Armageddon

A low earth orbit space station is in the middle of a repair mission with the space shuttle when an unforeseen meteor shower obliterates them both. This sudden event sends fireballs hurtling to Earth and scientists scurrying to telescopes. An amateur astronomer is the first to spy a gigantic fireball headed towards the planet and notifies NASA. Turner (Thornton) informs the president of the asteroid and describes it as being "the size of Texas," a planet-killer. With eighteen days to impact, NASA frantically tries to find a solution but ends up turning to an outside contractor. Harry Stamper (Willis) and his team of oilmen are called upon to save the planet as only they can.

Armageddon

Out of all the movies I've ever seen in my life, this is my all-time favorite. It's funny, it's sad, it's action-filled, it's overall GREAT. Basically, a huge asteroid is heading towards Earth and when it hits, it will cause a holocaust--all living things will die, and not even bacteria will be able to survive the blow. The asteroid is too big to be blown off course by something on the surface, not even if it's a nuclear weapon. They decide that the only way to save the Earth is to actually drill 8000 feet into the asteriod and drop a bomb inside it, causing the rock to split and the halves to miss Earth. Harry Stamper, played by Bruce Willis, head of an oil-drilling team, is called upon to lead the mission to the asteriod, as the drill being used is one he designed. He and his team - A.J. (Ben Affleck), Rockhound (Steve Buscemi), Oscar (Owen Wilson), Bear (Michael Clarke Duncan), and many more, train for weeks to go into space and complete their mission. The plot may be a bit far-fetched, but it is played out wonderfully by a great cast. The script was written with a lot of talent, and it really shows through with intense drama and hilarious wit. I love this movie, it makes me laugh and cry and sit on the edge of my seat every time I watch it. I would reccomend it to ANYONE.

Still a good and relevant movie...

It had been awhile since I last saw the movie, but I was surprised to realize that a few of the lines had eked into my daily language without me really attributing it to the "Armageddon" movie. "We've got NO time, NO time!", "American components, Russian components, all made in Taiwan!", "It's a Rus-sian space station", etc. They all have their own specific meanings in my little world.
I still love this movie because the characters are still loveable. Ben Affleck is forever young, and Bruce Willis is forever charming, and Bruce's buddies are still loyal and true -- faults and all. I still get teary-eyed when Chick meets hostility from his ex-wife when he drops the shuttle toy off for his son, and then she and his son meet him when they land. That hits home for me. Or when Harry finally tells A.J. that he loves him and would be proud for him to marry Grace. And Bear is...well, loveable Bear and Rockhound is still the comic relief (and I can get Steve Buscemi's "Fargo" performance out of my head).
The topic is still very relevant as well. We all get caught up with our life on this little blue ball of a planet and forget that meteors do float around out there every day. According to NASA's website, the next "size of Texas" meteor headed our way will be able to be seen by the naked eye on 4/13/2029. It's called Asteroid 2004 MN4 (look it up on Google). According to NASA's estimates it will MISS us, but still it will get CLOSE. I'm just saying that meteors are still a very real possibility and therefore this movie topic is still relevant.
I wish Bruce Willis would go back to making the movies that let him shine as the Bruce we all know and love. But alas, time does march on...

The movie was great, the dvd was in excellent condition

I recently bought the movie Armageddon on dvd at it was excellent. I would recommend this movie to any adult or teenager that's looking for an entertaining movie with action, humor, small love story and some reality. The movie does have some adult situations and some vulgar language so I would not recommend a youngster to watch it. This movie has major movie star power yet somehow they directed it nicely where no one person overpowered the other. The extreme reality of a meteor ever striking the earth AGAIN and destroying everything on earth makes this movie more believable and enjoyable. A off shore drilling crew led by Bruce Willis is called upon by NASA to save the earth from total annihilation. The love story involves Liv Tyler(daughter of Bruce Willis) and Ben Affleck (2nd best driller of the crew) which is done nicely and involves everyone but does not come close to overshadowing the movie. NASA led by Billy Bob Thorton has to bring everything together and make it happen. This is not an easy task when dealing with a drilling crew whom has not trained for the rigors of outer space journey plus he must contend with "the government" whom are on his back wanting to just handle the situation in their own hasty way as opposed to just leaving it to the experts and having faith and trust. All in all this movie is one to watch and will leave you filled with laughter, suspense and tears.

Excellent content- Average Resolution

Heres the good part: If you are looking for more info and extra scenes from Armageddon, this is a super DVD to have. It has not only the extended directors cut, but some great deleted scenes as well. It even has two great commentary versions to hear what the people involved in making the film have to say...all of which is very informative and entertaining as well. I am a lifetime fan of NASA and consider myself pretty well informed on the subject, but I learned lots of new things watching the commentaries. It also includes a gag-reel, and I think it alone is nearly worth the price of the DVD. The sound track is wonderful as well, and really gets that surround sound equipment's heart beating!

Heres the less than good part: My complaints come with the disclaimer that I'm not sure if all the DVDs are this way, or if its just the version I bought... The film is presented in full cinema widescreen, but it seems to be set up for a 4:3 sized TV. Shown on my big ol' crazy new TV, there are black bars on the sides and top and bottom. My big TV has the ability to zoom in and make the picture ALMOST fill the screen. The side pillars are gone, but it will retain small letterboxes on top and bottom. Fortunately, the DVD resolution is good enough that not much clarity is lost in the zoom. It isnt really hi-def quality, but its close and will soon be forgotten once the movie gets started. If your TV won't do this, you're probably gonna be unhappy with what you see.
All in all this is a good DVD to have, but I wish it were presented in higher definition. Anamorphic widescreen would be nice on this one too. Maybe they will give us a Blu-Ray of this soon as this is exactly the kind of movie that Blu-Ray and Hi-Def TVs and surround sound were made for.