The First Real Blockbuster of the summer...

Rating: Null/10 (8 August 1998)

Given that I'm doing a PhD on asteroids and comets it was almost in my job description to see this movie.
My career is kind of summed up in Charlton Heston's Narration at the start - an Impact *will* happen again, it's just a question of when.
Of course when the time comes it's not going to be anything like this movie, science isn't as forgiving as hollywood scriptwriters. So I'm going to drop the science right away and get down to the movie, an absolutely fabulous movie were it not for the 'God Save America' sentimentality which drags this movie down. Die Hard on an asteroid. It's good to see an action blockbuster where people aren't killing each other.
There is something to keep everyone entertained in this movie, I laughed at a lot more than the scientific blunders. Steve Buscemi gets all the best lines, Billy Bob Thornton is great in mission control, Bruce and Ben turn in acceptable performances. and all the supporting cast hang around them to give them an environment to work in.
It's easy to see how this could be a better film, but even with these limitations the film still comes out ahead of everything I've seen this summer. More happens in the first 15 minutes of Armageddon than in the whole of Deep Impact.