Armageddon is a 1998 American science fiction disaster thriller film directed by

Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and released by Touchstone Pictures

. The film follows a group of blue-collar deep-core drillers sent by NASA to sto
p a gigantic asteroid on a collision course with Earth. It features an ensemble
cast including Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Owen Wi
lson, Will Patton, Peter Stormare, William Fichtner, Michael Clarke Duncan, Keit
h David, and Steve Buscemi.
Armageddon opened in theaters only two and a half months after a similar impactbased film, Deep Impact, which starred Robert Duvall and Morgan Freeman. Armaged
don fared better at the box office, while astronomers described Deep Impact as b
eing more scientifically accurate.[3][4] Both films were equally received by fil
m critics. Armageddon was an international box-office success, despite generally
mixed reviews from critics. It became the highest-grossing film of 1998 worldwi
de, surpassing the Steven Spielberg war epic Saving Private Ryan.