Stars: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Ben Affleck, Will Patton, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Keith David, William Fichtner, Owen Wilson, Michael Clarke Duncan, Charles Stewart

Director: Michael Bay

Summary: A low earth orbit space station is in the middle of a repair mission with the space shuttle when an unforeseen meteor shower obliterates them both. This sudden event sends fireballs hurtling to Earth and scientists scurrying to telescopes. An amateur astronomer is the first to spy a gigantic fireball headed towards the planet and notifies NASA. Turner (Thornton) informs the president of the asteroid and describes it as being the size of Texas, a planet-killer. With eighteen days to impact, NASA frantically tries to find a solution but ends up turning to an outside contractor. Harry Stamper (Willis) and his team of ragamuffin roughneck oilmen are called upon to save the planet as only they can.

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This 1998 testosterone-saturated blow-'em-up from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay (The Rock, Bad Boys) continued Hollywood's millennium-fuelled fascination with the destruction of our planet. There's no arguing that the successful duo understand what mainstream 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, of course, lovable) 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 fetishising 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 try to lure the art-house crowd, raiding the local indie acting stable to populate the film with guys like Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Owen Wilson, and Michael Duncan, all adding needed touches of humour andcharisma.

When Bay applies his sledgehammer aesthetics to the action portions of the film, it's mindless fun; it's only when Armageddontackles humanity that it becomes truly offensive. Not since Mississippi Burninghave 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

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Storyboard And Production Design Drawings, Analysis Of Special Effects, Featurette By Production Designer, Theatrical Trailer, Aerosmith Music Video
Subtitles:	English
Year:	1998
Release Date:	August 20, 2001
Runtime:	144 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	B E D 888314
Keywords:	Action, General, Wide, Screen, Armageddon, Adventure
Genre:	Action/Adventure