CineTV Contest: Space Movie: The End of the World...Or not?
OK, at first I thought we've recently been here but then I realized that a Science fiction movie isn't automatically a space movie... Of course not. So here we go...space movies. My favorite one to be precise.
First of all, I'd like to mention the ones that didn't make the cut for me as numero Uno, but definitely made it into the top of my list. Spaceballs being one of them. Absurd, hilarious, over the top. Yes, that describes both the movie and Mel Brooks, who both directed, and starred in this crazy space comedy with digs at popular classics like Star Wars. Mel Brooks has never disappointed me, in any of his work.
The second movie that would be in the top 3 for me is, without a doubt, Starship Troopers. Paul Verhoeven has made many great movies but one of his best ones, and most memorable to me, is this one. The movie obviously criticises the politics of war, especially those of the US, although this seemed to have gone over the heads of film critics in the US completely, since the movie had bad reviews there. To me, it was one of the most entertaining space movies ever made.
I also really love the Guardians of the Galaxy movies...
But, of course, there can only be one favorite, and for me, this is a movie that centers about the end of the world. Or not.
It's a great mix between comedy, science fiction, action, and romance. So without further ado, here is my all time favorite Space movie:
The Movie that changed it all
To be very honest, I'm not really much into space movies at all. I'll watch them when others are watching but it wouldn't be my first choice to go see in the movie theatre or even on TV. I do remember some fond moments, watching Star Trek enterprise and the likes with my dad, who's favourite genre movies were Science Fiction and Westerns.
With this movie, it was the same.
Back in the Netherlands, before I ever had any kids, I had a work colleague and friend who was mainly my partner in crime in the clubbing scene, and at work.
Later, when we grew up a little and didn't feel the need to let our hair down 3 times a week, every week, we became 'movie friends'.
We had similar taste, could talk about some movies forever, and if there was a movie we both didn't love equally (like Titanic, which she loved and I hated), we could have healthy discussions about them looking at both sides of the medal.
We both also had a similarly working movie and music brain somehow. Once we watched the movie
Amelie on her birthday (which we both hated), with some other friends, and had a long discussion because of the music they used in it, which was obviously coming from another movie, and we just couldn't figure out which one it was...
All we both knew was that there were soldiers in it.
I couldn't sleep that night, and the next day I walked into a record shop to extract the answer from the owner of the place.
When I texted her to tell her that I'd had an AHA moment after he told me it was Platoon, she answered that she just found out herself because she walked into a record store where she lived. LOL. Great minds, huh?
Anyway, with this movie, she made me go see it with her. Not quite at gun point but not far off it. I didn't feel much for the sappy romance bullshit that I knew was coming our way, as well as the whole space thing.
The only reason why I ended up agreeing to go was because of two actors that were in it: Bruce Willis & Steve Buscemi.
How it ended? Well, let me tell you: I didn't regret it and was actually pleasantly surprised.
Armageddon
Those of you who know their actors and movies will have guessed it by now.
Armageddon is one of those movies that I won't forget easily because it has it all.
Of course, it is a Hollywood production, so it had the usual patriotic, and 'we are saving the world from imminent doom' kinda elements. It was to be expected. I didn't mind.
Once you push past those minor things, it is a wonderful movie. Well made, well scripted, and with beautiful actors who pulled all their talent out of their sleeves to make this movie into a great success.
Of course, we couldn't expect anything but absolute excellence from producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Michael Bay, the director, has great movies like the Transformers series to his name. Not too shabby!
With a movie budget of 140 million dollar, Armageddon was definitely not a small movie. Luckily for the investors: it became a blockbuster.
What's it about?
Imagine you get to hear that within a couple of weeks, a crazy big asteroid will impact the earth and leave nothing but dust behind in its trail. This is the news NASA gets in Armageddon, and of course, it makes sense to hire Harry (Bruce Willis), an oil driller, as well as his future son-in-law, played by Ben Affleck, together with a few other misfits so save the day by bringing them into space to drill a hole in that Asteroid, preventing it from even getting close to earth.
The romance between Harry's daughter Grace, played by Liv Tyler, at the time mainly known for her role in her father's band's music video, together with Clueless star Alicia Silverstone, and A.J. (Ben Affleck) does get a little sappy at times but didn't annoy me the slightest this time.
Harry and A.J. aren't the only heroes in the movie though. In my opinion, Peter Stormare, the Swedish actor who portrays Lev Andropov, did an amazing job at playing the Russian space man who's lost his marbles a bit after spending years in space, alone. And who'd blame him?
But for me, the absolute winner of stealing the show was Steve Buscemi, who ends up losing his marbles just a little, while inhaling all that space air...
The main song of the soundtrack was, of course, 'I don't want to miss a thing' sung by Aerosmith, and even if you've never heard of the movie, or have seen it, I'm pretty sure most of you will remember this song.
Conclusion
The above mentioned actors weren't the only ones that made the movie into what it was: A master piece.
Owen Wilson, William Fichtner, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Billy Bob Thornton made a good impression on me as well.
The choice of actors was a good one. I'm not sure if I could have done a better job.
They just seemed to work.
But the one thing that makes this movie an everlasting good memory to me, is that it was the very last movie I've watched in the theatre with my movie buddy, before setting out to live in St. Martin, and later in the US.
This is the one thing that makes it special to me.
After my return to the Netherlands, more than 3 years later, we still had a few movie nights, either at home or in the theatre, like the movie I've mentioned before. But it was different because now I was a mother, and it was very hard to plan anything as we were both very busy with things in life.
As I'm writing this, I realise that I may never see her again. We're still friends now, even though we haven't seen each other in years but the memory of having dinner out, seeing Armageddon together, and the discussions we'd have after, will always be one of my favourite moments I've spent with her.
I will never forget my partner in crime and movie buddy Cindy, and all the great times we've had.
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Posted using CineTV
Hello @misslasvegas, like you, I'm not really a fan of space movies although my husband is, but I've seen a few that I really liked. But Armageddon is certainly an excellent example of what a good space movie is. Without a doubt, your post was a great post 😁😎.
Thank you!
Yeah, I decided we need to watch it here soon haha.
This time making my kids watch it.
You can trust the girls to pull out Armageddon from the bag! I still have nightmares from hearing that Aerosmith song on the radio for the whole year! lol
You cant beat Bruce and Stevie together though. 2 of my favourite actors.
Maybe I missed something between Die Hard with a Vengeance and Armageddon, but during that time I had always pictured Bruce Willis as a leading man whose characters tended to survive by the closing credits. I was surprised to see that in Armageddon his character took a different path. So now I'm trying to figure out when Peak Bruce had been reached.
While not a space movie, a movie very similar to Armageddon in look and feel is Con Air. It even includes Steve Buscemi as a supporting character. I'm only guessing here, but it looks to me as if Nicolas Cage reached Peak Nic with Con Air.