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Armageddon
Directed by	Michael Bay
Produced by	Michael Bay, Jerry Bruckheimer, Gale Anne Hurd
Written by	Screenplay Jonathan Hensleigh J.J. Abrams Story Robert Roy Pool Jonathan Hensleigh Adaptation Tony Gilroy Shane Salerno
Starring	Bruce Willis Ben Affleck Liv Tyler Billy Bob Thornton Will Patton Steve Buscemi Michael Clarke Duncan Ken Campbell Owen Wilson William Fichtner Peter Stormare
Music by	Trevor Rabin
Distributed by	Touchstone Pictures
Release date(s)	July 1, 1998
Running time	150 minutes
Language	English
Budget	USD$140 million
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Armageddon is an Academy Award-nominated disaster/science fiction film about a group of blue-collar deep-core drillers who are sent by NASA to deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. It was directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and released on Disney's Touchstone Pictures label. It stars Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler. The film's tagline is "For Love. For Honor. For Mankind."

A novelization was written by C. Bolin, based on the screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh and the story by Jonathan Hensleigh and Robert Pool.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Reception and criticism 4 Scientific inaccuracies 5 Box office 6 Soundtracks 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

Before the film’s title appears onscreen, a narrator (Charlton Heston) informs us that during the time of the dinosaurs, a six mile-wide asteroid struck the Earth at the present day Yucatan Peninsula, causing catastrophic damage to its ecosystem. We are also informed that the probability of a similar disaster in our time is very high. "It happened before, it will happen again. It's just a question of when."

In the middle of an EVA around 1998, the Space Shuttle Atlantis is struck by thousands of tiny meteoroids and explodes in space. Shortly after, an area of Earth between Finland and South Carolina is bombarded by more meteorites. Several landmarks and skyscrapers in New York City are destroyed by a similar bombardment.

NASA scientists, led by Dan Truman (Thornton), determine that the smaller meteoroids were forced towards Earth by a much larger asteroid the size of Texas. The team also determines that this asteroid will strike the Earth in 18 days, causing the total destruction of all life. They work frantically to develop a plan to stop the asteroid, though most scenarios are dismissed as impractical because of the size and speed of the object.

NASA finally decides to recruit Harry Stamper, reputed to be the best deep core driller in the world. They find him on an oil platform in the South China Sea where he is in the process of drilling for a Japanese company and firing one of his lead crew members, A.J. Frost, for insubordination. We also find out that A.J. has had a romantic relationship with Stamper’s daughter, Grace, for several months, a fact that Harry is infuriated to discover.

Harry agrees to take on the job of destroying the asteroid. The plan is to approach the asteroid from behind, land on it, drill to 800 feet, plant a nuclear bomb in the shaft and detonate it remotely after evacuation. The deadline for detonation is a distance from Earth called "zero barrier," which will allow the two halves of the asteroid to miss Earth when split apart. Harry recruits a motley crew made up of his best workers and they prepare for the mission through rigorous space travel drills, modification of their equipment and pointed psychological tests to determine whether they are able to work in space. Near the conclusion of the training phase, Rockhound borrows money from a loan shark and is later arrested in a strip club. Chick attempts to make amends with his estranged wife and their son. A.J. proposes marriage to Grace and she accepts: they will marry when (and if) he returns from the mission.

At the end of the training missions, a meteor penetrates the Earth's atmosphere and collides with Shanghai, annihilating the city and causing the deaths of some 50,000 people. The event triggers massive press attention, and light is shed on NASA's once-covert operation as the world fixes its eyes on Stamper and his team.

The two shuttles take off into space and head for the Russian space station Mir orbiting Earth to stock up on the fuel required for the mission. Once both successfully docked in the station, the two teams meet Russian cosmonaut, Lev Andropov, who has been in the station for 18 months. Lev sends AJ down a shaft to monitor the pressure of the fuel exchange. Unfortunately, some of the fuel leaks into the electrical system causing a chain reaction which sets fire to the fuel pod. The crew must abandon the station, Lev and AJ barely escaping as it explodes. The crews escape all accounted for, with 90% of their fuel and Lev now on board the Independence.

