Director Michael Bay is having a blast in prime time today. The action-packed sci-fi disaster film Armageddon – The Last Judgment from 1998 is shown an asteroid hurtles directly toward Earth. Only blowing up the gigantic chunk can save humanity from extinction.
The end of the world is approaching: In Michael Bay’s Armageddon, Bruce Willis has to blow up an asteroid
It’s a dramatic premise that Bay vividly illustrates at the beginning of the film. Even before the asteroid comes into view, countless meteorites announce its arrival and cause an incredible amount of damage Destruction in New York at. The Day of Judgment is coming, no one doubts that anymore.
NASA boss Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton) is desperately looking for a plan to save the Earth. With a Atomic bomb is said to have blown up the asteroid become. But who could carry out this dangerous mission? There’s actually only one man in question: the accomplished oil drilling expert Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis).
You can watch the trailer for Armageddon here:
Armageddon – Trailer (German)
Stamper is supposed to fly a drilling team into space, drill a hole in the asteroid and blow it up. However, this is not possible without astronaut training and so we spend a large part of the running time Drilling experts at NASA training to watch. This is very entertaining, but also extremely illogical.
Drilling experts instead of NASA astronauts? Ben Affleck also noticed Armageddon’s big logical error
Since its release, Armageddon has faced one main criticism: why on earth didn’t NASA astronauts just get trained in the art of drilling? It seems like the script intentionally the most complicated way chosen. Co-star Ben Affleck also noticed this.
In the film’s legendary audio commentary, Affleck remembers the shoot:
I asked Michael [Bay]why it was easier to train oil drillers to be astronauts than to train astronauts to be oil drillers, and he told me, I should shut up. […] That was the end of this conversation.
But that doesn’t detract from the entertainment factor. Bay directs the film in epic images and relentless pathos, which carries you along whether you want it or not. Armageddon is an integral part of blockbuster cinema and is an unmistakable landmark, especially in the sci-fi disaster film genre.
Sci-Fi hit: When is Armageddon on TV?
Armageddon – The Last Judgment runs tonight, January 1, 2023, at 8:15 p.m. on RTL ZWEI. With advertising, the broadcast lasts until 11:10 p.m. The repeat follows at 1:05 a.m. Alternatively, you can stream the film on Disney+.
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