--- title: "Armageddon: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/armageddon/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/armageddon" critics_score: 50 critics_reviews: 13 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Armageddon (1998): what the critics said Critics' score 50 from 13 reviews: 5 positive, 2 mixed, 6 negative. The reviews split almost evenly, leaning slightly negative. Where critics like it, they like it as spectacle: the scale of the detonations, the asteroid-drilling set pieces, and a supporting cast, Steve Buscemi and Owen Wilson in particular, that keeps the tone knowingly daft. Several doubters concede it is watchable whenever it stops taking itself seriously. Bruce Willis is singled out by admirers as the film’s heart, and Film Comment goes furthest, ranking it as Michael Bay’s finest. The complaints cluster on Bay’s editing. Variety, the Los Angeles Times and Roger Ebert all find the cutting so rapid that the action becomes incomprehensible and the emotional scenes hollow. The New York Times treats it as jingoistic product rather than a film. The spread is wide, from near-rave to outright dismissal, and it has a shape: the harshest verdicts come from the American dailies of 1998, while later revisits from Time Out and Den of Geek are kinder, taking the silliness as the point. ## Film Comment Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). The critic hails Armageddon as Michael Bay's finest and a crowning achievement and personal guilty pleasure, praising its grand scale, team of macho drillers, and the joyful, lulling quality of its chaotic asteroid-drilling sequences. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/bay-watch/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Duane Byrge Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 25 June 1998. The critic calls it a dazzling, warp-speed blockbuster and smart, polished entertainment that exceeds typical FX/disaster film expectations. He singles out the expert scripting by Jonathan Hensleigh, J.J. Abrams and uncredited contributors, along with Michael Bay’s confident direction that balances action, visuals and personal moments. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/armageddon-review-movie-1998-1221857/) ## The New Yorker — Daphne Merkin Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 6 July 1998. The critic half-likes the film despite initial reluctance, finding its visual spectacle awe-inspiring even as the plotting in the final act defies explanation. She singles out the brilliantly orchestrated detonations and the director's kinetic style for comment. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/07/13/it-came-from-outer-space) ## Empire — Angie Errigo Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The film is a doomsday countdown spectacle of extreme tosh from Bruckheimer and Bay that delivers more big bangs than its rival Deep Impact. It offers a million laughs, many unintentional, and stands as the silliest but best-shot popcorn movie in a dismal summer. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/armageddon-review/) ## Time Out — TCh Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The critic calls the film idiotic yet smart enough to relish its own lunkhead bravado, with Willis leading drillers on a mission to plant nuclear bombs inside an asteroid. It praises the sterling supporting cast and tongue-in-cheek tone while noting that Bay cannot sell sincerity and the lovey-dovey scenes are hokey. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/armageddon) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 7 August 1998. Big explosions and over-the-top characterisations deliver thrilling set pieces perfect for excitable 12-year-olds, but the plot-free second half fails to deliver satisfying payoff or linear storytelling. It amounts to a $140 million pizza-and-six-pack film rather than a worthy action classic. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/armageddon-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 1 July 1998. The critic finds the film big and clumsy, sporadically watchable in moments when it does not take itself seriously, but ultimately undone by its grandiosity, frantic editing that obscures the action, and weak emotional elements. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jul-01-ca-65420-story.html) ## The AV Club — Keith Phipps Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 4 April 2002. The critic finds the film an assault on the senses with little substance beyond explosions and quick cuts, criticizing its incoherence, clichés, and disposability while noting it distracts from its many flaws. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/armageddon-1798196334) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 24 June 1998. The critic finds the film effects-obsessed and dramatically benumbed, with incoherent staging and an editing style that amounts to a sensory pummeling. He singles out the lack of dramatic rhythm or character development as resulting directly from the director's cutting style. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1998/film/reviews/armageddon-1200453934/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 1 July 1998. The critic calls the film an assault on the senses, loud, ugly and fragmented, with a ridiculous plot full of cliches and editing so rapid that action sequences are incomprehensible. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/armageddon-1998) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 1 July 1998. The critic views the film as an overblown, jingoistic product rather than a coherent movie, with no believable moments and embarrassingly hollow heroics. She singles out the comparison to Apollo 13 as a real film about courage in space. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/01/movies/film-review-henny-penny-gets-the-president-s-ear.html) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2001. The critic finds the film energetic and committed, going for broke without apologies and believing in itself. He praises the witty script and the ad-libbing from Steve Buscemi and Owen Wilson but complains about an overused slo-mo cliché. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/armageddon-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) ## Den of Geek — Lisa Bernier Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 29 November 2012. The critic calls Armageddon a highly entertaining popcorn disaster movie that delivers laughs, tears, memorable lines from its supporting cast, and strong emotional moments alongside its over-the-top action and absurdity. Bruce Willis is singled out for praise as the film's heart and heroic everyman. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/armageddon-1998-lookbackreview/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/armageddon.md