Armageddon is a Michael Bay classic, that might not mean much to some people, but I grew up watching his movies. Sitting on my shelf, I have the original release of Armageddon DVD signed by the man himself. But the DVD itself became useless when HDTVs came out because it’s non-anamorphic. When I heard that Armageddon was coming to Blu-ray, all I can say is “It’s about time!”
Armageddon is like the movie 2012, but a lot better. Sure the lines are cheesy, but that’s how it should be, especially when the story sucks. But you don’t watch these kinds of movies for the “story.” Bay was never big on using fake CG except when it’s truly necessary. That’s why I prefer his films over directors like Rolland Emmerich or the new George Lucas films. The plot revolves around a meteor, as big as Texas, and it’s going slam into earth. Who do we call to save us? A bunch of oil drillers. The story is simple, the drillers need to take the meteor out before it hits earth. The little side stories of each character is almost useless; except when used in Bay’s infamous montages, so they can say lines like, “That’s not a salesman, that’s you Daddy!” This is where the movie shines though, the acting can be cheesy, and CG a little outdated and the lines over-the-top, but Bay’s montages are still intact. The music video style editing such as the slow-mos, the quick cuts and the epic music makes the whole movie worthwhile.
Video – The video quality is good. There are noticeable grains on the daytime scenes, but I think that’s how Michael Bay wanted it. Even with the grains, the picture quality is still very sharp, and the colors very crisp. The colors look amazing in vibrant oranges, and cool blues. The HD transfer of this film makes it look brand new, and less outdated. The depth of the blacks look deep, while at the same time, the details are intact. As with all good Blu-ray transfers, I noticed things that I never saw before, like Affleck’s beautiful eyes. There are a few scenes that are a little too soft for my taste, and the skin tones are often dull, but it’s not a big deal. Overall, the transfer is impressive, and truly brings the movie to life.
Video – 8 / 10
Sound – Sound is very important in Michael Bay movies, he likes his movies loud! The sound transfer for this Blu-ray is good, not great. While it is much better than the DVD counterpart, there are no real separations between the channels. It’s lossless, sure, but that doesn’t automatically make it great; it automatically makes it loud. But for a 12-year old movie, this is more than acceptable. The dialogue is consistently crisp and understandable, even when the epic score is playing in the background. Michael Bay’s choice of music is one big reason why I can watch his movies over and over again. Trevor Rabin’s music is not under-represented in the transfer. It is there, in your face, while you watch the montage of Bruce Willis and his crew being paraded into the shuttles. Overall good sound, but could have been better.
Sound – 7 / 10
Extras – Nothing special in this department. It includes Aerosmith’s music video of “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” and a couple of trailers. The Criterion Edition DVD has better extras with crew commentaries, deleted scenes and more.
Extras – 3 / 10
Overall – Armageddon on Blu-ray was a fun experience for me. It brought me back to when I first watched it in the theaters. As I mentioned above, the minor complaints are that some scenes are too soft, and the sound should feel more dynamic. But that’s nitpicking on my end. So if you are a Michael Bay fan, or a fan of action movies with no real stories, I highly recommend this gem for you.
Overall – 7 / 10 – (Not having enough Extras really hurt the ratings, but if you don’t care about extras, I would give this an 8/10)
Thanks to thehdcrowd.com for the images.
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