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In an age that relies heavily on streaming and video on demand (VOD) for at-home movie watching, the movie commentary track has unfortunately become a relic of the past. Often featured as bonus materials on DVDs and Blu-rays, commentaries play over the respective film and usually feature insights from the director, actors, producers, crew members, and/or critics. Commentary tracks provide insightful commentary to the audience on the making of the film, behind the scene anecdotes, and critical breakdowns of what is being shown on screen. Other times, as in the case of Armageddon, commentaries are pure chaos.
The 1998 summer blockbuster was when director Michael Bay‘s distinct style fully blossomed. When a film is contained with gratuitous explosions, a complete disregard for scientific accuracy, juvenile humor, the fetishization of blue-collar America versus the antagonism of corporate “suits,” shots resembling something out of a commercial for the U.S. Marines, and extreme patriotism, you know you are watching a Michael Bay joint. Complementing Armageddon in its special features for the film’s shocking release on the Criterion Collection (now out of print) is the apex of the DVD commentary boom of the late 1990s. Never has a commentary track matched the ridiculousness of a film about astronauts being sent into space to drill a hole in an asteroid flying into Earth.
The commentary, recorded in 1999, features voiceovers from Bay, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and stars Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck. The four were recorded separately from each other. It jumps back and forth between the four tracks throughout the film. Bay is the most active and prominent voice in this commentary. As the director, he provides the audience with the background behind the composition of shots, the motivations behind the storytelling, and the proper interpretation of the film. Among this quartet, he takes on the alpha role — unapologetic of his manic visual language that is commonly referred to as “Bayhem.” He set out to craft wholesome entertainment. The director is clearly aware of the plethora of criticism he received for this film, but he assured that Armageddon is worthwhile because it is “fun.” Bay states, “This isn’t brain surgery. This is pure entertainment.”
Michael Bay provides a select amount of random factoids about the film’s production, such as the exterior of the NASA building in the movie actually being a reconfigured herbal shop, as the director was not impressed by the stature of the real building. For a romantic scene between the characters played by Affleck and Liv Tyler inside the Saturn V rocket, he reveals that the film needed approval from the Smithsonian. When the oil drillers begin to launch into outer space, the film was able to use the exterior of NASA space shuttles, but the organization was highly cautious of anyone boarding them.
However, the most illuminating aspect of Michael Bay’s personality and directorial style is his acceptance of being a capitalist-minded artist. He staunchly defends the integration of a BMW product placement, justifying the convergence of commerce and art as a means to satisfying production costs — even if it “wasn’t right” for an oil driller to drive that vehicle. A point of shame for most directors, Bay expresses that he designed the oil drilling ship, which featured a superfluous gun, to appease the film’s merchandising campaign. Additionally, he was anxious on set over the lack of an appealing space suit, theorizing that a poorly designed space suit could kill the entire film. After all, this was a Disney-financed picture, distributed under their Touchstone division. “I know there’s no fire in space, but it is a movie, and most people don’t know that,” he remarks during one of the various explosions in space. This is Michael Bay in one sentence.
For as transparent as Bay is throughout the commentary on his traits deemed as substantial flaws by critics, he displays some appalling moments of lacking self-awareness. During the scene when New York City is attacked by a meteor shower, Bay, without a breath of sarcasm, states that he is the “type of director who doesn’t like effects.” This is a real quote from the future director of the Transformers franchise. “I don’t need a big set,” the director proclaims while the Shanghai sequence appears. Of course, what follows is typical Bayhem with everything blown to smithereens. The full Michael Bay experience, the kind that turned him into a punchline for cinephiles, is on display throughout the commentary.
Jerry Bruckheimer and Bruce Willis’ participation on the track is relatively limited. The mega-producer offers many kind words to the cast and crew of Armageddon and is overall proud of what he produced. Similar to Bay, he relishes the fact that the film is constructed to be a crowd-pleaser— made for the common folk and not the critic. Throughout the track, during even the most ridiculous moments, Bruckheimer sincerely rapturously talks about the film as if he produced Citizen Kane or Lawrence of Arabia. A producer is expected to speak pleasantly about something with their name on it, but he raves about the film’s text like it was an austere masterpiece. Presumably intending this as a compliment, Bruckheimer acknowledges Bay’s ability to “think like a 14-year-old,” when describing his populous sensibilities.
By the solemn tone in his voice, Bruce Willis sounded like he would rather be anywhere else other than participating in this commentary. While magnanimous to his cast and experience working on the film, the actor perfectly embodies his curmudgeonly on-screen persona through audio. Willis is certainly the most muted of the four, with his only notable jab coming at the expense of the love story between Affleck and Tyler. According to his testimony, Willis was attracted to the riveting human relationships between the drillers and was more or less apathetic regarding the spectacle.
Without question, the MVP of Armageddon‘s DVD commentary, and the reason why it has developed a cult-like status among the film community, is Ben Affleck. No one thought that they needed a class clown like Ben Affleck participating in the commentary, but the star stormed in to bring the house down with his hilarious mockery of the film. Affleck is amused at the film’s fantastical logic and the dichotomy between the heroic blue-collar workers and Bay’s punching-down of the button-pushers at NASA. He routinely uses an over-the-top southern accent to poke fun at the Billy Bob Thornton character. His brash attitude is excusable thanks to his effortless comedic timing. Affleck commonly states the quiet part out loud regarding Bay’s style, such as when he points out a “random helicopter” hovering in the background “for no real reason — just because you’re a big movie, and you’re expensive, and you can.”
The highlight section of the commentary showcases Affleck firing on all cylinders. Others may beg to differ, but this stretch is the best performance ever given by the actor. “He’s a salt-of-the-Earth guy, and the NASA ‘nerdonauts’ don’t understand his salt-of-the-Earth ways — his rough and tumble ways,” Affleck states when poking fun at Michael Bay’s broad characterization. The actor can’t help but laugh at the notion that these scientific geniuses at NASA couldn’t learn how to drill a hole, but the oil drillers will be able to engage in space travel. “Everyone’s the best… Why are they the best?” asks Affleck, referring to Bruce Willis’ character’s superlative manner in describing his team. According to his testimony, when asked about the quandary surrounding the film’s plot dynamic, Bay told Affleck to “shut the fuck up.”
As a text on film literacy, the Armageddon commentary is certainly no Hitchcock/Truffaut, but it is a required viewing/hearing for any film buff. Especially among Affleck participation, the track carries a looseness and freewheeling nature — suggesting a lack of understanding that this record will last forever. It feels like a product of pre-Internet celebrity culture. The sense of naturalism permeated throughout the commentary is lost in our online culture that is artificially constructing methods to go viral. On the flip side, the snarky banter from Affleck is a foresight into the “bad movie” review channels that would go on to dominate YouTube film criticism. Sociological and cultural readings aside, the Armageddon commentary track is a blissful experience of humor and madness.
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