Armageddon

Plot: The film begins with a pre-credit narration by Charlton Heston about the extinction of the dinosaurs caused by a 6-mile wide asteroid hitting the Earth 65 million years ago. In the present day, a massive meteor shower destroys the Space Shuttle Atlantis and bombards parts of New York City, the East Coast and Finland, and NASA discovers that a Texas-sized asteroid will collide with Earth in 18 days, creating another extinction event. With the military, NASA scientists, led by Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton) plan to embed a nuclear device 800 feet within the asteroid that, when detonated, will split the asteroid in two parts that will both safely fly past the Earth. NASA contacts Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis), considered the best deep-sea oil driller in the world, for assistance and advice. Harry returns to NASA along with his daughter Grace (Liv Tyler) to keep her away from one of his young and more rambunctious drillers, A. J. Frost (Ben Affleck), who has fallen in love with her much to Harry's dismay. Harry and Grace learn of the critical issues of the asteroid from Truman, and Harry explains he will need his team members, including A. J., to carry out the mission. Once they have been rounded up and Harry explains the situation to them, they agree to help, but only after they are assured of being rewarded from an eclectic list of demands.

As NASA puts Harry and his crew through a shortened rigorous astronaut training program, Harry and his team reoutfit the mobile drillers, named the "Armadillos", that NASA plans to use on the asteroid. When a large fragment from the asteroid wipes out Shanghai, NASA is forced to reveal its plans to the world. NASA launches two military space shuttles (U.S.A.F X-71s), named Freedom and Independence. Once in orbit, the shuttles dock with a Russian space station manned by Lev Andropov (Peter Stormare) to refuel with liquid oxygen. A fire breaks out during the transfer, and the station is evacuated before it explodes, with Lev and A. J. making a narrow escape on Independence. The shuttles continue the plan, slingshotting around the Moon in order to land on the backside of the asteroid. Traveling through the debris field behind the asteroid, Independence is punctured by debris and crashes onto the asteroid. Grace, watching from NASA headquarters, becomes distraught over A. J.'s apparent death.
Freedom lands safely, but the team realizes they missed their target area by 26 miles, and must now drill through an area composed of iron ferrite rather than the planned softer composition. When they fall significantly behind schedule and communications seem likely to fail, the military (by order of the President) initiates "Secondary Protocol"; where they will remote detonate the nuclear weapon on the asteroid's surface, which, according to Truman, will not have any effect. While Truman delays the military at Mission Control, Harry persuades the shuttle commander to disarm the bomb so they can complete the drilling.

Distracted by "Rockhound" (Steve Buscemi), who is suffering a mental breakdown, the Freedom crew loses its "Armadillo" when it strikes an explosive gas pocket and is blown into space. World panic ensues as the mission is assumed lost, just as another meteorite completely destroys Paris. A. J., Lev, and "Bear" (Michael Clarke Duncan), having survived the Independence crash, arrive in their "Armadillo" just in time to complete the drilling.

As the asteroid moves dangerously close to the earth, it begins to heat up, causing a dangerous rock storm that damages the bomb's remote trigger. They realize that someone must stay behind to trigger it manually. After all the non-flight crew volunteers, they draw straws, and A. J. is selected. As he and Harry exit the airlock, Harry rips A. J.'s air hose and shoves him back in, telling him that he's the son he never had, and he'd be proud to have him marry Grace. Harry assumes responsibility for detonating the bomb and contacts Grace to say his last goodbyes. After the Freedom moves to a safe distance, Harry detonates the bomb at the last minute (after some difficulty), and his life passes before his eyes as the bomb rips through the asteroid. The asteroid, as predicted, breaks in two, and both halves miss the Earth. Freedom lands, and the surviving crew are treated as heroes. The film ends with A. J. and Grace's wedding, complete with photos of Harry and the other lost crew members present in memoriam.

My View: Nice movie, very touching. The computer graphics were good consider it being produced in 1998. This movie is my very first few movie that I have ever watched in my life. 14 heroes, sends to space to complete a mission that would save the earth from total destruction. Wow, unbelievable. However, nothing is perfect, some of the heroes die during the process of saving the earth, only a few went back alive. It's sad but in the peoples heart, they are the always the heroes that save the earth. Watch it! It's nice, seriously :)

Movie Trailer