Factual error: The idea of two spacecraft blasting off together so close to each other at the same time is a joke. One would put the other at great risk. Not only is there massive fire and heat, but the vibrations from the noise of the exhaust do great damage to the surroundings. And there is great inconsistency about just how close the two spacecraft really are. The first still shot taken in the dark has them at different towers about 150 yards apart. But, then all the men take an elevator up ONE tower and are split apart into the two groups at the top of the tower. Furthermore, the launch takes place at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39: the fixed and rotating service structures built for the Space Shuttle are visible. The pads at LC 39 are 8,700 feet apart (just over 1.5 miles). (01:00:00)
Armageddon (1998)
Directed by: Michael Bay
Starring: Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Peter Stormare, Michael Clarke Duncan, William Fichtner
Factual error: The surviving space shuttle takes off from the asteroid horizontally, like an airliner taking off from a runway. This is absurd. There is no air to provide lift for the wings, so the shuttle - with its engines providing thrust straight back - would simply trundle along the ground like a car. It doesn't use its maneuvering jets at any time, and they are far too feeble to lift the weight of the shuttle anyway. Nor do they gimbal the main engine, which would lift the shuttle vertically on an axis through the centre of the engine - they swoop gracefully into the air after a long take off. Second, they'd have to count on finding a clear length of ground on a debris strewn asteroid. Vertical takeoff, anyone?
Factual error: During the scene where it shows people all over the world, just before the shuttles take off, it is daylight everywhere. It would actually be dark or near dark in parts of the world.
Trivia: Armageddon was released on Liv Tyler's (Grace Stamper) 21st birthday.
Harry Stamper: You got any more bullets in that gun, Sharp?
General Kimsey: We spend $250 billion a year on defence, and here we are! The fate of the planet is in the hands of a bunch of ret*rds I wouldn't trust with a potato gun!
Harry Stamper: The United States Government just asked us to save the world. Anyone wanna say no?
Question: Would someone please explain why they need a huge Gatling gun on the asteroid? Are they scared of aliens or what?
Question: Does anyone know what the NASA employee says to Lev the cosmonaut the first time we see him? It sounds like "stasveecha"
Chosen answer: It's close to "zdrasveetsya" phonetically, which is a colloquial greeting like: "how are you doing".
Question: Is there a reason why Halsey wasn't given any lines in the movie?
Chosen answer: Because there was no real need for him to talk.
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Answer: If you look at the deleted scenes on the special edition DVD, you will see a deleted scene in which A.J. asks what they needed a gun for, and Max explains that it's for debris elimination, in order to take out small rocks in the way.