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Armageddon: The Criterion Collection
review by Ren C.
Unrated
Running Time: 153 minutes
Studio: Disney/Criterion
Starring Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Steve
Buscemi, Michael Clarke Duncan
Story by Robert Roy Pool and Jonathan Hensleigh
Directed by Michael Bay
Retail Price: $49.99
Features: Director's Cut, Two Commentary Tracks, Gag
Reel, Deleted Scenes, Storyboards, Special Effects Analyses,
Trailers and TV Spots, Music Video
Specs: Video-Widescreen Letterboxed-2.35:1, Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 (Movie), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
(Supplements), Two Disc Set, Chapter Search
First of all, let me say, I did enjoy this movie. I've
continued to enjoy this movie on repeat viewings. It's
definitely not a thinking movie, but one of those movies
that you put on when you feel like something loud that you
don't have to pay much attention to.
The story is very simple: A big meteor is threatening
Earth, and the only people that can save it are a team of
oil drillers. The film opens with several fragment of this
meteor striking Earth, and NASA slowly becoming aware of the
problem. They decide to keep it under wraps at first, until
they can figure out what to do. With the plan they come up
with, they seek out the advice of Harry Stamper (Bruce
Willis), who informs them that the only way their plan can
work is if they send he and his group of oil drillers, among
them A.J. Frost (Ben Affleck), and Rockhound (Steve
Buscemi). What follows is the almost desperation training
needed to get these men ready to go into space. Somehow,
they actually manage to achieve this, and send them off into
space as Earth's last hope against the meteor.
This is the main story, but Michael Bay also manages to
cram about 173 subplots into the movie. The main one among
these is the romance between Frost and Stamper's daughter,
Grace (Liv Tyler). I tend to agree with the many people who
have stated that this movie plays out like a really long
commercial. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The
movie never really gives the viewer time to get bored,
assaulting them from all angles at every point in the movie,
and trying to give the viewer a little bit of everything.
Another thing that the movie boasts is an all-star cast:
Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Steve Buscemi
and Michael Clarke Duncan are just scratching the surface
here. Giving the actors credit for what they do, they each
try to distinguish their characters and make them memorable
instead of doing what they could have done and making them
nameless, faceless entities.
Overall, this isn't a movie that is going to win awards
for storyline, or for depth, but it is a great "popcorn
movie" so to speak. Lots and lots of action, and a tenuous
storyline holding it all together work to make a very
enjoyable movie.
This is an excellent transfer. Crisp, clear, and very few
distractions to mar the viewer's enjoyment of the movie.
There are only a few places, especially during very dark
scenes, where a small amount of pixelation can be seen.
Aside from that, the darks are very deep and rich, and the
special effects (of which there are many) are very bright
and fulfilling.
This is the very definition of a reference quality disc.
This is like an explosion bonanza, and will certainly push
your system to its limits. The dialogue comes across well
also, even when it is in danger of being drowned out by the
numerous effects. The Dolby 5.1 definitely uses all of its
available power to evenly distribute the dialogue and
effects evenly, with the effects being overpowering but not
overwhelming.
This is definitely where this disc shines. Being a
Criterion disc, utmost care has been taken with it to ensure
that it is the best quality that it can be. First of all,
this is the director's cut of the movie, although the few
scenes that are inserted back into the movie are of the
"blink and you'll miss them" variety. A nice addition,
nonetheless. Also a "feature" is the standard Criterion
color bars for calibrating your system.
Now, we move into the bulk of the features. There are two
commentaries included here. The first features the cast and
crew of the movie, including producer Jerry Bruckheimer,
Michael Bay, Willis and Affleck. The commentary was not
recorded at the same time, but was spliced together from
separate interviews. It works very well in this case,
however, with Affleck being hilarious in taking the time to
crack on virtually everyone he worked with on the movie, and
himself as well. You'll learn a lot about the making of the
movie, and you'll be entertained, which I think should be
the aim of any good commentary.
The second commentary features cinematographer John
Schwartzman, NASA consultant Dr. Joe Allen, and asteroid
consultant Ivan Dekey. It seems as though the filmmakers
listened to the advice of these men and then did what they
wanted to anyway. Much of the track is used to point out
errors in the making of the film. It's very illuminating to
realize that the technical consultants caught some of the
more obvious errors in the movie, but there wasn't much that
they could do about it.
The second disc in this set is solely a supplements disc,
and it is a good one. We start with a gag reel that runs
about eight minutes and is worth the price of the disc by
itself. This definitely shows that the set of the movie
wasn't all fun and games. Next are several deleted scenes,
all of which are fairly brief, and not integral to the
movie. However, one scene would have been interesting had it
been left in the movie, and given some more depth to Steve
Buscemi's character.
Next is a series of storyboards that depict how the
"armadillo jump" and "rock storm" scenes were laid out.
There is a series of special effects featurettes where the
making of some of the more complicated scenes in the film
were laid out. There is also a production design featurette
in which production designer Michael White talks about
creating the distinctive look of "Armageddon". There is also
a design gallery included which features the creation of
some of the more noticeable elements, including the
spacesuits and the shuttle itself.
Rounding out the disc is the marketing section, which
features an inordinately large amount of trailers and TV
spots. Literally every ad that was made for this movie is in
this section. Finally, there is the "I Don't Want To Miss A
Thing" section, which features the song that was so
important to the success of the movie. The video is included
here, along with a very brief Aerosmith interview, and a
promo ad for the soundtrack. My only complaint here is that
the interview and the video are not encoded on separate
chapters, so that every time you want to watch the video,
you have to sit through the interview. Not a major problem,
but still mildly annoying.
This movie is definitely an acquired taste. It's one of
those movies where upon first viewing, you will either like
it or hate it, there really isn't any middle ground.
However, the spectacular presentation of the movie should
definitely serves as incentive for a purchase. The video and
audio are both superb, and the features are jam-packed. The
only question is if it's worth the higher price than the
movie only disc. If you're buying it for the movie and could
care less about the features, then probably not. But if you
are interested in the features at all, then definitely get
this version, it's well worth it. Strong recommendation for
those that have seen the movie and liked it, as well as
feature buffs. Recommendation to rent for everyone else.
 (3.5/5, NOT included in
final score)
 (4/5)
 (4.5/5)
(4/5)
(4/5,
NOT an average)
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