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 oilmen are called upon to save the planet as only they can.
Grossing more than 200 million dollars domestically during its initial box office run in 1998, Bay's loud, fast spectacle is a love-it or hate-it archetype of the big budget studio action film at the century's end. Made with lots of money ($140 million!), a strong cast and tons of special effects, ARMAGEDDON tells the tale of a team of oilmen called in by the president to land on a Texas-sized asteroid approaching Earth and blast it into pieces before it ends life as we know it. Huge plot holes, some of the quickest cutting seen in film, and occasionally unconvincing special effects will not deter those who approach it seeking two and a half hours of full-throttle, flag waving cinematic rush.
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Distributor Notes: Armageddon
From the blockbuster-making team who produced and directed PEARL HARBOR and THE ROCK (Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay) comes the biggest movie of 1998 -- ARMAGEDDON! Starring the explosive talents of Bruce Willis (DIE HARD), Academy Award(R)-winners Ben Affleck (GOOD WILL HUNTING) and Billy Bob Thornton (SLING BLADE), Liv Tyler (INVENTING THE ABBOTTS), Steve Buscemi (CON AIR), and Will Patton (INVENTING THE ABBOTTS), ARMAGEDDON is a meteor storm of action-adventure moviemaking that has you on the edge of your seat forgetting to breathe! When NASA's executive director, Dan Truman (Thornton), realizes the Earth has 18 days before it's obliterated by a meteor the size of Texas, he has only one option -- land a ragtag team of roughneck oil drillers on the asteroid and drop a nuclear warhead into its core. Spectacular special effects, laugh-out-loud humor, great characters, riveting storytelling, and heartfelt emotion make ARMAGEDDON an exhilarating thrill ride you'll want to experience like there's no tomorrow.
Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Director of Photography
John Schwartzman: Director of Photography, PEARL HARBOR (2001)
Production Designer
Michael White: Production designer not porn actor.
Costume Designer
Michael Kaplan: Costume Designer, BLADE RUNNER (1982)
Review 1:
"...Enjoyable..."
Source: Box Office
p.65 09/01/1998
Review 2:
"...Move over, DEEP IMPACT -- here comes something meteor..."
Source: Premiere
p.19 07/01/1998