The summer movie season is in full swing, and
we're looking back 20 years at the smash hits of 1998.
And since the Cinefix suits wouldn't sign off on any talking animal or
hair gel things, we went for that blockbuster to end all blockbusters, and
possibly any credibility that Michael Bay ever had.
So strap yourselves in for seven things you didn't know about Armageddon.
Probably.
Thanks to the favorable light it casts on the space program,
the production of Armageddon was granted unprecedented access to many
of NASA's facilities and equipment.
Like this vacuum chamber that can fit a space shuttle inside, and
has a 40-ton door.
This hangar, which is so tall they had to constantly run the AC so
clouds don't form in the ceiling.
And the neutral buoyancy pool for simulating zero g in astronaut training,
which is 40 feet deep, and holds 6 million gallons of water.
Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck were actually the first people to go inside it who
weren't affiliated with the space program.
But with all this access, Michael Bay declined to shoot at the real mission
control, (Sound) citing that it just Wasn't sexy enough.
Instead, they slapped a NASA sign on the front of an herbal supplement company for
the exterior, and the rest was shot in a studio.
And that's pretty much Bay's mantra right there,
why be accurate when you can be sexy?
(Sound) You probably already know that Deep Impact
came out just two months before Armageddon,
giving moviegoers two asteroid movies to choose from in the summer of '98.
Well, technically speaking, Deep Impact was a comet movie.
But my point is, competition was stiff.
What you probably didn't know was that Godzilla taking his bite of ticket sales
was almost the bigger concern.
In fact, the only reason Armageddon even had a soundtrack
was because Godzilla had one.
In the final weeks of production, they slapped together a few tracks and
Bay brought in his old buddies, Aerosmith to record an original song.
The previous year, Bay directed their video for
Falling In Love (Is Hard On The Knees) and, as you can see,
they even reused some of the props and tasty hoots.
>> You know how much I love jugs.
(Laugh) >> The soundtrack hit number one on
the charts for two weeks, and Aerosmith's I Don't want to Miss A Thing was nominated
for an Oscar, and became the band's very first song to debut at number one.
Boom, bonus thing, which makes this the first time anything positive ever came
from being chased by Godzilla.
(Sound) Hard to believe, but Armageddon started
Ben Affleck's transformation to the Hollywood superstar we know today.
And by transformation, I mean literally.
In the wake of Titanic, pun very much intended,
Affleck was cast opposite Liv Tyler to boost the movie's love story.
But Michael Bay had just one problem with the fresh-faced indie darling.
His teeth.
>> I'm at a loss for words.
>> According to Bay, Affleck had baby teeth, and
they spent $20,000 of the budget for Ben to sit in a dentist chair for
a whole week, getting his teeth capped.
Much sexier.
If you take a second look at Goodwill Hunting,
you can kind of see the difference.
I guess an apple a day doesn't keep the director away.
>> How do you like them apples?
>> (Laugh) Moving on.
(Sound) >> What are you doing with a gun in space?
>> It seems impossible that a popcorn movie thrill ride might
be counted alongside the classics of Fellini and Kurosawa, but
Armageddon was released on the Criterion collection.
It was actually the last movie to be released on laser disc for Criterion,
but that's not really the thing.
What you may not know is the Criterion commentary track with Ben Affleck
is one of the most brutally honest in history.
He pulls almost no punches, pointing out some of the more obvious plot holes.
>> They don't know jack about drilling.
>> I mean, this is a little bit of a logic stretch.
Let's face it, they don't know jack about drilling.
How hard can it be?
Like, somehow they can build rocket ships, but
they don't understand what makes a good tranny?
(Laugh) >> Taking jabs at the director.
>> This is where you just have a random helicopter in the background for
no real reason, just because you're a big movie, and you're expensive, and you can.
I asked Michael why it was easier to train oil drillers to become astronauts then it
was to train astronauts to become oil drillers, and
he told me to shut the (Sound) up.
I was like it was a real plan at NASA to train oil drillers?
He was like just shut your mouth.
>> Even throwing a little shade at Bruce Willis.
>> None of them want to pay taxes again.
>> Bruce is a big no taxes kind of guy.
So that was close to his heart.
You know, he's Republican, you know that.
>> Bear in mind, he had just won an Oscar at the 70th Academy Awards,
which still has the largest viewer rating of any Oscar ceremony ever.
Boom, bonus thing.
>> So, he was probably feeling a bit untouchable when he recorded it.
And he even does a legitimately good Sling Blade impression for Billy Bob scenes.
>> Now take a look at this here, I's draw it there.
Can't you see it, slaying NASA.
>> And I'm sure Billy Bob was cool with it.
>> I reckon we drill.
(Sound) >> Now that I think about it,
some of that commentary griping from Affleck might be because he
almost died a few times while filming.
Fresh on the set of his first action movie,
Affleck insisted on doing his own stunts.
>> I'm a fool.
That was idiotic.
I mean, that was stupid.
I'm an idiot.
>> But he gladly left it to the professionals after this very real
fireball flew past his head and he was almost smashed by this door blowing off.
Then, there was the first day wearing the space suits.
Ben had to stop the scene to look for a rock to break open his helmet
because he was suffocating due to an air supply malfunction.
>> It's been a nightmare when it comes to the space suits.
>> And there was a different take of this shot,
where Ben lost his balance after being grabbed and
almost fell into the neutral buoyancy pool while wearing a hundred-pound space suit.
Thankfully, he didn't fall in, but you have to admit, what a sexy way to go.
(Sound) Setting aside his later work on
Transformers, Bay was never a big fan of CGI.
He took every opportunity on Armageddon to use real explosions, flip real cars, and
drop actual heavy things around his actors.
Which is how Bruce Willis' stunt double almost died when he took one of
these pipes to the head, boom, bonus thing.
So it might blow your mind that the asteroid was an actual physical prop.
The arts department spent months fashioning one large enough to
actually fit a camera inside, and get all those close angles.
Gases and debris were later added digitally to finish the look.
Then, a crew of 150 spent another three months building a set for
the actors to actually walk on the surface of the asteroid.
It was constructed inside the biggest stage they could find.
And since Bay loves his low angles, they ended up excavating 20 feet
below the floor of the sound stage which was reportedly expensive.
But why worry about money when you can be sexy?
(Sound) >> Listen, this is a kick-ass ride!
>> Let's finish it off with one crazy thing about working with NASA.
This blast-off wasn't stock footage.
And it was the first time an outside crew was allowed to film a launch.
Cinematographer John Schwartzman set up 14 individual cameras to capture the take-off
of space shuttle Endeavor on its way to the Mir space station.
But because of NASA's 48 hour lockdown before a launch,
he had to set up the cameras pre-loaded with film two days prior.
Then, after recording was activated remotely, they needed to wait another four
hours so the hydrochloric acid gas that is generated after a launch could clear out.
Apparently the brave soul who went out there to retrieve the first camera,
puked his guts out from the smell.
But thankfully all that sexy footage wasn't destroyed, and
that's really all that matters, right?
That's all for today, but hit the thumbs up if you think Armageddon is a super fun
time that was unfairly scrutinized,, as if it was a serious piece of filmmaking and
be sure to let us know in the comments if you want a part two.
I'm thinking yes.
>> Way wrong answer.
(Sound) >> Thanks for watching, and
subscribe to Cinefix for more true-ish things about movies,
and sometimes sexy over substance, right here on Things You Didn't Know.
(Music)