Way Too Much Action Dooms Interesting Screenplay

Rating: 5/10 (3 October 1999)

[WARNING: This review may contain "spoilers."]
Given that the Earth has but mere days to exist, NASA elects to go with a crew of Texas roughnecks to save the day. Actually, NASA doesn't really have a choice. They need a team of drillers who can operate anywhere, in the harshest of conditions. Engineers, astronauts, and pilots are very skilled and knowledgeable in their fields, but they don't know diddly about drilling.
This really was a wonderful opportunity to highlight the abilities of unsung men who have technical capabilities, rarely highlighted in Hollywood films. It is also interesting to see how NASA wrangles with the construction crews' various legal, medical, and psychological problems. For example, "Bear," the biggest and strongest of the bunch jumps into an impromptu flex after being told by a NASA egghead how awful his cholesterol is. Its pretty clear that if these boys are going to save the world, the planners are going to have to take a back seat to knowledge and knowhow.
If the film had stuck with this premise it would have scored big. Alas, "Armageddon" trades in its refreshing approach and adopts the cheesy, stale, over the top, Hollywood sanctioned industry explosion as its plot mover. What a waste! Not ten minutes goes buy in the second half of this movie, in which something isn't bursting apart, a la, "Independence Day." By the time the ending comes around and one of the crew elects to do a heroic act, it winds up meaningless. Too much anxiety has already been built up and torn down again, by mindless explosions in outer space.
This movie suffers the same fate as "The Phantom Menace." When you shoot for the 12 year old boy in the audience you will almost always get his attention. However, Hollywood should ask itself a question. Is that tried and true formula for box office success worth it in the long run? Is it really worth tossing good screenplays to the wind for the sake of slow motion , computer generated effects? If this film did not have the explosions every minute, it would have scored high. As it is, I give it a generous five out of ten.