Movie Info:
Writers: Jonathan Hensleigh, J.J. Abrams, Tony Gilroy, Shane Salerno, Robert Roy Pool
Director: Michael Bay
Cast: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Will Patton, Steve Buscemi, William Fichtner, Owen Wilson, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jason Isaacs
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Touchstone Home Entertainment

Release Info:
Theatrical Release Date: July 1, 1998
DVD Release Date: April 27, 2010
Online Availability: Amazon for $19.99

Back when Armageddon came out, I was getting movies at our library. This was one of the new movies I got and watched at home. I liked it so much that once I had a DVD player, I made sure to get a copy of this DVD. It’s a great action flick with a fun little plot. I am a fan of Bruce Willis and have been for years, so it is pretty safe to say that I was going to like Armageddon. Sure, it’s no Oscar contender, but it is interesting, engaging and has as much of a plot as it does action.

The acting for Armageddon is pretty good. I already mentioned I like Bruce Willis. Ben Affleck is in this, as well. He’s not my favorite actor, but he’s not a bad one. He has great chemistry with Liv Tyler. I like Liv in most of the movies she has done (though she hasn’t been in anything worth noting lately). Liv’s father, Steven, and his band, Aerosmith, had a big hit with the main theme to Armageddon.

I can remember radio stations all over playing, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”. The song became almost bigger than the actual film. Either way, it added to the hype of the movie. Other actors that made an impact that helped to make Armageddon a better movie include Billy Bob Thorton, Jason Isaacs, Will Patton and Steve Buscemi. I do not remember Owen Wilson being a big star yet, but he is in this, too as is the excellent Michael Clarke Duncan. Essentially, Armageddon has a rockin’ cast that helped to make the movie worth watching.

Armageddon was a collaboration between Michael Bay, who directed the film, and Jerry Bruckheimer. The two had previously worked together on Bay’s second feature, The Rock. Known for high budgets and action packed films, Bay was the right choice for this movie. It calls for a lot of high tech, special effects, that would have made the movie cheesy if executed poorly. The bad thing about this is that special effects direction is Bay’s strong area of directing. He is less effective in directing the human emotion and, at times, it can make characters appear superficial. The cast of Armageddon does a nice job of keeping it real and it is their acting that I believe makes this film a success, in my eyes.

While Armageddon did well at the box office, most critics, at the time of its release, weren’t in love with the film. The plot is decent yet unrealistic, but this is sci fi/fantasy. I don’t expect these types of stories to be realistic. Some of the dialogue is goofy, and that makes the movie have moments of cheese, but overall, I liked it. I liked the story, the actors, and the action sequences that propelled them through the plot. By the time you read this review, you should know whether you want to buy this movie or not. It has been out long enough for you to catch it on pretty much every television channel that airs movies, and you’ve probably already rented it, if you wanted to. The real question is whether it is worth it to purchase this Blu-Ray, which this review should help to answer.

The Armageddon Plot
In space, Atlantis, a space shuttle that is attempting to fix a satellite is obliterated. The cause of destruction is a meteor shower. More meteors appear, causing damage in a number of cities across the world. NASA begins to investigate the slew of space material flying into the Earth’s path and the agency discovers that an asteroid, which they nickname Dottie, is on a collision course with the Earth. In 18 days, the massive asteroid will hit the Earth and the entire planet will be destroyed. The great space agencies of the world, including NASA, decide to work together to find a solution, if they can, to prevent the collision.

It is agreed upon that the best course of action is to try to get the asteroid to split in two. Nuclear power could achieve such an explosion, but only if someone or something can get the explosive material into the core of the asteroid. If the Earth is to survive, the asteroid needs to be stopped at least four hours prior to its collision. This top secret mission and the asteroids existence are kept hidden from the public. This is to prevent a widespread epidemic of panic and the preying on the innocent of doomsday enthusiasts.

To get the bomb 800 feet into the asteroid, NASA contacts an oil rigger who has experience drilling holes in delicate places. Harry Stamper (Willis) is sent to NASA headquarters. He brings along his daughter, Grace (Tyler). This is mostly to prevent her from seeing her lover, A.J. (Affleck) who works on the oil rig and is a part of Stamper’s crew. NASA head Dan Truman (Thorton) explains the life or death situation to Stamper, and Stamper agrees to help, but he and his crew must go into space with the astronauts assigned to the mission. After some tension between Stamper’s crew and NASA, the group goes through a rush training program. In 12 days they are ready to head into space.

In the meantime, Grace is having trouble dealing with both A.J. and her father going on such a dangerous mission. Harry continues to try to keep the couple apart and the level of predictability with where this goes is pretty much guaranteed. Once the crew and the NASA team head up into space, they soon realize this mission was much more dangerous, complex, and harder than they anticipated. With things in space growing tense and deadly, the countdown to the Earth’s destruction looms as those in space try to prevent such an inevitable ending to the Earth from happening.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
Armageddon hits blu-ray with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. There were some worries about whether or not the Blu-Ray quality would impress, which is common with an older film. However, Armageddon manages to look, at the very least, pretty good. Softness only creeps up on rare occasions. Otherwise, you’re left with a detailed picture with generally good coloring. There is some grain that shows up, but as with many Bay films, some of this is his doing rather than damage to the film itself. All in all, it’s not a new quality, but it’s definitely better than I was imaging it would be.

The audio is handled with an English 5.1 DTS – MA track that meets and beats most expectations. The surrounds really work in Armageddon. You will be immersed in sounds of explosions, airplanes/space ships, drill machines, and machine blasts. This doesn’t include the depth that the musical soundtrack offers to the film. Dialogue is crisp and clear at all times, too, making Armageddon a winner when it comes to all things audio. Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks are also available in French and Spanish. Subtitles are also available in all three languages.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
So, here’s my issue with these special features. Armageddon has been released at least twice on DVD. There could have been several special features that were ported over that weren’t. At least one of the releases was a special release that had a nice selection of special features. However, this Blu-ray does not include any of those special features, nor does it seem to include anything new. Instead, you get the original features on the more or less barebones original release. What a major fail on the part of the studio.

What you do, disappointingly, receive, is a teaser trailer and original, theatrical trailer for Armageddon, new trailers for upcoming films, and the Aerosmith video, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” It’s nice to have the trailers, but I am not going to watch them over and over again. Likewise, the video is definitely a step above some of the others that I have seen, but the studio left out so many optional features that this one video does not make me feel like this section is a success. I am left assuming that either the studio doesn’t care about the fans surrounding this film or they are planning a special Blu-ray edition. If the latter is true that is just ridiculous. If the former is true that is equally unfortunate.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
The audio and visual qualities are a step up on Blu-Ray, but the bonus features stink. This leads me to believe that Touchstone might be holding out for a totally cool, special features packed release of Armageddon. With this in mind, you may want to wait a little while before deciding whether to purchase this in Blu-Ray. It is not so drastically different from the DVD quality that you have to drop everything and get this release. However, if you are a Blu-Ray junkie and an Armageddon, you may want to buy this and any future releases of the movie. It just seems disappointing that other than the movie quality, nothing has improved, even a little bit, with this Blu-Ray release.

Overall Rating:

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