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Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
xx
Fantastic Mr. Fox
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
After the Storm
66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The![]()
13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
66
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Armageddon

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 23 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 33 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
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:
Theatrical: July 1, 1998
DVD: January 5, 1999
Running Time: 144 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
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.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Bad Boys Bad Boys II Pearl Harbor The Island The Rock Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
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...
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.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Manohla Dargis
The movie is ridiculous, but since the special effects are really quite impressive, that seems a small point.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker Daphne Merkin
The surprisingly witty script was worked on by a squadron of writers, including Robert Towne.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Armageddon is a testosterone and adrenaline cocktail, with almost no intelligence added for flavoring.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
The actors mark time, and the gung-ho heroics on display are embarrassingly hollow.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Bay doesn't stage scenes, exactly -- he stages moments.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
An assault on the eyes, the ears, the brain, common sense and the human desire to be entertained.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.4 (out of 10) based on 33 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!
