Armageddon And Deep Impact
In the year 1998 two movies appeared from major studios, both of which stunned audiences with their depictions of apocalyptic scenarios. The first, Armageddon, starring Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, and Liv Tyler, and told the story of a number of rough-neck oil drillers who are hired by the President of the U.S.A. to fly into space and plant a nuclear charge in the centre of a asteroid that is hurtling towards earth. The second movie, a slightly less fast-paced movie, called Deep Impact, dealt with the social and cultural feelings surrounding an approaching disastrous comet. Both were box office hits, and both had similarities and differences.
Armageddon was perhaps the more popular of these two disaster movies. It made more money in the box office. Part of the reason for this was probably because it played fast and loose with the scientific facts surrounding a potential asteroid collision. It would be very hard to do what the people in this movie do—landing on an asteroid for example. The technology and training required for such a mission are far in advance of what human beings are capable of. The idea that the men under Bruce Willis’ command would all be willing to undergo the mission and would be physical fit for it also strains imagination. Compared to Deep Impact, Armageddon is a bit unrealistic. It also played heavily on its soundtrack and on a romantic subplot which was fairly cliched. The actors are a bit more over the top than in Deep Impact. Though it is possible to pick out the bad scenes in a Michael Bay movie, there are a lot of things that are good also—and stylistically unique which is another difference from Deep Impact. Bruce Willis plays, again, a great American hero. Liv Tyler is great as the rebellious but loving daughter. Ben Affleck is definitely comic, but sometimes a bit over the top.
Deep Impact, however, focused more on the human aspects of a possible asteroid collision and less on the special effects. It was more praised by critics but made less money at the box office. Unlike many disaster epics, Deep Impact is driven by its characters. This might have something to do with it having been directed by a woman instead of a man. While the special effects are there and are impressive, what drives this film are the emotions of the whole ensemble cast. They ring true, from the incompetence of many of the bureaucrats who are supposed to be saving earth, to the ordinary people who face difficult life and death decisions. It’s all part of a powerful film that has a lot more to say about people and their resilience than Armageddon, but still delivers action.
Both movies really feature the use of science. Armageddon and Deep Impact attempt to scare you with science. What better way to create a feeling of dread than to be as factual as you can and this is greatly enhanced by the impending doom that approaches with the possible impact as the films draw to their moving closure. Not everything obviously matches up to proper physics in both films, but the imperfections are not that important and are done to heighten the dramatic effect and are therefore excusable. As previously stated we, as an audience, are more interested in the fate of the characters and their families and personalities as we grow to care for them and watch them make life or death decisions about what to do. All of these seem real to us and that is a part of the power of both of these films.
Another important similarity between Deep Impact and Armageddon is how people deal with the approaching end of the world. Both movies also feature romantic subplots, which serve to heighten the drama of an impending disaster. As the world appears close to being finished people cling to the people they love. This is good for drama and a good way of making the audience think about the choices they’ve made in their own lives and who they would hug and why. The scenes of peoples’ responses to the news that the world was ending was very believable in both films. We all want to think we’d be big and brave and that we’d go about “business as usual” until a few hours before the world ended. Some people might think there would be riots and lots of problems, but I don’t think people are like that. Both films show the inherent dignity of human beings facing the end of the world as they know it. Of course, both worlds get off the hook in the end as the world doesn’t really end and disaster is averted.
Both Deep Impact and Armageddon, despite their similarities and differences, really make you think about life and your place in the world. Both had big budgets and made a lot of money, but at heart both films are about deciding what is important in your own life when forced to focus by massive apocalyptic events. As such, both films have a place in any fine video store.
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