Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Armageddon (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn  |  Apr 27, 2010

A meteor the size of Texas is hurtling its way towards Earth when the director of NASA (Billy Bob Thornton) realizes the planet is doomed. With only 18 days until we join the fate of the dinosaurs, he hatches an absurd plan to land a team of oil drillers onto the massive asteroid in order to drop a nuke into the core and blast it to smithereens.

Michael Bay isn't one of my favorite directors, but I have to admit he knows how to make and entertaining, albeit far-fetched, action film. Where he fails is in the editing room. The film is much too long at 151 minutes and would improve immensely if 30-40 minutes were cut.

Video Highlights

  • AVC/1080p encode on a BD-50 disc
  • Colorful palette
  • Adequate detail although the CGI shots are very soft
  • Occasional minor print damage
  • Revealing flesh tones
  • Minor film grain

Audio Highlights

  • DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack
  • Strong LFE
  • Ample discrete effect during the action sequences
  • Overpowering score
  • Intelligible dialog

For a catalog title the video encode is respectable and matches other titles from the late 90s in its quality. The audio track is quite good, but given it's a Bay production; one should expect a loud and raucous exhibition.

Bonus Materials

  • Teaser and theatrical trailers (SD)
  • Aerosmith music video "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (SD)

Armageddon is no Casablanca, but it isn't meant to be. It's a check your brain at the door production that's entertaining but its runtime is longer than it should be. The Blu-ray presentation is commendable for a catalog title and if you're a fan of the film/director, you'll be pleased.

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Release Date: April 27, 2010
Studio: Disney

Movie: 6/10
Picture: 8/10
Sound: 9/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Panamax M5400PM power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics

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