Review of Armageddon

Introduction

Millions of years ago dinosaurs walked the planet - the sole rulers of a world that we have long since forgotten. But, how were they forgotten? Presumbably due to the fact that on one day, that no doubt started like any other, a meteor crashed into Earth and wiped out their habitat.

The Bible refers to this event as `armageddon` - the day when the world will end, leaving behind it a path of destruction. This concept has now been adapted into a film - in the mould of the good ol` action flick. Yes, big balls, big explosions, tongue-in-cheek et cetera.

The plot revolves around NASA Director Dan Truman (the former Mr. Angelina Jolie - Billy Bob Thornton), and the discovery that a meteor the size of Texas is headed on collision course for Earth: and if it hits, it`s game over. At the same time, oil driller Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) and his crew of roughnecks are drilling in the South China Sea. After NASA realise that the only way to avert the disaster is by landing on the meteor and stuffing a nuke up its ass, they call on the best driller in the world...yes, Harry Stamper.

Video

It is presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, and the visuals are great to flawless. No dust nor grain evident at all, no compression signs, great colour definition and no artefacts to speak of. All in all - one of the best transfers around.

Michael Bay directs this Jerry Bruckheimer production (the duo have teamed up on several other projects), so there are lots of action set-pieces and the odd bit of CGI (in the case of Armageddon there is a lot of CGI), and the quality of the action is excellent. From the opening credits` initial destruction of the world millions of years ago, to the meteor storms and chaos the rock causes on Earth is done very well...and fits seamlessly into the film.

Audio

A DD 5.1 track is on offer, and the surrounds spring into life frequently, during any set-piece or scene where aggravated audio is needed. The main audio stream is crisp and clear for the dialogue, and the ambience levels are just right - with no volume conflict. This is very nearly an excellent soundtrack, but as it stands it is very good.

The script, whilst completely absurd in places (would someone like NASA really send a group of roughnecks into space when they had only had a few days training?!) it is also highly enjoyable and does, surprisingly, actually pack in quite a lot of emotion - whether it is witnessing the `forbidden` love blossoming between Grace and A.J. or witnessing the end sequence (which again, is surprisingly moving). And, thankfully, there is a bit of comedy in the film, normally from the witty Rockhound (played by one of my favourite comic actors - Steve Buscemi).

Features

This was an early Buena Vista release - streeted when the distributor believed in the `no extras` DVD policy. So the disc has just that - no special features whatsoever. Even the bloody VHS is preluded by the Aerosmith video, "I Don`t Want To Miss A Thing", yet even that doesn`t make the transition. Bastards.

The menus are completely static, and aren`t encoded as the root menu: meaning when the disc loads, it starts the film straightaway (I didn`t realise the disc even had a menu until I accidentally hit the Menu button on my remote), presumbably so viewers can`t see that they`re are no extras available, nor what a shoddy set of menus the disc has. The only slight saving grace: they are easy to navigate, and of course, there is scene selection.

Conclusion

Call me shallow, but this film rocks. Explosive in every sense, and something that will stand up to repeat viewings, Armageddon is the kind of film to watch with some mates and a six-pack: and it stands up to repeat viewings, so every night when you stagger home from the boozer, no matter how incoherent you may be, the film still stands up to more than one viewing.

The acting is good, the script is good, the execution is good...it seems Armageddon and Con Air are Bruckheimer`s best celluloid achievements to date, and this has got to be up their with Bay`s Bad Boys as the most promising films on his CV (Bruckheimer also produced the latter).

Disc wise, the presentation is great - crisp visuals and crystal clear audio. What about the extras? Good one. The solitary mark is for the presence of the menus and scene selection: yeah, they might not be extras, but some discs don`t even offer these `luxuries`, so a non-existent mark is a bit unfair.

What with the two disc edition now available, it seems stupid to buy this version which is slowly being fazed out (for instance, Play no longer has it in stock). But, if you can find it, and if it is considerably cheaper (I`m talking 50-60% cheaper), then it is worth getting. But only just.