Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.
Introduction
When I explained the premise, they groaned. But as soon as they saw the opening scene, they were hooked! Such was the typical routine, whilst showing director John Amiel's $60 million sci-fi flick, The Core, to high school science students--a tradition I have repeated many times, as an educator.
Storyline
The movie opens with 32 people dropping dead, in a 10 mile radius, for no apparent reason. The army brings in Dr. Joshua Keyes (Aaron Eckhart, brought back as "Twoface" in The Dark Knight), a geophysicist, along with Dr. Serge Leveque, a weapons expert played by Tcheky Karyo, to try to explain it, as "this will hit CNN in an hour--we need a reason!" Dr. Keyes solves the riddle in less than 30 seconds, and they are dismissed by the army, as they were relieved it didn't amount to an attack. This doesn't satisfy Dr. Keyes, who employs his graduate students to further investigate the phenomena, which now includes entire flocks of birds dropping out of the sky, injuring people, and causing mass havoc and panic on the streets. He then seeks out Dr. Zimsky, a supremely arrogant world-famous geophysicist, in town for "the White House," to confirm his results. Zimsky brushes him off, at first, but becomes intrigued, and decides to use him for a high-level military meeting to explain that the core of the Earth has stopped spinning, and what could happen if it isn't fixed. When general Purcell inquires as to how it could be fixed, Dr. Keyes replies,"It's impossible," to which he retorts, confidently,"Not in my vocabulary!" What follows is a witty mini-tirade by Dr. Keyes-the first of many-which begins,"Then you might want to get one of those 'Word-a-Day' dictionaries, general..!"
Meanwhile, Million Dollar Baby and P.S. I Love You's) venerable Hillary Swank saves the Space Shuttle, whose navigational systems are in disarray, by crash landing in the Los Angeles river. She is on the verge of being blamed for the disaster, and kicked out of the space program-something she has studied for "since the age of thirteen"-when the lynching suddenly turns into an awards ceremony, and she is "reassigned, effectively immediately, to a new mission"--to journey the center of the earth in a new-fangled craft, to restart the Earth's core with nuclear weapons.
Dr. Ed Brazzleton, an eccentric doctor who exiled himself to the desert for 20 years after Dr.Zimsky-a former partner-stole his research, is recruited to build the ship; and this is expertly nailed by Delroy Lindo ("You ain't dead yet?"). Together, with a crew commanded by Commander Robert Iverson (the stoic Bruce Greenwood, of I, Robot, Passenger 57, and National Treasure: Book of Secrets fame, just to name a few), and directed by Alfre Woodard ("Desperate Housewives," Beauty Shop, as well as a host of other roles, & singing and producing), they embark on an epic adventure. Dr. Leveque accompanies, to tender the weapons payload, while "Theodore Donald 'Rat' Finch," expertly played by D.J.Qualls, is a smart-mouthed computer hacker given an ultimatum-"help us control the flow of information on the Internet," or go to prison-to which he replies,"You're dreamin'--nobody controls the 'Net!" The threat of prison, as well as an "unlimited supply of 'Xena tapes' and Hot Pockets, soon convince him, however. You'll have to see how the rest of this unfolds for yourself. And as long as you remember that this is science fiction, you will almost certainly enjoy this ride! Most will anyway.
Acting Talent
The cast is excellent-any substitution would've marred the film-and is especially anchored by Eckhart, Swank, and D.J. Qualls, although everyone turns in a great performance. The film captures even adolescents' attention, and keeps the audience on edge. We believe that Eckhart is the genius, self-deprecating "Boy Wonder" who oversees the world-saving ship's construction, much to the chagrin of Stanley Tucci ("I should be in the lead-- given my status!"), as the perpetually supremely arrogant Dr.Zimsky, and I simply love his erudite "professoresque" voice affect and mannerisms. The antagonistic chemistry with "Rat" helps to drive the film, as well as provide some classic comedic relief, such as when Rat asks him,"How many languages do you speak?" "FIVE, actually!" replies Zimsky. "Well, I speak ONE-'ONE, ZERO, ONE, ZERO, ONE'-and with that, I can steal your identity, your money, your sexual fantasies-anywhere I want! Anytime I want! We multitask like you breathe!I couldn't think as slow as you if I tried..!" "Do you have any idea who I am..?" Zimsky says, restrained by a chuckling Dr. Keyes after a shocked, pregnant pause.
The lovely Hillary Swank's role, as Major Rebecca Childs, fits her like the proverbial "glove," and I've watched girls' eyes light up and take to her strong and confident, yet beautiful character--this actress has an unlimited future, in my opinion. Eckhart asks her,"You're an astronaut, and you can tie a Windsor (tie)?" "Yes," she quietly answers. "Is there anything you can't do?" "No," she continues, quietly,"not that I'm aware of..." "I find that incredibly intimidating," he continues, in his sheepish way. "Most people do," she casually-almost gleefully-answers, as if she's resigned herself to this fate; while she takes a small degree of pleasure in completing this miniscule task. If only I could be that modest! Richard Jenkins, a veteran of steady leadership roles, teases her incessantly ("You're not a leader until you've lost!")-slightly grating on her sensitivities as she tirelessly pursues perfection on the ship's simulator, just as she has approached every other aspect of her life-but he always ends good-naturedly, and means well.
