“ | We all gotta die, right? I'm the guy who gets to do it saving the world. | „ |
~ AJ's most famous line |
AJ Frost is the deuteragonist of the 1998 film Armageddon. He is an oil driller who, along with his team, go on a mission to destroy an asteroid that threatens Earth's existence.
He is portrayed by Ben Affleck, who also played Bruce Wayne/Batman in the DCEU, Chris Wolff in The Accountant, Joseph in Joseph: King of Dreams and Matt Murdock/Daredevil in Daredevil.
Role[]
A.J. is a gifted deep sea oil driller who works for Harry Stamper. He and Stamper's daughter, Grace, are in love, but Stamper disapproves of the relationship, feeling that A.J. is not good enough for her.
A massive meteor shower destroys the orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis, before entering the atmosphere and bombarding New York City. NASA discovers that the meteors were pushed out of the asteroid belt by a Texas-sized asteroid that will impact the Earth in 18 days, causing an extinction level event that will wipe out all life on the planet. NASA scientists plan to drill a deep shaft into the asteroid and plant a nuclear weapon into it that, when detonated, will split the asteroid into two halves that will fly safely past Earth. NASA contacts Stamper for assistance. Harry departs for Houston with Grace, where they are told about the asteroid and Harry agrees to participate in the mission, but explains that he will need his team as well, including Chick, Rockhound, Max, Oscar, Bear, Noonan and A.J. They also agree to help, but only after their unusual list of demands are met.
As NASA puts Harry and his crew through 12 days of rigorous astronaut training at the Johnson Space Center, Harry and his team re-outfit the mobile drillers, named "Armadillos", they will use on the asteroid. When a piece of the asteroid wipes out part of Shanghai, NASA is forced to reveal their plans to the world. Two advanced Space Shuttles, called Freedom and Independence, are launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Once in orbit, the shuttles dock with the Russian space station Mir manned by Lev Andropov to refuel. A fire breaks out during the fuel transfer and the station is evacuated before it explodes, with Lev and A. J. making a narrow escape. 60 hours later the shuttles slingshot around the far side of the Moon to land on the rear of the asteroid. As they travel through the asteroid's debris field, Independence's hull is punctured and crashes, with most of its crew killed. Grace, watching from Mission Control, is distraught by A.J.'s apparent death.
Freedom lands safely, but misses the target area, meaning the team must now drill through a thicker crust of compressed iron ferrite. When they fall behind schedule and communications threaten to fail, the military initiates "Secondary Protocol"; to remotely detonate the weapon on the asteroid's surface. As this would be ineffective, NASA executive Dan Truman and his team delays the military at Mission Control, while Harry persuades the shuttle commander Colonel Sharp and bomb specialist Gruber to disarm the bomb so they can complete the drilling. After the mission is resumed, the Freedom Armadillo strikes a methane gas pocket and is blown into space, killing Max. With the mission presumed lost, worldwide panic ensues and martial law is declared in many countries, just before another meteorite destroys Paris. However, A.J., Lev, and Bear, having survived the Independence crash, arrive in Independence's Armadillo in time to complete the drilling.
As the asteroid approaches Earth, the surviving crew is struck by a rock storm, which kills Gruber and damages the bomb's remote trigger, meaning someone must stay behind to detonate it manually. After the non-flight crew draw straws, A.J. is selected. As he and Harry exit the airlock, Harry rips off A.J.'s air hose and shoves him back inside, telling him he is the son he never had and would be proud to have him marry Grace. Before preparing to detonate the bomb, Harry contacts Grace to say his last goodbyes. After the Freedom moves to a safe distance, Harry successfully pushes the button at the last second, detonating the nuclear weapon and splitting the asteroid in two at the cost of his own life. Both halves safely fly past Earth. Freedom lands, and the surviving crew return as heroes. Sometime later A.J. and Grace are married, with portraits of Harry and the other lost crew members present in memoriam.