Every actor has a specific project they’re most directly proud of, be it an Academy Award-winning film or a memorable character from a blockbuster movie.
With Ben Affleck, however, that coveted project came with the commentary for 1998’s Armageddon — the high-concept sci-fi film co-starring Affleck and Bruce Willis.
Directed by Michael Bay, Armageddon focuses on a group of oil drill workers-turned-reluctant astronauts tasked with saving the world from guaranteed destruction. As a massive asteroid hurdles its way towards Earth, this group of saviors races against the clock to demolish the Texas-sized asteroid, ensuring the planet’s continued survival.
Earned mixed reviews at the time of its release, many critics have noted the inconsistent logic prevalent throughout Armageddon‘s plot — something Affleck himself routinely pointed out in the film’s commentary.
During a recent visit to Criterion Closet, the 52-year-old Batman actor spoke about his hilarious commentary for the film, saying of the movie, “In retrospect, now, I feel like maybe my best work in my career is the commentary on this disc.”
Throughout Armageddon‘s commentary, Affleck humorously highlighted the numerous logical flaws in the movie’s storyline, such as the idea that NASA is focused on training oil workers to be astronauts instead of training astronauts to be oil workers.
“Like eight whole months — as if that’s not enough time to learn how to drill a hole, but in a week, we’re going to learn how to be astronauts,” Affleck says in one part of the movie’s commentary.
In a scene that shortly follows, the 52-year-old Oscar winner once again makes his thoughts about the movie clear, specifically responding to a quote by Willis’ character: “You want to send these boys into space, fine. I’m sure they’ll make good astronauts. But they don’t know jack about drilling.”
“I mean, this is a little bit of a logic stretch, let’s face it,” Affleck observes in the commentary. “They don’t know jack about drilling? How hard can it be? Aim the drill at the ground and turn it on.”
Nearly three decades later, Affleck provided his own take about the movie’s commentary, saying, “People approach me to talk about the commentary in this disc as much as they do movies that I’ve been in. And it’s because I didn’t know any better than to be really honest.
Affleck ended by saying, “It is an achievement I’m proud of and didn’t intend to be as good as I now think it is.”
