Rating: 
Summary: Just Plain Horrible
Review: I couldn't even finish this movie. There is nothing good to say about it. The scene where the main character is explaining the basic geological structure of the Earth and is talking about the "Inner core and outer core" and then asks if everyone is following him epitomizes the ridiculous nature of this flick. A first grader could have been following him. The writing is horrible, the acting worse and the special effects are just plain poor. Avoid this one at all costs.
Rating: 
Summary: In-CORE-igible: or How Armeggedon Turned Inside-Out
Review: The promise of any new science fiction always makes me happy. I saw trailers for the Core, and immediately steeled myself for some hokey, stupid, SFX extravaganza that played to the adrenals in lieu of the brain. And you know, that is fine by me.But, sadly, the Core fails to deliver on any level on which a movie-goer can attempt to find a foothold of enjoyment. It's best moments are pale imitiations of Bruckheimer's kinetic pacing (I'm not endorsing it, merely bringing it up for comparison) and Spielberg's technique du jour (both visually and in storytelling). Great. If you need a crutch, you could be relying upon some less talented (successful) folks. I'm thinking, we still might be able to cobble together a passable diversion here. Come on script, acting and directing, come on, I know you can hold steady there and deliver. I just know it. So sorry! Nope! Not even remotely. Halfway through the movie, we were rooting for the core. Come on core, blow someone up. Come on core, roast that limp one-dimensional fruit cake alive. Come on core, defy the humans, pump out another sapien-hating geode and kill us all. My fiancee (who is far more 'movie-forgiving' than I) got up halfway through the Core and started to fold socks. She was arranging our undergarments as opposed to watching the Core! Stupendous! Damaging! There are vague attempts at explaining what is happening to the earth's core, but they are half-hearted Cliff's Notes versions, using pseudo-science to explain pseudo-science. Not very satisfying. The characters have no dimension whatsoever (zero-dimensional?), the situations are completely outlandish, and the plot twists and devices are so opportunistic and played that you can see them a-bubbling long before they erupt on screen. A for-instance of cinemeatic ineptitiude: the crack team of geologists and weapons experts (?) have landed on the militarily-controlled oil platform that houses the Core exploring ship thing. The evening is rainy and wet. The mission is to start the next morning. Upon exiting the helicopter, our crack team of misfits is standing upon 'top deck' of the platform, in the rain, bemoaning their chances, mourning the loss of old earth, blah blah blah. Question: where are the guards? The coordinators? How are our team (and Earth's last chance) to find their rooms? They are alone on top of a government run oil-derrick in a typhoon, with no guards, no coordinators, not even an intern with a clipboard to feebly offer a, "This way, please." Nope! Just five actors standing in the rain, offering up some shallow platitiudes. You know, if I were housing the world's last chance at salvation, I would at least make sure they didn't get colds. Not on my watch, buddy. Unless you really want to stay on top of special effects, or really, really thought Twister was a great movie, stay away from the Core. Do not give the folks that made this stink-biscuit your money! If they get your money, they think that what they are doing works and they will make more movies like this, and that is a sad sad thought.
Rating:
Summary: Plan 9 move over
Review: Is it possible to give zero stars? This is my candidate for the worst science fiction movie ever made. Not only is the science fiction premise of "The Core" completely unbelievable (trust me on this, I am a geologist) but the script is sophomoric and the acting terrible. The dumb special effects do not help either. In short, this movie makes "Plan 9 From Outer Space" look like "2001 A Space Odyssey". Is it possible that the Jon Amiel was deliberately trying to make a bad movie? Is he trying to become the next Phil Tucker (who directed the 1953 classic "Robot Monster")? My advice is do not waste good money on this movie, even as a rental. Do not even waste your time! The only reason that I did was because I was trapped watching it on a transAtlantic flight. If you want to watch really bad science fiction, get something made by Ed Wood, at least it will be funny (albeit unintentionally) and have some cultural and historical value.