Frenchman Tcheky Karyo turns in a great supporting role as a great buddy of Eckhart's, and his own measure of wit meshes readily with Eckhart's--amply seen in the bar scene, where they are "accosted" by Pentagon goons, one of which says,"Your presence is required at the Pentagon!". "And what if we were to say 'No?'" Karyo says, drunk off his *rse. "We have no sense of humor," the goon continues, in a deep, droning voice, deadpan,..."And, we're armed!"
The Score/Sound
The score is grandiose--about what one would expect from an Apocalyptic film, and a well-done effort by composer, Christopher Young, whose other credits include Spiderman 3, The Grudge 1&2, Beauty Shop, Hard Rain, as well as many other quality films, unsurprisingly. The track is well-done in Dolby/DTS--the dialogue always comes across loud and clear, and isn't overshadowed by the explosions and other ambient sounds, which are crystal clear, incidentally. There is one, minor exception--it's difficult to hear exactly what actor Delroy Lindo is saying in his first appearance-muttering under his breath as he "reunites" with his nemesis, Dr.Zimsky--this may be true-to-form and his character, however, considering the circumstances. It is forgiveable, and solvable--with subtitles. There are English & French tracks.
Special Effects
Solid effort here--everything looks real, and not "toyish," or otherwise fake. From the space shuttle, to the crystal caverns encountered deep beneath the earth, and the intermedial voyage through the ocean to the seabed--it is all very convincing. Even the lightning strikes decimating Rome's Collosseo look realistic. Grade: A.
Directing
John Amiel, a Cambridge alum who also directed Entrapment (1999) with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones, The Man Who Knew Too Little, and Sommersby, does a terrific job here. The pacing is just right for me, although some said it was a tad bit too long. The characters interacted with panache, no doubt, in no small part due to Amiel's guidance, and the various elements, including the extensive cgi, which extended the production by 6 months, is smoothly integrated with the live action-filmed at well-chosen wide-ranging locales- resulting in a polished product that Amiel proudly sent to the processing lab.
Cinematography
It's pretty good. Nothing stands out, except maybe the brief "cam-cam" (point-of-view is from a dropped camcorder), a la Cloverfield. Tight, inside shots from the space shuttle and "Terracraft's" cockpit, panoramic views of Rome, as well as the camera panning inside Dr. Keye's lecture hall--it's all done well.
What Would Shakespeare Say?
Is Hillary Swank available? I thought the Earth was flat! No, seriously--funny stuff!
DVD Extras
In straightforward fashion, the DVD contains director Jon Amiel's commentary, "To the Core and Back"-the Making of the Core, "Deconstruction of the Visual Effects, and some deleted & extended scenes. I haven't seen any of these, so I can't comment on them (yet).
What Else?
The movie was done by Dave Foster's Productions, and is loosely based on Paul Preuss' novel, Core. This 135 minute film is rated PG-13 for brief, strong language, and life & death situations, but I would feel comfortable showing it to my toddler. This DVD has a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and the colors are well-balanced--not washed-out, or overly-contrasty. It was shot, on-location, at various locales in the U.S. (Nevada, Washington, San Bernardino, CA; Utah), British Columbia & Mannitoba, Canada, the U.K., Italy, and Paramount Studios in Hollywood, CA. Lastly, it grossed $74 million, worldwide, and is available is widescreen (DVD) or fullscreen (VHS & DVD), and subtitled in Spanish (VHS).
Some Trivia
* Dr. David Stevenson, a Caltech scientist consultant for the film, thought of a scientifically possible way to send an unmanned probe to the core that was later published in the prestigious science journal Nature on May 15, 2003. So much for the pseudoscience detractors, eh?
* "Unobtainium:" a term used in science fiction circles referring to a substance with magical properties necessary for the plot to work. (Quote: "I call it unobtainium, but it's real name has thirty-seven syllables!"--gotta love that!)
* The bird scene in London's Trafalgar Square took 6 months to shoot, most of the birds were computer-generated, and production was extended to perfect it (along with other cgi scenes).
* In the same (bird) scene, scared tourists are waiting in front of the "Theatre du Maurier"... in Toronto. This is a nod to Daphne du Maurier, author of "The Birds".
* As a joke, the cgi team inserted a trout smashing into a window, instead of a bird (9 minutes into the film).
* This film is used as a learning tool in a University of British Columbia Earth & Ocean Science course, which analyzes the "bad science" behind it. Ironically, at least one of UBC's professors was a film consultant. So much for questioning your professors, eh?
* Christopher Young used 40 choristers, and a 120-person orchestra, in grand fashion.
* The Collosseum explosion was done using a 40-foot model.
* In the film, Eckhart's character says, "The deepest hole ever dug was 7 miles deep." This is a true reference to the Kola Superdeep Borehole, a Russian project.
* Eckhart incinerates a peach in the film, for a physics demonstration. On the set, an apple had to be painted, and implanted with a peach pit--no suitable peaches could be found.
Closing Thoughts
This is one of my favorite films, although it was rated 40-60% positive by critics, citing "questionable science" and lack of originality. I have a background in biology, with some basic training in physics and Earth Science, and I thought the premise was fairly solid--I guess they thought they were watching a documentary. It may especially appeal to the geeky/nerdy squad, but 99% of adolescents I showed it to liked it. I've seen it many times, and I would be glad to sit down and watch it with you over a Roy Rogers, or a cafe latte!
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