Armageddon (1998) | Sci-Fi Saturdays

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Are you getting it? Yeah, Armageddon it.

Armageddon is Michael Bay’s entrance into the disaster movie arena of the late 90s. With it he proves that he’s not just a one-genre director. The film takes multiple genres, mashing them up into a rocket-fueled, fun ride into outer space. Leave your cares behind, come for Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck, and stay for the Bayhem!

First Impressions

In what looks like a love story between a young couple turns into a disaster film of global proportions as meteorites begin raining down on the planet. A scientist says that a giant rock, a global killer, is headed their way, and a small group of men only have 12 days to stop it. Led by Bruce Willis, this group of ragtag misfits begin training to head into space to stop…Armageddon.

Presented below is the trailer for the film.

The Fiction of The Film

After a brief introduction showing the destruction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago by a meteor only six miles wide (narrated by Charlton Heston), a meteor shower destroys the space shuttle Atlantis in orbit while raining debris and meteorites onto New York City. The meteors come from an asteroid the “size of Texas” which will impact the Earth in 18 days. NASA Director Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton) informs the President that if this rock impacts, it will wipe out all life on the planet. When asked for a plan, Truman says that they want to blow up the asteroid from the inside.

Luckily, the audience has been introduced to Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) and his crew. They are the best deep core driller alive. He has never failed to hit a depth he’s aimed for. Never! He and his daughter Grace (Liv Tyler), are brought to the Johnson Space Center to assist with troubleshooting the drill design they have stolen from Harry. Frustrated, he tells them there’s not enough time to train the astronauts on how to be drillers. Instead, he offers himself and his team to train to be astronauts and travel to the asteroid to save the world.

The team is gathered by federal agents, in the first of several montages. Truman and Dr. Ronal Quincy (Jason Isaacs) explains to the volunteers just how their two space shuttles, the Independence and Freedom will stop at the Mir space station for refueling, and then slingshot around the moon to land on the rock. Young hotshot AJ (Ben Affleck) asks Grace to marry him, knowing that he’ll eventually come back. Through further training exercises, and more montages, AJ continues to not listen to Harry about the best ways to drill, thinking he knows better than the expert. On the final night before the mission Rockhound (Steve Buscemi), Max (Ken Campbell), Noonan (Clark Brolly), and Oscar (Owen Wilson) are arrested.

Harry says goodbye to Grace in his most heart to heart talk he’s ever had with her, as she makes him promise he’ll come back. Harry and his crew, also including Chick (Will Patton) and Bear (Michael Clarke Duncan), divide up between the two shuttles. Each is piloted by two NASA and Air Force officers. Harry’s ship, Freedom, is led by Sharp (William Fichtner), a career military officer. At Mir, they meet cosmonaut Lev Andropov (Peter Stormare) who warns them not to touch anything. Unfortunately the fuel starts to leak, causing the space station to explode. Luckily everyone, including Lev, manages to escape. Racing around the moon, they gather the speed necessary to enter the asteroid’s cloud of debris and land.

The Independence crashes, killing everyone except AJ, Bear, and Lev. Houston doesn’t realize that anyone survived, and Grace is devastated by the news. Freedom overshoots their target by 26 miles and now must drill through an iron plate to get a hole deep enough to insert a nuclear device that, when triggered, will split the rock in two, sending it in vectors past the Earth. The magnetic interference makes it difficult to communicate, so General Kimsey (Kieth David) fearing the worst, attempts to remotely detonate the bomb. Truman and his team kill the signal, allowing Harry and his men to do the job.

Sharp believes that “secondary protocol” is necessary, since the drillers have not reached their depth in time, but Harry assures him they will make the hole–on time. AJ and the other two men show up in the Armadillo, a lunar rover with drilling capabilities, just when Harry’s machine explodes, killing Max. They drill the necessary distance but realize someone needs to stay behind and detonate the bomb. AJ draws the short straw, but Harry, realizing that the young man has a future with his daughter, disables his O2 and swaps places with him. AJ, Chick, Sharp, Bear, Lev, and Rockhound return home. They honor Harry for his sacrifice. As the credits start Grace and AJ get married in a small ceremony.

