Dom Robinson reviews

Distributed by
Pioneer Entertainment Europe

Cat.no: PLFEC 37681

Cert: 12

Running time: 145 minutes

Sides: 3 (CLV)

Year: 1998

Pressing: 1999

Chapters: 28 (9/8/10+1)

Sound: Dolby Surround

Widescreen: 2.35:1

Price: £24.99

Extras : Original Theatrical Trailer

---

Director:

Michael Bay (Bad Boys, The Rock)

Producers:

Jerry Bruckheimer, Gale Anne Hurd and Michael Bay

Screenplay

Jonathan Hensleigh and J.J. Abrams

Music:

Trevor Rabin

Cast:

Harry Stamper: Bruce Willis (Blind Date, Color Of Night, Death Becomes Her, Die Hard 1-3, The Fifth Element, The Jackal, Last Boy Scout, Last Man Standing, Pulp Fiction, Striking Distance, Twelve Monkeys)
Dan Truman: Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade, U-Turn)
A.J. Frost: Ben Affleck (Chasing Amy, Good Will Hunting)
Grace Stamper: Liv Tyler (Heavy, Inventing The Abbots, Stealing Beauty)
Chick: Will Patton (Copycat, Fled, In The Soup, Inventing The Abbots, No Way Out, The Postman, The Rapture)
Rockhound: Steve Buscemi (Airheads, Con Air, Desperado, Escape From L.A., Fargo, In The Soup, Kansas City, Living In Oblivion, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Things To Do In Denver..., Trees Lounge)
Col. Willie Sharp: William Fichtner (Albino Alligator, Contact)
Oscar: Owen Wilson (Bottle Rocket)
Bear: Michael Clarke Duncan
Lev Andropov: Peter Stormare (Fargo)
General Kimsey: Keith David (Clockers, Dead Presidents, Marked For Death, They Live, Volcano)
Ronald Quincy: Jason Isaacs (Dangerous Lady, Event Horizon)
Jennifer Watts: Jessica Steen (Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future)

Armageddon is the latest in a long line of action-packed triumphs for producer Jerry Bruckheimer following Con Air, The Rock, Enemy Of The State, Top Gun and Days of Thunder.

In similar fashion to the recent Deep Impact, a comet is headed for Earth but while they had a year to think about it and played the whole film out as a drama, Armageddon turns everything on its head with an action-packed film that has more comedy in it than you'd expect when the characters are in a situation which is likely to result in the end of the world...and they only have 18 days.

When NASA's executive director, Dan Truman (Billy Bob-Thornton), learns that the way to destroy the comet is to drill a hole down to its core and bury a nuclear weapon. Of course the way to succeed is to enlist the help of maverick oil driller Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) who is, allegedly, the best driller in the business. Making even more of a mockery of the situation is the fact that when Harry demands that he only takes his own team, not the fully-trained team who have been in astronaut school for the past eight months, all Dan can say is, "You got it", as opposed to, "Not a chance", so you can see this is not a film to take seriously.

It also has some great one-liners, mostly coming from fast-talking Rockhound (Steve Buscemi, reliable as ever). When strapped into the rocket and about to take off, he observes,

As foxy female astronaut Watts straps Rockhound in, he grunts and says,

Also among the cast is Oscar-winner Ben Affleck (Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting), Liv Tyler - daughter of Steven Tyler, lead singer of Aerosmith who supply the film's love theme, "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" - and someone who has appeared in many of her father's videos, Peter Stormare as the madman aboard the space station and who partnered up with Steve Buscemi in the Coen Brothers' classic Fargo and there's also a brief cameo from E.R.'s Dr. Anspaugh.

The picture is framed at the original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 and it couldn't fail to look any better. Having recently begun renting a widescreen TV I've been getting used to watching anamorphic films on DVD which provide extra resolution. However, although there are no laserdiscs in production in the UK which can make use of this feature, the print still looks gorgeous. It's a very colourful film and from the meteor-bombed streets of New York, through the destruction of a space station, to the spectacular scenes shot on the surface of the asteroid itself, this reviewer was very impressed indeed.

As for the sound, if it said it was a quiet, plot-driven little film I'd be lying. Director Michael Bay's last film, The Rock, was an all-out action adventure, as is anything that producer Jerry Bruckheimer - and his late partner Don Simpson - has ever put his name too. Explosions are the order of the day and you will not be disappointed. Saving the world isn't easy after it's been bombed to hell and everything that can go wrong does go wrong...and each time something goes wrong it's puncuated by a loud explosion or three.

There are only 27 chapters for the film which isn't really enough for something lasting around two-and-a-half hours, but unlike the DVD there is a theatrical trailer.

Side one ends with Bruce telling Billy Bob that he wants all his men to have their last night on earth off, but as the disc ends there's a "snap" sound. Presumably, whoever did the chaptering didn't get it quite spot-on. Since the first chapter on side two begins with a song, that's obviously where the snap sound comes from. The platter break at the end of side two is less intrusive.

This disc will have some competition though, from the forthcoming Criterion Edition. This director's cut features up to 12 minutes extra footage including a scene between Bruce Willis' character and his father, as well as two audio commentary tracks from the director, producer, cast and crew, scenes of outtakes and a breakdown of the SFX scenes, not to mention the usual trailers and Aerosmith's music video.

Overall, like 1997's Con Air which was released on PAL Laserdisc last year, Armageddon was my favourite action film of last year and this laserdisc release looks just as good, even if there's not much in the way of extras. Ignore all those reviews of the video which said no attention was paid to the script - those only come from people who haven't watched the film. This disc is a must-have.

FILM	 		: *****
PICTURE QUALITY		: *****
SOUND QUALITY		: *****
EXTRAS			: *
-------------------------------
OVERALL			: ****

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.