| 11st | Top films set in Paris |
| Armageddon | |
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| Directed by | Michael Bay |
| Produced by | Michael Bay Jerry Bruckheimer Gale Anne Hurd |
| Written by | Screenplay: Jonathan Hensleigh J.J. Abrams Story: Robert Roy Pool Jonathan Hensleigh Adaptation: Tony Gilroy Shane Salerno |
| Starring | Bruce Willis Billy Bob Thornton Ben Affleck Liv Tyler Will Patton Michael Clarke Duncan Owen Wilson Peter Stormare Steve Buscemi William Fichtner Keith David Jason Issacs Jessica Steen Ken Hudson Campbell |
| Music by | Trevor Rabin Harry Gregson-Williams |
| Distributed by | Touchstone Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 1, 1998 |
| Running time | 150 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $140 million (estimated) |
| Gross revenue | $553,709,788[1] |
Armageddon is a 1998 disaster/science fiction-action film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and released on Disney's Touchstone Pictures label. The movie revolves around a group of blue-collar deep-core drillers who are sent by NASA to stop an Asteroid on a collision course with Earth. It stars an all-star cast including Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Ben Affleck, Will Patton, Peter Stormare, Michael Clarke Duncan and Steve Buscemi.
Armageddon arrived in theaters only two and a half months after a similar impact-based movie, Deep Impact, which starred Morgan Freeman. Astronomers described Deep Impact as being more scientifically accurate,[2] but Armageddon fared better at the box office.[3] They were about equally received by critics (Armageddon scoring 41% and Deep Impact scoring 46% on the 'Tomatometer'). The film was an international box-office smash, despite the mixed to negative reviews from the critics. The film became, worldwide, the highest-grossing film of that year, surpassing the Steven Spielberg war epic Saving Private Ryan.
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After several meteoroids destroy the Space Shuttle Atlantis and bombard New York City and several other parts of the world, NASA discovers that an asteroid the size of Texas, traveling at 22,000 miles per hour, will collide with Earth in 18 days, destroying all life. The scientists at NASA in cooperation with the Russian, Japanese and French space agencies plan to detonate a nuclear bomb at a precise point under the asteroid's surface which will split it in two, causing it to miss the Earth. The bombs must be planted at least 800 feet below the surface within eight hours of landing, and no later than four hours before Earth impact. The mission is not revealed to the public, fearing panic.
NASA locates the best oil driller on the planet, Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis), to get advice. When invited to NASA, Harry brings his daughter Grace (Liv Tyler) to keep her away from A.J. (Ben Affleck), a young, rambunctious member the crew who, he has just discovered, has been sleeping with her. This disappoints and infuriates Harry because he did not want his daughter to marry an oil driller like himself or remain in the blue collar life. Head of NASA Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton) informs Harry of the dire situation. Harry recognizes that he and his crew must accompany the astronauts to ensure the job is done properly. After Harry's crew (Jayotis "Bear" Kurleenbear, Max Lennert, Rockhound, Oscar Choice, Charles "Chick" Chapple and some others) is collected and NASA acquiesces to their demands, they are put through a 12-day training program and outfit a drilling rig with the proper equipment.
After a meteorite strikes Shanghai, China, destroying the city and causing a tsunami, the incoming asteroid and pending mission are revealed to the world. Two military shuttles, Freedom and Independence, are launched and dock at a Russian space station (crewed by Lev Andropov) to refuel with liquid oxygen propellant. A.J. encounters a problem stopping the pumps after the ships' tanks are full and the station explodes. The crews and Lev Andropov escape. Later, the two shuttles perform a high G-force powered slingshot procedure around the Moon, traveling at 22,500 miles per hour to intercept the asteroid.
As they enter the asteroid's wake, the Independence is struck by debris and crash-lands on the asteroid, killing most of its crew, including Oscar Choice, Freddie Noonan and the Independence pilots. AJ, Lev and Bear survive. The Freedom lands on the surface but misses the target landing zone, arriving on an area of hard iron which will be difficult to drill through. The Freedom team tries to drill but suffers several setbacks and losses due to unexpected conditions. After losing communication with Earth, the mission is put on hold, as the bomb's timer is activated by orders from the United States President to ensure the mission succeeds. However, a surface explosion would not be sufficient to divert the asteroid. Harry convinces Colonel Sharp to help them attempt to finish the job. With just 250 feet left to drill, their drilling machine is blasted off the asteroid by a gas vent killing Max in the process. When the crew radio report to NASA that the mission has failed, worldwide panic ensues as humanity braces for the end of the world. A massive meteoroid then strikes Paris, completely destroying most of the city.
The Freedom crew learns that the other team managed to survive the crash thanks to Lev Andropov and A.J. and have driven the second drilling machine to the site. Harry puts A.J. in charge of finishing the drilling and they successfully drill to the necessary depth. The team lowers the nuclear bomb into the hole, but are caught in a rockstorm. The storm damages the remote on the bomb, rendering remote detonation useless. With 18 minutes left, Truman tells the team that someone must stay behind to detonate the bomb. A.J. is chosen after drawing straws, but Harry disables A.J.'s air supply and takes his place. As the shuttle departs, Harry sends a message to his daughter, giving his full support for her to marry A.J.
