Armageddon, Michael Bay’s 1998 disaster blockbuster, has become a major streaming hit despite its enduringly poor critical reputation. The renewed popularity matters because it shows the film’s broad commercial appeal has survived decades of criticism, including a particularly scathing review from Roger Ebert.

The film earned more than $550 million worldwide from a reported $140 million budget and stars Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler. Its story follows oil drillers recruited by NASA to destroy an Earth-bound asteroid; it holds 42% on Rotten Tomatoes, while Ebert criticised it as “an assault on the eyes, the ears, and the brain”.