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Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786305169185
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
ISBN: 6305169187
Label: Walt Disney Video
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Walt Disney Video
Release Date: November 13, 1998
Running Time: 150 minutes
Sales Rank: 4050
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Theatrical Release Date: July 01, 1998
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Editorial Review:
Description:
From the blockbuster-making team who produced and directed PEARL HARBOR and THE ROCK (Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay) comes the biggest movie of 1998 -- ARMAGEDDON! Starring the explosive talents of Bruce Willis (DIE HARD), Academy Award(R)-winners Ben Affleck (GOOD WILL HUNTING) and Billy Bob Thornton (SLING BLADE), Liv Tyler (INVENTING THE ABBOTTS), Steve Buscemi (CON AIR), and Will Patton (INVENTING THE ABBOTTS), 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 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.
Amazon.com essential video:
The latest testosterone-saturated blow-'em-up from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay (The Rock, Bad Boys) continues Hollywood's millennium-fueled fascination with the destruction of our planet. There's no arguing that the successful duo understands what mainstream American 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 lovable, of course) 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 fetishizing 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 tries to lure the art-house crowd, raiding the local indie acting stable and populating the film with guys like Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Owen Wilson, and Michael Duncan, all adding needed touches of humor 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 females--four if you count the meteor, who's constantly referred to as a "bitch that needs drillin'," but she's a hell of a lot more developed and unpredictable than 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
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
People love to dump on this movie...namely for the unrealistic plot and action. The first time I saw this it was in the theater and I felt like everyone else...I was dissapointed and it just felt like a big letdown.
However, this movie has grown on me like no tomorrow. Forget the plot and how its totally unrealistic. This movie has some of the best and funniest dialogue. It you watch the Gag Reel on the Criterion edition you'll see how much fun the actors had making this. The dialogue in this movie is funnier than most comedies out there, you just have to ignore the plot and pay attention to it. The humor is very dry and the characters all gel really well together. Its the little lines that make this movie..like when Bruce Willis is having an argument with his daughter, and to distract the Japanese clients that are visiting he says "look at those nice pipes up there". Its said so quickly that I didn't catch it after the first few viewings.
Give the movie a chance if you're on the fence about it...it really is entertaining.
Rating:  -
This movie is one of the silliest, dumbest movies I have ever seen. When I saw this film, it was apparent that no thought, no research, no intelligence went into the writing at all. Let's start with the basic premise of the film. An asteroid is discovered and we have 17 days until it hits. What do we do? In the real world, we bend over and kiss our butt goodbye. There is absolutely *no* way a mission such as this could be planned, trained-for and executed in this time. 17 days wouldn't be enough time to prepare a standard shuttle launch, much less one with this type of mission. This movie blindly ignores this fact. I am always distressed when films treat people as mere cattle, props to use while pounding a point home and then forget. In the open of the movie, New York is hit with a barrage of fragments, presumably causing untold death and injury. In the real world, people might even see fit to comment upon this with the people they meet. In Armageddon, this scene is presented as eye-candy (it *does* look pretty good) and then is promptly forgotten by everyone involved. No one talks about it. No one cares. There is so much that is wrong with Armageddon. The science involved in splitting an Asteroid the "size of Texas" with a nuclear bomb implanted only 800 feet into surface (trust me, when you have driven 800 feet into Texas, you haven't driven very far.) The idea that that bomb could divert the two large fragments enough to cause them to miss the Earth in the time they had ... Read More
Rating: -
I believe this movie to be well directed and scripted. It had the right amount of humor, drama, and "feel good" ending. They knew when to be funny and when to be serious. It had a great cast and overall it was a very enjoyable movie. From what I've read, this was one of those "hate it or love it" movies and I really liked the movie.
As for realism, yeah most of that stuff probably wouldn't fly realistically but if the only way to save our planet was to drill a hole in the sucker, would I prefer astronauts be given last minute instructions on how to drill or would I prefer some guy who has done it for years? I guess it sounds kinda funny/stupid at first but...I would prefer the experienced driller.
In any case, if realism is what you wanted, this isn't for you. If you want a to watch an entertaining movie, this is one of the best I've seen.
Rating:  -
the best thing about this movie is it's fast paced and therefore the pain of various scenes is short-lived. also, there's some good one-liners on the moon. however, this movie attacks you with a blended mash of movie standards such as: the macho hero, the love interest, patriotism, action, rising music to artificially stir your emotions, the scientific genius,
the misunderstood father, the misunderstood daughter, suspense, comedy,
the bumbling bureaucrats, the rough-edged construction workers and of course, highly improbable drama. it's the full playbook crammed together, and because of that, it's virtually an educational guide about what not to do. it's a total mess overall, and horrible science fiction, but grabs your attention here and there. Unfortunately, though not even a decade old, it seems very outdated, largely b/c of the theme and the presence of the twin towers, but also because the computer effects are embarrasing in several places. overall, highly ridiculous.
Rating:  -
This movie is over hyped. It's boring after 15 minutes into the movie. There's nothing exciting. It's also illogical.
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