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Starring: Bruce Willis
Director: Michael Bay
Genre: Action / Science Fiction
Year: 1998
Rating: 5 / 5

Armegeddon is without a doubt the movie of 1998. By no means is this an overly strong year, but even stacked against respectable competition such as He Got Game and X-Files: Fight the Future, Armageddon stands out above everything. Contrary to the reviews this movie has received in a great many national publications, Armageddon is a non-stop thrill ride, featuring memorable characters and incredible special effects. It stands out in a summer of would-be blockbusters, delivering the big names (Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck), the ever-looming disaster (an asteroid), and enough humor to keep us from taking things too seriously.

Armageddon is the tale of Earth's last stand against a gigantic asteroid, hurtling towards our planet from the far reaches of space. Due to its proximity to our planet, time is at a premium, so a number of viable options - shooting missles at the rock, attempting to alter its course - are no longer feasible. So the government turns to Harry S. Stamper (Bruce Willis, Die Hard) and his team of deep-core drillers. Their mission is to fly through space to the streaking asteroid, land on this asteroid, drill into its core, plant nuclear weapons there, and escape. Sounds simple enough, right?

Harry and his team, led by Harry's eager protege A.J. (Ben Affleck, Good Will Hunting), find themselves in the middle of a disaster waiting to happen, and that is just on earth. NASA is ill-equipped to handle a task such as this, yet the untrained team must be sent off into space in a little over two weeks time. A mission that would take astronauts years of their life to prepare for is being crammed into an abbreviated amount of time, and the strain is apparent to everyone. Complicating matters further is the relationship between Harry's rebellious daughter Grace (Liv Tyler) and A.J.

Yet let us not forget the main thrust of this movie, which is the amount of fun one can have while watching it. Armageddon gained instant credibility when Bruce Willis signed on to play the lead in the movie, and its stock could only go up when Ben Affleck, signed before the release of Good Will Hunting, soared to stardom. Mix in the beautiful Liv Tyler and the witty one-liners supplied by Steve Buscemi (Desperado, Con Air) and there exists a recipe for non-stop entertainment. Billy Bob Thornton, fresh off of major critical acclaim for his work with Sling Blade, provides the voice of reason as the land-dwelling liaison to Harry Stamper's shuttle crew.

Michael Bay (Bad Boys, The Rock) re-teams with veteran producer Jerry Bruckheimer (The Rock, Con Air) to deliver the slam-bang action adventure summer audiences are looking for. No team was more readily identifiable with action and humor than Bruckheimer and his late partner, Don Simpson. Even now, with Bruckheimer handling the reins alone, the formula remains the same and the success is undisputable. Armageddon is about as entertaining a movie as I have seen hit theatres in recent years. Give Bruce, Ben, Liv and the gang a try - you never know how much time we as a planet have left...

Cast:

Bruce Willis..........	Harry Stamper
Ben Affleck..........	A.J. Frost
Liv Tyler..........	Grace Stamper
Billy Bob Thornton..........	Dan Truman
Steve Buscemi..........	Rockhound
Will Patton..........	Chick Chapple

Certification: Rated PG-13 for language.
Running Time: 130 minutes.

Additional Info: Internet Movie Database
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