Criterion Collection just announced their plans to
release a special edition of Michael Bay’s “Armageddon” on DVD in March. The
film has already been released by Buena Vista Home Video earlier this months
and already sold at breakneck speed, but Criterion seems to be unimpressed by the
disc’s success, and nevertheless tries to sell its very own treatment of the film
to DVD audiences.

Although Buena Vista’s version of the film contains some bonus materials, as expected,
the Criterion version will boast a vast number of supplements, ranging from
two commentary tracks to more traditional documentaries.

The first commentary will feature Michael Bay, producer Jerry
Bruckheimer, Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis in his first-ever commentary track.
The second one will be more technical in nature and feature
cinematographer John Schwartzman, former astronaut Dr. Joe Allen, NASA
consultant to the film and former director of NASA advanced concepts and
programs, and Ivan Bekey, asteroid consultant on the film to discuss the
portrayal of NASA, the science of the mission and the science of asteroids.

The documentaries will focus on the special effects, showing many of the computer models used for the film, as well as plenty of
behind-the-scenes footage. The documentaries will also focus on a number of
the film’s money shots to discuss how they were designed and finally executed.