The film starts softly with a haunting melody of the main theme and along with the narration of the late Charlton Heston to give us a fascinating movie opener. The film then gets cut to an astronaut trying to fix a satellite and out of the deep darkness of space disaster strikes. After the disaster, NASA finds that they have only 18 days until the impact of a giant meteor, also known as the “Global Killer”, is in route to make impact with Earth to make its irreversible mark in our history books. NASA believes the only way to save the planet is to send a team to blow the meteor in half. It’s up to Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) and his team of oil drillers to save the day. But will his team be ready in time, and can harry make things right with his daughter before making the dangerous journey.

The film was released a couple of months after a similar Deep Impact film blasted its way out of theaters. So comparisons began. But no doubt, Armageddon became the highest grossing film of 1998, and happens to be directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. A duo that always manages to provide quality material. The film was well written, which introduces the cast and does a little bit of character development while making the story flow without many problems. If you look at it, the film in a nutshell is in 12 parts and each part is very easy to tell. Every major sequence and change of events appears to mark the end of a section and essentially makes it easier to follow.

If you follow Michael Bay’s films you will instantly think about special effects. After all, in the recent years he’s given us Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the Island, etc. and while this film may or may not be a fan favorite. One thing is clear, special effects and explosions are Bay’s forte. From early on the film, explosions take place and only get bigger as the story moves on. Performances vary from actor to actor; Bruce Willis does an excellent job and enforces the father figure with good grace. Ben Affleck acting hasn’t been the greatest, but this is one of his better films. The rest of the cast is filled with other great actors like Billy Bob Thornton (Monster’s Ball), Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile), Owen Wilson (The Wedding Crashers), etc. While they don’t all share the same screen time as Bruce Willis they manage to do a good job with what they are given.

Overall the film is entertaining and makes for a great popcorn film on a rainy day. I know the grade may be biased, I love this movie, but it may just be the future director in me talking. This film made an impact on me and made me truly love cinematography.

Disney launches Armageddon in a nice 1080p 2.35:1 transfer. What you’ve seen in theaters and on the original DVD is lovingly kept, given it a crisp and clean high definition appearance. All the explosions are brighter then when you first saw them. Yes, there is grain and some flickering, but that’s not much of a problem. Black levels are consistent and well reproduced. Skin tones appear natural some, but in certain scenes they appear warm. Overall is a very good looking picture and fans of the film will be left satisfied.

Armageddon arrives in an out of this world 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. The opening attack on the space shuttle, to the meteor shower in New York, is an audio marvel. This the best the film has sounded in a long time. Trevor Rabin’s score and other music fill the speakers with a nice presence that is never is too much or too little. The audio is reproduced so that all voices are heard. Audiophiles you will be pleased with what Disney has done with this film.

Fans of the supplements will be saddened with this release. All you get is the previous extras found on the original DVD and they are: Aerosmith’s MTV Award-winning Music Video “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”, Armageddon’s Theatrical and Teaser Trailers. The new additions are D-BOX Motion Code and the usual Disney movie trailers for upcoming Blu-ray and in theatrical releases.

Whether you are seeing the film for the first time or want to revisit this Michael Bay classic on Blu-ray, I say this is the best the film has looked and sounded in a long time. I was very pleased to have reviewed this as I haven’t seen the film since the last Criterion Collection release a couple of years ago. I’d like to bring up that the Criterion Edition has the Directors cut and a 2nd disc that is full of extra goodness for those who want more. I think the fans will/should pick the BD. For those who are not a fan of this film, please try it again I recommended.

The screen captures are only a small representation of what the Blu-ray looks like and are not representative of Blu-ray’s true quality.