Armageddon

ARMAGEDDON

REVIEWED BY ERIN DAMAN

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: sexual content, violence, language

Rated:

Dan Truman, executive director of NASA, is having a very bad day... to say the least. You would be, too, if you just discovered that a meteor the size of Texas was going to obliterate Planet Earth so thoroughly that not even bacteria would remain alive. And he only has eighteen days to find a solution to their massive problem. Of course, NASA has its top 11,000 people working on how to save the Earth, but no feasible plans are formed. They finally hit on something that will work-send up a crew to drill into the very heart of the meteor, drop a nuclear bomb into it, and remote detonate it, blowing the meteor into oblivion. But to pull it off, NASA needs a team of people who know about drilling deep into any kind of surface.

So, they recruit the oil drilling king -- Harry Stamper -- and his crew-AJ, Hound, Bear, Chick, Oscar, Max, and Noonan-all who know nothing about space travel. So NASA crams in all the training they can in their short time span. There is another element in the plot...Harry’s only child Grace is involved in a relationship with AJ that Harry doesn’t approve of. At all. So everyone Grace loves -- her father and her boyfriend -- will be risking their lives for the world. The plan is to put four astronauts and four drillers each in two shuttles, get into space, stop at a Russian space station to re-fuel, slingshot around the moon, land on the meteor, drill, plant the bomb, and head home as heroes. But in the tradition of every space movie ever filmed, everything goes wrong. Murphy’s law is at full tilt.

That’s all I’ll say so as not to give away the surprising last half of the film. There are lots of twists and turns in the plot, some of them anticipated, some of them totally unexpected. Armageddon deals with emotion a lot more than I expected a film of this type to. It has a bittersweet ending. I enjoyed watching how, at the beginning, the astronauts and drillers were constantly in conflict, and even some of the drillers were against each other’s opinions, but as things went from bad to worse, they all came together. They learn to respect each other, and eventually form a close-knit team.

Its got some excellent points on teamwork and putting prejudices aside to unite and achieve a common goal. Other praiseworthy elements are personal sacrifice and surrendering what you want for the benefit of others, as well as learning to respect others and their differences. Also, there are several references to God, the Bible, and prayer. A nice and unexpected touch. There are some hilarious moments and phrases, and the special effects are astounding. The meteorite is really creepy, very not-of-this-worldly. They almost over-do the strangeness of the meteor to the point where it looks unrealistic, but it’s still very interesting to see. Now for the downside. There is a little bit of evolution at the beginning. I wish I could say that the flaws ended there, but I can’t. I’m afraid to say, sensuality runs rampant. It is implied that Grace and AJ sleep together and in a few other scenes they do some heavy-duty making out, one of which Grace could use a little more clothing. There are a few embarrassing moments due to some of the things Grace and AJ do and say.

I’d fast-forward the part after Harry asks Dan Truman to let the drilling team have the night off of training to enjoy themselves, since it could very well be the last time they have a chance to. Along with the part with AJ and Grace, Hound goes to a bar where there are scantily-clad women. Another nasty dose of immodesty, cleavage, and sensuality. While Hound is there, he makes the acquaintance of a stripper. If they would have left Hound and Grace out of the movie, it would be a lot cleaner. There is more sensuality throughout. Watch out during the physical examinations -- there is some partial male nudity. Also watch out during the mental examinations.... Hound says some crude things I don’t wish to repeat. There is some more crude language and innuendo sprinkled throughout, but I guess that’s what to expect from a PG-13 movie. And then there’s the language. It’s prevalent, at 53 uses; 21 of these being a misuse of God and Jesus' names, often coupled with profanity, and at least one f-word.

Sometimes it is hard to hear what people are saying because of accents or background noise. (Explosions, machinery, etc.) There is a lot of loud noise, which can sometimes get annoying. There is minimal gore, just some blood, mostly, which is a nice surprise. I was impressed that they weren’t more graphic. It’s a shame that however neat the story line may be, Hollywood thinks they have to throw in a bunch of junk. Will they ever learn? Not likely. But, if you can put up with the unsavories, I think you’ll like the rest of it. It is very tense, so if you like edge-of-your-seat action mixed with heroism, emotion, a little humor, and a lot of special effects, then you’re sure to like Armageddon!