Glen here…

It is with no small amount of hesitance that I approach reviewing the video release of ARMAGEDDON on this site.

As some may recall, ARMRAGEDDON sparked some rather extreme controversy here at AICN, when Harry mentioned having cried during the film. Immediately, Internet news groups, e-mails, and other web sites were loaded with accusations of Harry being a sell-out, as he had recently been flown to the World Premiere of ARMAGEDDON - and everyone pre-supposed that his positive and emotional review of the film had been tainted by being wined and dined by The Powers That Be.

It was *really* messy.

As such, there’s an unspoken sense around here that mentioning ARMAGEDDON again in semi-review form is just asking for trouble. That’s too damn bad, ‘cause I have a few things to say and I’m gonna say them - whether or not the sentiments are popular.

Despite a large quantity of angry and hateful e-mails suggesting it was "impossible" to cry during ARMAGEDDON because the film was too screwed-up to cry for, I personally know several people who did. People who don’t know Harry, who don’t read this site, who simply went to the movie to see it for what it was - and found themselves affected by it on some deep and personal level.

Deep and personal level?

At face value, ARMAGEDDON is a superficial and often cheesy exercise in over-the-top and excessive film making. Its editing is too frantic, even for me - who likes fast paced camerawork and enjoys seeing a story move quickly. Paradoxically, despite every post-production effort aimed at pushing this story along, AMRAGEDDON tends to lumber, and never matches the compelling velocity to which its editing and sound mix aspire. There is a "Director’s Cut" of ARMAGEDDON being released by Criterion soon, with footage added in. For my money, the last thing ARMAGEDDON needs is *more* footage - as it could probably stand to be *cut* by a half hour or so.

All of this being acknowledged, ARMAGEDDON is not without merit. Strong merit. Deeply personal merit.

ARMAGEDDON seems to breed a high level of divisiveness among viewers, it seem to be a "love" or "hate" kind of thing, with very little room in-between. This spectrum is also unpredictable, I’ve sent friends to see it who thought it was a piece of crap. Other friends…whom I expected would hate it…ended up thinking it was among the best films they have seen all year.

What causes this diverse reaction? Why do some people love this film and other hate it? Well, as with any film, the quality of the product is in the eye of the beholder. But with ARMAGEDDON, there is more going on than simply matters of taste. For all of its buffoonery and scientifically implausible shenanigans, ARMAGEDDON is ultimately about *ideas*. And the perception of these ideas seem to be what rubs people’s tastes in a particular direction.

Earleir this week, I posted a review of the newly released ARMAGEDDON score CD. Immediately, a "talkback" below the article lambasted the score’s patriotic overtones. Indeed, many e-mailers and viewers have complained about the patriotic nature of ARMAGEDDON, finding its flag-waving and slow-motion march of heroes offensive and irresponsible. I read those comments, and asked myself: "If all of this is so wrong, why did so many people turn up to see John Glenn ride the rocket?"

Patriotism…especially the kind of patriotism portrayed in ARMAGEDDON…is, (among other things) about the preservations of concepts and tenets we believe in. It’s about defining who we are, collectively and singularly. For example, I am not a particularly political person, and I sure as hell don’t like the idea of warfare and aggression being pushed upon other countries.

Reversely, I see the need to sometimes do so as "the way of the world". And…above all….I deeply respect the people who would fly a jet into battle, or storm the beaches of a foreign territory simply to defend an IDEA. The idea of freedom, of hope, the idea of preserving the future for a land full of *complete strangers* back home, or for whomever we may be fighting. The idea that someone I never even met is doing something to hold onto a way of life for me and my son…or even improve it…moves me.

Because every time that happens, we are not only fighting for the future, but…in an odd way…we are acknowledging the efforts of our forefathers, without whom our nation would be very, very different. We are saying to them that everything they went through is not in vein, and that…no matter how much we tend to forget their "ideas" on a day-to-day basis… we *hear* them and *get* them when all is said and done. Fighting the future…embracing the past…and doing all of it for something as intangible and esoteric as an *idea*, even if the idea is as simple and primitive as an unequivocal willingness to lay down your life for someone you love. I see great poetry and beauty in that.

For all its glitz and style and sound and fury, the above notions are very much what ARMAGEDDON is about. About a group of regular folks who are willing to sacrifice themselves for a world that has…really…done nothing for them.