Rating: 
Summary: Deserves so much more credit
Review: When the core of the Earth stops spinning, chaos ensues. Birds fly into buildings and international landmarks are destroyed. A group of scientists is assembled to travel to the Earth's core and start it again.
"The Core" is one of the most underrated movies I've seen.
Firstly, I don't think that the technical aspects are so laughable. Why wouldn't we be able to go to the Earth's core? I am not a scientist by any means, but if we are determined to do something, what could stop us? Besides, if you are focused on the technicalities during the entire movie, you might be watching it for the wrong reasons.
Although all of the actors are fabulous, Aaron Eckhart completely outshines the rest with his impeccable portrayal of Doctor Joshua Keyes, a witty college professor.
One of the really refreshing things about this movie is the fact that there is hardly any romance. Some slight flirtation in the beginning, yes, but it never leads to anything significant. I am a hopeless romantic, but sometimes even I get sick of romance in movies. It's nice to see one with just action, suspense, and humor.
The DVD features are very good. Special effects are broken down, deleted scenes are shown (great stuff), and there is a commentary from director Jon Amiel.
Once again, I have to say that this movie is depreciated far too much. Watch it once and see how you like it.
Rating:
Summary: I want a refund
Review: I gave this one star because half a star wasn't an option. I'm all for suspending my perception of reality to enjoy a movie...I like the fact that when stuff blows up in space in a Star Wars movie, that I get to hear an explosion...I like the X-Men and their defiance of the laws of physics...however, the problem with this movie is that the laws of nature are bent to accomplish the goals of the characters, which makes every success seem like the result of some amazing coincidence. There is never a point where you fear that the "good guys" might fail because everything happens their way. It would be like watching Apollo 13 and, when the carbon dioxide levels are getting too high in the ship, Tom Hanks would pull a replacement filter out of his pocket that he just happened to bring along. Stupid doesn't even begin to describe the plot of this movie; I found myself wishing the planet WOULD explode just to end the storyline. I watched the credits to find out who wrote and directed this film so I don't accidentally see another one of their films. I want my money back on this one...and I rented it.
Rating:
Summary: A Hollywood action/special effects film that does the job!
Review: "Hang on -- this isn't going to be subtle!" says the hotshot NASA pilot as he prepares to crash-land the space shuttle in the dry concrete basin of the L.A. River... As good an introduction to this film as you're likely to get. This science fiction/natural disaster movie was a very pleasant surprise! It's about an intrepid group of super-scientists who take a fantastic voyage to the Earth's molten core, in order to prevent global catastrophe. Y'see, it seems the lava inside the planet has stopped spinning for some reason, causing all of nature to go haywire, and threatens our very existence. Which is very bad. So, the US government assembles a scrappy little Scooby team, and off they go, to die one-by-one and make heroic sacrifices as they meet their dates with Destiny. This flick was pretty fun & funny in a complete-suspension-of-disbelief kinda way... It doesn't take itself too seriously, and thus never flounders by trying to make everything seem "real." In fact, the humor (which draws on some great, casual one-liners and fine performances all around, particularly the laconic, good-natured college professor, played by Aaron Eckhart) skillfully disarms us to the special effects sequences are all the more enjoyable. The "science" is ridiculous, but who cares? The film is a gas!
Rating:
Summary: ACTION-PACKED SUSPENSE JOY-RIDE of the YEAR !
Review: The concept of the earth's core having stopped spinning, resulting in a gradual disappearance of the planet's electromagnetic field which protects us from cosmic radiations, and how people would be able to resolve this global catastrophe was enough to make me watch this movie. But then you add actors and actresses who INGENIOUSLY portray a wide variety of characters that represent the best in their field (scientists,Computer Genius,Nasa Pilots,etc.), Introduce the outrageous technology of the Earth-burrowing super ship, And then captivate the viewer with the actual voyage to the Center of the Earth and the non-stop action & suspense of the never-ending problems, the sorrowful deaths, and the overwhelming persistance of the crew to complete their mission and save the planet (and eachother). Also, I forgot to mention the nice special effects. This has to be one of the best (if not the best) action suspense thrillers of the year. I was going to give 4 stars because of the scientific flaws, but then I thought Hey, this is a sci-fi flick, not a documentary!
