Tears and Smiles After ‘Armageddon’

Outside the Universal City 18 Cinemas, 22-year-old Sheila Lane flashed a broad smile through tears after seeing “Armageddon� on Wednesday.

“I’m not big on event movies, but this had such great characters,� the Van Nuys woman said through sniffles. “I came to see Ben Affleck and I got my money’s worth.�

When Lane mentioned Affleck, her friend Elizabeth Lewis, 24, laughed. “She kept twisting my sleeve every time he came on the screen,� she said. She then volunteered her own take on why she found the film so appealing. “I loved ‘Deep Impact,’ but I was more emotionally involved in ‘Armageddon,’ � Lewis said. “It had characters that I actually cared about.�

Flatly ignoring the less-than-stellar reviews launched by film critics across the country in recent days, L.A. moviegoers seemed downright giddy about the much-hyped summer blockbuster starring Affleck, Bruce Willis and Liv Tyler.

Based on purely unscientific sidewalk surveys, the majority of viewers interviewed--from teenage girls to middle-aged men--saw the movie as anything but a disaster. As predicted, most people commented first on the film’s flashy depictions of explosions and mass destruction and inevitably compared it with the summer’s other rock-hits-Earth adventure, “Deep Impact.� “Deep Impact,� which opened May 8, is still playing strong in theaters.

Hartshorn Murphy, a priest from Santa Monica, took his son, Taran, 17, to the film on opening day. “ ‘Armageddon’ was 30 times better than ‘Deep Impact,’ � Taran said. His father agreed: “I enjoyed the special effects and there was much more action.�

Many had expected the emotional story lines in “Deep Impact� to contrast with the high-tech emphasis of “Armageddon.� In fact, many of those surveyed said they had come with low expectations, but most of the women found the relationships in “Armageddon� even more engaging than in “Impact.�

Monika Roy, 18, of Los Angeles, went to see “Armageddon� only because her friends were going. “Because the story lines [between “Armageddon� and “Deep Impact�] were so similar, I wasn’t really excited to go,� Roy said. “I really wasn’t expecting much because I thought I could tell the whole story from the trailer, but the whole father / daughter thing really worked for me.�

Dana Braswell from Venice also favored “Armageddon.� “ ‘Deep Impact’ was kind of corny and the heroes were too young,� said the 32-year-old sales rep. “I like my heroes a little older, like Bruce Willis,� she said. Her date, Max Mena of West Los Angeles, added, “It made me cry at the ending.�

Of course, not everyone in the film’s target demographic was satisfied. Standing next to a phone booth outside the AMC theater in Santa Monica, 16-year-old Miguel Vasquez was disappointed. “I didn’t like it too much. In the end, nothing happened,� he said. “It was a rip-off.�

And not all women found the relationships convincing. Renee Waight, a receptionist from Gardena, left the theater complaining about the film’s lack of emotion.

“The story line I didn’t care for, but the special effects were very good,� she said. “The only emotional part for me was when the man [Chick Chapple, played by actor Will Patton] went to see his son.�

Although 27-year-old Antonia Lau liked the movie, she admitted the film had its shortcomings. “Two hours and 45 minutes is stretching it a bit, and it was very male-dominated.