Armageddon
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Movie Reviews of Armageddon
Movie Review: Relax and enjoy one of the best films of 1998
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't belong to the apparent elitists who despise Michael Bay's filmmaking because he's entertaining for it's own sake. Michael Bay is what he is the same as Hitchcock directed psychological thrillers or George Lucas directs science fiction. He makes films that are loud, fast, action-packed and quite frankly, fun to watch. Isn't that what movies are supposed to be about?
Armageddon was probably the most (other than maybe Saving Private Ryan) anticipated movie of 1998. I'd rank it in my top two or three of 1998 (The others being Saving Private Ryan and American History X). It's not the next Schindler's List and it doesn't strive to be. It stars Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler in the main roles. The supporting cast is underrated, well-balanced and fun to watch, from Michael Clarke Duncan and Steve Buscemi down to lesser know actors Marshall R. Teague and Jessica Steen.
Yes, the plot and premise may not be the most believable. But neither is King Kong, Lord of The Rings, Star Wars or whatever. These pseudo-critics on Amazon.com whine about "poor science" behind the movie, or the poor plot or the stereotypical cast. You know what? Who friggin' cares? It's a movie that's made for sheer fun, for entertainment, for bringing your family to enjoy a couple of hours of action, thundering explosions, fast vehicles and a little romance. Armageddon, despite what the Ebert and Roeper apprentices in here think, is entertainment at its best. Stop whining and enjoy yourself.
We are all familiar with the story by now. An asteroid the size of Texas is on path to impact with Earth, which would destroy all forms of life on it. The world only has 18 days until impact. The only way to stop it is to blow it up from the inside by drilling to its core. For that, NASA recruits the worlds's best deep-core driller in Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) and his renegade drilling crew. The crew, along with some NASA astronauts and an unlucky Russian cosmonaut, journey to the asteroid and embark upon the mission to destroy it and with that, save the entire planet.
Along the way, the crew endures despite losing lives, having to overcome huge obstacles, and having to make decisions that will affect not only the world but their own personal lives. The movie is filled with a few emotional moments that will bring tears to some eyes. The score is grandiose and is a large part of the film. The film strives to be patriotic and the cinematography reflects it. I couldn't help but feel patriotic and moved while watching the movie. The sound and visual effects in the movie were awesome, which its four Oscar nominations reflect.
This movie is a lot of things. It's fun, it's moving, it's sad and it's romantic. Above all, it's one of the more entertaining movies I have seen. The cast had a lot of chemistry together and seemed to have a lot of fun which is reflected in the film. This was Ben Affleck's first big box-office action movie and he gives a good first effort. Bruce Willis takes on the role of Harry Stamper with ease like the action movie veteran he is. Liv Tyler is sweet as Harry's daughter and their emotional goodbye is to be remembered. (Home theater aficionados will also appreciate the visual and sound effects in this movie).
Armageddon was the second-highest grossing film of 1998 narrowly behind Saving Private Ryan. That might be something for critics to think about, because obviously A LOT of people saw this movie. All in all, don't listen to the critics here trying to become the next "Top 500 reviewer." See the movie, it's a blast.
Movie Review: "Armageddon" has come!
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the biggest box office smash hits of 1998, "Armageddon" was a well-deserved box office hit and sometimes one of the most unfairly criticized movies of recent years. I'm surprised at the negative reviews that I've been reading on here and the low rating of 3.3 (as of writing this review) stars. This movie deserves at least a 4.3 on the rating!Starring Bruce Willis as the disgruntled, often excessively strict drilling expert Harry Stamper, "Armageddon" is a chilling but at the same time, fun film about a giant asteroid around the size of the state of Texas hurtling straight towards earth, threatening to destroy all life and possibly the planet itself in approximately 18 days and mankind, under threat of extinction, looks up to the expert drilling knowledge of Harry Stamper and his crew of grouchy disgruntled drillers to drill a large hole in the asteroid, send a powerful nuke down the hole and blast the asteroid apart by detonating the nuke. It all begins on an oil rig in the middle of the Pacific Ocean or somewhere around there with the outrageous Harry Stamper playing golf against a Greenpeace ship, and the Greenpeace guys ducking for cover to avoid getting hit by the flying golf balls. It's actually quite funny to watch even though I would lean more towards the Greenpeace people and also Harry laughing at and ridiculing them. However the laughs are instantly ended when a team of government officials arrive on Stamper's oil rig and bring him to NASA headquarters to tell him about the crisis of the approaching asteroid.
While Bruce Willis' character Harry Stamper is the main character in the movie, my favorite character is the odd goofball Russian astronaut Lev Andropov (Played by Swedish actor Peter Stormare). His funny personality adds quite a bit to this movie. My other favorite is Rock Hound, with his bumbling and highly eccentric personality and watching him mess up or goof off provides some good laughs. Most of the rest range from good to excellent to downright annoying.
The romance between Grace Stamper (Liv Tyler) and A.J. Frost is pretty contrived and could've been left out but that's just my opinion. Most of the negativities are negated by the pros of this movie. "Armageddon" is an extremely adrenaline-pumping action flick with a highly intense visual assault (in a good way), and a good amount of comic humor occasionally in parts of the movie. Many seem to dismiss this as more Hollywood pap but I beg to differ. "Armageddon" is just plain fun but also it is rather unsettling because the possibility of being hit by a global killer asteroid is always present but also there is the possibility of being able to prevent such a disaster from occurring. It's for these things that to me, makes this movie so awesome yet scary at the same time. No wonder it was a smash hit at the box office. I wouldn't necessarily say that I highly recommend buying this movie but "Armageddon" is definitely worth checking out for those who missed it when it was on the big screen. This is just my opinion but man this movie was a brutal, thrilling ride when seeing it on the big screen and when it came to the small screen, the punch was greatly reduced but still, it's an awesome popcorn movie. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Doomsday has never sounded like so much fun.
