Whether you like it or hate it, Armageddon is a summer blockbuster of the highest order. It features just about everything you can put into a big-budget movie: over-the-top special effects, celebrities, huge set pieces, lots and lots of stuff exploding, and Bruce Willis. It’s a fun summer popcorn flick that many have said is the worst movie ever made.
I beg to differ. I really like this movie. It’s fun, has some amazing effects, and is just what it should be: mindless escapism. I’m not looking for some deep level of profundity when I walk into a Michael Bay film. This is a summer movie after all.
Armageddon was part of the two-fer movie era where two films with very similar plots or concepts would be released around the same time. Armageddon was released the same year (1998) as the other asteroid movie, Deep Impact, starring Elijah Wood. That same year, two bug-themed movies, Antz and A Bug’s Life were also released. And in 1997, Dante’s Peak and Volcano (guess the common denominator here) hit theaters.
Of all six of these films, the highest-grossing was Armageddon for a variety of reasons that vary from lots of ads and hype to word-of-mouth and its time of release (4th of July weekend). You can’t deny that the film, no matter how dumb you may think it is, made $553 million worldwide.
And now, Armageddon arrives on Blu-ray. It looks and sounds amazing, but is lacking in any worthwhile special features. All you get are trailers and the “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” Aerosmith music video. This is surprising when you consider that the Criterion Collection version of the film is loaded with special features. Even a “making of” special would have been cool.
If you are a huge fan of Armageddon, I’d wait until the Criterion DVD is re-released on Blu-ray. If you’re just interested in seeing the film in a high-quality format, I recommend you check out Armageddon on Blu-ray.
Armageddon is available on Blu-ray April 27, 2010!