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Armageddon
Touchstone Pictures


5.3

based on 23 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 31 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sci-fi disaster action, sensuality and brief language

Starring Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Will Patton, Steve Buscemi, William Fichtner, and Owen Wilson

When an asteroid the size of Texas is headed for Earth, the world's best deep core drilling team is sent to nuke the rock from the inside.

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Jonathan Hensleigh (also story) Jeffrey Abrams Robert Roy Pool (story) Tony Gilroy and Shane Salerno (adaptation)
DIRECTED BY:	Michael Bay
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: January 5, 1999 Video: November 13, 1998 Theatrical: July 1, 1998
RUNNING TIME:	144 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Newsweek David Ansen

Armageddon is as irresistible as it's indefensible.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

It looks like a TV ad, or 200 of them strung together, with the same kind of gaudy virtuosity, lavish technique and expensive self-mockery tinging every shot.

LA Weekly Manohla Dargis

The movie is ridiculous, but since the special effects are really quite impressive, that seems a small point.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

It might make you tense, it might make you nauseous, and its clangorous roar could well give you a migraine headache.

Slate David Edelstein

Armageddon is awesome, dude, but it's, like, short on awe.

The New Yorker Daphne Merkin

The surprisingly witty script was worked on by a squadron of writers, including Robert Towne.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It's big, it's stupid, it's pretty kick-ass.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Armageddon is a testosterone and adrenaline cocktail, with almost no intelligence added for flavoring.

Dallas Observer Peter Rainer

When it's all over, you can't remember if you've been watching a movie or just a jumbo-sized coming attraction.

Film Threat Ron Wells

Sometimes the movie can't decide whether to tug REALLY HARD at the heart strings, or make you laugh at the zany oil riggers.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

The actors mark time, and the gung-ho heroics on display are embarrassingly hollow.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Bay doesn't stage scenes, exactly -- he stages moments.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Trying to pick faults with a sound-and-spectacle juggernaut like Armageddon is like taking an ant gun to an elephant: All the movie's staggering conventional weaknesses -- ludicrous plot, weak characterization, incomprehensible staging and ambient racket -- are irrelevant.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Yes, it's a testosterone cocktail, but at least it doesn't leave you feeling as though you've been tumbled around in a gem polisher for two-and-a-half hours.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Bay directs Armageddon in a way that seems more concerned with constantly assaulting the senses than anything else, hoping perhaps that the quick cuts and constant explosions will distract from his film's many flaws.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Director Michael Bay's filmmaking style is so frantic and frenetic that it's often impossible to figure out exactly what is happening.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Armageddon may sell tickets, thanks largely to a high-powered marketing machine that's been conducting its own countdown for the past several months. But it's not a pretty picture.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

An assault on the eyes, the ears, the brain, common sense and the human desire to be entertained.

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

There are barrages of fast cuts to distract us from the fact that the director is showing us no real action.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Much of the confusion, as well as the lack of dramatic rhythm or character development, results directly from Bay's cutting style, which resembles a machine gun stuck in the firing position for 2 and a half hours.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Not wishing to spoil the fun -- pretty hard to come by anyway in this 1998 blockbuster's 150 minutes -- I won't tell you the outcome, but I'll wager you can guess.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

So predictable it could have been written by a chimp who's watched too much TV, the huge movie is as dumb as it is loud, and it's way too loud.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

How do I hate Armageddon? Let me count the ways.

The average user rating for this movie is 5.3 (out of 10) based on 31 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Dre H. gave it a10:
This movie is not bad, but not for everyone. Its an exciting thrill ride.

Marcus L. gave it a9:
This movie was very sad. I loved it. It had great acting through all the actors. Bruce played another great performance. There was only one problem and that was how predictable it was. But, I still could watch it over and over again.

Josh M. gave it a1:
My gosh I hated this movie. #3 on my worst movies of all time list. The plot is the stupidest and is so predictable. But what I hated most was the constant barrage of obstacles the characters take. You might be saying "Oh but you need conflict for a good plot" But there are literally no seconds where a problem occurs in this movie! Oh no! The Russian dude is mad at us! 3 seconds later, oh no! the handle on something I have no idea about broke! oh no! we have to save Ben Affleck! Oh no! the nuke is on! oh no! the military is evil!

Jack S. gave it a7:
I wasn't that bad, it was epic, it had great special effects, it was extrememly easy to guess the outcome, thats the main reason the movie lost so many votes, I like it anyway, thats just me. It had the best visual effects in 1998. Thats something, most movies are pretty predictable. But, I have to admit, this gave it away. You don't need to know watch the movie to know what happens. It is pretty kick-ass though. The only unpredictable part is HOW they end up blowing the asteroid up. (Sorry to those who wanna watch it, it is pretty obviouse though.)

Jem S gave it a0:
Without doubt, honestly, without doubt, the worst film I have ever, ever seen. Mind-boggling, almost offensive, in its badness. My god. By the end, you'll be cheering for the asrteroid to give the culture that produced this film the fate it deserves.

Nige M. gave it a0:
Almost makes you wish a meteor would hit the earth. If this is what the public wants, they deserve to die.

Alex gave it a10:
I love this movie! I haven't even seen the whole thing (I missed most of the beginning and part of the middle) And I still got it! And as a bonus it has some of my favorite actors!

Armageddon Touchstone Pictures

Armageddon
Touchstone Pictures