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Ahhh…
the disaster film. For years, audiences
have gotten thrills from watching innocent
people die. Whether it be a film like “Earthquake”,
which hit theatres in the 70s, complete
with the added sensation of ‘Sensurround.’
(If you’re nodding your head in remembrance,
keep in mind you’re showing your age!).
Later we had “The Towering Inferno”
and “The Poseidon Adventure”,
which were followed in recent years by “Titanic”
and “Armageddon.” And these
titles barely scratch the surface of the
number of disaster movies out there.
One of the more recent was Paramount’s
‘Armageddon-in-reverse’ end
of the world epic, “The Core.”
The storyline is rather ambitious, though
somewhat reminiscent of the older school
of implausibility. It seems the Earth’s
core has stopped spinning, and slowly, but
surely all the signs start to show that
the world is indeed going to come to an
end. Unless…
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As is the case in the real world, there is always
some guy out there who happens to be building
a vehicle capable of drilling into the Earth’s
core. All we need is a team of brilliant scientists
and astronauts to pilot it into the Earth, set
off a nuclear blast and ‘jump-start’
the core. Oh wait… we do have all of the
above, so perhaps mankind has a chance after all.
Reading back over this I could see where one
might the get the idea that I’m making fun
of “The Core”, but I ‘m really
not. Sure, the story is full of plot holes and
improbability, but so what? That’s not what
the film is about. What it is… is an old-fashioned
nail-biter created for entertainment purposes
only. And with the exception of being a bit too
long, does entertain.
All of the actors throw their all into this film,
but the one stand-out performance comes in the
form of Aaron Eckhart as Josh Keyes, the geologist
who posits the theory that the core has stopped
spinning. Eckhart is one of those under-rated
actors who had languished in secondary roles,
and has finally been given the opportunity to
lead the pack. His performance is earnest enough
to make his character believable, even in an unbelievable
situation.
The rest of the cast is made up of some of Hollywood’s
more recognizable actors, most of who fly just
under the A-list radar. Hilary Swank (who’ll
always be the New Karate Kid to me) and Bruce
Greenwood are the astronauts chosen to pilot the
craft, which was being built and designed by Delroy
Lindo. Indie-film favorite Stanley Tucci also
stars as the scientist that helps Keyes get the
ball rolling on the project to ‘get the
ball rolling’ as it were. Throw in D.J.
Qualls as the obligatory computer nerd, and Tcheky
Karyo as the ‘munitions guy’, and
you get the eclectic cast of characters that drive
the film.
If I have a complaint about “The Core”,
it would only be in some of its effects. For the
most part, they looked pretty good, and a few
were actually exceptional. But there were a few
that looked a little less refined, as if they
could have used a little more time to tweak them.
But again, this is a minor technical thing that
only detracts from the movie if you’re ‘special
effects’ spoiled and rely on them to make
a movie work for you.
The DVD release for “The Core” offers
up some extremely clear audio and video, which
is a good thing for most of the film, but does
admittedly make some of those less refined effects
scenes a little more noticeable. I did enjoy most
of the extras on the disc including the commentary
by director John Amiel. The information he shares
has its ups and downs as far as the interest level
is concerned, but it does lean more to the side
of interesting. The behind the scenes features
are fairly standard and give the viewer just enough
detailed information on how the effects were done
without being overly long. Even the 10 deleted
scenes run under 15 minutes.
“The Core” is not a perfect movie,
and it’s a nitpicker’s dream of questionable,
and even laughable plot points, BUT I’d
be lying if I told you that I didn’t enjoy
the heck out of it. It’s a perfect late
night popcorn movie that’s even more fun
if you watch it with a bunch of friends.
Directed by: John Amiel
Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Delroy
Lindo, Stanley Tucci, D.J. Qualls, Richard Jenkins,
Tcheky Karyo, Bruce Greenwood, Alfre Woodard
Extras: Commentary by Director John Amiel, To
the Core and Back – The Making of The Core,
Deconstruction of the Visual Effects, 10 Deleted
/ Extended Scenes with Director Commnetary
Specifications: Widescreen Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions,
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 9/9/2003
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (For Sci-Fi Life/Death Situations
and Brief Strong Language)
Website
We'll give The Core a C+.
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