Armageddon

by:

Athena Roberts

24 Oct 2002

CRT 201 – Critical Thinking (Sep/Oct 2002 Session)

Instructor: Jeanne Hardy Miller, MS

Western International University

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You should rent the movie Armageddon. When NASA discovers it has eighteen days before a meteor the size of Texas destroys the Earth, it decides to send a group roughnecks to drill a hole into its center where they can detonate a nuclear bomb to destroy the meteor. The only problem is most of them are not fit for space travel and they are all on vacation all over the country. With the help of the owner of the oil rig, Harry (Bruce Willis), NASA tracks down everyone and begins a crash training program that lasts two weeks. Meanwhile, parts of the meteor arrive early and cause major damage to cities around the world.

The roughnecks have a price for going on the mission. Each one wants a million dollars. Some want their numerous traffic tickets pardoned, another wants two women friends made U.S. citizens, one wants to know who killed JFK, and another wants NASA to bring back 8-track tapes. They also all don’t want to have to pay taxes again . . . Ever. NASA promises to help with “some of that.”

No story is complete without a love story. In this case it is between the rig owner’s daughter, Grace(Liv Tyler), and another roughneck, AJ(Ben Affleck). Of course, Harry doesn’t want his daughter to marry a roughneck because he believes she is better than that. Grace is very intelligent, but she loves her life as it is and doesn’t think AJ is beneath her. She also says he has “great pillow talk.”

The movie is an emotional roller coaster with things constantly going wrong and people fighting the establishment to solve them, subtle and not-so-subtle humor, and the approaching deadline called “zero barrier” which is the latest they can destroy the meteor and still save Earth.

What the movie means to me.

The theme of this movie is mankind as the master of its fate. When the President of the United States addresses the world before the astronauts launch to save Earth, he addresses that theme. He says that for the first time “Nature has produced a species capable of preventing its own destruction.” Every step along our growth has prepared us for this moment. Every idea, every invention, and even every war has prepared us to fight this “most terrible of battles.”

It is reason that made all our advancements possible and NASA, despite its imperfections, embodies it. It is reason that made possible the technology that discovered the meteor and that built the shuttle, computers, and oil rigs. It also made possible the science of drilling that will now save the human race and all other life. Consequently, it is also a salute to the supremacy of reason and an acknowledgment of its efficacy. Mankind is the master of its fate precisely because of its ability to think.

Just because we have reason, doesn’t mean we are always going to be right, have all the facts, or be able to act on them. Life is still often a close race between life and death. It’s ironic that often small details and minor decisions are what bring about success or failure. In the movie, not doubling up on one particular piece of equipment meant certain death for at least one member of the crew and possibly all of them.

Throughout the entire movie, it was the resourcefulness of some of the major characters and their knowledge of when to break the rules that save the day. The drill rig that NASA built to bore into the meteor was very much overbuilt and had a lot of unnecessary equipment. The roughnecks’ complete lack of concern for what NASA thought was important equipment helped make the rig an effective tool for drilling. In another case, when NASA lost communications with the crew, the military declared an emergency and took over the operation. One of their decisions was to start the countdown of the nuclear warhead because they had no idea if the crew was still alive to plant the bomb. The head of NASA, Dan Truman, secretly told one of his people to hack the system to bring down communication with the warhead and thus end the countdown. He knew that setting off the bomb prematurely would accomplish nothing and perhaps the crew was still alive and able to complete the mission.

One of Murphy’s Law of Combat is “No plan survives first contact intact.” It means you have to be flexible when executing a plan. One shuttle is destroyed during approach to the meteor so the whole mission depends on the crew in the other shuttle. Meanwhile, there were a few survivors on the crashed shuttle. Because the drilling rig was the most solidly built thing in the shuttle, it also survived. Eventhough, they had no idea where the other crew was, they managed, with a little luck and some common sense, to find them when the other crew had lost their rig from an unexpected catastrophe.

Another characteristic of the heros was the willingness to take something on that no one has done before when there is no promise of success and the odds are overwhelming. That is part of the warrior’s ethic. It is finding a way to succeed when no way exists, putting uncertainty aside and acting on one’s own judgement, and doing it because it needs to be done. It also means not going gently into that good night. The unwillingness of the heros to give up, when things seemed hopeless is what differentiates them from the characters in other disaster movies.

Thoughtful reasoning on why you should go see it.

The movie promotes a good sense of life. Specifically, it promotes the idea that mankind can prosper in this universe and that his purpose is to enjoy his life. They make that clear when, while Grace and AJ are enjoying each others’ company, Grace asks AJ if he thinks anyone else is doing the same thing they are doing at this moment. He responds that he hopes so because otherwise why are they going to destroy the meteor. The movie is also exciting and a true emotional roller coaster. Problems constantly arise and the heroes constantly struggle to make the best of the situation and continue the mission. It promotes a positive view of reason, technology, and the willingness to act on one’s own judgement because those are the things that end up saving the human race in the movie. It is way different from the typical disaster movie that depicts the human race as the helpless victims of nature. Armageddon shows people who rise up against and defeat the greatest threat humanity has ever known. There is also great event contrast. By that I mean the variety of different events that happen in the movie. There are tender moments between Grace and AJ, the pervading rigid rationalism of NASA, the horrors of imminent death, and lots of humor. There is also redemption. One roughneck, who had lost his family because of his mistakes, regains the respect of his ex-wife when she learns what he is doing and she decides to tell her four-year-old son who his father is. It is positive portrayal of reason, technology, independence, and redemption that make it a great movie. For those reasons I hope you will watch it.