Synopsis

When a Texas-sized asteroid is discovered on a collision course with Earth, NASA devises an unprecedented plan: send a team of deep-core drillers into space to split it apart with a nuclear device. Led by veteran driller Harry Stamper, the crew must survive a dangerous mission, personal conflicts, equipment failures, and an unforgiving countdown to planetary destruction.

Factoids & Trivia

• Armageddon was released on July 1, 1998, only a few months after the similarly themed disaster film Deep Impact. The projects were developed as competing asteroid movies.

• Principal photography took place from August 27, 1997, through January 29, 1998. Locations included Culver Studios, Edwards Air Force Base, the Johnson Space Center, and Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 34.

• NASA granted the production unusual access to facilities, including the Neutral Buoyancy Lab and the historic Apollo-era launch complex. The cooperation was encouraged in part by the film's patriotic portrayal of the space agency.

• The production budget was approximately $140 million, making it Disney's most expensive film at the time. It eventually earned more than $553 million worldwide and became the top-grossing film released in 1998.

• The film's scientific accuracy was widely criticized, but NASA reportedly used it in management training as an exercise in identifying errors. More than 160 technical mistakes were said to have been cataloged.

• In May 1998, additional asteroid-impact footage was created, including imagery of destruction in Paris. The material was added to help distinguish the film's marketing from Deep Impact.

• Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" became one of the film's signature elements and reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It was the band's first number-one single on that chart.

• Armageddon was released on VHS and DVD on November 13, 1998. The home-video release became Buena Vista Home Entertainment's best-selling live-action title at that time.