Armageddon (1998)

After discovering that an asteroid the size of Texas is going to impact Earth in less than a month, NASA recruits a misfit team of deep core drillers to save humanity.

Director:

Michael Bay

Writers:

Jonathan Hensleigh (screenplay), J.J. Abrams (screenplay),

Stars:

Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 27 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Willis	...	Harry Stamper
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Dan Truman
Ben Affleck	...	A.J. Frost
Liv Tyler	...	Grace Stamper
Will Patton	...	Chick
Steve Buscemi	...	Rockhound
William Fichtner	...	Colonel Willie Sharp
Owen Wilson	...	Oscar Choi
Michael Clarke Duncan	...	Bear
Peter Stormare	...	Lev Andropov
Ken Hudson Campbell	...	Max (as Ken Campbell)
Jessica Steen	...	Co-Pilot Jennifer Watts
Keith David	...	General Kimsey
Chris Ellis	...	Flight Director Clark
Jason Isaacs	...	Ronald Quincy

Storyline

It is just another day at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a few astronauts were repairing a satellite until, out of nowhere, a series of asteroids came crashing into the shuttle, destroying it. These asteroids also decimated New York soon thereafter. Then, NASA discovered that there is an asteroid roughly the size of Texas heading towards the Earth, and when it does hit the Earth, the planet itself and all of its inhabitants will be obliterated, worse, the asteroid will hit the Earth in 18 days. Unfortunately, NASA's plans to destroy the asteroid are irrelevant. That is when the U.S. military decides to use a nuclear warhead to blow the asteroid to pieces. Then, scientists decide to blow the asteroid with the warhead inside the asteroid itself. The only man to do it, is an oil driller named Harry Stamper and his group of misfit drillers and geologists. As he and his drill team prepare for space excavation, the asteroid is still heading towards the Earth. When...

---

Plot Keywords:

asteroid | nasa | drill | nuclear | astronaut | 

---

Taglines:

Prepare to Fight Like There's No Tomorrow.

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi disaster action, sensuality and brief language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian Indonesian

Release Date:

1 July 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Armageddon - Das jüngste Gericht

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Theatre - 615 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$140,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$89,000,000 (Non-US) (7 August 1998)

Gross:

$201,573,391 (USA) (4 December 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Valhalla Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

151 min 153 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the training of the mission team, an Aerosmith song ("Sweet Emotion") is playing in the background with vocals by Liv Tyler's father, Steven Tyler, who also sings the theme song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing." The two Tylers appear in the Armageddon music video.

---

Goofs

In the psychological examination, Rockhound's solved Rubik's Cube at one point shows a green side adjacent to the blue side. In traditional Rubik's Cubes, the blue and green sides are opposite of each other.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
[Camera shoots past the moon to slowly zoom in on the Earth]
Narrator: This is the Earth, at a time when the dinosaurs roamed a lush and fertile planet.
[From behind the camera, a giant asteroid appears, speeding towards the Earth ahead of it]
Narrator: A piece of rock just 6 miles wide changed all that.
[Blazing through the atmosphere, the asteroid impacts with a spectacular display of fire and destruction]
Narrator: It hit with the force of 10,000 nuclear weapons. A trillion tons of dirt and rock hurtled into ...

---

Crazy Credits

All initial UK '12' Certificate videos came with the full promo video for Aerosmith's: "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" before the film started. The video only came with the limited widescreen or even more limited 'double feature' boxed video with 'The Making of Armaggedon' as a bonus video. Also some outtakes (1 per character) were featured at the very end of the credits with text underneath saying 'In loving memory of who gave his life saving our planet.' (The outtakes only came with the initial copies on video.)

---

Connections

Referenced in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Million Dollar Movie Week 2 (2009)

---

Soundtracks

"Pusherman"
Written and Performed by Curtis Mayfield
Courtesy of Rhino Records/Custom Records
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Fun, Action-packed movie.

This movie seems to be a movie that many people love to hate. I don't see why it has such a bad reputation. It is meant to be an Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi movie, and it definitely lives up to this. It is what it is. Many people have tried to compare it to Apollo 13, but that's like comparing apples and oranges. They are entirely different fruit. Apollo 13 is based on a true historical event (Docu-drama), while Armageddon is an Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi movie. It has plenty of action and adventure, a lot of humor, and a bit of romance. Is the story realistic? Not hardly, but name ANY Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi movie that is. That's why they call it Science FICTION... For those who criticize this movie, nothing will change their minds. However, if you HAVEN'T seen Armageddon, take a chance, watch with an open mind and try not to let all these negative reviews spoil your enjoyment of a really fun movie. Remember, a movie is meant to ENTERTAIN, and Armageddon does just that, if you let it!