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Michael Bay has an impressive list of films under his helm as director, including Pearl Harbor, Transformers and The Rock. The 1998 film Armageddon combined his considerable eye for an action film with an all star cast and a great soundtrack to give us one of the year's biggest blockbusters.
The Plot
An asteroid is heading towards Earth. The only way to destroy it is by blowing it up from the inside. NASA agent Dan Truman recruits the best core drilling team on the planet to send them into space to attempt to dig to the centre of the asteroid and nuke it before it can crash to Earth and destroy the entire population.
The Cast and Performances
The all star cast is led here by Bruce Willis as Harry Stamper, the owner of the best drilling project in the States. Billy Bob Thornton plays Truman, and the two of them recruit the team whgich consists of some Hollywood heavyweights. Ben Affleck plays A J Frost, one of the best. The problem is that A J is also secretly courting Harry's daughter Grace, played by Liv Tyler. Harry's crew has been with him long enough to see Grace grow up, so they all know each other very well. Michael Clarke Duncan, Will patton, Steve Buscemi, Owen Wilson and Ken Campbell make up the drilling crew, while William Fichtner and Jason Isaacs also join the party as NASA and US government agents.
The danger with all star casts is that somewhere along the line you may lose sight of the acting ability and it starts to become a struggle. Here, all the actors look like they had immense fun makign the fun, and as such the atmosphere is relaxed and the acting on top form. Yes, there is untold amounts of cheese at work here, and some of the lines will make you cringe, but there is no denying the talent on show, and all work well together. The remainder of the cast all do well in support, especially Peter Stormare as a Russian astronaut with a screw loose.
My Opinion
When this came out, was at University and my friends persuaded me to go to the cinema to watch it. I was reluctant to spend the money on the cinema as I was a bit strapped for cash, being a student (!), but I was glad I made that spend! It was a wonderful display of sheer entertainment. Michael Bay's ability to just entertain is phenomenal, and althoguh I am sure there are lots of scientific reasons why the film was slated, there was never any intention that drilling to the heart of an asteroid to save the planet was ever a proper scientific option! The science talk in the film serves to make the viewer think this is the only solution, and as such makes the film more dramatic and entertaining.
The camera work is brilliantly done, and the special effects crew deserve a pat on the back for their recreation of an asteroid upon which a bunch of actors must walk and float and drive and drill. The explosive scenes and those in space are equally impressive.
What is bad about this film is that it does stretch the imagination almost to the point of breaking. The believability factor is present as long as you keep an open mind and as long as the viewer is kept interested and persuaded that this is possible, but there are a couple of times when an immediately easier solution presents itself that a ridiculous reason for its ignoral is suggested. naturally, this is to help the plot along, as it would be no fun if an all star cast was selected to go to the moon only for some science geek to find a way of doing it from the ground. I feel less people would go to the cinema to see that.
In conclusion, a great blockbuster thatg goes to the limits of pure entertainment, flirts with stupidity, but keeps its feet on the ground to provide good entertainment. The cast all perform well and do the exact job they are supposed to, and director Michael Bay deserves a round of applause. Some people will hate this because of the cheese. I love it BECAUSE of the cheese.
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Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
When NASA's executive director Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton) makes the terrifying ... more
realisation that the Earth has just 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 drille...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Bang, crash wallop what a picture Disadvantages: The Cheesiest Trailer I've ever seen. Buscemi Deleted scene. girlfriend on the sideline sydrome
Pa8ax 16.11.2009 ·
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Review of Armageddon (DVD)
Mar 4th, 2009
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