Armageddon

I loved this film. Bruce Willis played a great role in this Film. I was also very impressed at Liv Tyler's role. The Visual Effects were awesome. I would highly recommend this film.

Michael Bay's films are an odd addition to the Criterion collection, until you recall the Criterion Collection's mission statement reads "All we ask is that each film in the collection be an exemplary film of its kind." Armageddon is ultimate distillation of Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer's commercial action movie formula, a formula that they introduced in Bad Boys (Special Edition) , improved upon in The Rock - Criterion Collection and finally, post-Armageddon, ran into the ground in Pearl Harbor. Later Bay films like The Island and Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition) are informed by this formula, but none of them come close to this masterpiece of 1990s action. As you almost certainly know, the plot of Armageddon involves a gigantic asteroid on a collision course with the Earth. The only ones who can stop it are a rag-tag crew of oil drillers, who hitch a ride with some astronauts on a pair of fighter-jet space shuttles to blow the rock to bits with a well-placed nuke. Sounds silly? It is, and the film has a couple of winking acknowledgements of its own silliness. Mostly though, the film believes in itself, and it is easy to become caught up in the (false) grandeur of the undertaking. Lots of people will bad-mouth this film, but those people are movie snobs. Armageddon was one of the most popular movies of 1998, and it was a defining element of the popular culture of the time. Ignoring it just because you dislike its style or story is to put on cultural blinders. Personally, I felt that Armageddon's most interesting cinematic characteristic is Bay's use of a kind of cinematic short-hand. Much of Bruce Willis' character is defined by previous Bruce Willis movies, creating a kind of ready-made character who already feels familiar when he first appears. Likewise, the sequences involving the military are largely understandable only because you know how the military acts in this sort of movie. But the best example of this shorthand is the character of Billy Bob Thorton. At one point he mentions that he was formerly in the astronaut program, but dropped out. There is a very short, perhaps less than 1 second, shot of a pair of leg braces. With just this flash of visual information, Bay has established an entire history for the character. Anyone who says that Bay is lacking in cinematic skills is ignoring his great gift at conveying information in a fast, visual way. A great example of showing, not telling. This Criterion DVD has all the usual extra features you might expect, and they are as good as you might expect. The DVD commentary is entertaining and informative, and Bay is quite open about his commercial and pragmatic sensibilities, such as the story he relates that a certain beauty shot of a car was included so that the car-maker would give him money to build a bizarre set that was not included in the budget. Many of the cast members also contribute to the commentary; Ben Affleck is the highlight, obviously well trained from doing Kevin Smith commentary tracks. Bruce Willis is as laconic as his reputation would suggest, but his few comments are sometimes hilarious. This version of the movie is also slightly extended, with some scenes involving Willis' character's father, and a few slight extensions that add character beats to some of the minor scenes. Nothing major. The second disc has lots of interesting features on the making of the movie, a collection of deleted scenes and a few bloopers. Most of the deleted scenes are comedy bits with the actors riffing in character, and all of them are entertaining but it is easy to see why they were cut out. The best blooper is an appearance by Michael Eisner (Disney's Touchstone division produced the film), who tells Willis that his casting isn't working out and the studio is replacing him with Kevin Costner. All in all, this is a fantastic DVD of a highly entertaining movie. Don't let the movie snobs shame you into not getting it. If you enjoyed this movie back in the late 90s, you'll find plenty to still enjoy here. It has aged very well, and, from a film history standpoint, this DVD set is almost a time capsule of the bloated studio action pictures of the time.

Extremely Honest Seller and Great Products

good movie

A global killer asteroid as headed to earth at 25K mph which will kill all life on the planet, including bacteria. It can't be stopped. There are 18 days before impact. Nasa calls upon an oil-drilling team to fly with astronauts to the asteroid and plant a nuclear bomb 800 feet inside to cause it to split into two halves which will then fly by the earth. Bruce Willis plays Harry Stamper who is known to be the world's best oil driller, taking on projects which others can't do. His crew consists of ex-convicts, social rejects and hard-core testosterone-driven roughnecks, complete with tattoos, beer bellies and big muscles. They fail every test Nasa gives them, but the situation is desperate, and Nasa certifies them for space flight. There is extreme humor when they bandy with Nasa medical personnel over their physical conditions. But there is one thing they have: plenty of GUTS. One of the drillers is in love with Harry's daughter, and Harry shoots at him with a shotgun when he catches him in bed with the daughter. The movie has action, romance, humor, drama, science fiction, tragedy, sentimentality and Biblical references. It points out the real important things in life, with the ultimate action of self-sacrifice for loved ones. It is fast-moving with excellent special effects and acting. It even has a Russian cosmonaut involved to fully cooperate in order to save the planet we all are dependent upon. He, along with most of the other characters, is critical in the success of the mission. He becomes a great friend of the American astronauts. This movie will make you cry and feel exhilarated at the same time. It shows hope for humanity in the stark face of final destruction and the total end of mankind... It's one of my all-time favorites. It's superb entertainment.

