Armageddon

Armageddon is a 1998 film starring Bruce Willis Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler, and directed by Michael Bay. I think a lot of you will be familiar with the film, as it was a box office success, earning more than half a billion dollars.

When I was watching the film, I had flashback of the movie "2012" which was released , I think, in 2010. I believe the premise of the two films are very similar in the sense that it tackles the issue of extinction of the human race due to the collapse of the planet earth. I must say, that out of all the films about "the end of the world," (I must admit that I haven't seen a whole lot of them) Armageddon provoked the most, let's say, emotions. I think Armageddon is one of the better films in this genre. According to my research, the film did not receive positive feedbacks from critics. Well, they are the experts; but, I didn't find that much fault in the film. To be honest, the only thing that bothered me, just a little, was some of the acting. I am not saying this because I thought the acting was bad, but some of the scenes felt awkward, or not as believable or effective as it should have been. But that constitutes a very tiny portion of the film.

As a whole, I thought the feel was superbly done. The effects, the lighting, the background sounds all worked well for a film. I am not claiming to be a real critic who is expert on such things. All I am saying is that the lighting and the sounds added intensity to the film. It worked very well especially in the scenes where it was most dramatic, in my opinion.

I've always been a huge fan of Bruce Willis but seeing his performance on this particular one made me respect him even more. I firmly believe that he is one of the best actors in the industry. I think if I didn't know how the story was going to play out, I think I might have felt a deep sorrow during the scene where he was "breaking his promise" to his daughter. As I have said two posts ago, in my entry regarding the movie "The Town," I am also a fan of Ben Affleck. It was weird but also interesting to see him act in this film because all of the movies I've seen that starred him were released in the 2000s. Although 1998 is very near the 2000s, one can still notice some differences in his performances. This is the first time I've seen Liv Tyler perform because I haven't seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy ( I know how sad this is). She's a very beautiful woman! Even the supporting characters were memorable for me. This does not happen often - me remembering even the minor characters. I specifically like how even the supporting characters have a definite background story.

If ever you read this, I suggest you buy the DVD of this film. It is very enjoyable, smart, and sometimes, dramatic (just the right amount though). It is also an interesting idea to see how disaster films were made more than a decade ago. If you are looking for a film to watch on a rainy afternoon, I definitely recommend this one.

If you have seen the film and have any thoughts, share them!