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DVD Review

A good example of a DVD release that screws the true collector and aficionado, Armageddon contains a disappointing selection of extras.  This is most disappointing because this movie was such a huge theatrical hit and as it is such a recent release one might have expected a few more extras other than scene access, a teaser and trailer and a music video.  If this is one of your favorite movies, then you should look for the Criterion Release of the film, which will undoubtedly be chocked full of the goodies that were omitted from this version (things like deleted scenes, scripts, etc.).

Picture quality is extremely good, typical of modern  DVD transfers.  Colors and picture are razor sharp and the soundtrack is powerful.  Frankly, this is not a bad DVD, it is just unremarkable in any way.

Movie Review

What do you do when an asteroid the size of Texas is hurtling toward your planet.   Well, you could build a network of caves that could hold a million people, and simultaneously send a trained team of astronauts into space to try and stop the asteroid   -- if you were the writer of Deep Impact.  If, however, you are the creators of Armageddon, you could send a untrained team of motley deep-sea oil drillers into space to save the planet.  I think you can tell which of two films I prefer.

Nonetheless, Armageddon is action-packed and even has a little bit of romance thrown in.  We start with some minor destruction in New York City (only the beginning) before we are given the seriousness of the situation at NASA.  Next, we get to meet our heroes, specifically Harry S. Stamper (Bruce Willis).  Harry is a generally lovable character, if acted a little flatly by Bruce.  Fortunately, Harry's better half is his daughter, the surprisingly sexy Grace (Live Tyler).  We also meet, under rather precarious circumstance, our other hero, A. J. Frost (Ben Affleck). 

Our group of heroes are actually a team of deep-sea, oil drillers -- a motley, but talented group -- who are chosen by NASA for a dramatic plan to shuttle out to the asteroid, drill deep into its core and detonate a nuclear warhead.  What follows is an exciting and difficult series of events that makes for a great popcorn flick -- but not a film of critical acclaim.

MTV-style direction on the face of the asteroid, average acting and a great number of implausible events in the film weakened it for me, personally, but many of my friends rate this move quite highly.