The End of All Things?
 Sep 16th, 2004
Advantages:
Special Effects, Plot, Range of Emotions
Disadvantages:
The Action scenes seemed a little long for me
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
Soundtrack
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  helencbradshaw
About me:
wonders..
Member since:29.07.2001
Reviews:295
Members who trust:355
Review rated by 71 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
Armageddon is an old film- first released in 1998, starring many blockbuster actors including of course Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck and Billy Bob Thornton. I recently watched it for the second time primarily because colleagues were saying it was impossible to watch with bursting into shed loads of tears at the end. (And that was the men.) I could not remember having watched it and thinking I must have missed a decent chic flick, I hastily borrowed a DVD from said colleague, to soon realise I had seen it before, but obviously the memory of my tears didn’t stay with me for six years! Basic Plot
------------
Our delicate Planet Earth is under threat from a meteor attack, perhaps even worse than the meteor which was to have wiped out the dinosaurs and caused the previous Ice Age. In New York City (poignantly still with the twin towers) we find that the city is under attack from a meteor shower, causing severe damage.
Scientists determine that the planet is about to be hit by an asteroid the size of Texas, and one that, if it hits Earth, nothing would survive. It is calculated the asteroid will hit in a mere 18 days. Immediately Nasa employs 11000 staff to think about every scrap of an idea they have ever had regarding space exploration, that might lead them to a solution. Meanwhile in the South China Sea, Harry Stamper (Willis)
is chastising a staff member AJ. And chastisement turns to fury as he realises that AJ has been involved with his daughter Grace, who it transpires has been rasied by Harry on the rig…Harry is as confused as anyone when NASA arrive and bundle him off the rig and back to their HQ in Houston.
And so we have the most unlikely scenario where a bunch of redneck oil drillers need to save the planet, and have NASA at their complete beck and call.Stamper is asked to accompany the mission to enter space and drill the asteroid, using his drill which they have plagiarised but have been unable to copy with any reliability. And of course Stamper won’t go without his bunch of men who he trusts, including AJ, despite the relationship with his daughter. Stamper is clearly affronted that they have attempted to copy his drill, despite the fact that this is a moot point if the planet cannot be saved. Things don’t go entirely to plan when Stamper’s insistence that the boys be let out for an evening results in the story being leaked to the press, and NASA find themselves performing damage limitation to the world population.
Thoughts
----------- Several things struck me as important during this movie. Firstly, the loyalty shown by Stamper’s team on being asked to go into space and save the planet. Volunteering despite their fears showed real leadership for Stamper. There were amny hilariously funny moments in this film, and in particular a quote of the movie for me was one of the team asking “Do you think we will get Hazard Pay for this?” Absolutely priceless.
Even more so are the group’s additional requirements which range from having all parking tickets revoked to the whole group never having to pay taxes again ever. Apparently the crew did actually write down their list of demands; very the list that Willis took to Billy Bob Thornton. NASA only had 12 days to train the men who would be accompanying Stamper on this precarious mission, and yet it is clear that a strong loyalty quickly builds between Dan Truman (BB Thornton) and Stamper (Willis); a loyalty that might even prove stronger than the loyalty to the USA government.
But the weepy scenes do eventually arrive and I am glad I watched the film alone as I wept a bucket, really strange for a film with a front cover such as this one. But some of the scenes between both Stamper and his daughter Grace, played by Liv Tyler, as he has to leave her, and the whole team have to leave her are extremely moving. And as for the scenes during the action itself, these are soul destroying, and not what you quite expect. If I had a complaint to make it would be in ‘that’ bit of the film where the proverbial enemy, in this case our asteroid, is under attack, and I definitely lost concentration for a few moments there. It just seemed to be a sequence of noise and flashing lights, and felt extremely turbulent and it was an effort to keep up with the story..
The special effects were excellent, and indeed the crew wore authentic NASA space suits during filming, and some shots were of actual space launches, and therefore represented one time filming opportunities for the crew. The story might be criticised as being unlikely (!) and indeed it is, but the film is put together so cleverly that I did not once have any moments where I thought it was corny.
DVD 2 – Extras
-------------------
A 2nd DVD contains a host of extras about the film. This includes Richard Hoover from Dream Quest discussing the main threat in the film, the asteroid and the months of work it took to take it from a napkin drawing to a model which was used in the film, and how special effects were used to create the effect of a mean and hostile environment. The Production Design supervisor also provides an interesting discussion on how they took the basic script to the final movie and gives us insight into what is possible. The film was originally started without the support of NASA but once their apprival was gained, then the opportunites for the film became endless.
Musically, tracks are provided by Aerosmith and Bon Jovi among others including the track “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” and the DVD contains the full song and music video. I found the Deleted Scenes a little weak and limited in what is otherwise an excellent Extras DVD.
In summary, I certainly recommend this film, having enjoyed it just as much the second time as I did on the first viewing. It is both passionate and adventurous; emotional and slightly frightening, implausible yet still somehow believable.
Certificate 15
147 minutes
DVD from £10.95
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by (1%):
21.12.2004 00:53
Very thorough review, I'm surprised more people haven't rated it higher. Just watched Armageddon on TV good, but I don't think I'll be buying it now. Puma1000
20.11.2004 19:10
I saw this film a while back and really enjoyed it. Good review, :) Paul
29.10.2004 00:00
I think I saw this too years ago. Willis is such a smirky chops isn't he? Good sci-fi.