With all the talk of meteors and asteroids in Russia last week, we couldn’t help but think of the ultimate disaster movie, Armageddon.
By Genna Patterson
Armageddon stars one of our favourite tough guys, Bruce Willis, as well as a whole heap of great actors including Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire), Ben Affleck (Argo), Billy Bob Thornton (Bad Santa), Owen Wilson (The Wedding Crashers), Liv Tyler (The Incredible Hulk) and Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile).
The movie shows an asteroid the size of Texas hurtling towards the earth at high speeds, and the only ones who can save us from impending doom are a team of oil-rig drillers, headed by Harry Stamper (Willis). The plan is simple: Get the drillers to NASA, teach them to be astronauts in days and then fire them onto the asteroid. There, they will drill into the rock and plant explosives in order to divert it from hurtling towards Earth. Genius!
As is the case with most of these blockbusters, things rarely go to plan. There’s a case of space madness/cabin fever, a forbidden love story and, of course, malfunctioning equipment at the crucial moment.
Who cares if it’s a ridiculously improbable story line? Sometimes the more improbable, the more exciting it is. Full of comedy moments and tension-filled drama, why wouldn’t we want to watch it multiple times? There are plenty of moments too where Billy Bob and other officials get to say “Mr. President…we’re f*cked” – or something similar, fuelling the pressure.
Directed by Michael Bay of Transformers and Bad Boys fame, this movie is full of his signature moves; it has comic moments, touching ‘make-you-feel’ scenes and plenty of explosions and action. Made back in 1998, the visuals are surprisingly good compared to what we see in the cinema nowadays.
While it may verge on plain silly at times, and the characters don’t develop a whole lot, Bruce Willis once again leads the way with his heroic antics and surly nature, inspiring even the weak to feel courageous.
Barely believable, corny and even cringe-worthy at times, but we love it.
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