The next day, the two teams proceed to Phase Two of the mission - to slingshot themselves around the far side of the moon so they can land on the asteroid from the back as it goes by. The primary boosters of the Independence are destroyed, however, by a tail debris and it hurtles out of control as another piece of rock smashes the front windows, sending pilots Davis and Tucker flying into space. This mishap kills crew members Oscar, Freddie, and Lt. Halsey. The shuttle crash-lands and only AJ, Lev and Bear survive. The Freedom sustains damage as well, but is able to land safely.

On the asteroid, communications on the Freedom are out, leaving the crew with no way to contact Earth. After determining that they have overshot their landing site and are sitting on an area comprised of iron ferrite, making it extremely difficult to drill, the crew begins their project anyway, but quickly figures out that the drilling will be nearly impossible, delaying the mission.

The Freedom crew find their troubles are compounded when Colonel Sharp informs NASA that they will not be able to complete the mission on time. The President allows the Air Force to initiate the premature detonation of the bomb in the hopes that the asteroid will be deflected enough to miss Earth. A fight ensues on the shuttle between Sharp and Stamper over whether to shut it off. Harry is able to subdue Sharp and convince him that he can make the depth of 800 feet. Colonel Sharp and Nuclear Technician Gruber are able to defuse the bomb mere seconds before it detonates.

One of Stamper’s crew, Rockhound, has a negative psychological reaction to working in space, aptly named space dementia. He causes a distraction while playing with a Gatling gun, nearly shooting a few crew members. While they attempt to bring him under control, the drilling vehicle hits a gas pocket, blasting it off the asteroid, taking crew member Max with it. On Earth, the media report that the mission has failed. An asteroid fragment penetrates the atmosphere and strikes Paris, sending a shock wave that destroys much of the city.

As they wait out their ultimate fate, the crew discovers that A.J., Lev and Bear have survived the crash of the Independence and have arrived at the drilling site in the second Armadillo. Despite some arguments between A.J. and Harry, he decides to let A.J. continue, and they drill successfully to 800 feet. Following a few more mishaps, including A.J. being trapped in the shaft, they plant the nuke and prepare to evacuate. However, another quake occurs, killing nuclear technician Gruber. The remote-detonation trigger on the bomb has also been damaged, which means that one of the crew members will have to stay behind in order to manually detonate the bomb.

The team draw straws to see who will stay behind and activate the bomb, A.J. drawing the short straw. As he and Harry return to the drilling site, Harry pulls out A.J.'s oxygen feed tube and forces him back into the shuttle, telling him to take care of Grace.

When they are ready to leave, they find out that the shuttle is unable to launch. After the shuttle is "fixed", by Lev banging a wrench on the instruments, they take off, leaving Harry behind. Harry contacts Grace at NASA headquarters and they exchange their last, emotional goodbyes. Harry is hindered by several quakes, but manages to reach the detonator. His last thoughts are of Grace as he pushes the button just before zero barrier is breached. The asteroid is blasted in half and the two pieces miss collision with Earth by 400 miles.

The Freedom crew lands safely back on Earth and are met by NASA officials and their loved ones (including Chick's wife and son and the stripper Rockhound had been seen with earlier). Sharp says he wanted to shake the hand of the daughter of the bravest man he ever met. Grace and A.J. are reunited and the final scenes of the film are of their wedding. The camera then zooms in on the photographs of the deceased crew members in the church. During the credits, more moments of the wedding are shown.

