Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: As seeing so many disastrous disaster films, with only a few exceptions, I had put off seeing this for a long time. But, this film is pretty good. Yes, some of it is predictable, but there are also some novel ideas presented. Much of it is believable. The action is not edge-of-your-seat, but it is nail-biting at times.
Rating:
Summary: Keep expectations low and you will enjoy it...
Review: I did not bother with the cinema release and got the DVD because there was not much left to rent in the store. Truth be told, I enjoyed it because the film is less - USA is going to save the world! and more about the characters in this film. The premise is sci-fi simple. The Earths core is no longer rotating and that means we are all going to fry unless some scientists can get together and develop a unit that can drill to the Earths core and launch a load of nukes to start the core spinning again.Basically this is a B-MOVIE!.. and once you get that then it really does move along at a good pace. The story is character driven and the environments are pretty cool with lots of action along the way. In short go into this one with low expectations and you will enjoy the core. It is great B-Movie fun!
Rating:
Summary: Bad Science but Good Movie
Review: If you can tolerate the "science" of Star Trek, then you can tolerate that of The Core. I enjoyed the idea of journeying to the Core. The movie is no more far-fetched than the average Bond or Schwarzenegger pick, so I say go for it.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh Boy
Review: Hillary Swank went from "Boys Don't Cry" to this? Looking for a money making blockbuster ay?
The latest in special effects natural disaster movies..
I disagree with others and refuse to rave about the cheesy effects in this film. I do agree it is smarter than "Armegeddon" and can be fun as "Journey To The Center Of The Earth"..
But you can guess with accuracy who will survive and who will die.
I loved the Geode scene however. I laughed how the ship just popped out of an ocean vent at the end ...Good for mind numbing entertainment. I still don't understand Hillary's interest in this project.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining as long as you check your science at the door
Review: If you want to bring hard science to this party, you might as well stay home; The Core is just about the most unrealistic and unscientific Armageddon movie I've ever seen. It is also riddled with all the clichés you would expect to find in a movie of this sort. Despite these faults, however, it can be an exciting ride if you decide to just go along with the storyline. There is just something about this film that drew me in, although I am hard pressed to explain it. Maybe it's the Jules Verne lover in my soul that enjoyed revisiting the center of the earth, although I hate to think what Verne would have thought of The Core. Journey to the Center of the Earth is actually more believable than this special effects-laden thriller. The opening scenes of this film are just fantastic, as the unusual camera perspectives we first see, when about three dozen people suddenly fall over dead in one localized area, instantly dip your toes into surreality; this scene doesn't even compare to the next one, though, as The Core goes Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds one better. And then, in a scene that is robbed of a little of its power and spectacle by the very real loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia, we witness the most spectacular emergency landing of all time. These opening scenes really grab you by the collar and shake you a little bit. Of course, it's all downhill from here, but in terms of entertainment value I still consider this to be a better than average end of the world story. One great thing about The Core is the fact that the brilliant science guy who has to save the world is someone other than Jeff Goldblum for once. Aaron Eckhart fills the role of Dr. Josh Keyes, humble science professor turned savior of the planet. He figures out that the electromagnetic field around the planet has more than blown a fuse, and his discovery leads him to seek the counsel of Dr. Conrad Zimsky (Stanley Tucci); Zimsky is your stereotypical great man of science who looks down on everyone around him, but he quickly comes to realize that Keyes is right: the earth's core has stopped spinning. He also knows why, but that's classified information. All life on earth will be gone within a year. What can be done? Luckily, the eccentric yet very likable Dr. Ed Brazelton has invented a machine that can tunnel through rock like it was melted butter. In three months, the earth-digging ship (dubbed "Virgil") is built, a crew is put together (including space shuttle navigator Rebecca Childs, played by Hilary Swank), the world's biggest hacker nerd is called upon to keep the truth of the crisis away from the public (which is quite a job given some of the disastrous events that soon take place on earth), and we're off to the earth's core in order to kick-start the darned thing with the help of a few handy nuclear bombs. Everything you expect to happen does in fact happen. Some crew members do not make it home, those wacky scientists crack a number of stupid jokes or else criticize each other's work during crisis situations, everyone learns something about himself/herself, etc. The dialogue serves to weaken the movie in a few places, but at least some of the clichéd moments are pulled off with at least a tinge of originality. The special effects aren't that great once we get to the underground scenes where the ship is tunneling through rock, encountering empty space or mountains of crystal or diamonds, and luxuriating in the ultimate steam bath of liquid magma. The underground effects pretty much had to rely on CGI, but I think some of the CGI effects could have been less obvious. By and large, I really enjoyed watching The Core, but I am sure many people will not like it for all of the faults I was willing to accept in the interest of personal entertainment. This movie runs well over two hours, so it can be a long haul for those who will react negatively to it. It doesn't wait and pull the rug out from under you at the last minute, fortunately, as the implausibility of the whole thing comes through loud and clear early on; that's a good thing. If those in doubt can lay their eyes on the trailer, I think that would do much to show prospective viewers whether they will be inclined to enjoy or merely scoff at the film.
