FAQ for
Armageddon (1998/I) More at IMDbPro »

Stanley Anderson, who plays the President in this film is also uncredited as the President in The Rock (1996), another Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer film. In both films there is a scene where he stands in silhouette against a bright window while contemplating a decision that would doom the heroes. This has led many to believe that the two films are connected.

However, other actors are in both films but play different roles, so a connection is unlikely.

Pro: Of course, but this is a popcorn movie! It wouldn't have been nearly as fun and probably half the length if they did it that way.

Contra: Definitely not. As Harry says, he has drilled all over the world for thirty years, and he still doesn't know everything. He calls drilling 'an art', probably meaning that it is a profession with very variable circumstances which require experience and instinct; not an exact science that can be simply taught within 12 days. Teaching drillers to be astronauts in 12 days would be easier, provided that they don't have to fly a shuttle or repair NASA machinery; they already have the physical build to survive the trip, they are used to rough conditions, and they only need to learn to work in zero G environments.

There is indeed evidence that Earth was hit roughly 65 million year ago by a stellar object that was at least 6 miles wide. The impact location was in the Gulf of Mexico, just above the Yucatan peninsula (Chicxulub crater). This event would have caused giant tidal waves (tsunamis) and clouds of superheated vapor and dust, causing direct destruction. Moreover, the impact would have caused a chain reaction of global earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Indirect effects would be the mass production of carbon monoxide, causing a dramatic greenhouse effect, and the ejection of dust into the atmosphere, which would have seriously affected plantlife and the entire foodchain. This event is widely believed to be the cause of the massive extinction on Earth in that period.

There are, however, scientists who claim that the impact alone was not enough to create a total extinction. Some theories postulate that climate changes had already caused many species of dinosaurs to disappear, and that the meteor was yet another cause; other theories state that there were multiple impacts on other places, and the combined effect caused the extinction.