Movie Review: Armageddon Rocks!
Summary: 5 Stars
Armageddon is a movie about humanity's endless courage and resourcefulness; about our struggle and triumph over the cruel forces of nature that would exterminate us. Pity those who can't enjoy an epic sci-fi action movie with a great story. What could possibly be more exciting than a story about saving the world? Not all movies need deep and meaningful messages, not all movies need highly unexpected plot twists and certainly not all movies need to be 100% scientifically plausible. This movie is just plain FUN and that's all it needs. Michael Bay's movies often have a lot of explosions, destruction and devastation. Don't blame the director if you don't like that sort of genre. It's just the way his movies are and it's why me and my friends love them.
Armageddon, unlike its twin Deep Impact, cuts to the good part at the very beginning. A meteor shower devastates New York City in a spectacular fashion. Some of the meteors even punched a few holes in the World Trade Center although I guess no one thought it was a big deal at the time. It then turns out that the meteors were preceding a much bigger asteroid that will wipe out all life on Earth within 18 days unless a nuclear bomb can be detonated inside the asteroid to blow it apart. Bruce Willis plays Harry Stamper, the leader of the drilling team that's been hired to save the world. There are plenty of colorful characters on the team and the level of comic relief is strong enough to give this movie a warm atmosphere. Particularly funny is Peter Stormare's performance as a half-crazy Russian cosmonaut. That's not to say there are no sad moments since not everyone survives the mission. In addition to the main plot of going into space and blowing up the rock, there's also a love story between Harry's daughter Grace and Ben Affleck's character that Harry doesn't approve of. It is rather predictable, but then again, what love story isn't? There are quite a few `ticking-time-bomb' moments throughout the film, which make good thrills considering that the world is at stake.
Many have complained that Armageddon has many mistakes and scientific inaccuracies but that's really unavoidable considering the movie's far-fetched scenario. If you're not an astrophysicist then these things shouldn't bother you too much. Armageddon has a lot of special effects which is a good thing for a space movie. The Space Shuttles' flight through the meteor field is incredible. The scenery on the asteroid is very beautiful and the jagged cliffs and canyons create a stunning otherworldly environment.
I strongly recommend this movie.
Movie Review: A Mindless And Amazing Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Armageddon when first released and viewed by the mass media was slated for it's unrealistic setting but was praised for its entertainment value. It's one of those movies that if you're going into it looking for scientific inconsistencies then you could genuinely write a novel on them, but if you're going into the movie looking to be entertained for over 2 hours then it will certainly deliver what you want. Ben Affleck, Bruce Willis, Steve Buscemi, Owen Wilson, the list goes on and on for really big name actors that helped generate the high box office takings and give us one hell of a reason to come out of the movie theatres smiling from ear to ear. The chemistry between Bruce Willis and Liv Tyler who played his daughter in the film was something to enjoy in itself but the alternate chemistry between Affleck and Willis was also something to really enjoy as Willis would constantly insult and chase Affleck away from his daughter.
The plot outline is simple, an Asteroid is heading towards Earth and if it hits it will destroy mankind as we know it, so a team of oil drillers must be sent up to the Asteroid to drill a hole in the Asteroid and plant a Nuclear device in the middle to destroy the Asteroid. The sub-plot is also simple, Harry Stamper (Willis) is the worlds best oil driller and while working on an oil rig his daughter Grace (Tyler) is in a secret relationship with A.J. Tyler (Affleck) but even with the dangerous risk of Harry finding out the love is destined to survive whether Harry likes it or not. When being requested by the NASA Administrator Dan Truman Harry would only agree to take part in the mission if the only people in the world he trusted could come with him, they only happen to be some of Americas biggest misfits.
The side characters including Buscemi, Michael Clarke Duncan & Owen Wilson really give us the comic relief of this movie and along with come of the more saddening scenes they have the ability to lift us up with their antics. Billy Bob Thornton plays his role as Dan Truman, the tortured soul with a broken dream well and puts the stamp of this character in our minds.
The CGI and other huge settings are great and make it at times over the top and yet they come across as realistic and cool. This is a genuinely fun movie but is something that in order for you to enjoy it you need to leave your brain at the door and just enjoy the swearing and destruction.
Movie Review: Bruce Willis saves the world
Summary: 5 Stars
Just because we're all doomed doesn't mean you still can't laugh. I think that's the best way to describe Bruce's 1998 action-blockbuster epic picture, "Armageddon." And that makes it so much more unique and fun to watch because no other end-of-the-world movie takes themselves less seriously than this one. I hate watching a movie and being preached at (like "2012" did.) Instead, "Armageddon" removes itself from the equation and the producers, writers and director were all intelligent enough to realize that this is a movie, and people want to be entertained.
Bruce plays Harry, an oil driller who is recruited by NASA to go into outer space to save the world from destruction. Bruce played this role as he did any of his other signature characters with perfection and precision. Even though he wasn't in every scene (there is a very long list of very talented actors in this, including Ben Affleck) his presence could always be felt. And in the scenes that Bruce was in he almost stepped back and let the others take control, his larger than life persona did not overtake any of the other cast members. Only a very generous and humbled man could accomplish such an endeavor. But like they say, slow and steady always wins the race.
Once Harry tells the NASA head (Billy Bob Thornton) that he needs his team to get the job done the fun in inner space really starts. His entire team (everyone from Steve Buscemi to Michael Clarke Duncan) were all hysterical. The story was so ludicrous and implausible that you just have to laugh at it.
If you enjoy sci-fi, astronomy or just Bruce Willis than this movie is for you.