Armageddon
by Michael Bay
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DVD details
Actor: Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Bruce Willis, Liv Tyler, Will PattonDirector: Michael Bay
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Producer: Barry H. Waldman
Producer: Chad Oman
Writer: J.J. Abrams
Writer: Jonathan Hensleigh
Writer: Robert Roy Pool
Writer: Shane Salerno
Writer: Tony Gilroy
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 151 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-01-05
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Product features:
- When an asteroid the size of Texas is headed for Earth, the worlds best deep core drilling team is sent to nuke the rock from the inside.Starring: Ben Affleck, Steve Buscemi, Keith David, Will Patton, PeterStormare, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, and Bruce Willis.Directed By: Michael BayRunning Time: 2 hrs. 31 mins.This film is presented in "Widescreen" format.Copyright 1999 Buena Vista Format
DVD Reviews of Armageddon
DVD Review: Misguided reviews of a good movie
Summary: 4 Stars
"Once again this is rumor control, and here are the facts". A review should be an opinion with supporting facts. Unfortunately, many (including the editor above), offer opinion with additional opinions given as facts. I see gripes about the physics and astrophysics of this movie but those complaining have got to get the basic physics correct before trying to address the astrophysics. The effect is that the movie proves its scientific validity to those who know the sciences of it. It's a GOOD MOVIE.
First,before the science part, on stereotyping, most of those stereotyped according to the editor above were characters that may have been seen for MAYBE one minute and you may also notice that they are using their own characters from their typical stand-up comedic professions. Not all are comedians though. For example, the chinese buisenessmen that are clients of Willis' company. I guess to avoid being tossed up as stereotypes they should have been speaking french while visiting the rig in the South China Sea. Or maybe they should have just been of french nationality. Two African American characters are in the entirety of the movie, one, an emotional gentle giant biker and the other is serious and by the book Air Force brass. Yeah, I recall those stereotypes from all over the place. By the way, the brief appearance nationalities are all given as stereotypes but he fails to mention the Russian that becomes part of the mission. The Scottish apparently got pulled into the fray by the character Max saying his favorite dish is haggis.
The editor and some reviewers seem to have led sheltered lives. The character types listed are normal in life, especially in manual labor occupations, and they also would tend to make referances like "bitch that needs drillin" (Watch your punctuation Mister Ed. and I thought profanity wasn't permitted). I notice that he never mentions the AF and NASA pilots DON'T display the same kind of behavior as the oil drillers.
Now let's hit the science. Shuttle maneuverability. There are no objects of easily recognized scale to use in establishing how maneuverable the shuttles are. The best thing available is the other shuttle and that doesn't help much at all. In other words, you can't determine how much space they are using to make their maneuvers. And I know I never saw any snap rolls or anything like that. They appeared to me to use a reasonable amount of space to make their maneuvers. I grew up in aircraft.
Gravity equal to Earth in some parts, a lack of gravity in others. This falls under astrophysics so I can only give possibilities based on views. The rotation of the asteroid gets fouled up and it begins to pivot on three axis which to my mind could upset gravitational effects. But more importantly, pay attention to the makeup of some parts of the asteroid like where they were drilling. "Compressed iron ferrite" and add to it the various types of radiation in space such as electromagnetic that could easily magnetize iron ferrite and cause false gravity by attracting anything containing ferrous metals. As Watts says after they land, "The guages will not read. They're all peaked like we're plugged into some kind of god****** magnetic field."
About the shuttle crash-landing at "thousands of miles per hour" and having survivors. If two objects collide head on, their two speeds are added together to come up with the force of impact. The shuttle wrecks on the asteroid from behind, both traveling the same direction. Therefore, the speed of the asteroid is SUBTRACTED from the speed of the shuttle to get the force of impact. So, the shuttle wrecked at about 500 MPH across the surface which means it is a glancing blow which further reduces the severity. This as compared to say plowing directly into the back of the asteroid which would have been a catastrophic impact at 500 MPH.
"And now for something completely different." Why carry a machine gun on a mission in space. How often does the military NOT carry guns? Remember, Air Force is involved. There's the possibility it was on board to be tested on some mission. But the real question here is why would they unload it onto the surface of the asteroid for this movie? They obviously wouldn't have time to even test it on this mission. So, this is a valid complaint. I'm not even sure how the idea of including this part even came to be because it's nonsensical.
NASA mounting a multinational mission this quickly. Multinational? The only multinational part of it is docking with a Russian space station for refueling. Six US AF and NASA and eight oil rig workers from one company (US based). With Earth to be destroyed in 18 days, I would say they wouldn't have a lot of choice but to ditch some safety practices and such and force the mission into execution quickly. Apollo 8 was prepared for in just 4 months and that was only the second manned mission of the Apollo project, most of the equipment had only been used a couple of times, and it was back when we knew so little about space flight. It is a scarey thought these days though after the loss of two shuttles due to idiotic problems compared to the safe return of Apollo 13 in 1970 following its critical malfunction.
The unknown space station with its own gravity. The station has simulated gravity caused by firing rockets that cause it to spin. Did you happen to notice that they never state what station? I don't believe a year was even given anywhere in the movie. These little items are obscured, likely intentionally, to avoid certain limitations. I prefer when they do this. It's like watching "Escape From New York" now in 2006 while the movie is set in the future - 1997...
Now here's mine. Why didn't the landing gears shatter when the shuttle landed on the asteroid? Unless heated, they likely should have in such extreme cold. But that issue was never addressed. You can assume one way or the other or decide it isn't worth worrying about. Personally, I don't think it's worth worrying about.
Just a little note on speeds given in the movie. If you've ever wondered about the speeds given in the movie (approximately 22,000 MPH asteroid velocity and shuttles hitting 22,500 MPH). Apollo 10 hit 24,791 MPH on its return trip in 1969. That'd be 2791 MPH faster than the asteroid's velocity in "Armageddon".
Again, this review is mainly to clear up facts and to show supporting science for this film. This one got hit here as scientifically ridiculous while "The Core" was called smarter though it is almost pure fantasy. I did a review on it too.
Description of Armageddon
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.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
The 1998 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
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