Armageddon (1998)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1998
	Director: Michael Bay (Transformers 1-4, The Island)
	Actors: Bruce Willis (Die Hard 1-5, Cop Out), Billy Bob Thornton (Fargo season 1), Ben Affleck (Paycheck, Daredevil), Liv Tyler (The Lord of the Rings 1-3), Steve Buscemi (Con Air, The Big Lebowski), Owen Wilson (Meet the parents, Zoolander)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 08.12.2016, VOD, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: When a huge meteor is about the strike the Earth, a reckless team of deep core drillers led by Harry Stamper (Willis) is called to the rescue.
Review: Released at about the same time as Deep Impact, Armageddon choose a diametrically opposed approach. And with my usual enthusiasm I chose to watch them back-to-back. A better sound and image quality was definitely lacking to watch this one, but fortunately I could draw on my memory of seeing it many times in the past and the feelings it brought me then. There is to me no doubt that after practicing on Bad Boys and The Rock, Michael Bay upped the ante and defined with Argameddon the vocabulary of what disaster and Action movies would be in the 20 years to come, nothing short of that. The scenes of destruction by meteors in New York, with all the explosions and original camera angles and doves taking off in slow motion will forever be engraved in my mind as nothing like that was even seen before at that time. I have been seldom as impressed by the special effects in a movie as I was by this one. Now beyond the outstanding visuals, the story and characters are as dumb as can be: only 18 days before the meteor strikes, a crew of core drillers to the rescue, the conflict between the cute talented young guy and the father of his fiancee, all the comedy scenes... That could just be more that one can take, but thanks to a magic mix (that has aged a little I have to concede) it was and still is just fun to watch. And if you want to enjoy it just stop at that: it is just entertainment. Sit back, relax, eat pop corn and alternatively let your jaw drop at the overwhelming destruction scenes and laugh at the non-stop show delivered by Steve Buscemi, Bruce Willis, Owen Wilson, Peter Stormare, Michael Clarke Duncan... The comparison wih Deep Impact is not even worth drawing as the two have totally different objectives, both valid on their own and both fulfilled.
Rating: 6 /10