and various other hideouts, to save the world.

This makes from a many laughs and eventually a "happy ending". If you want a serious film about saving the planet, don't watch this. Its way to far fetched, and has far too many funny moments to be taken seriously. This is great entertainment. For example when the mad Russian astronaut hits the space shuttles engine with a spanner to get it started! Hilarious. Steve Buscemi's character provides some of the films funniest moments. The acting's OK and the special effects are great.

If you want a far fetched, over the top, voyage into space with the strangest bunch of astronauts around, watch this film. Don't take it seriously, don't expect it to be realistic, just sit back and watch it.

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23 out of 34 people found the following comment useful :-
Worse than all the spoofs, 8 January 2007

Author: syncopation

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Half of the movie is is flashing lights and shaky camera. The rest is made up of predictable characters (think science vs. government, 'know-how' vs. authority, etc.)

What is the worst aspect about this movie? Is it the cars being thrown around in the first 5 minutes, is the horrible 'Russian' accent of the 'cosmonaut', is it the uninspired characters, the poorly integrated Top 40 hits, or the "US will save the world" vitriol? No. It's the fact that regardless of the "sad" ending - there is very little suspense in this movie - we basically know what's going to happen.

The one good part of this movie: "American components, Russian components: all made in Taiwan!"

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16 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Not Quite The End of The World..., 25 October 2007

Author: Benjamin Wolfe from USA

I'll be the first to tell you, special FX are not what I look for when I am hitting the movies, I love intelligence and acting, story, story, story, good directing at least. But from the opening scenes, 'ARMAGEDDON' explodes into emergency action. This sci-fi comedy-drama was a solid hit!! I have to fully disagree with critics who will praise a horrible movie and then say that a story like this is not bigger than life. This is a blockbuster entertainment giant, with a striking sense of humor, which 'Rockhound' (Bucsemi) provided many laughs, along with the rest of the multi-talented and troubled 'troup' of civilized maniacs. I truly think that the plot of the story is fun to think about, the world needs to be saved by a bunch of motley-ruff necks that can hardly obey the regular laws in their own city and now, they are going to work with the laws of gravity, science and all else to keep the planet from becoming a memory. Every movie mogul wants a block buster that is going to in essence save the world from total oblation and hit the box office with a vengeance. This one does it with he-man style and a wise-crack or two. They all ride together though, Harry Stamper, Grace the young in love daughter of Harry, Charles Chapple er, I mean 'Chick', A.J. also in love with Grace much to Harry's uneasiness, 'Rockhound' who just wants to have girls' who 'just want to have fun' the man who is a sky-scraper if anything else, Jayotis 'Bear' who is strong and a bit on the sensitive side, just to give us equilibrium, there is 'Oscar' who is a fun having not so fearless worker, and the comically sarcastic, but easy going Max, all under N.A.S.A Administrator Dan Truman who can't fly anymore. With everyone up and going plus Lev Andropov the Russian Cosmonaut who works hard and gets a little too rowdy! They are able even with the adversity of Col. William Sharp they come together and pull it off and even with the last few moments when Harry Gives his life for A.J. in a very touching moment the story comes together and sets it right, the screw balls have a mature moment and a sobering lesson.

Recommended for action/adventure sci-fi junkies as well as regular Joe's' like me. (****)

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19 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
a love it or hate it type of movie, 30 December 2000

Author: (aero_nut@go.com) from pennsylvania

This is definitely the type of movie you'll either love or hate.

I personally love it, I am a Die Hard (lol) Bruce Willis fan. All characters were supurbly cast. Busemi as Rock, Affleck as AJ, Tyler as Grace, Thornton as Truman, ect.... All of them seemed to work well together. Their character just fit them. Lots of people didn't like this movie for they believed that it is too far fetched, which isn't true. One of NASA's theories IS to land on, and drill into a "global killer". And as it is also said in the movie we don't have the budget to look for these things. Amatures are the people that usually find them. Another thing people over look is the fact that Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer worked with NASA on the factual aspects of the movie. They didn't just make these things up.(all of this is said in the commentaries on the criterion collection) The other thing about this movie is, you have to like science, space and the things that go with it (like me "aero_nut"). And you have to appreciate the fact, and not be obtuse that this could happen one day, God destroyed the Earth before he could do it again. I really believe that the love story helped this movie make money, (thats what made Titanic #1), Liv Tyler and Ben Affleck made a great couple. The chemistry between them was awesome. Not to mention this is americans at their best,(with the help of a russian friend, who is perfectly cast as stormare). The love song to this movie is definitely a topper, Dianne Warren has graced so many movies with her songs and this has to be the best so far. Furthermore very few rock bands can sound good with a orchestra, (G-N-R is one) and Aerosmith certainly fit the bill here. i love this cast the movie and the soundtrack, but thats just me.

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