Armageddon is a 1998 science-fiction/disaster film by Michael Bay, starring Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck. It was released just two and a half months after Deep Impact, a film with a remarkably similar plot. Armageddon did better at the box office, whilst Deep impact is considered more realistic. Armageddon opens in typical Michael Bay fashion, with lots of effects shots of things being destroyed.
With an opening narration explaining how the dinosaurs were rendered extinct by asteroid impact and a warning that “it happened before, it will happen again” we cut to the Space Shuttle Atlantis monitoring an astronaut repairing a satellite, when suddenly a meteor shower shreds the satellite, the astronaut and the Shuttle. Fragments continue to fall into the atmosphere, prompting the USAF to think it might be a missile attack. In New York, everyone is going about their business when rocks start falling catastrophically from the skies, wrecking countless cars and buildings, including (of course) the Chrysler building and the Twin Towers (which rather dates the film).
NASA hurriedly tries to calculate where the meteor is came from, only to be called by an observer who has spotted something comings towards Earth. The Hubble is used to get a clearer image: it’s the size of Texas, it’s coming this way, and will impact in 18 days. The chief scientists outline all the various oddball plans they came up with to stop the asteroid, but they decide the only option is to send up a manned mission to drill holes for nuclear weapons: aiming to split the rock along a fault-line and make the two halves miss Earth. After some hasty research, they conclude that the best drilling expert they can find is one Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis), who is currently working on an oil rig in the Pacific, along with his daughter Grace and her boyfriend AJ (Ben Affleck). Harry is rather upset about this relationship and briefly goes hunting AJ with a shotgun, before the rig strikes oil (and is almost destroyed because of AJ’s mistake). The USAF arrives to collect Stamper, who brings his daughter along to get her away from AJ.
At NASA, they are told about the problem. Harry is asked to train the astronauts, but upon realizing that all they need to do is drill, he asks to bring his own oil drillers with him as they know it best. The various crewmembers are gathered up by the FBI and are told the situation. They agree to participate (in exchange for a few, small, favors from the government). Training begins, highly accelerated and with many humorous moments, such as the medical reports, described as “impressively failed” by the doctor.
Eventually, after the public learns about the situation after a meteor destroys Shanghai, the mission begins. They refuel in orbit at the Mir space station, which ends with Mir being destroyed in a fiery explosion (however, everyone survives) and fly on to the asteroid, sling-shotting around the Moon to do so. The final approach sees one of the two shuttles heavily damaged and crashing, presumed lost. The surviving shuttle (with Stamper aboard) misses their landing site by 26 miles, landing on a plate of iron ore. They begin drilling, but progress is slow and their Armadillo (the mobile drilling rig) is lost due to an outburst of gas, killing one of the crew in the process. Fortunately, three people survived the crash of the second shuttle and reach the drilling site with their Armadillo. The target depth is reached, but the timer on the bomb was damaged, meaning someone has to stay behind and detonate it. Stamper stays behind and, in true action film fashion, leaves to the last possible second. The shuttle returns to Earth with the survivors aboard, and the film ends with Grace and AJ’s wedding.
The film was a major success at the box office but was given less than friendly reviews. Many took issue with Michael Bay’s editing style, described as resembling “a machine gun stuck in the firing position for 2½ hours.” There was also considerable criticism of the “realism” of the film, and there is even a disclaimer in the credits stating that: “The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s cooperation and assistance does not reflect an endorsement of the contents of the film or the treatment of the characters depicted therein,” which is hardly a sign of a realistic film.
Armageddon Pictures & Wallpapers
Here are some great Armageddon pictures and Armageddon desktop wallpapers. You can download any of these images to your computer by right-clicking on the picture you want and choosing "save image as". Once you've downloaded one of these Armageddon images you can use it as your wallpaper etc.
