18 Years Later, the Sci-Fi Thriller Ben Affleck Hated Making Is a Global Streaming Smash

Eighteen years after it blasted its way into pop culture, Armageddon is somehow doing it all over again. Michael Bay’s absurdly massive sci-fi disaster movie is now trending on AMC+, turning one of the most mocked blockbusters of the 2000s into one of streaming’s latest nostalgia-fueled hits. Yes — the same movie where blue-collar oil drillers save the Earth, Aerosmith cries in the background, and Ben Affleck wonders aloud why NASA doesn’t just train astronauts to drill.

Over the years, Affleck has become the film’s funniest critic, famously pointing out that the premise makes absolutely no sense. Why teach roughnecks to be astronauts instead of astronauts to drill? Why is everyone screaming all the time? Why does every scene feel like a Mountain Dew commercial? But that self-aware ridiculousness is what makes Armageddon so watchable in 2026. In an era of sleek, algorithm-polished blockbusters, Bay’s movie feels raw, emotional, loud, and kind of unhinged, in a way people weirdly miss.

Strip away the logic, and you’re left with a movie that commits completely to its own nonsense. The film is built on maximalism: huge explosions, huge music cues, huge emotions. It’s not about space science — it’s about sacrifice, found family, and Bruce Willis giving up everything, so the world can keep spinning for his daughter (Liv Tyler). Although we have always wanted to hit golf balls off an oil rig.

Is ‘Armageddon’ Any Good?

Collider’s review of the movie stated that Armageddon had been a bloated but strangely entertaining Michael Bay spectacle that leaned hard into its “men on a mission” energy, even if the mission itself — drilling — wasn’t very cinematic. The film was described as taking far too long to get into space, weighed down by a 151-minute runtime and awkward subplots, especially the forced romance. Still, its campy patriotism, over-the-top stakes, and scattered fun performances — particularly from Affleck, Owen Wilson, and Billy Bob Thornton — gave it a messy charm. It wasn’t a great movie, but it was the kind of flawed blockbuster people love to argue about.

“The film has become dated now, but there’s lots of little things to enjoy, like the moments of Owen Wilson goofing, and Thorton does deliver a committed performance. Willis was on the verge of giving up acting in this film, and he mostly rests on his laurels, but it’s an interesting counterbalance to Affleck trying to find his feet as a leading man-type. Affleck has the edges of his sense of humor, but he’s in a bit over his head, and it’s fun to watch. The film as a whole is just too long to be a really guilty pleasure, but there are moments that make you realize why it’s fun to have a love/hate relationship with Michael Bay.”

Armageddon is on AMC+ now.