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Amazon.co.uk Review
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 female characters--four if you count the meteor, who's constantly referred to as a "bitch that needs drillin'". Sadly, she's a hell of a lot more developed and unpredictable than all 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
Amazon.co.uk Review
It’s not hard to see why either. Armageddon throws in as many genre clichés as possible, and gets away with the vast majority of them. Thus, a great big disaster is threatening the earth, and an unsuitable mixed bag of recruits--led here by Bruce Willis’ Harry Tasker--is called up to save the day. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong, explosions abound, the ensemble cast are dragged to hell and back, and mindless entertainment ensues.
What’s more, it’s mindless entertainment that looks quite brilliant in high definition. Matched by a roaring surround sound track, the picture quality of Armageddon is terrific here, with every inch of potential destruction eeked out in some style by the 1080p video transfer. The disc is, sadly, very light on extras, but its home cinema credentials are without question. Plus, whisper it: the film was, is and always will be tremendously over-the-top fun… --Jon Foster
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The Sixth Sense was simply a cinema master-piece and really revieved Willis from a grey patch in his career. The plot, the storyline and the introduction of a young Hayley Joel Osmon make a movie which delivers so much and leaves you on the edge of your seat right till the end. The twist was spectacular and really was a brilliant film from start to finish. Unbreakable was from the same director and in a subtle way, the same kind of film with a 'big and shocking twist' as the finale. Even though it was still an exciting thriller it lost the edge that sixth sense had via losing the originality. For me Armaggedon is a great film, even though it rates high on the cheese factor it's a powerful tear-jerker that has the pulse racing as Willis and his team are sent to drill a hole into an astroid to save all of mankind. Not only that but there is able support from Ben Affleck and Billy Bob Thorton, plus a great sound-track from Aerosmith. Finally a true cinema classic with Die Hard...Bruce Willis fights crime with a white vest and gets down and dirty to save lives and look out for himself at the same time.
All in all, for just over twenty pounds, this is a great bargain and a great chance to own some cinema classics.
Despite the relatively low box office returns (just a smidgen over $200 million), the marketing machine for Armageddon was in our faces everywhere, and I feared it might burn-out audiences before release. I know I felt a little cynical when I went into the cinema that day, my expectations very low.
I've said before that Michael Bay does himself no favors. The man knows how to make a blockbuster, but he's utterly clueless when it comes to making a good film. Armageddon is the only film in his entire resume that I find watchable and entertaining, though he still should have held back some scenes (the notorious animal cracker love scene really should have been dropped).
A big boulder of iron ferite hurtles through space, knocking smaller meteors toward Earth (thinking of breaking a frame on a pool table). NASA recruits immature oil driller Harry Tasker and his band of roughnecks to go into space and nuke the comet before it ends all life our little blue planet. With an 18-day countdown it's going to be very, very close.
Although it took a total of 18 writers to staple the screenplay together, Armageddon succeeds in almost every area where Deep Impact failed, plus more. The soap opera is kept to a minimum while the action is ramped up, delivering one hair's-breadth escape after another, all to the sound of Trevor Rabin's amazing score, which the life blood of the movie. The huge cast of fine actors, the SFX, and the action would all be significantly inferior without Rabin's soaring tunes, which turn many of the key scenes into wordless music videos of visual storytelling.
That's not to say that the acting isn't notable. As a matter of fact, Bruce Willis is surprisingly effective, as is Will Patton, who rarely gets a decent role in mainstream movies. Though, as with Con Air a year before, Steve Buscemi owns every scene he's in (tying with Peter Stormare). Just ignore the horribly miscast Ben Affleck whenever he appears. He's the only real weak link of the movie, to the point where you ought to switch off during his screen-time.
As the only truly exciting blockbuster of the 1998 summer season, Armageddon defines a lackluster year, and elevates Michael Bay's classless resume. It's exciting, colorful entertainment, and none-the-worse for it.
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