Definitely one for the too-stupid-to-be-ignored category, this 2003 would-be blockbuster had its inception in the late Blockbuster Video. This is to say that upon being purchased by the CBS subsidiary Viacom in 1994, Blockbuster was used to determine what movies were made by the Viacom-controlled Paramount Pictures. Thus, when the Disney smash ARMAGEDDON (1998) topped rental charts at Blockbuster, THE CORE, a none-too-disguised ARMAGEDDON clone, was put into production at Paramount with a budget of $60 million (less than half that of the previous film) and a retinue of B-list stars (including Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank, who came cheaper than Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck).
There was also some high profile shilling in the form of an article in the November 2003 issue of WIRED magazine that defended the scientific accuracy of the premise—which inverted that of ARMAGEDDON in which an asteroid menaced the Earth, whereas here the threat comes from the center of the planet. THE CORE’s co-screenwriter John Rogers offered an even more impassioned defense of its science in an ill-advised Aint-It-Cool News post proclaiming that “if good science in a science fiction movie isn’t rewarded with even nominal, polite respect before you go on to trash the movie, why the FUCK ARE WE EVEN BOTHERING?!”
“Good” science? Let’s see. The movie begins with malfunctioning pacemakers killing several people, violent bird swarms and a freak lightning storm blowing up the Roman Coliseum (something Rogers, in his abovementioned AICN rant, admitted was less than scientifically credible). The reason for all this? The Earth’s core has stopped spinning, causing the planet’s electromagnetic field to go haywire, and leading one expert to conclude that “Everybody on Earth is dead in a year.”
Project Destiny, a super-secret government operation, is created to fix the issue. Involved is a team headed by geophysicist Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart), his French buddy Serge (Tcheky Karyo) and Edward Brazzeleton (Delroy Lindo), the eccentric creator of an ultrasonic laser beam. There’s also Rat (D.J. Qualls), a mousey computer hacker enlisted to “hack the world” and make sure nobody finds out about the project; Beck (Hilary Swank), an astronaut who proves her mettle by landing a space shuttle in the LA river; Commander Bob Iverson (Bruce Greenwood), who’s charged with overseeing the mission; and the sly Dr. Conrad Zimsky (Stanley Tucci).
A penis-shaped craft called the Virgil is constructed to burrow into the Earth via Edward’s ultrasonic laser technology, with a thousand tons of nuclear warheads on board to get the core spinning again. The voyage begins in an abyss in the Pacific Ocean, from which the Virgil blasts through the Earth’s crust. The resulting scenery includes a field of crystals, a lava lake and giant diamonds, with the Virgil breaking down at one point, forcing the intrepid crewmembers to get out and fix it. Josh and Beck even find time for some PG-rated romance—and a good thing, as they’re the only crewmembers who survive the trip.
Eventually the core is reached and the warheads detonated. But will J & B be able to make it back to the surface to consummate their romance, and to witness the inevitable whooping and cheering that always seem to conclude movies like this one? (Spoiler alert: they will.)
ARMAGEDDON, ludicrous though it was, had pacing that was furious enough to keep the viewer from worrying about its scientific validity. THE CORE, as directed by former British TV legend Jon Amiel, is more sedate in its approach, giving one ample time to ponder the many, many implausibilities. It also carries the residue of crummy nineties disaster movies like VOLCANO and DANTE’S PEAK (which were, in turn, thinly veiled rehashes of seventies disaster programmers like EARTHQUAKE and THE TOWERING INFERNO). Also recalled are classics like THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE and APOLLO 13 (down to the frantic intercutting between the main action and a bunch of sweaty people in a control room monitoring the situation), a comparison that’s deeply unflattering to THE CORE.
There are some good actors in the cast, but there are no standout performances, this having been a definite collect-the-paycheck-and-move-on project. The same can be said for the digital effects, which may have seemed passable in 2003 but look pretty stodgy now (with lots of tunnels and exotic rock formations on display, all bearing a very video game-ish look), and have a problem common to modern effects-heavy cinema: the actors rarely ever seem to be properly reacting to what we’re shown, and have a shockingly calm and nonchalant air despite the fact that they’re facing near-certain death in an unexplored terrain.
What makes THE CORE enjoyable is the sincerity of its treatment and the hamminess of its execution, evident in the dissolve-heavy editing and dialogue like “It’s as if we’re diving through the memories of the planet, but we’re about to pass from memory into madness.” It may not be Shakespeare, or even Ed Wood, but such transcendent asininity deserves something.
Vital Statistics
THE CORE
Paramount Pictures
Director: Jon Amiel
Producers: Sean Bailey, David Foster, Cooper Layne
Screenplay: Cooper Layne, John Rogers
Cinematography: John Lindley
Editing: Terry Rawlings
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Tucci, D.J. Qualls, Richard Jenkins, Tcheky Karyo, Bruce Greenwood, Alfre Woodard, Christopher Shyer, Ray Galletti, Eileen Pedde, Rékha Sharma, Tom Scholte, Glenn Morshower, Anthony Harrison, Bart Anderson, Nicole Leroux, Justin Callan, Chris Humphreys, Dion Johnstone