DVD Reviews

Armageddon - Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll May 6, 2010, 15:41 GMT

From the mega-hitmakers who produced and directed The Rock and Pearl Harbor comes Armageddon. And now, these mind-blowing action-adventure explodes on Blu-ray for the first time ever! Bruce Willis (Surrogates, Sin City) and Academy Award winners Ben Affleck (1997, Best Original Screenplay, Good Will Hunting) and Billy Bob Thornton (1996, Best Adapted Screenplay, Sling Blade) head an all-star cast that incudes Liv Tyler (The Lord of the Rings trilogy), Steve ...more

When Criterion announced that Michael Bay’s space opera popcorn fest was going to be given their treatment, the hue and cry of thousands of perplexed geeks created a black cloud that still hovers over Lake Eerie. Seriously, Armageddon is a film not to be taken so. Although those same haters will cry out again since those special features are not on the disc.

It’s the end of the world as we know it and only some blue-collar miners can save us. Meteorite showers are causing massive destruction across the globe, but they’re only a taste of what is coming. A gigantic meteorite the size of Texas is flying through space towards earth. If it collides with us, the planet will be reduced to space dust.

Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton), the head of NASA, and his team come up with a plan to land on the asteroid and detonate a nuclear bomb at the proper point that will cause it to split in two and avoid the planet. However, to drill to that point they’ll need some rough and tumble deep core drillers.

The head of that group is Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) whose daughter Grace (Liv Tyler) is seeing A.J. (Ben Affleck), a member of his crew. The rest of his crew includes “Chick” Chappie (Will Patton), Bear (Michael Clarke Duncan), geologist Rockhound (Steve Buscemi), and Oscar (Owen Wilson). Harry recognizes that he and his crew will have to go into space to make sure the job is done right and Armageddon is avoided.

Armageddon, the film not the event, is equally reviled and celebrated. Michael Bay won’t be compared to David Lean when the final roll of great directors is called, but he’s a consistent box office draw. His films are big and brassy and usually strain credibility.

Armageddon is no exception, but it is an entertaining popcorn flick. Just don’t try and think too hard about it. Bay certainly has assembled a star-studded cast (or at least one that has many familiar faces if they weren’t stars just yet).

Willis plays on his heroic stereotype and there’s lots of drama with his daughter and A.J. There are effects and stunts galore and many of those explosions and suspense will take your mind off of the leaps of logic. It’s a film that you may love to tear apart after your first viewing (if you made it through it).

One cannot deny that it was a box office smash and pulled in over 500 million worldwide. Reality is thrown out the window and into outer space, but if you’re looking for a high octane, mindless, roller coaster ride then you can’t look too much further than Armageddon.

Armageddon is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.40:1). Special features include a 4-minute, standard definition music video for Aerosmith’s I Don’t Miss a Thing and 6 minutes of standard definition trailers.

The Criterion DVD included a host of other extras, rather loaded if memory serves, but none of those items make it over to the Blu-ray. The excellent high definition transfer of the film should please fans though.

Armageddon may not go down as one of the best films, but it does have a certain butter-flavored entertainment value. Bay may not be a name for the director’s hall of fame but he does know how to shoot an enjoyable action romp… you just may have to tone down your brain.