Sci Fi September # 9 – Armageddon

A huge asteroid is going to hit the earth and NASA’s only hope to avert disaster is to send up a rowdy group of roughnecks to drill into the asteroid and blow it up from the inside.
This movie pretty much has everything, Michael Bay directing so expect explosions, Bruce Willis so expect hard nosed coolness, Liv Tyler so expect Aerosmith on the soundtrack, and Steve Buscemi so well, expect Steve Buscemi.
There is a large number of ‘names’ in this movie, from Ben Affleck to Will Patton, Billy Bob Thornton to William Fichtner, Owen Wilson to Peter Stormare. There are times when you don’t know where to look for all the pretty faces on the screen.
While Armageddon was made in 1998, at the time the special effects, especially the first meteor strikes, are very poorly done. After re-watching it, you notice so many badly done explosions and effects that you totally forget to feel sorry for the guy with the little dog thats about to get splatted.
Armageddon came out around the same time as another asteroid disaster movie, Deep Impact. With the obvious comparisions between the two, Armageddon is the movie for explosions, laughs, and the ultimate cheesy ending. Deep Impact was more thoughtful, moving, and at the end of the day, better executed.
Armageddon is not a bad movie by any means, but if you are looking for something other than a summer hit, try Deep Impact instead.

April 13th, 2010 at 11:18 pm
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