Armageddon

Published 2014-09-27

The Earth's darkest day will be man's finest hour

Film info

Director
Michael Bay
Year / Run time 1998 · 2hr 31m
Genres Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, Thriller
Cast
Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Steve Buscemi, William Fichtner, Owen Wilson

When NASA's Executive Director, Dan Truman, realises 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 nuclei warhead into its core. Spectacular special effects, laugh-out-loud humour, great characters, riveting storytelling, and heartfelt emotion make Armageddon an exhilarating thrill ride you'll want to experience like there's no tomorrow.

Live blog

Time	Comment
2:07	"It WILL happen again. It's just a question of when."
5:28	Is NASA in the phone book?
11:13	The size of Texas. Oof!
14:45	There;s nowhere to escape on an oil rig!
21:26	They're wasting all that oil!
26:34	"Patents don't apply to outer space."
32:36	How can anyone say no to Bruce Willis? Never mind saving the world, Mr W is asking!
38:07	He said, the Cubs win the world series! BTTF reference.
48:07	It's like the batmobile.
51:50	$100,000 at 60%? Jeez that's a huge loan.
1:01:34	One hour gone, crying count is about one and a half times so far.
1:03:57	"A species has the technology to stop its own extinction."
1:05:58	Mr C cry count, five.
1:06:40	Is it possible to launch two shuttles at the same time? There's only one main platform.
1:13:35	I'm wondering whether this is where my William Fichtner obsession began.
1:30:42	"Because I'm a genius." Best answer to everything.
1:33:36	To the left, to the left.
1:39:11	Always follow the beep, I say.
1:45:43	"The President's not here." Also, why does the president make the call for the whole world?
2:01:47	Lost count of cry count now.
2:08:39	That's Liv coming to a sad realisation.
2:16:03	"All made in Taiwan!"

Thoughts

I love this film. Have loved it since I first saw it. Back when I had a heart of stone, it was one of the few that would make me cry. But it also has the witty dialogue and the great disaster movie scenes that I love.

I had sort of been saving it for a special occasion, but actually, in the end, it just felt like the right time to watch it again. It was all the brilliant things I remembered - great characters, far-fetched but wonderful story, and fab one-liners. And if it reduced me to tears when I was hard-hearted, I was in floods this time.

Initially, it's just the bit where she tells the kid he's just a salesman. But at the end, pretty much as soon as the straws are drawn, I was gone. I love it and I don't care what anyone says. It's one of the best films ever, because it is both brilliant and rubbish in equal measure.

Rating: 5 / 5