The 'Bayhem' of 1998
There was a moment in the late 90s where disaster movies were the only thing that mattered. Armageddon won the box office war against the more 'serious' Deep Impact by leaning into pure, unadulterated spectacle. It’s a movie that knows exactly what it is—a loud, patriotic, emotional sledgehammer.
For a modern parent, the biggest hurdle isn't the content; it's the pacing. Michael Bay uses about five camera cuts per second, which was revolutionary then but can feel jittery now. However, the practical effects and the sheer scale of the sets still look better than a lot of the flat CGI we see in modern streaming movies.
The Science Problem
You can't talk about this movie without talking about how wrong it is. NASA famously shows this to management trainees to see if they can find all the errors (like fire in space or gravity on a small asteroid). If you have a kid who loves STEM, this movie is a goldmine for critical thinking. Instead of just watching it, turn it into a game. Why wouldn't a nuke work that way? Why is the 'slingshot' around the moon total nonsense?
The Emotional Hook
Despite the cheese, the ending remains a certified tear-jerker. The relationship between Harry (Willis) and Grace (Tyler) is the anchor. It’s a classic 'overprotective dad' arc that concludes with a genuine moment of grace. If your kid can sit through the long middle section, the finale usually wins them over. It's not high art, but it's a quintessential piece of movie history that’s worth one watch, if only to understand the memes.
