Armageddon is an American adventure science fiction thriller movie directed by Michael Bay in 1998. It stars Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, and Liv Tyler. The movie storyline is about an asteroid the size of Texas that is on a collision course with Earth and is predicted to end the world in only 18 days. The story revolves around the efforts of a group of brave men who decide to drill a hole in the asteroid and plant a nuclear bomb to split it into two pieces before it reaches Earth. This movie is popular and unique because it was one of the first movies to feature an asteroid impact on Earth.
Synopsis
The movie begins with the space shuttle Atlantis on a mission to monitor space from the International Space Station. Unfortunately, a fragment of an asteroid hits the shuttle, destroying it and killing everyone aboard. NASA scientists investigate and realize that the incident resulted from debris from a giant asteroid sized like Texas heading directly towards Earth. The asteroid is sixteen days away from colliding with Earth and will cause global extinction.
Dan Truman, a senior NASA official played by Billy Bob Thornton, prepares a team to save the planet from a catastrophic impact. Truman enlists the services of the world’s best drilling team to drill a hole deep enough to plant a nuclear bomb into the asteroid, breaking it into two pieces. He negotiates with oil drilling veteran Harry Stamper, played by Bruce Willis, to lead the mission and his team to destroy the asteroid.
Stamper requests that his team assists him in executing the mission, and he agrees, leading his team that includes Chick, his good friend and right-hand man, Bear, Max, A.J. Frost, who is dating Harry’s daughter Grace, Rockhound, the geology expert, and Oscar. The group trains rigorously under project leader Willie Sharp, an experienced astronaut played by William Fichtner, for twelve days and then launches on two space shuttles: Freedom and Independence.
During the voyage, A.J. proposes to Grace, who accepts, and Grace reconciles with her father about their past. However, things take a dire turn when a fueling incident causes the Russian space station Mir to explode, killing the crew except for Lev Andropov. The shuttle Independence is damaged in the accident, causing a crash landing on the asteroid that causes the death of all but three members of the team.
Fortunately, A.J., Lev, and Bear survive the landing and discover that the asteroid is hollow, giving them new hope to achieve their mission to destroy it. From the asteroid, they signal the remaining team members on Freedom, who locate them and plan to complete their mission.
In the final scene, the team manages to drill through and plant the bomb, but Stamper is left behind when the bomb goes off. A moving tribute is held to honor Stamper, who recognized the significance of the mission and sacrificed himself to ensure it was completed.
Conclusion
Armageddon is a thrilling movie that illustrates the dangers of space travel and the carelessness of humanity in dealing with the universe. The film’s emotive storyline grips viewers and highlights the importance of sci-fi movies in building the curiosity of humans about the mysteries of the cosmos. Armageddon is an evergreen film that has aged remarkably well, introducing a new wave of interest in space and space exploration to a new generation.
