Armageddon (1998) - 20 questions

Question: Does anyone know what the NASA employee says to Lev the cosmonaut the first time we see him? It sounds like "stasveecha"

Answer: It's close to "zdrasveetsya" phonetically, which is a colloquial greeting like: "how are you doing".

Question: Why did the drillers have to go through all the rigorous medical tests if the NASA doctors were going to pass them anyway, after most of them failed? According to the movie, Harry and his team were the best drillers on the planet, so it didn't seem like NASA had any other option considering the time constraints.

Answer: True, they failed to meet NASA's strict requirements. But the tests would at least determine if they could concievably survive the journey, if not maintian optimal health, etc. None of them lost consciousness for any extended periods in the course of the examinations, so they were passed.

Question: What are the military ranks of Tucker, Watts, and Halsey? It's stated that Sharpe & Davis are Colonels, and Lev is a Colonel in the Russian military. Gruber is referred to as Sergeant, but so far, the ranks of the last 3 weren't mentioned.

Answer: It is not mentioned in the movie. However, we can assume that Tucker and Watts are mid-grade officers. They would be below the commanding colonels, but above ensigns because of their flight status. Likely they are lieutenants or captains.

Question: Is there a reason why Halsey wasn't given any lines in the movie?

Answer: Because there was no real need for him to talk.

Question: It wasn't addressed in the movie, but did NASA intend for Lev Andropov to go on the mission, assuming the RSS didn't blow up? It seems odd that later on, he has his own pressure suit and spacesuit without any explanation.

Answer: No, he was not meant to join the team. The pressure suit and space suit he uses are spares brought along in case one of the others had a malfunction.

Question: When asked if he had any family, Colonel Sharp replies that he has "2 girls" although there is no mention of a wife. Are there any clues to what happened to his wife in the rest of the film?

Answer: No.

Question: Which shuttle takes off first and which one is the one that is usually farther ahead than the other?

Answer: Freedom takes off first, closely followed by the Independence. This is why when the Independence crashes on the asteroid it first overtakes Freedom on the way down.

Question: Why would NASA spend weight and expenses on making the cabin of the armadillo pressurised?

Answer: The cabin of the armadillo was always going to be pressurized. A person really can't perform the work needed in a space suit. Therefore, they presurize the cabin.

Question: Why would the armadillos be equipped with machine guns?

Answer: For the exact purpose you see them used for: terrain clearing.

Question: When the asteroid starts breaking up, collisions of rocks make large fiery explosions. What is exploding when rock meets rock - and where does the oxygen for the explosions come from?

Answer: There could be various combustible gases, including oxygen trapped in pockets within the asteroid. When rock meets rock a spark is created that ignites the suddenly released gases.

Question: Does anybody know who was originally asked for the soundtrack instead of Aerosmith?

Answer: Assuming you mean 'asked to record the song I Don't Want To Miss A Thing'? According to an article in this month's Empire magazine (June 2008) it was originally written with Celine Dion in mind.

Question: In one scene of an overhead view of the White House, we can see that the flag on the roof is at half-mast. Why was the flag lowered?

Answer: Because at the beginning of the movie, the asteroid fragments attacked New York and killed lots of civilians. When a natural disaster hits America,the President, as well as many businesses will lower the flag out of respect.

Question: Why is it that Chick isn't in the wedding scenes at the end?

Answer: Watch the credits, he's there, in the first 30 seconds of the credits.

Question: Did A.J and Grace grew up together? Bear said that all of them had watched Grace grow up.

Answer: As AJ said in the movie, he's been working for Harry for 5 years. So No, they didn't grow up together.

Question: What did the Chinese guy mean when he did a thumbs up towards Harry on the oil rig?

Answer: Thumbs up in America means "good job" or "Yes. ok" something along those lines. The Chinese guy has no idea what Liv Tyler and Harry Stamper are talking about in English and just gives the "thumbs up" to him as a way of saying "good job on the oil rig, everything looks great!"

Question: The theme in the trailer is heard in other various trailers for example Men of Honor. What's the name of the theme?

Answer: The theme is taken from the soundtrack to G.I. Jane, written by Trevor Jones.

Question: Who plays the cab driver at the beginning of the movie? He looks familiar but I can't put a name to the face.

Answer: According to IMDb, his name is Mark Curry. Check his filmography at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0193104/.

Question: My friend said that some of the theme in the movie was not featured in the soundtrack especially the one where Harry blows up the bomb.Is this true and if it is ,then why?

Answer: There's only so much room on a CD. The soundtrack features the song tracks from the movie, and that only left room for one instrumental track.

Question: For those who have the soundtrack, can you tell me the name of the theme when Harry sacrifices himself with the flashbacks of Grace?

Answer: It's called "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" By Aerosmith.

Question: Would someone please explain why they need a huge Gatling gun on the asteroid? Are they scared of aliens or what?

Answer: If you look at the deleted scenes on the special edition DVD, you will see a deleted scene in which A.J. asks what they needed a gun for, and Max explains that it's for debris elimination, in order to take out small rocks in the way.