Rating: 
Summary: Whatever Happened to the Good-Time Movie in 2003?
Review: Looking back on this year in movies, I have come to realize that most of the Hollywood Blockbusters, be it the Oscar Contenders or the plethora of multi-million dollar Summer films have gotten very......serious. Just look at the attitudes of some of the films this year. The comic-book movies have all taken their characters almost too tragic, be it Ang Lee's surprisingly good, yet serious look on the Hulk and Mark Steven Johnson's Daredevil. The Matrix took a serious turn in the sequel. Even Finding Nemo was more serious in tone than any Pixar film in their history. Why is it that movies this year have gotten so serious all of a sudden compared to the summer of fun in 2002 (with the likes of Spider-Man and Star Wars Episode II). True, the quality is better this year than last, but they are less fun. Normally, I would ridicule a film like The Core for being an exercise in CGI brainlessness, but I realized something after watching it twice, at least it was fun. From an effective beginning that gets you hooked into what was to come next to a conclusion that gets more ludicrous the further down it goes, The Core is not so much about CG effects (mainly because you can't really imagine anything interesting about lava outside of what melts in it) but the characters going into the mouth of madness. Aaron Eckhart is an effective leading man, with eyes aglow at what he is seeing and doing. Hillary Swank does all she can with her character. But stand-outs in this film come from the least-seen characters; D.J. Qualls (whose character could fill a whole movie in himself) and Tchecky Kiaro, who has some of the best lines in the movie. Jon Amiel's signature is all over this, taking a ludicrous situation and making it fun all the same. This is a film that rightfully places itself in that long lost era of sci-fi disaster film tradition last best-seen in Independence Day and The Day the Earth Stood Still. And by all means makes my list of one of the Good-Time Movies of 2003.
Rating:
Summary: Fun adventure film
Review: Make no mistake The Core isn't science fiction. In fact, the little bit of science it has in it is closer to fantasy than fact. The Core has more in common with Journey to the Center of the Earth than with The Posideon Adventure or Earthquake!. At its (pardon the pun)core is the spirit of adventure. The planet's core has stopped rotating. That's bad news because the electromagnetic field generated by the spinning core protects us from harmful microwave radiation and temperatures that make those in the Sahara seem like a spa. Dr. Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart) has discovered this due to a fluke. He passes along the information to a world famous scientist with an ego the size of the Titanic (and just as flawed I might add). This scientist (deliciously played by the talented Stanley Tucci)is alarmed enough to contact the government agencies he works with. Suddenly Keyes is pulled in to work on a project to literally jump start the planet's magnetic core using nuclear devices. Otherwise, all life on Earth will be dead within a year leaving behind charred, burned desolate corpse of a world. An inventor (well played with humor by Delroy Lindo)has come up with a new compound that actually increases its strength the more pressure it is exposed to. It can also withstand molten temperatures. A crew of 6 is selected to make this perilous journey with a very good chance that none of them will come back. Certainly you have to suspend your disbelief. The Core stands in fine company as a theatrical roller coaster ride. The optical effects are generally outstanding. Director Jon Amiel indicated in interviews that he wanted to recreate the awe he felt when he saw films like War of the Worlds and Journey to the Center of the Earth. He manages to do so. This isn't Shakesphere but the entire cast plays their roles with humor and bring their respective characters to life. Filled with cliches, tongue in cheek humor and inventive touches, The Core transcends its limitations. It's a great little popcorn movie.
Rating:
Summary: Better then Armagedon
Review: I liked this movie and the earth ship was amazing.
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