Critical Reception
Armageddon received mostly negative reviews from film critics, who mainly took issue with "the furious pace of its editing". The film is on the list of Roger Ebert's most hated films. In his original review, Ebert stated, "The movie is an assault on the eyes, the ears, the brain, common sense and the human desire to be entertained". Todd McCarthy of Variety also gave the film a negative review, noting Michael Bay's rapid cutting style: "Much of the confusion, as well as the lack of dramatic rhythm or character development, results directly from Bay's cutting style, which resembles a machine gun stuck in the firing position for 2½ hours." Subsequent to its release, the film has a cumulative 40% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while achieving a 42% aggregate score on Metacritic.
According to Bruce Joel Rubin, writer of Deep Impact, a "president at Disney" took notes on everything the writer said during lunch about his script and initiated Armageddon as a counter film at Disney.
Read more about this topic: Armageddon (1998 film)
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