“It’s what we call a global killer. The end of mankind. Doesn’t matter where it hits. Nothing would survive, not even bacteria.” – Dan Truman

History in the Making

Armageddon was director Michael Bay’s third film, after Bad Boys and The Rock, and the final entry in a string of disaster films that began in 1996 with Twister (tornados) and Independence Day (alien invasion). This brief stint of films also included the 1996 Daylight (man-made disaster), Volcano and Dante’s Peak–a pair of films about volcanoes from 1997, with Hard Rain (storm) and Deep Impact (comet) both from 1998. The success of these films varied, but there was one other title that blew them all away: Titanic. This epic disaster film, based on the shipwreck of the RMS Titanic, set box office records becoming more than a standard disaster film. Out of all these titles, it had the most impact on Armageddon.

Besides the crash of a giant ship into an iceberg, Titanic is probably best known for the love story between Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. This plot line proved very popular, especially with younger female audiences, and is reportedly the reason that the romantic subplot was added between AJ and Grace. Initially, this was not part of the film, and was added later during reshoots, including the wedding footage shown during the credits. This addition probably helped make it the highest grossing film worldwide for 1998 and the second-highest film in America behind Saving Private Ryan.

Genre-fication

Armageddon’s real impact was its genre-bending usage of elements specific to disaster films as well as science-fiction films, similar to the way that Independence Day successfully navigated these tropes. The major difference between the two films–both which are action packed and fun rides–is Armageddon plays things slightly more tongue-in-cheek. Michael Bay’s directorial style is much flashier than Roland Emmerich, having come from a background of music videos. Fans of his films will immediately notice signature shots, such as his 360° spin shot, featured in both his previous films. You know the one. (Does this shot define Michael Bay as a genre unto himself?) The shot adds a level of gravitas to the scene, usually indicating the resolve of the character–or them saying, “I’m a badass, and I’m here to kick butt.” Here the shot involves Billy Bob Thornton in the NASA control room when he realizes the incoming asteroid will destroy all life. But there are several others with Willis and Tyler as well.

Primarily the film is a disaster movie, with the first half having all the hallmarks of the same. The audience is immediately shown the problem, with the characters taking a little longer to understand the impact of the disaster. There is the group of scientists that understand the gravity of the situation, while the involved military are only thinking about immediate gains, rather than the long term ramifications. There is at least one character that doesn’t believe in the mission and/or tries to sabotage the characters for their own gain. In this case, Rockhound serves that purpose, but only because he gets space dementia. The film showcases the experts in the necessary field as being the only one to save people from the coming disaster. There is a large cast with multiple storylines, which not all will survive. And finally there are moments of extreme destruction and carnage, as the central disaster destroys property and human life. Michael Bay actually does a good job of keeping all the elements enjoyable while going through the steps.

The second half of the film, from the launch of the space shuttles is where the science-fiction takes over. Many articles about Armageddon, will detail the numerous factual implausibilities and impossibilities of the film. That’s not what Sci-Fi Saturdays is here to do. The job of movies, especially ones dealing with fantasy, horror, and sci-fi, is to engage the audience’s suspension of disbelief while telling an entertaining story. And that’s just what Bay does here. Some of the best, and most memorable action moments come on the space station, or the Armadillo jumping across the laughably large asteroid chasm like Evil Kneivel on a rocket bike. It doesn’t matter that they can’t (or shouldn’t) happen. The film sets up these larger than life down-to-Earth heroes who have to work their magic up in space. There’s no laser beams or energy shields on these spaceships. It’s Apollo 13 with a bunch of roughnecks trying to blow up a chunk of rock the size of Texas. And audiences get the best deal on this fun rocket ride of a movie.

Societal Commentary

One thing viewers may not expect from an action-oriented, summer blockbuster is an emotional connection. But Armageddon also brings that to the table. While the romantic subplot between AJ and Grace is slightly cheesy and disrupts the flow of the otherwise tense film, fans will remember those moments indelibly linked to the strains of Aerosmith’s song “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”, written by epic songwriter Diane Warren (“Rhythm of the Night” by DeBarge from The Last Dragon, “How Do I Live” by LeAnn Rimes from ConAir). This is rivaled by the relationships between Harry and Grace, and Harry and AJ. One is a daughter he does not get along with, and the other is a surrogate son that he does not get along with. Willis’ performance by the end of the film is unexpected with the reconciliations between these other two characters. How many people come to Armageddon looking for Bruce Willis to cry? It may seem a bit formulaic, but it’s a moving moment–especially for fathers in the audience.

