Review of Armageddon (1998) by Kenneth E — 11 Dec 2012
Still Michael Bay's best effort. Though it unsuccessfully mixes suspense with humor, and eschews the simplest of astronomical concepts, the third act is engaging, (and a bit unexpected.) This film also has a longer shelf life than the run-of-the-mill Action/Adventure because it introduced audiences to the very-real threat from space; though 1998 is in the distant past, the possibility of a giant astroid destroying human civilization is engrained in the minds of pop culture.
Due to this fact, I view "Armageddon" as a semi-important landmark in pop culture, (in the same manner DNA and cloning was introduced into household conversations with 1993's Jurassic Park.
) You can say what you want about the overall noise, the quirky characters, and the unnecessary clutter of dialogue, but at the film's core, the filmmakers got it right: space travel is bold, dangerous, but rewarding.
One scene towards the film's conclusion shows young children playing with toy space shuttles, reenacting the crew's asteroid-drilling operations; there needs to be more "space" movies with this kind of optimism.
No alien attacks, no time-warping. No hyper-drive. (In fact, no "villain,"" except for the villainous problem at hand.) Just a bunch of mortal human beings, a simple plan, a spacecraft to get the job done, and a clock ticking backwards.
This review of Armageddon (1998) was written by Kenneth E on 11 Dec 2012.
Armageddon has generally received positive reviews.
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