by
Laura Lai/ Review
What is the difference between
the Atlantis shuttle from the movie ‘Armageddon’ and Apollo 11? In 1969, on
July the 20th, Apollo 11 made a ‘small step on the moon’ after a
4-day trip and it returned to Earth. 1969 is actually the Cold War period engaging
the USA and the USSR. This space race was won by the United States of America
because President J.F. Kennedy increased NASA’s budget with 300%, but President
Kennedy did not live long enough to witness this great achievement. It was
President Richard Nixon, who made the call to the moon – the longest distance
phone call ever recorded. It could definitely not be a collect phone call, but
a call on NASA’s budget. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary
since the three American astronauts – Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael
Collins – made the ‘giant leap for mankind’ on the moon and collected some
rocks, the U.S. President Donald Trump committed to an American return
to the moon by 2024 and to a ‘sustainable presence’ on the moon by 2028, from
where further space exploration to be possible. And maybe the collect phone
call, too. To mark this 50th anniversary event, the U.S. National Air and Space Museum in Washington displayed for all its visitors – as the
entrance is free – Neil Armstron’s space suit.
The space suit ware by Harry
Stamper (Bruce Willis) in the movie ‘Armageddon’ (directed by Michael
Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, 1998) seemed pretty close to the original
suit of Neil Armstrong. ‘Armageddon’ is a science-fiction movie about an
asteroid, which is about to collide with the Earth in 18 hours. The impact
would mean the end of the world (Armageddon), as some parts of the world would
be wiped out, a part of the world population would freeze to death and the
other one would be incinerated by the heat.
The movie starts
with the explosion in space of the shuttle Atlantis and NASA looking for Harry
Stamper and his team used to drill on any kind of surface, in order to send
them in space to drill 800 feet under a high time pressure and place a bomb on
the asteroid. Two shuttles were organized, Freedom and Independence, but their
trip to space, as well as the drilling stay is full of unpredictable events
under a high time pressure. There is also a love story unfolding in the movie:
it involves Harry Stamper’s daughter, Grace (Liv Taylor) and A.J. (Ben
Affleck). From my point of view, this love story had a great role in balancing the
drama of the movie, as well as opposing the sensational experience of the father
and fiancé in space to the agony of daughter and fiancée watching the whole
trip and waiting for their return from the NASA Space Centre.
On the occasion of the 50th
anniversary of the first small step for the man on the moon, I wanted to
particularly recall the movie ‘Armageddon’ for several reasons. First, it seems
to somehow connect to each other: Now that Apollo 11 returned in 1969 from
space, then that Harry Stamper and his team succeeded in destroying the asteroid
and the Earth survived in 1998, President Donald Trump and NASA can focus on
the next trip by 2024 and to a sustainable human presence by 2028 for further
explorations. Second, I am a fan of movies with Bruce Willis, which are usually
action movies, but not necessarily. For example, the very first sequence of
this movie showing Harry Stamper playing golf on the petrol platform interpreted
by Bruce Willis with his original mixture of fun with cynicism and his typical
smile reminded me of the character David (interpreted by Bruce Willis) from the
TV comedy series ‘Maddie and David – Moonlighting’, which I enjoyed watching in
the 1990s.
Another
reason I thought of this movie is that I am also a fan of movies with Ben
Affleck, but given the age difference between them, I think I’ve seen more
movies with Bruce Willis. However, this movie cast with great movie stars’
names was very well chosen. Last but not least the movie ‘Armageddon’ is a
great suspense movie, with a beautiful music and great special effects.
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