Other Titles • Armageddon (1998) • Armageddon - Das jüngste Gericht (1998)
Synopses for Armageddon (1998)
1.
For Love. For Honor. For Mankind. When NASA's executive director, Dan Truman (Thornton), realizes the Earth has 18 days before it's obliterated by a meteor the size of Texas, he has only one option--land a ragtag team of roughneck oil drillers on the asteroid and drop a nuclear warhead into its core. Spectacular special effects, laugh-out-loud humor, great characters, riveting storytelling and heartfelt emotion make Armageddon an exhilarating thrill ride you'll want to experience like there's no tomorrow.
(49 votes)
2.
Grossing more than 200 million dollars domestically during its initial box office run in 1998, Bay's loud, fast spectacle is a love-it or hate-it archetype of the big budget studio action film at the century's end. Made with lots of money ($140 million!), a strong cast and tons of special effects, ARMAGEDDON tells the tale of a team of oilmen called in by the president to land on a Texas-sized asteroid approaching Earth and blast it into pieces before it ends life as we know it. Huge plot holes, some of the quickest cutting seen in film, and occasionally unconvincing special effects will not deter those who approach it seeking two and a half hours of full-throttle, flag waving cinematic rush.
(47 votes)
3.
This 1998 testosterone-saturated blow-'em-up from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay (The Rock, Bad Boys) continued Hollywood's millennium-fuelled fascination with the destruction of our planet. There's no arguing that the successful duo understand what mainstream audiences want in their blockbuster movies--loads of loud, eye-popping special effects, rapid-fire pacing, and patriotic flag waving. Bay's protagonists--the eight crude, lewd, oversexed (but, of course, lovable) oil drillers summoned to save the world from a Texas-sized meteor hurling toward the earth--are not flawless heroes, but common men with whom all can relate. In this huge Western-in-space soap opera, they're American cowboys turned astronauts. Sci-fi buffs will appreciate Bay's fetishising of technology, even though it's apparent he doesn't understand it as anything more than flashing lights and shiny gadgets. Smartly, the duo also try to lure the art-house crowd, raiding the local indie acting stable to populate the film with guys like Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Owen Wilson, and Michael Duncan, all adding needed touches of humour and charisma.
When Bay applies his sledgehammer aesthetics to the action portions of the film, it's mindless fun; it's only when Armageddon tackles humanity that it becomes truly offensive. Not since Mississippi Burning have racial and cultural stereotypes been substituted for characters so blatantly--African Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Scottish, Samoans, Muslims, French ... if it's not white and American, Bay simplifies it. Or, make that white male America; the film features only three notable female characters--four if you count the meteor, who's constantly referred to as a "bitch that needs drillin'". Sadly, she's a hell of a lot more developed and unpredictable than all the other women characters combined. Sure, Bay's film creates some tension and contains some visceral moments, but if he can't create any redeemable characters outside of those in space, what's the point of saving the planet? --Dave McCoy
(38 votes)
4.
From the blockbuster-making team who produced and directed The Rock comes the biggest movie of 1998 - Armageddon! Starring the explosive talents of Bruce Willis, Academy Award winners Ben Affleck and Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Steve Buscemi and Will Patton, Armageddon is a meteor storm of action-adventure moviemaking that has you on the edge of your seat forgetting to breathe!
When NASA's executive director, Dan Trauman (Thornton), realizes the Earth has 18 days before it's obliterated by a meteor the size of Texas, he has only one option - land a ragtag team of roughneck oil drillers on the asteroid and drop a nuclear warhead into its core. Spectacular special effects, laugh-out-loud humor, great characters, riveting storytelling and heartfelt emotion make Armageddon an exhilarating thrill ride you'll want to experience like there's no tomorrow.
The disc includes Aerosmith's MTV award-winning music video, "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing."
(38 votes)
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