• Bruce Willis: Harry Stamper: Father of Grace and the world's best oil driller. He does not approve of Grace's relationship with AJ (he goes after AJ with a shotgun). He nobly sacrifices himself to destroy the asteroid and save Earth.
• Billy Bob Thornton: Dan Truman: NASA Administrator. Truman always wanted to go into space but a medical problem with his leg prevents that. A.J. gives him Harry's patch after they land back on earth.
• Ben Affleck: A.J. Frost: Young member of Harry's oil rig team, marries Grace.
• Liv Tyler: Grace Stamper: Harry's daughter and AJ's girlfriend/fiance/wife.
• Will Patton: Charles 'Chick' Chapple: Harry's friend and team member who was banned from seeing his wife and child due to a gambling addiction. His wife reveals to his son who he really is after seeing him about to go into space on TV and they reunite at the end.
• Steve Buscemi: Rockhound: A horny smartaleck roughneck who is a genius. Rockhound borrowed a lot of money from a loan shark before he left and spent it all. Therefore he has some sort of death wish and does a lot of things that nearly get everyone killed. Sharp thinks he has space dementia.
• William Fichtner: Col. William Sharp: Pilot of the Freedom shuttle. He has two daughters. Sharp also had to make sure plan B would work (letting the bomb explode on the surface) and used a gun to threaten Chick and Harry. When Harry overpowered him he agreed to shut down the bomb if Harry would swear on the life of their daughters to reach the depth.
• Owen Wilson: Oscar Choi: A spacey but brilliant geologist on the drill team. He dies when the Independence crashlands, his helmet and face punctured by flying glass.
• Michael Clarke Duncan: Jayotis 'Bear' Kurleenbear: A 6'5" 270 lb emotional roughneck.
• Peter Stormare: Lev Andropov: A somewhat looney, although courageous Russian cosmonaut. He spent 18 months on his own in the Russian space station. When a fuel leak destroys the station, he has no other choice then to join the Independence crew, saving a picture of his wife and child. Lev singlehandedly saves the entire mission by repairing the Armadillo during a jump and then "repairs" the shuttle's engines.
• Ken Hudson Campbell: Max Lennert: A tough drill member who drives the first Armadillo. He dies when the Armadillo is blown off the asteroid by a gas pocket explosion.
• Jessica Steen: Jennifer Watts: Co-pilot of the Freedom shuttle.
• Keith David: Lt. Gen. Kimsey: A high-ranking air force officer in charge of the mission. He has little faith in the oil drillers.
• Chris Ellis: Walter Clark: Mission Control Floor Manager at Houston.
• Jason Isaacs: Dr. Ronald Quincy: A research scientist who comes up with the mission's plan. He's one of the smartest people in the world.
• Grayson McCouch: Gruber: Nuclear munitions expert of the Freedom. He is killed during the second earthquake.
• Clark Heathcliffe Brolly: Freddy Noonan: Drill team member and member of the Independence shuttle. He is killed during the crash.
• Marshall R. Teague: Col. Davis: Pilot of the Independence shuttle. He is pulled out of the shuttle when an asteroid hits the windows.
• Anthony Guidera: Tucker: Co-pilot of the Independence shuttle. He is pulled out of the shuttle when an asteroid hits the windows.
• Greg Collins: Lt. Halsey: Nuclear munitions expert of the Independence. He is killed during the crash.
• Charlton Heston: Narrator

The film was an international box office success, but it received a large amount of criticism from film reviewers. On Rotten Tomatoes it scores 41% [1]; on a similar website, Metacritic, it similarly scores 42%. The film is on the list of Roger Ebert's most hated films: in his original review, he stated "The movie is an assault on the eyes, the ears, the brain, common sense and the human desire to be entertained."[2] In contrast, his long-time friend Gene Siskel from the show Siskel & Ebert gave it a "thumbs up."

The film received the Saturn Awards for Best Direction and Best Science Fiction Film (where it tied with Dark City). However, it was also nominated in seven categories for the 1998 Golden Raspberry Awards for bad films; only one was awarded: Bruce Willis received the Worst Actor award for Armageddon, in addition to his appearances in Mercury Rising and The Siege.

Despite the general critical disdain, a DVD edition of Armageddon was released by The Criterion Collection, a specialist film distributor of primarily arthouse films that markets what it considers to be "important classic and contemporary films" and "cinema at its finest".[3] In an essay supporting the selection of Armageddon, film scholar Jeanne Basinger, who taught Michael Bay at Wesleyan University, states that the film is "a work of art by a cutting-edge artist who is a master of movement, light, color, and shape—and also of chaos, razzle-dazzle, and explosion". She sees it as a celebration of working men: "This film makes these ordinary men noble, lifting their efforts up into an epic event." Further, she states that in the first few moments of the film all the main characters are well established, saying, "If that isn't screenwriting, I don't know what is."[4]

Despite the poor reviews and criticism, Armageddon was nominated for four Academy Awards (Best Sound, Best Special Effects, Best Effects Editing, and Best Original Song).

The physics and scientific approach of Armageddon was criticized for its poor adherence to the laws of physics. This has led NASA to show the film as part of its management training program. Prospective managers are asked to find as many inaccuracies in the movie as they can. At least 168 impossible things have been found during these screenings of the film.^[1] Nevertheless the movie adheres to standard Hollywood conventions when it comes to science, such as having noise in space (there is no sound in the vacuum of outer space).

