Michael Bay made a mark on Hollywood when he debuted with Bad Boys – a movie that would not only change his career trajectory but make Will Smith one of the biggest Hollywood stars almost overnight. But true greatness came to him in 1998 when Bay was struck by the inspiration for Armageddon.
Despite the dismally bad and poorly scrambled structure of the film, the movie is a glowing reminder of why Michael Bay is one of the loudest and most unapologetic voices in Hollywood and truly deserving of the meme that has been crediting equally ridiculous TikTok videos with the tagline: Directed by Michael Bay.
Now, 26 years on, Bay returns to set the record straight about Armageddon and one scene from the film that still slaps harder than the ending to Titanic (depending on who you ask).
Michael Bay retcons one iconic Armageddon scene
![Armageddon [Credit: Touchstone Pictures]](https://fwmedia.fandomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/07144356/Armageddon-%E2%80%93-Bruce-Willis-and-Ben-Affleck-1024x683.jpeg "“He’s great in that… Because he had the stomach flu”: Michael Bay Just Sullied Armageddon’s Most Emotional Bruce Willis Scene That Still Makes Grown Men Cry 2")
While it may be difficult to imagine that anything would help Armageddon make sense after the movie’s ridiculous 26-year existence, Michael Bay still keeps the film close to his heart – and as such, the fans should, at least, try to honor the film in all its comically bad glory.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 60-year-old director behind such iconic films as Transformers and 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi doled out some behind-the-scenes tidbits about the film that still makes grown men cry with that Bruce Willis ending.
Commiserating about the farewell scene between Ben Affleck and Willis and whether he was ever concerned about it being too over-the-top for an otherwise explosive film, Bay revealed to The Hollywood Reporter:
That movie was such a blast. It was like a summer camp and I was the counselor. Everyone was so misbehaved and so funny. I’ll tell you the truth. There was a three-gallon painting bucket next to Ben Affleck. He had the stomach flu. He felt like shit. He looked like shit, too. And he had to do that scene between him throwing up. We kept shooting him. And he’s great in that. And he’s great in that partially because he had the stomach flu.
While Armageddon is already too melodramatic to ever be taken seriously, even by the most sincere Michael Bay fans, this little information about Ben Affleck’s behind-the-scenes condition while filming one of the most emotional scenes in film history just makes the film more beloved in pop culture memory.
Armageddon stands the test of time
For the longest time since the rise of action flicks in mainstream cinema, there has been a debate surrounding the Michael Bay film that established the filmmaker’s now-famous explosive style of directing, aka Armageddon. Like the chicken or the egg conundrum or the status of Die Hard being a Christmas movie, Armageddon too suffers from a moral quandary about its reputation.
While there are fans who have steadfastly stood by the film for all the years since its release, there are others who laugh at the mere mention of the film. Chris Garcia, a critic, said it best when he ironically wrote (Rotten Tomatoes):
Armageddon is slam-bang sensory overkill. It’s loud. It’s heavy-handed. It’s melodramatic. It’s an explosion of baroque excess that splats on the screen and bludgeons the audience into a collective migraine. It’s the best American movie of the year.
And yet, the audience migrates toward the Michael Bay film that supercedes all other slam-bang, Michael Bay-style sensory overkill movies of Hollywood. There is something utterly irrefutable about the campy zealousness of Armageddon‘s action-driven romance and melodrama that pulls the audience in despite its obviously bad, unrealistic, scientifically flawed, and ridiculous plot.
Armageddon is available for streaming on AMC+.
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