Armageddon Review Recasts 1998 Hit as NASA Error-Spotting Lesson

2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 26

A new review frames 1998 blockbuster “Armageddon” as a quintessential “good-bad” movie, arguing its entertainment value comes partly from its gleeful disregard for science and logic.
Ben Affleck’s long-circulated complaint anchors that critique: the film sends oil drillers into space to stop a Texas-size asteroid, rather than training astronauts to drill.
The review highlights several oft-cited inaccuracies — sound in the vacuum of space, Earthlike gravity on the asteroid and two shuttles launching side by side.
That scientific sloppiness has become part of the movie’s afterlife, with NASA long said to have used the film in training exercises that ask recruits to identify as many errors as possible.

Do scientifically inaccurate blockbusters like 'Armageddon' ultimately harm or help public interest in real science?

Will Michael Bay apply his famous disregard for realism to the recent, real-world military rescue in his new film?

Is 'Armageddon's' most criticized plot point—training drillers—actually the most logical part of its entire premise?