Video/DVD Review: Armageddon

By Nell Minow

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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that there are a few sexual references (one major conflict is that the main character's daughter is sleeping with one of his men) and some strong language, but it is the intensity of the action that is the real cause of the PG-13 rating. Parents should also note that several major characters die. The age recommendation above is only for kids who enjoy that kind of roller-coaster style excitement.

Families can talk about some of the moral questions that arise as people have to take risks and make sacrifices for the greater good.

Meteors rain down on the planet and panic sets in as officials realize that an enormous asteroid is heading straight toward Earth. In a last-ditch effort, NASA official Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton) brings in crack oil driller Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) to help in a plan in which the team travels by space shuttle to the oncoming asteroid and uses a drill to plant a nuclear bomb there, destroying it before it hits Earth. In a subplot, Stamper brings in A.J. Frost (Ben Affleck) -- who's romantically involved with Stamper's daughter Grace (Liv Tyler) -- to join the mission.

The summer thrill ride movie is becoming as much of a 4th of July tradition as the picnic and the fireworks, and the 1998 version is Armageddon, the second movie of the year about a meteor headed toward earth. While the plot line is predictable (think "Dirty Dozen" crossed with The Right Stuff) and concocted almost by recipe (take one tough but loveable hero -- Bruce Willis in his Die Hard mode -- and add in a loveably diverse group of misfits, then wisecracks to taste and just a touch of sentiment and a dash of young love for seasoning), the 10-14 year olds in your household (and the 10-14 year old in many of us) will find that it delivers as a summer explosion movie.