Armageddon

Directed by Michael Bay for producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Armageddon (1998) counts as an American disaster film with a science-fiction premise. NASA sends a crew of oil drillers into space to stop an enormous asteroid that is on its way to Earth. The title comes from the biblical Harmagedon, the site of the final battle. It opened on 1 July 1998 under the Touchstone Pictures label and grossed $553.7 million worldwide against a $140 million budget, making it the highest-grossing film of 1998, though reviews were largely negative.

After small meteor fragments hit New York, NASA discovers an asteroid the size of Texas that will strike Earth in eighteen days. The plan is to drill a deep hole, plant a nuclear bomb and split it in two so the halves pass on either side of the planet. Drillers rather than astronauts are chosen, and Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) and his crew fly off on two shuttles after accelerated training. The cast includes Ben Affleck (AJ Frost), Liv Tyler (Grace Stamper), Billy Bob Thornton (NASA administrator Dan Truman) and Steve Buscemi.

The soundtrack features Aerosmith's I Don't Want to Miss a Thing, and Liv Tyler is the daughter of the band's singer Steven Tyler. The film received four Oscar nominations. Deep Impact, released the same summer, was judged more scientifically accurate by astronomers.