Harry detonates the bomb exactly at the deadline, causing the asteroid to split in two and miss the Earth by 400 miles, at the cost of his own life. The remaining crews of Freedom and Independence return to Earth as heroes. A.J. reunites with Grace while the others are met by their loved ones. Grace and A.J. soon marry, while Harry and the other lost crew members are memorialized.
The film was given mixed to negative reviews and, although it was an international box office success, it received a large amount of criticism from film reviewers. On Rotten Tomatoes it scores 41%;[4] on a similar website, Metacritic, it similarly scores 42%. The film is on the list of Roger Ebert's most hated films: in his original review, he stated "The movie is an assault on the eyes, the ears, the brain, common sense and the human desire to be entertained".[5]
The film was nominated for four 1998 Academy Awards: 'Best Sound', 'Best Visual Effects', 'Best Sound Effects Editing', and 'Best Original Song (I Don't Want To Miss A Thing performed by Aerosmith)'. The film received the Saturn Awards for Best Direction and Best Science Fiction Film (where it tied with Dark City). It was also nominated for seven Razzie Awards[6] including: Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actress (Liv Tyler), Worst Screen Couple (Tyler and Ben Affleck) and Worst Original Song. Only one Razzie was awarded: Bruce Willis received the Worst Actor award for Armageddon, in addition to his appearances in Mercury Rising and The Siege, both released in the same year as this film.
Despite the general critical disdain, a DVD edition of Armageddon was released by The Criterion Collection, a specialist film distributor of primarily arthouse films that markets what it considers to be "important classic and contemporary films" and "cinema at its finest".[7] In an essay supporting the selection of Armageddon, film scholar Jeanine Basinger, who taught Michael Bay at Wesleyan University, states that the film is "a work of art by a cutting-edge artist who is a master of movement, light, color, and shape—and also of chaos, razzle-dazzle, and explosion". She sees it as a celebration of working men: "This film makes these ordinary men noble, lifting their efforts up into an epic event." Further, she states that in the first few moments of the film all the main characters are well established, saying, "If that isn't screenwriting, I don't know what is".[8]
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Michael Bay admitted that central premise of the film, "that [NASA] could actually do something in a situation like this," was unrealistic. Roy Pool, a contributing screenwriter, stated that his script, in which an anti-gravity device is used to deflect a comet from a collision course with Earth, was "much more in line with top-secret research."[9]
NASA shows the film as part of its management training program. Prospective managers are asked to find as many inaccuracies in the movie as they can. At least 168 impossible things have been found during these screenings of the film[10] - for instance, that the shuttles could not be built fast enough, either from scratch or by modifying existing shuttles (although one scene suggests that the shuttles had already been built in secret, until such time as they were needed), that they could not land on an asteroid, and if they could, would not be able to leave. The movie contains several scientific inaccuracies typical of science fiction films, such as depicting noise in space, and explosions and fires being sustained in a vacuum.
Following the 2003 Columbia disaster, some screen captures from the opening scene where Atlantis is destroyed were passed off as satellite images of the disaster in a hoax.[11] Also, in response to the disaster, FX pulled Armageddon from that night's schedule and replaced it with Aliens.[12]
| Armageddon | |
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| Soundtrack by Various artists | |
| Released | June 23, 1998 |
| Genre | Pop Rock |
| Length | 56:35 |
| Label | Sony Records |
| Professional reviews | |
The soundtrack features the song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", performed by Aerosmith. The soundtrack also features the song "Remember Me", as performed by Journey. This song was the first studio recording with new lead vocalist Steve Augeri, who was hired to replace long-time singer Steve Perry after his departure from the band.
Armageddon: The Album (Sony, June 23, 1998):
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | The Billboard 200 | 1 |
| Preceded by City of Angels (soundtrack) by Various artists |
Billboard 200 number-one album July 18-31, 1998 |
Succeeded by Hello Nasty by Beastie Boys |
| Armageddon | |
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| Soundtrack by Trevor Rabin | |
| Released | November 10, 1998 |
| Genre | Soundtracks Original Score Film music |
| Label | Sony |
| Professional reviews | |
There was also an instrumental score titled Armageddon: Original Motion Picture Score by Trevor Rabin. Rabin was formerly a member of the progressive rock band Yes.
A novelization was written by C. Bolin, based on the screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh, J.J. Abrams, Tony Gilroy and Shane Salerno and the story by Jonathan Hensleigh and Robert Pool.
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Men in Black |
Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film 1998 Shared with Dark City |
Succeeded by The Matrix |
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Armageddon is a 1998 film about a group of blue-collar deep-core drillers who are sent by NASA to deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.
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