Ce film sorti en 1998, a fait couler beaucoup d’encre, et il en fait encore couler beaucoup aujourd’hui, le principal reproche que beaucoup de gens font à ce film américain est d’être trop …. Américain, un comble. C’est très fort quand on y pense, les anti-américains primaires sont de sortie, anti-Willis, anti-Michael Bay, ceux qui n’aiment pas les films américains, allez voir les gentilles comédies françaises, où tout finit toujours bien et où on connait déjà la fin au bout de 5 minutes, ces films vous correspondront mieux. J’invite toute personne à se faire sa propre opinion sans se fier aux critiques de tout poil qui ont descendu ce film en flammes et le font encore aujourd’hui, juste à cause de sa nationalité, au lieu de le regarder dans son ensemble. A partir de là, l’aventure commence. On peut entrer dans l’histoire qui est racontée. Il faut également se rappeler que c’est une histoire de pure fiction qui est rapportée à l’écran. La navette Atlantis est détruite par une pluie de météorite, ce qui révèle une catastrophe majeure, un astéroïde immense va s’écraser sur la terre dans 18 jours. La NASA se décide pour une mission de la dernière chance : envoyer des astronautes qui déposeront une charge nucléaire à l’intérieur de l’astéroïde. Pour ce faire, Harry Stamper, le plus grand spécialiste des forages est réquisitionné ainsi que son équipe, ils vont tous devoir subir un entrainement adéquat afin d’être envoyés dans l’espace. Film catastrophe de par la nature de son histoire, c’est aussi un très bon film d’action, cela se déroule vite, le rythme est fluide, nerveux, les enjeux sont posés dès les premières minutes, les personnages sont présentés tour à tour. Le fim, bien que relativement long pour ce genre, puisqu’il fait quand même 2h25, passe très vite, tant on est happé par tous les événements et les retournements de situation qui ont lieu. Les effets spéciaux sont très bien rendus à l’écran et sont très spectaculaires, presque 20 ans après, ils n’ont pas pris une ride. Alors bien sûr, il y a des invraisemblances, et c’est tout à fait normal, car cela reste de la science fiction car tout est inventée, mais c’est du très bon film de divertissement. Bien que l’histoire globale se finisse bien, il y a beaucoup de personnages qui ne reviennent pas de l’aventure, après avoir trouvé une mort certaine au cours de la mission, notamment le sacrifice d’un personnage principal à la fin du film qui pourrait en surprendre plus d’un. En outre, le casting bénéficie d’une belle brochette d’acteurs. En plus de Bruce WILLIS, qui tient le rôle principal, en tant que leader de son équipe de secours, il y a Ben AFFLECK et Liv TYLER, qui incarnent A.J. Frost et Grace, fille de Harry, qui cache à son père, sa liaison avec le bras droit de la société de forage, car elle craint sa réaction, qui ne se fait pas attendre, au début du film. On retrouve également des acteurs confirmés tels que Billy Bob THORNTON, Will PATTON, Steve BUSCEMI, William FICHTNER, Jason ISAACS, Owen WILSON et le regretté Michael Clarke DUNCAN. Bref, que du très bon. En ce qui concerne le blu ray, l’image est tout simplement sublime, digne du support HD, les couleurs sont superbes et éclatantes, le contraste est très bien rendu, notamment pour les scènes sombres se passant dans l’espace, les détails apparaissent avec une fluidité remarquable. Du très haut niveau. Le son n’est pas en reste, bien au contraire, très bien mis en valeur et très puissant, il surclasse tout, les scènes contenant des effets spéciaux ressortent de très belle manière. La BO est également l’un des atouts du film, avec la chanson principale du film « I Don’t Want Miss To Miss A Thing » interprété avec talent par Steven TYLER, leader du groupe Aerosmith et également père de l’actrice Liv TYLER. Seule déception de ce BR, les bonus, qui sont bien maigres, juste des bandes annonces et le clip vidéo de la chanson principale. Il faut se reporter sur l’édition DVD collector pour voir les bonus qui tiennent une galette entière. Quel dommage !

Excelente producto!

Me gustó la peli

Très beau film pour ceux qui aiment le genre

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