Live and Learn
Armageddon was a silly, loud, insubstantial Michael Bay flick that didn't come close to making my list of great Sci-Fi films. But somehow, while attempting to be manipulative, Bay let something thought provoking slip in: On the eve of the heroic mission to save the planet, the President of the United States spoke to the world:
I address you tonight not as the President of the United States, not as a leader of a country, but as a citizen of humanity. We are faced with the very gravest of challenges. The Bible calls this day 'Armageddon' - the end of all things. And yet, for the first time in the history of the planet, a species has the technology to prevent its own extinction.All of you praying with us tonight need to know that everything that can be done to prevent this disaster is being called into service. The human thirst for excellence, knowledge; every step up the ladder of science; every adventurous reach into space; all of our combined technologies and imaginations; even the wars that we've fought have provided us the tools to wage this terrible battle...
Our current level of technology and civilization is not just the product of our scientific, political, and religious heros. Fools and villians had a role too. Without the advancements the U.S. had to make to wage World War II - and those of captured Nazi scientists - it would not have been possible for the United States to put a man on the Moon in 1969. We wouldn't even have tried except for our contest with the "evil empire."
I'm not suggesting that we celebrate bad people for the work they force from good people. But the human network is capable of surprising advancement in spite of stress - and sometimes because of stress. It proves the cliche' "That which does not kill us makes us stronger."
Comments
I'm thinking there must be a connection here to the global warming debate, but I can't...quite...make it.
Posted by: Phil Bowermaster![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 13, 2007 06:54 AM
Armegeddon and Deep Impact. Both flawed but merged together could have been wonderful.
Take the quirky characters from Armegedon and put them onto the more realistic space mission of Deep Impact. Take the Journalist/Presidential stuff from Deep Impact (and include the speech quoted above from Armagedon) and you could have had a sweet movie.
And bury the Deep Impact stuff with Frodo and the doom and gloom monger stuff into a great big hole.
Posted by: rjschwarz![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 13, 2007 07:37 AM
RJSchwarz is onto something. But in addition to the cast from Armegeddon, I'd keep Robert Duvall from Deep Impact.
Posted by: Stephen Gordon![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 13, 2007 07:52 AM
and Tea Leone and Morgan Freeman
Posted by: Stephen Gordon![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 13, 2007 07:53 AM
The only thing truly implausible in Deep Impact was that everybody was getting their news from MSNBC. The only thing truly plausible in Armageddon was -- wait, I know this one -- right: the US really does have space shuttles.
If I were going to do a mash-up, I would put Bruce Willis and Billy-Bob Thornton into Deep Impact (Steve Buscemi and Owen Wilson were wasted anyway) and would keep Liv Tyler only if it didn't mean I had to keep Ben Affleck. Let Frodo discover the comet, then cut him, his girlfriend, and their annoying families out of the movie. Cut out Maximilian Schell and Vanessa Redgrave. Fine performances, but maudlin distractions. Neither of these movies got the whole "Gee, the end of the world is kind of sad" thing right. Extra credit to Deep Impact for at least trying. But no.
Let the comet have some outlying debris that hits earth first as in Armageddon -- those were some of the best scenes in the movie. Also, let's find out what happens elsewhere in the world. At least Armageddon was concerned with that. Deep Impact was "World Ends: US Affected."
Now we're heading in the direction of a pretty good movie.
Posted by: Phil Bowermaster![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 13, 2007 08:54 AM