Armageddon is pretty much the quintessential Michael Bay movie, a lot of action but totally unrealistic and even more non-sensical. The basic premise of the plot is that a killer asteroid is headed toward Earth. NASA determines that a team has to be sent to the asteroid to destroy it, by drilling a hole into it and planting a nuclear bomb to blow it apart. The government uses the design for a drill created by an oil driller named Harry Stamper (played by Bruce Willis). Instead of the logical thing, having Stamper's drill team train the astronauts how to use the drill, they decide to train the team of drillers, who are, to say the least, not even remotely qualified to be astronauts, to go up to the asteroid and drill the hole. Again, totally, stupid, but if you can suspend your disbelief, it works.
There is a strong cast including Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Michael Clarke Duncan, Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Owen Wilson, Will Patton, Jason Issacs, and William Fichtner. The members of the drilling team are pretty much lovable losers, and the astronauts are hard-nosed by the books types that don't want them there. Of course, the inevitable conflict between the team members as well as the threat of the asteroid intensifies throughout the movie.
For those who get the Blu-Ray, the movie looks and sounds great in HD. The extras are sparse, however. The trailers and the video for Aerosmith's song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", which was probably as popular as the movie itself. The video quality is upgraded from the Criterion Collection release, but the extras are a big downgrade.
Overall, the movie is what you would expect from a Michael Bay summer blockbuster. Lots of action and heroics, but nothing that you would expect to have a deep conversation about. The acting in this is much better than some of the Transformers movies (especially the various sequels), which helps offset the completely stupid plot. The romance story between Affleck and Tyler's characters was not really needed but was okay in the grand scheme of things. So, if you are looking for an action movie that you can kind of just turn your brain off and enjoy, this is a good one.
There is a strong cast including Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Michael Clarke Duncan, Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Owen Wilson, Will Patton, Jason Issacs, and William Fichtner. The members of the drilling team are pretty much lovable losers, and the astronauts are hard-nosed by the books types that don't want them there. Of course, the inevitable conflict between the team members as well as the threat of the asteroid intensifies throughout the movie.
For those who get the Blu-Ray, the movie looks and sounds great in HD. The extras are sparse, however. The trailers and the video for Aerosmith's song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", which was probably as popular as the movie itself. The video quality is upgraded from the Criterion Collection release, but the extras are a big downgrade.
Overall, the movie is what you would expect from a Michael Bay summer blockbuster. Lots of action and heroics, but nothing that you would expect to have a deep conversation about. The acting in this is much better than some of the Transformers movies (especially the various sequels), which helps offset the completely stupid plot. The romance story between Affleck and Tyler's characters was not really needed but was okay in the grand scheme of things. So, if you are looking for an action movie that you can kind of just turn your brain off and enjoy, this is a good one.
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