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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Paramount
Salesrank: 13988
Released: September 9, 2003 |
| Our Price: $3.00 |
| Used Price: $0.99 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Smarter than Armageddon and equally extreme, The Core is high-tech Hollywood hokum at its finest. It's scientifically ridiculous, but this variant of Fantastic Voyage at least tries to be credible as it plunges deep into the earth's inner core, where a formulaic team of experts pilot an earth-boring ship to jump-start the planet's spinning molten interior, now stalled by a military secret that could seal the fate of all humankind. It's a geophysicist's wet dream that only a fine ensemble cast could rescue from absurdity, and director Jon Amiel (Entrapment, Copycat) draws excellent work (and plenty of humorous interplay) from Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Stanley Tucci, Delroy Lindo, and a host of memorable supporting players, especially The New Guy's D.J. Qualls as the world's greatest cyber-nerd. With enough digital F/X disasters to satisfy anyone's apocalyptic fantasies, this is a popcorn thriller with all the bells and whistles that its genre demands. Sit back, pump up the volume, and enjoy the dazzling ride. --Jeff Shannon
The Core (Widescreen Edition) Reviews:
The Core 
2008-08-06 - The Core is an excellent Movie. I was happy with the quickness in which I received my order, and the wonderful condition it was in. Thank you.
Excellent film & Superb transfer to DVD 
2008-07-28 - Why would anyone expect a film like this to be scientically sound? I am an engineer/scientist and I love films like this! This is science FICTION, already--a little bit of science and lots of fiction. 'The Core' is no less scientific than the Star Wars or Star Trek sagas.
Anyway, it is puzzling why this film did not do better at the box office. It has most of the right elements: Great acting--good casting (especially that cyber-nerd hacker (he was perfect!) and Hillary Swank (who is always good)--first-rate special effects--fantastic machines and gadgets--apparently a big budget--and an interesting plot (military vs academia, competing egos in the scientific world, saving the planet earth) with just enough twists to keep you engaged. The result is a very entertaining, engaging and highly imaginative science fiction gem.
The only thing missing (perhaps, depending on your point of view) is romance--there is no soap opera going on in the background--but who has time for romance when you are trying to save the world? There are, however, rivalries between the scientists and between military officers and subordinates to keep things interesting.
The DVD: Superb transfer to DVD of this 2003 film--one of the best I have ever seen. Anamorphic widescreen, enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. I viewed this on a large-screen, high-definition LCD TV, played on a Toshiba 1080p HD DVD player--and the picture and sound were stunning--as good as any of my HD DVDs. Highly recommended!
"Armageddon" all over again 
2008-06-21 - Saw this movie in 1999 when it was called "Armageddon".
This version is no better, though I knew it was a dog before I got it.
Yeah, "suspend the disbelief" for the science - I get it. However, I have problems with the "real" part, too, which includes lightweight birds completely shattering car and store windows (they mostly just bounce off), the space shuttle improbably landing (haha) where it did, general vehicular physics (such as whiplash), and the fact that although the movie managed to spell "acquire" correctly, they could not spell "on its way" correctly (it's not "on it's way") in the cyber cafe scene at the end.
I was able to recognize both of the famous actors, Hilary Swank and Alfre Woodard, because they were the only females. Who were the guys, again?
The commentary is OK, but I haven't gotten to the "making of", a special effect "deconstruction", or deleted scenes yet. But, I will.
My copy froze at the 57 minute mark, and required starting over, 2 scenes past the problem.
It's a long one, so get the big popcorn.
O, for the days of camp 
2008-05-18 - When movies this bad were made in the 50s or 60s or 70s, they had The Cheese Factor. Effects were bad, acting was often pretty bad (with notable exceptions), and plots were happily implausible.
And most of the time, people were on a jaunt. "Journey to the Center of the Earth" with James Mason et al? "Hey, we can go to the center of the Earth! How about a picnic?"
"At the Earth's Core" with Peter Cushing and Doug McClure. Laughably bad effects and a plot based on accident make for a lot of cheesy fun.
But now the effects are great (though not in this film) and budgets are greater, so the films must be Serious. And this film is so serious, so earnest. And SO BAD.
Excellent actors, terrible picture.
It's Called FICTION For A Reason... 
2008-03-28 - Let's keep in mind that this movie has a ridiculous premise, with an equally ridiculous solution. Now, that being said, the movie is watchable in the same light as Armageddon, Volcano, Day After Tomorrow, or any of the other "End of the World" schlock that exists. These movies are the 2000s equivalent of the "post-apocalyptic" genre of the 80s.
What can mankind do to save the ENTIRE world? Well, a handful of the world's best scientists ought to do the trick. I was on-board for the ride once this movie got rolling. I bought into space shuttle landing, I even bought the excessively-long "pigeon genocide", but I had to draw the line at "The-single-female-space-pilot-ties-a-windsor-knot" scene. It took me a while to recover from that.
All these things being said, I enjoyed the movie. Truly it is only a time-killer and not to be taken for ANYTHING more than that. It is not a social statement. It is not a "humans-are-bad" statement. It is JUST A MOVIE. There are plenty of worse movies that actually get awards each year.
It is kind of interesting that the Earth that the heros are trying to save plays the only antagonist in the movie...but let's not start "social dialogue" at this point....