Rating:
Summary: I really wanted to "LIKE" The Core, it's lame to THE CORE !
Review: Look...I've learned, to enjoy any of these Hollywood Blockbusters, it is wise to accept a certain amount of movie logic. Without doing so, movies can drive one crazy on common since issues alone. Since I've taken on the philosophy of allowing some movie logic breathing room and without questioning it's common since, I have truly enjoyed movies much more. After all, movies are an escape right? So a little silliness is okay.
With that said, The Core is not only full of movie logic, The Core is full of lame twists and turns that fall short of any enjoyable entertainment! While the special effects are fantastic, they cannot carry this film to quality movie status.
I tried very hard to like this movie. In fact, I really wanted to like it because I love end of the world movies. I just can't, in good conscience, recommend this film. It's lame...to THE CORE.
Rating: 
Summary: The Film With A Chewy Center
Review: The Core is another disaster flick in the mold of Armageddon, Deep Impact, or Indepedence Day. Although, not as much fun as Armaggeddon or ID4, it's not as bad as Deep Impact either. No, it ends up smack in the middle of all those examples and beyond. When Earth's magnetic field causes major disaters to occur, like pacemakers to stop working, the Space Shuttle to go off course, and animals to act strange, experts determine that the planet's center has stopped spinning. Within a year, the population, is doomed. Experts offer a slim chance--travel to the center, and kick start the core. As with any film like this, the charaters can end up being interchangable and one note Here though at least, Stanley Tucci as smug Zimsky, Delroy Lindo as Brazzelton, and Alfre Woodard in a relativly small role, provide some spark. The leads, Aaron Eckheart and Hillary Swank are effectivly overshadowed as a result. Director Jon Amiel does an adequate job with the film. It has some great looking visuals and excitement, but in the end, is hampered by a very predictible script. Once it got going, it's easy to figure out. I know all of these films are like that, but what separates The Core from say Armageddon, is that sense of fun or wink, wink attitude--films like this need that to be a true grand slam. The DVD extras are, like the film itself, are OK. The audio commentary by Amiel is a pretty techical track and probably could have used another participants to juice it up a bit. "To The Core And Back - The Making Of The Core" is a typical making of featurette. Since I liked the visual effects of the film though, I found "The Deconstruction of the Visual Effects" works a bit better. This group of shorts take a look into how the CGI and practical effects were realized. There are 10 deleted/extended scenes with optional director commentary that offer a few nice nuggets but that's all. Rounding out the disc are a series of trailers, for other video products, but oddly The Core theatrical trailer is not to be found anywhere. The Core is only recommended as a good Saturday night rental--nothing more.
Rating:
Summary: Soft "Core" Poor, Not for Me
Review: We've been to the stars and to the depths of the ocean, and now in "The Core" we can apparently swim in the dirt. I was a bit skidish about "The Core" when, in the openng scene 30+ people just drop dead. (Most likely the test screening audience) Next, in true Hitchcockinan form, a huge flock of pigeons go loco and destoy every window in downtown London. What does this have to do with the "Core"? Good question. But here comes a college professor who sucks at playing the trumpet to figure out that it's just the beginning of the end the world. Seems that middle earth (sorry J.R.R.) has the hiccups and it's up to a rag-tag team of heros to save the day. Yes they're all here: the genious kiddie hacker (tasked with controlling the entire internet so that 6 billion people don't realize there is anything wrong -- WHAT?!?!), two semi-disgraced astronauts, the excentric but lovable scientist, the egocentric and pompas scientist and a French guy thrown in for good measure. They board a revolutionary new craft called Virgil (designed and built in 3 months mind you) that can burrow it's way to the center of the earth and thereby save the day. Okey-Dokey. Soon after the mission begins, the cliches start flying. Unforseen obstacles, the usual mechincal malfunctions and of course the team members start dropping like flies one at a time. I'm not gonna tell you which ones, of course, but you'll figure it out easily enough -- believe me. The always entertaining Delroy Lindo turns in yet another highly under-rated performance as the mastermind behind the craft and Hillary Swank does a passable job portaying an astronaut with a lot to learn about herself. But the implausability factor of this disaster pic is just to darned high to overcome. Mindless at best and downright dumb in others, still "Core" has some pretty impressive effects that might be enough for you to rent it. I would just wait until it's off the "New Releases" shelf and save yourself some dough.
