Ben Affleck, the Oscar-winning filmmaker and actor, recently revealed that he considers his most impressive creative achievement to be the brutally honest audio commentary featured on the Criterion Collection DVD of the 1998 blockbuster Armageddon.
A Career-Defining Commentary
During a recent appearance in the Criterion Closet to promote his latest action thriller, The Accountant 2, Affleck reflected on his long career—ranging from critically acclaimed hits like Argo to widely panned projects like Daredevil. Surprisingly, the actor pointed to the Armageddon DVD extras as his standout performance. “In retrospect, now, I feel like maybe my best work in my career is the commentary on this disc,” Affleck admitted.
The commentary has gained cult status over the years, with fans frequently approaching the actor to discuss his candid deconstruction of Michael Bay’s disaster film. Affleck noted that his younger self simply didn’t know enough to stay silent, resulting in an unfiltered critique of the movie’s clichés and absurd premise that he remains proud of today.
Mocking the “Oil Drillers in Space” Premise
In the film, Affleck plays a cocky driller recruited by NASA to stop an asteroid from destroying Earth. Throughout the commentary, he famously recounts his real-life frustrations with director Michael Bay regarding the movie’s logic. One standout anecdote involves Affleck questioning why NASA would train oil drillers to be astronauts instead of training astronauts to drill.
“I asked Michael why it was easier to train oil drillers to become astronauts than it was to train astronauts to become oil drillers, and he told me to shut the f*** up,” Affleck recalls in the recording. He describes Bay’s dismissive response—insisting it was a “real plan”—with a comedic impression of the director, highlighting the absurdity of the production’s internal logic.
The Legacy of an Unfiltered Performance
Affleck’s commentary is so irreverent that listeners have long speculated whether he was intoxicated during the recording. Regardless of his state at the time, the performance has become a viral sensation. Speaking to GQ last month, the actor expressed surprise that the studio never intervened, noting that he suspects no one actually listened to the track until years after its release.
“You’re not supposed to go on there and tell all of the truth,” Affleck remarked, acknowledging that he was initially “shocked and appalled” by his own audacity. Despite the passage of time, the actor remains fond of the commentary, even jokingly asking Criterion when a 4K release might be in the works.