Among the myriad choices to divert the asteroid from its course towards Earth, the movie implies that using a nuclear device would be the best solution, while in reality using a nuclear device would prove risky. It is also mentioned that no nuclear weapon would be able to sufficiently break up an asteroid that, according to Truman, was "the size of Texas", which is tremendously larger than any sub-planetary object ever observed in the solar system anyway.^[2][3] However, he may not have meant it literally, as claiming something to be the size of Texas is an informal way of stating that it is very large. Whatever the real size of the asteroid may be, it would not have a gravity similar to that of the moon as is implied in the movie.

Also, the surface of the asteroid is extremely craggy and sharp, but real asteroids as large as this one would be worn smooth and look more like a potato. Indeed, most asteroids larger than 300 km in diameter are spherical, and an asteroid the size of Texas (1244x1270 km) would certainly be so, lacking the vast craggy canyons as depicted in the film. ^[3] For an asteroid 1200 km in diameter (assuming the asteroid was round), drilling 800 feet would not be deep enough in order to plant the nuclear bomb in the "core".^[3]

The asteroid is also depicted as having flown through the asteroid belt and knocking off countless smaller asteroids in the process. In reality, the asteroid belt isn't that densely populated. The chances of other asteroids being knocked off their orbits by an object flying through it is extremely minimal.

The explosion that shears the asteroid in two slices would not prevent both parts from striking the Earth if they were as close to the Earth as depicted in the movie; neither fragment would have enough momentum to clear the attraction of the Earth. Even if a nuclear explosion could vaporize enough gas within this asteroid to break it, the two halves would simply attract each other back into one ball, re-formed from its own gravity.^[2]

Kennedy Space Center launch pads 39A and 39B appear to be only a few hundred feet apart, but in reality they are more than 1.6 miles apart. In either case, two shuttles could never be launched simultaneously; the vibration involved would destroy both vehicles. In a related issue, the space shuttles used in the movies (although specified to have been modified) are designed for orbital space travel, not for landing on objects in outer space.

Moreover, since the two shuttles docked sideways, the astronauts should not be walking in the corridors, but instead climbing up ladders to meet in the middle of the station (where they would be weightless yet again).

The shuttles have engines running blue flames continuously, whereas in reality short bursts of gas jets are used to provide altitude controls. The shuttles are also shown performing banked turns after it escapes the Earth's atmosphere, this method would never be used in space as there is no air resistance to make it actually possible hence no spacecraft, modified or otherwise could ever move in this manner.

The crew fires the shuttles rockets to achieve a speed of 25,000 mph so they can slingshot around the moon and catch up to the asteroid. The moon has an escape velocity of 7,600 mph; the moon's gravity would not have been able to grasp on to the shuttle at the speed they were traveling. Instead of looping around the moon, they would have simply flown by it and drifted into space with no hope of return.

During the slingshot around the moon, the characters are subjected to eleven times Earth gravity for an extended period of time. In reality seven to nine times gravity can cause blackouts, while eleven times gravity would usually prove fatal. Additionally, the Space Shuttle is not designed to survive anything like eleven times the force of gravity. However, it wouldn't matter, as slingshotting around an object in space would feel just as 'weightless' as being in orbit (as long as the tidal effects weren't significant which they would not be in this case).

In the briefing scene, the crew is informed they will dock with Mir and take on liquid oxygen, the fuel for the shuttles. Oxygen is an oxidizer, which a fuel requires in the vacuum of space. In reality, the fuel should have been hydrogen, kerosene, or another suitable hydrocarbon which would require oxidization. This also raises the question of why the Mir would have so much extra fuel on board in the first place.^[3]

The Russian space station's portrayal is unlikely in itself: initiating a rotation to accommodate artificial gravity would in reality threaten the structural integrity of such a pronged modular craft, and spinning the station before docking would be impractical, as it renders a normally tricky docking nearly impossible since the docking ports are on the external rotating pods. Furthermore, a rotating station would need its docking area along the axis of rotation, plus the docking vessel would have to match that rotation, and match its center of gravity along the docking point approaching along the station's axis of rotation.^[3]

Obtaining special suits that use small thrusters to keep the astronauts on the ground would be a waste of fuel; their backpacks could not offer sufficient thrust for more than a few minutes. EVA suits have a large backpack to accommodate the thruster jets and use them sparingly to maneuver.