Rating:
Summary: good enough way to spend a rainy afternoon
Review: Some people rip this movie to pieces for various scientific implausibilities, I like to look at it as a two hour comic book, a good way to pass a rainy afternoon.
Yes, it is unlikely that a scientific loner working alone in the desert for 20 years on a shoestring budget could develop a miracle rock cutting laser drill and a miracle alloy(?) he calls Unobtainium, but it looked good on screen.
The silliest bits I saw in the whole plot were the three month construction time (three years would be super speedy),the crystal geode like cave miles down our heroes briefly get trapped in, the giant diamonds they collide with (in a flow of magma?, I 'd say the heat would destroy them)and that super X-Ray I guess they used to see their way to the core (three feet of lead from 50 feet away?, that kind of power in an X-Ray would kil anyone near it). That stuff still looked pretty good though and they were the worst of the effects.
I thought that the emergency shuttle landing in the L.A. river channel looked very good but hokey at the end, the disoriented birds in London scene looked real, the San Francisco and Rome scenes were good, Rome better.
I found the cause of the rotation failure to be interesting and as believable as anything in the movie (if stronger than likely reality). It turns out that there was an Us vs. Them(who were they?) arms race in which both sides built a planet damaging bomb, the other guys tested theirs first with disastrous results.I also liked the way Our leaders were going to save the day by setting their own bomb off, until the crew of the Virgil got word back to the staff hacker (who was supposed to hack the internet to keep the disaster secret)who then hacked into the bomb base and basically turned the lights off just in the nick of time.
Not a great movie, kind of like the old 50's stuff with better FX, and slow at times but I still say it's a good way to use up some spare time.
Rating:
Summary: implausible, boring, and just not good
Review: A film by Jon Amiel The Core stars Hilary Swank, Aaron Eckhart, Tcheky Karyo. The previews made this movie look like Armageddon, only this time they go underground. I wasn't too excited for it, but I started seeing reviews that said it was better than Armageddon (which despite the bad rap the movie later got, it was enjoyable the first time I saw it) and had more story and detail. I thought that sounded okay and rented the movie. It is just like Armageddon, and it wasn't better. Even though I've already said that the movie is just like Armageddon, I'll give you the basic plot anyway. Early in the movie strange things start happening: a bunch of people drop dead, the only connection is that they all had pace makers; animals start acting crazy, and the weather becomes erratic and unseasonal. It turns out that the core of the planet has stopped spinning and the effects of this will be catastrophic. I'll leave it the movie to explain the hows and whys of that. What can be done? The core must be restarted. A character in the movie says that that is impossible because there is no machine/vehicle that can reach the Earth's core. Oh, but there is. The United States Government puts a team together to drill down to the Earth's core and try to restart it (unlike Armageddon, these men and women are actually scientists rather that oil riggers). That's the movie in a nutshell. The trip down to the Core plays eerily similar to Armageddon (up to and including a scene that looks exactly like the crash on the asteroid in Armageddon). There is more scientific detail and explanation in the Core, and while I did appreciate that, the movie just became more and more unrealistic, and despite my acceptance of that fact, it made the movie hard to bear. This is a disaster film, and with a disaster film you would imagine that the special effects would be impressive. At least that would have helped the movie. Unfortunately, the special effects were rather weak and in a couple of cases, a little cheesy. Director Jon Amiel had some talented actors to work with, but unfortunately the movie was a failure. It was not interesting, or visually striking, and was ultimately boring. To borrow Roger Ebert's trademarked line: "Thumbs way down."
|
