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Cast: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Ben Affleck, Will Patton, Steve Buscemi, Owen Wilson, Peter Stormare, Keith David, Michael Duncan, William Fichtner
Director: Michael Bay
Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer, Gale Anne Hurd, Michael Bay
Screenplay: Jonathan Hensleigh and J.J. Abrams
Cinematography: John Schwartzman
Music: Trevor Rabin
UK Distributor: Touchstone Pictures
"Why do I do this?" remarks Rockhound (Steve Buscemi) in arguably the best Hollywood movie of 1998. "Three reasons: the pay is good, the scenery changes, and they let me use explosives." Welcome to Armageddon, the wittiest sci-fi blockbuster in many a year boasting some of the best special effects in history and a script to die for."
Okay, it may star Bruce Willis - as Red Adair-style driller Harry Stamper - but Buscemi steals the show as an ultra-intelligent, bug-eyed driller providing more comic relief than you can shake a stick at.
Barely a minute goes by without the Con Air veteran cracking another witty aside, such as the scene just before two space shuttles launch to stop a Texas-sized asteroid wiping out the planet. "Hey Harry, you know we're sitting on four million pounds of fuel, one nuclear weapon and a thing that has two hundred thousand moving parts built by the lowest bidder. Makes you feel good doesn't it?"
Gags aside, this is the mother of all disaster movies boasting better effects than The Poseidon Adventure, a finer script than Airport and a more charismatic lead than Earthquake - although the dulcet tones of Charlton Heston are heard in a short but effective prologue. Now that the dust has settled, it also stands head and shoulders above last summer's disapointing blockbuster The Phantom Menace and the rather similar killer rock flick, Deep Impact.
If you've seen the latter, but not this movie, you may be wondering why bother with another movie rehashing the same premise?
Well, if that film was a pop group, it would be Steps. Good looking and fun but very politically correct.
Michael Bay's offering would be The Prodigy: Noisy, flashy, intensely scary - especially whenever Liv Tyler tries to act - and a shock to the senses.
Armageddon became one of the biggest blockbusters in history, earning $201million in the States alone. Perhaps one of the reasons for its success is the attention to detail - this was the only film crew allowed access to NASA's base - while Jonathan Hensleigh's always adrenaline-fuelled script rarely lets things stand still for a minute.
Of course, the movie is not without its faults.
Like most Hollywood summer offerings, it's about 20 minutes too long, the love scenes between Liv Tyler and Ben Affleck were clearly tagged on to give things a Titanic-style romantic edge, while there's much father-son style bonding between Willis and the Good Will Hunting veteran.
As with recent hit Stigmata, Bay is one of those directors who insists on shooting all of his scenes like a pop video. Great in small doses but downright irritating after a couple of hours. Although it will lose a lot on the small screen - about 99 per cent of its effect - there are several moments that leave the most cynical film buff slack of jaw.
Don't miss New York and Paris devastated by rocks and the shuttles attempting to land on the asteroid (nail-biting action at its best). The finale too is genuinely show-stopping and perhaps not as predictable as you may imagine.
Aside from Willis and Buscemi, good support comes from Billy Bob Thornton, Blighty's own Jason Isaacs and Michael Clarke Duncan from new Tom Hanks movie, The Green Mile.
Aerosmith's Oscar-nominated love theme may be pure Eighties-style pap, rather than pop, but it successfully sums up the movie. For two hours and 23 minutes, you won't want to close your eyes and you won't want to miss a thing.