Why do they do it? Sure they’re getting some frills, but mostly they’re doing it protect *ideas*. A father’s love for the son he is kep from seeing; a father’s love for the daughter he raised but didn’t know at all; the idea that families and friends will survive to see another day; the idea that all which has come before actually *means* something. The idea that the perfect moments you spend with someone you love are worth saving, and somehow resonate in the way of the world - if only on a subconscious level.

Everything that I’m saying here is supported by one simple exchange between Liv Tyler’s "Grace" and Ben Affleck’s "A.J.". They are…simply…snuggling, being silly, doing nothing but loving eachother and loving *life* shortly before he is to be sent into space:

GRACE: Do you think it’s possible that anyone else in the world is doing this very same thing at this very same moment?

A.J.: I hope so, otherwise what the hell are we trying to save?

Maybe that thought is too heady for this day and age, or maybe we’ve all become so cynical and jaded that we really do believe everything we’re doing, every day,…whether it be working, loving hating, sharing or taking…really means nothing in the bigger picture. If we’ve so lost touch with ourselves, and so under-value what we do, then it’s a sad day indeed. And maybe there really *isn’t* any reason to save the world.

If you think this interpretation is too ludicrous to be taken seriously, the next time you hug someone you care about…or feel a sense of accomplishment when you’ve completed a "job well done"…or give someone a present "just because"...ask yourself *what* you just felt, why you felt it, why you just *did* what you did, and imagine a life without it. That’s what ARMAGEDDON is about. It’s about the little moments which are so easily (to quote Rutger Hauer in BLADE RUNNER): "Lost in time, like tears in rain." It’s about the idea that our everyday, humdrum lives *do* matter, and count, and are worth saving. Because of what we’ve done, because we’ve yet to go so far.

So, if you’ve seen ARMAGEDDON before, or plan to see it again, think this over. Try looking at it in a new light, from a different angle. It’s not about melodrama or sappiness. It’s about ideas which only appear to be so if that’s how you chose to perceive them inside yourself.

As far as the patriotic overtones and symbolism? The flags and the Norman Rockwell-like children in the streets, they are all simply icons for the ideas I am discussing herein. They represent and manifest concepts which would be nearly impossible to visualize otherwise. In short, they all stand for more than what they appear to be.

Is it the film’s failing that some of these undercurrents aren’t more readily apparent? Perhaps. Or, perhaps its to the film’s credit that an apparently standard action / adventure flick can so skillfully interweave a spiritual sub-text into its framework. I suppose this value is very much subject to interpretation, for as I stated above, each of us see "the truth" differently.

ARMAGEDDON is an imperfect film, and one can successfully argue that it needs a bit more work before it assumes the "classic" and "mythic" status it so clearly longs to attain. But it is a film about ideas more challenging than they appear at face value, about ideas many filmmakers aren't brave enough to touch anymore.

It really bothers me that there seem to be so many people out there who are so easily offended by the ideas of patriotism, heroism, and self-sacrifice. I think it’s a dangerous sign of the times, as so many of us are too self-absorbed - and lead lives that are so hectic - that we aren’t pre-disposed towards appreciating the glue (both conceptual and cultural) which holds us together. Heroism and patriotism are two ingredients in that glue, and its no more shameful for us to understand and acknowledge them than it was for our forefathers to fight the fights which brought us to where we are.

But in this day and age, so many people are so busy hiding from accountability and direct responsibility ("It’s the computer’s fault!"…"Let someone else take care of it!") that, perhaps, it might be hard to find a person like Bruce Willis’ Harry Stamper to save us when we need saving. Or, perhaps, we need a good cosmic ass-kicking to make us appreciate the Stampers who *are* out there, what they represent, and to make us appreciate the heartening and graceful concepts this film is really about, for all its superficial imperfections.

Now opening the floor to the inevitable flameage, criticism, and accusations of insanity…

While losing the visual impact of its epic *size*, ARMAGEDDON gains considerable intimacy and warmth from the "closeness" of home video. The film hits stores Friday the 13th of November, in widescreen and Pan & Scan. Priced to "sell through" (i.e. $13 to $24, depending on where you purchase it).

DVD coming early January.