At the opening scene, an asteroid flies overhead towards earth accompanied by a loud roar, when in fact, there would be no sound in space, for in order for sound to occur there must be some medium for the sound waves to vibrate, such as air.

The large ground vehicles used by the digging teams would be unnecessary, as having a low gravitational force would mean that a large digging rig would simply float to its destination using small thrusters sparingly. However as there was a time limit on the mission it might simply have been more efficient to put the drills on the ready made vehicles than to design and build a platform, though using thrusters rather than wheels to move the vehicles would be more sensible on broken ground. This is not to mention that digging anything in zero-g requires an opposed and equal force.

There is no mention of what kind of propulsion the large digging vehicle uses. This is most likely since it would be impossible to power it with any currently known type of engine since most of these are based on combustion between oxygen and some kind of fossil-fuel. Since there obviously is no oxygen on the asteroid the vehicle would either need a new type of engine to be invented, or carry with it the oxygen as well as the fuel for whatever type of conventional engine it uses.

Additionally, the detonation of the nuclear bomb is visible from many different places on Earth simultaneously: from the United States to India. However, only a small portion of the planet would have been in a position to observe the explosion from the surface.

• Budget - USD$140,000,000
• Marketing cost - $100,000,000
• Opening Weekend Gross (Domestic) - $36,089,972
• Total Domestic Grosses - $201,578,182
• Total Overseas Grosses - $352,131,606
• Total Worldwide Grosses - $553,709,788

Armageddon
Soundtrack by Various Artists
Released	June 23, 1998
Genre	Pop Rock
Length	56:35
Label	Sony
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link

The soundtrack features the song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", written by Diane Warren and as performed by Aerosmith (fronted by Liv Tyler's father, Steven Tyler)— was the first number 1 hit of the band's career—among a few other Aerosmith songs.

Armageddon: The Album (Sony, June 23rd, 1998):

1. "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" - Aerosmith
2. "Remember Me" - Journey
3. "What Kind of Love Are You On" - Aerosmith
4. "La Grange" - ZZ Top
5. "Roll Me Away" - Bob Seger
6. "When the Rainbow Comes" - Shawn Colvin
7. "Sweet Emotion" - Aerosmith
8. "Mister Big Time" - Jon Bon Jovi
9. "Come Together" - Aerosmith
10. "Wish I Were You" - Patty Smyth
11. "Starseed" - Our Lady Peace
12. "Leaving on a Jet Plane" - Chantal Kreviazuk
13. "Theme from Armageddon" - Trevor Rabin
14. "Animal Crackers" - Dialogue by Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler; vocals and piano by Steven Tyler

Armageddon
Soundtrack by Trevor Rabin
Released	November 10, 1998
Genre	Soundtracks Original Score Film music
Label	Sony
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link

There was also an instrumental score titled Armageddon: Original Motion Picture Score by Trevor Rabin. Rabin was formerly a member of the progressive rock band Yes.

1. "Armageddon Suite"
2. "Harry & Grace Make Peace"
3. "A.J.'s Return"
4. "Oil Rig"
5. "Leaving"
6. "Evacuation"
7. "Harry Arrives At NASA"
8. "Back In Business"
9. "Launch"
10. "5 Words"
11. "Underwater Simulation"
12. "Finding Grace"
13. "Armadillo"
14. "Short Straw"
15. "Demands"
16. "Death of Mir"
17. "Armageddon Piano"
18. "Long Distance Goodbye/Landing"

• Asteroid deflection strategies
• List of disaster films
• Deep Impact (film)

• Armageddon at the Internet Movie Database
• Armageddon at Rotten Tomatoes
• Armageddon Script at Simply Scripts
• Criterion Collection essay by Jeanine Basinger, from a Wesleyan University professor under whom the film's director studied
• Movie Physics review of Armageddon
• Bad Astronomy - The Astronomy of Armageddon
• Movie Tour Guide.com - Maps and directions to Armageddon Filming Locations
• Ketzer.com - The Armageddon movie props and costumes archive

Awards
Preceded by Men in Black	Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film 1998 Shared with Dark City	Succeeded by The Matrix

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