beautiful look.....ummmm....

Rating: Null/10 (31 March 1999)

At first, I watched the whole thing, now, I watch the action. I honestly think Michael Bay is a great action movie director, but the buck stops there. The quote 'dramatic' unquote scenes are some of the clunkiest this side of a Roland Emmerich film. Thankfully the movie has great visual effects and fine sound effects (pain-inducing as they are). The script is beyond dumb, it is built for the brain dead. It wouldn't have surprised me if a 'laugh' or 'cry' caption appeared at the proper moment. Bruce Willis isn't horrible (that little tear running down his face at the end was a nice touch), but he is far from Oscar caliber. Liv Tyler is starting to wear out her "pouty whiner' act, and Ben Affleck's role had me desiring to stick a shotgun up his ass and pull the trigger. One thing that I really can't help but notice is how blatantly poor the science is, such as the mysterious phenomenon that allows India and the US to watch the asteroid explode in broad daylight (maybe the Earth really is flat...), and the infamous space station sequence. It would have been really cool if they had gone for some accuracy and had some actors walking on the ceiling while others walk on the walls and/or floor, but that's asking a little too much. The only way I can watch this movie now is in widescreen, with the lights off and the Pro Logic surround turned WAY WAY up. Sadly after two hours even this approach can't save this overblown and rotten piece of eye candy.