Armageddon - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Armageddon or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Armageddon

[chris]

Michael Bay said in a magazine interview that the solution in the movie for dealing with the asteroid was very clever, but not realistic, but that one idea for countering the threat was in line with actual N.A.S.A. research (anti-gravity systems). He also said that a problem with a film like this, was that it would make Americans erroneously think that if a situation like the movie actually occurred, then there was anything that could be done about it.

[linda]

Bruce Willis had a picture of his daughters in front of him to help him cry during his goodbye to Grace.

[chad]

The shuttle launches were filmed for real. Disney (Touchstone Pictures) was allowed to put cameras (about sixteen of them) all over the place. The camera on the launch pad was shaken so hard (25G) that all the screws fell out of the lens, and it had to be returned to Panavision in a box of pieces (which they put back together).

[toni]

At the time of its production, Armageddon had the largest budget ever approved by Disney (under the Touchstone banner) for one of its films: ¢135,000,000.

[bryan]

William Fichtner and Jason Isaacs appeared in Black Hawk Down (2001).

[eli]

Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare appeared in Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), and 13 Moons (2002). Stormare and William Fichtner appeared in Prison Break (2005).

[jim]

Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton appeared in Bandits (2001) and The Astronaut Farmer (2006).

[violet]

The sound effects on the asteroid, are totally innaccurate, as there is no sound in the vacuum of space. The only audible sounds, would be the ones made in places, with pockets of air inside, including, The Shuttle, The Armadillo, and in the spacesuits

[melinda]

In the movie trailers, the shuttles that are launching are the real space shuttles, not the ones that appear in the movie.

[jesus]

The "global killer" speech given by Billy Bob Thornton's character is featured in the song "Central Tunnel Eight" by Swedish death metal band Cipher System.

[nina]

Regarding the film's premise, Ben Affleck asked director Michael Bay, "Wouldn't it be easier for NASA to train astronauts how to drill rather than training drillers to be astronauts?" Bay told Affleck to shut up. Besides, the reasoning behind sending drillers, rather than training astronauts, is explained in the movie.

[steve]

Bruce Willis was given a second trailer that housed a full working gym, at an estimated cost of $175,000. It was reportedly never used.

[violet]

Because of the patriotic nature of the script, and the success of using Top Gun (1986) as recruitment material, the producers persuaded NASA to allow director Michael Bay and company to shoot in the normally restricted space agency. This included the neutral buoyancy lab, a 65 million-gallon, 40 foot-deep pool used to train astronauts for weightlessness, and the use of two $10 million space suits. The crew was also allowed to shoot in the historic launch pad that went out of service after the Apollo 1 disaster, and parts of the movie were filmed at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

[camila]

This was the last feature film released on laserdisc home video for the Criterion Collection, which began producing laserdisc editions of films in 1984. The company then migrated over to producing DVD editions of their film library, making it Criterion Collection laserdisc number 384.

[kenneth]

Billy Bob Thornton has admitted to doing this film for the money and often jokes about acting in it. He has, however, called it "not THAT bad".

[duane]

Lawrence Tierney repeatedly turned down the part of Harry's father, until he was offered a substantial pay raise.

[sophie]

Rockhound's line about sitting on a million pounds of fuel in a rocket built by the lowest bidder is a variation of an actual radio transmission by Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, just prior to lift-off.

[nina]

Some of the space vehicles and props used in the movie are on public display at Disney Studios at Disneyland Paris, along with an Armageddon Special Effects Ride.

[cassandra]

The logo of the Swiss Army Knife manufacturer, Victorinox, is on Harry's helmet. It is also clearly visible under the windshield of the Armadillos.