Armageddon also serves as a strong proponent of honor and duty. This theme plays throughout the film, from Harry’s track record of never missing a depth he’s drilled for, to Colonel Sharp wanting to ensure that the mission will succeed. Harry plays fast and loose with many rules and OSHA guidelines, but he’s always very serious about his qualifications for the job. He is the best rigger and driller on the planet, no questions. Of the many things he does not understand (being a father among them), he knows his tools and team, and will go to the mat for them any day. Colonel Sharp likewise is a duty-bound man. His task, besides piloting the ship, is to ensure the success of the mission and also to follow orders. As a career military man, he doesn’t even think to question his superiors. But Harry must remind him that his duty is not to those men in uniform thousands of miles away. It’s to the small team on the asteroid who actually know what is going on. Their duty is also to everyone on Earth, for their failure will mean the end of life as we know it.

These themes of honor and duty were probably chosen specifically for the film, as it opened a mere three days before American Independence Day in 1998. Just as Top Gun had done over a decade before, Armageddon serves as a patriotic, and slightly jingoistic film about American superiority, here in space rather than just fighter planes. It acts as a glorified recruitment video for NASA just the way Tom Cruise’s character Maverick enticed people to join the Navy Air Force. All the energy and good feeling sells Armageddon as a rah-rah, go USA movie where the country single-handedly saves the Earth from an oncoming disaster. And while New York City is the first to be hit by debris, other world cities get it much worse, including Paris and Shanghai. There’s nothing wrong with films like this, but audiences should be aware that emotional appeals like this can be strong motivators.

The Science in The Fiction

Asteroids the size of Texas. Slingshot around the moon to pick up speed. Detonate a nuclear warhead to split a rock in two. These are some of the scientific conceits of the film Armageddon. If the filmmakers have properly done their job then audiences should go along for the ride. However, there are certain absurdities to parts of the film. There are too many to enumerate, but they do exist. But some of the things that Armageddon does showcase correctly include the underwater training simulator and landing of the space shuttles. The giant pool used to simulate a weightless environment is something that NASA has used for decades to help prepare astronauts for the rigors and challenges of space. It allows them to work on the mission parameters in a way that evokes the weightlessness of space so they can be ready for the real thing. The film also shows the shuttle Freedom landing like an airplane, which is how space shuttles since Enterprise have returned to Earth. The film was able to shoot a number of scenes in and around Cape Canaveral of real shuttles taking off and landing (which were digitally altered to look like the more advanced models in the film). These real-world locations do add some additional authenticity to the film, given the sketchy nature of the premise.

The Final Frontier

Armageddon is a pop-culture packed film referencing not only fictional films like Star Wars, Star Trek, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, but also Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff. In fact, Michael Bay includes at least three separate shots of the astronauts walking in deep focus, emulating the iconic shot from The Right Stuff. He also riffs on other disaster films including the destruction of New York City in the opening minutes, which evokes the shots and similar moments from Independence Day a few years earlier. The opening also showcases a small dog attacking a street-vendor’s Godzilla merchandise. Perhaps a subtle jab at Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla film from a few months prior. It’s not unheard of for director’s to disrespect other films in a playful way. Last week’s The X-Files featured Mulder urinating on an Independence Day poster, presenting director Chris Carter’s thoughts on that film.

For a big summer blockbuster, the impressive visuals and the interstellar cast are backed up strongly by several Aerosmith songs. “Sweet Emotion” can be heard during one of the montage sequences, as well as their rendition of The Beatles “Come Together.” Tied in with the fact that lead singer Steven Tyler’s daughter Liv starred as Grace, makes this a family affair. Michael Bay has gotten a lot of flack in recent years for his sometimes unwatchable action moments in his Transformers films, but Armageddon has a different feel to it. It still has many over-the-top moments, camera shots that call attention to themselves, and feels like an extended music video sometimes, but it might be his last film that really contained a lot of heart. Thematically the film has a lot to say, and the cast does a great job of delivering this emotion with conviction and realism, despite the contrived nature of many of the scenes. Armageddon is still a fun film that is sure to get you smiling, especially on a cold Saturday afternoon.

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