By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
As the holidays approach, many families try to find the perfect movies to watch together, but this can be difficult when the most interesting films hitting theaters (from Nosferatu has Little girl) is not really suitable for children. But did you know that the perfect 90s blockbuster is just a click away and the whole family can enjoy it without leaving the house? Armageddon is now on Disney+, and it’s the perfect time to revisit this timeless story of hardened thugs recruited to save the world from an asteroid threatening to wipe out the human race.
The Armageddon Plot
In ArmageddonNASA discovers that an asteroid will impact the planet in 18 days and send humanity following the path of the dinosaurs. They hatch a plan to drill a hole in the asteroid and drop a nuclear bomb, but this requires finding expert drillers on short notice. To this end, NASA is recruiting a veteran oil driller and his team of misfit employees, and their ability to work in space as well as on Earth will determine whether they will even have a planet to return to once their mission is complete.
The plot of Armageddon is deliciously crazy, but it is brought to life by great performers, including Billy Bob Thornton as a grumpy NASA executive tasked with recruiting an oil team led by Bruce Willis. The best worker on the team is played by Ben Affleckwho often has his eyes more on the boss’s wife (played by Liv Tyler) than on work. As for the work, its success or failure depends on the talents of the bizarre oil crew, whose characters are brought to life by offbeat genre veterans like Steve Buscemi and Owen Wilson.
Big Box Office but criticized by critics
When Armageddon premiered in 1998, it was a major hit with audiences thanks to everything from the all-star cast to Aerosmith’s hit song and music video. Against a budget of $140 million, this film grossed $553.7 million (or maybe that should be interstellar?). Surprisingly, this film never got a sequel, but its cultural influence continues to resonate to this day.
Unfortunately, Armageddon didn’t really resonate with critics: on Rotten Tomatoesthe film has an astronomically low critical rating of 43 percent. In general, critics complained that the film’s polished presentation was marred by a very stupid storyline. But the public didn’t care, and Armageddon has a much higher Popcornmeter audience rating of 73 percent.
The critics aren’t wrong: it’s the kind of scenario you need to turn off your brain to enjoy. But if you can do it, you will discover Armageddon the 90s action heir to all those 80s “snobs vs. slobs” movies. Now it’s the snobs who run the show, but ultimately they must beg for help from the slobs for nothing less than saving the world, and the resulting film is extremely entertaining to watch.
Plus, the large talent pool means you can always count on a veteran actor to steal the scene with a combination of silly dialogue and killer one-liners. There’s also some amusing physical comedy that helps give this disaster movie just enough offbeat laughs to avoid being deadly serious. Armageddon also has a touching romantic subplot, and the sticky sweetness of these characters’ love pairs perfectly with the salty sarcasm of… well, just about everyone.
Will you find Armageddon an out-of-this-world success like we did, or do you want the asteroid to wipe us all out by the time the credits roll? You won’t know until you stream it Disney+. Just be warned: you’re going to have a certain Aerosmith song stuck in your head for a long time after this one ends.
