# The Core (2003)



## Dave (Jul 4, 2002)

*The Core*

Does anyone have any infromation on 'The Core' about a mission to save the Earth by tunneling into it, opening Nov. 1. 2002?

After decades of dumping our nuclear waste into the bowels of the Earth, the planetary core reaches a critical state. It's up to a group of "terranauts" piloting an experimental craft to break through the Earth's mantle and repair the problem before the core superheats and destroys all life on the surface. 

It sounds a bit fantastical to me, conspiracy theories besides, we haven't even drilled into the Earth's mantel yet alone the core, and have never deposited nuclear waste more than a kilometer below the surface of the crust.

Studio: Paramount Pictures. 

Starring: Aaron Eckhart (Dr. Josh Keyes); Hilary Swank (Major Rebecca "Beck" Childs); Tcheky Karyo (Sergei Putechin); D.J. Qualls; Bruce Greenwood (Colonel Robert Iverson); Stanley Tucci; Delroy Lindo; Alfre Woodard. 

Directed by Jon Amiel (Entrapment, Copycat). He replaced Peter Hyams (2010) who had been attached to this project for more than a year, but left the project because IATSE 669 would not approve his Director of Photography for a work permit in Canada.

Screenwriters: Cooper Layne, Eric Bernt, Sean Bailey, John Rogers 

Producer: David Foster.  

That's all I know about it.


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## Tabitha (Jul 4, 2002)

I saw an interview with Stanley Tucci about the film somewhere recently - I'll search it out and post here when I find it.  Sounds interesting, if, as you say a bit unconvincing


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## Tabitha (Jul 23, 2002)

Coming Soon has the teaser poster for this movie:


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## Dave (Aug 10, 2002)

*Reality Informs The Core*

SCIFI WIRE -- Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank, star of the upcoming SF thriller film The Core, told SCI FI Wire that she took the role of a space-shuttle pilot because of the more realistic aspects of the story. "I haven't done a science-fiction movie before," she said in an interview, following a panel discussion of The Core at Comic-Con International in San Diego. "I like science-fiction movies, but I never really saw myself being drawn to them artistically as an actor, because there wasn't necessarily things in them that I could really relate to. And I felt that the writing in this made it a really real story. So all the kinds of special effects that go along with it are something that could really conceivably happen."

Swank added that she was also drawn to the part for the chance to fulfill a childhood dream of becoming an astronaut. "I wanted to be an astronaut my whole life, even before I wanted to be an actor," she said. "So I was really all over this from the beginning, saying, 'I've got to be in this. I want to be an astronaut.'" After filming, Swank sent her parents a still photograph from the set, with a caption that read, "Looks like I got to be an astronaut after all. At least for a few hours."

The Core depicts the ramifications of a shift in the rotation of the Earth's core. Swank's character leads an elite team of experts in a specially designed ship to the center of the Earth in an attempt to correct the problem and save humanity. Swank described an early scene showing why her character was chosen for the historic mission. "When the electromagnetic field around the core [of the Earth] stops, lots of different things start happening on Earth," she said. "It throws us off target when we're coming back to Earth in our spaceship. So when we come out, we're not on course, and we're not going to land where we're supposed to land. All of a sudden we have to find another place to land and hopefully not crash the space shuttle, but also not kill a bunch of people on Earth. So my characterâ€”and I love that she's so smart because this is something I could never do myselfâ€”comes up with this amazing formulaic [solution]."

Swank said she would like to do more science fiction projects in the future, but only if the script and characters are as well drawn and believable as they were in The Core. "It has special effects, but it also transcends the special effects, and there's people that you relate to," she said. "And to me, that's what I'm always trying to find when I'm playing a role. It's like, can I relate to these characters? Is this something that I can go through? Is this conceivable? And it absolutely is." The Core is scheduled to open in November.


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## Dave (Oct 1, 2002)

*Amiel Journeys To The Core *



> SCIFI WIRE -- Jon Amiel, director of the upcoming SF action film The Core, told SCI FI Wire that his movie differs significantly from Journey to the Center of the Earth and other films with a similar premise. "I'd say that the only thing this movie has in common with Journey is that concept of an inner-space movie as opposed to an outer-space movie," Amiel said in an interview. "It doesn't have anything in common with anything I've seen before, which was another attraction to making it. It's related to movies like Armageddon, where a bunch of brilliant misfits go off to save the world, but there the similarities end.
> 
> The Core also has a much different, scientifically plausible tone, he said. "Even as an eight-year-old seeing Journey I didn't believe a word of it." For instance, "There's a famous scene where James Mason, who's still dressed in his impeccable Victorian tweeds and ascot, with a tiny little canvas backpack, says, reading into his notebook, 'Day 256. We now have reached...' It was a deliciously misguided piece of work. I don't think there was a single one of Jules Verne's suppositions that was close to being accurate."
> 
> Added Amiel, "I hope the film we're making is one that scientists will enjoy on [a certain] level. They'll enjoy pooh-poohing some of the factual liberties we're taking, and they'll get that sense of intellectual superiority that is the main consolation of being a scientist. Kids and adults will love the ride elements, because it will be a great ride. The other thing I think will make this film unusual is that we're making a character-driven visual effects movie, and I don't think those things together are an oxymoron." The Core, which stars Hilary Swank, Aaron Eckhart, Delroy Lindo and Alfre Woodard, opens nationwide on Nov. 1.


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## Tabitha (Oct 2, 2002)

Anyone seen the trailers for this film yet?  Over the last month or so I have seen the preview about four times, and each and every time the audience has laughed - I wasn't one of the gigglers, but I could see their point 

Doesn't look good, seems more improbable than most SF films, I think it'll tank.


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## Dave (Oct 3, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Tabitha _
> *Anyone seen the trailers for this film yet? ....I think it'll tank. *



I think you could be right there, IMHO that's obviously the real reason behind this:



> SCIFI WIRE -- *Core Stuck On Launch Pad*
> Paramount Pictures has bumped the release of its SF-adventure film The Core from Nov. 1, 2002, to next year, according to Variety. Paramount cited the need to add additional special effects to the film, which centers on a group of astronauts and scientists (portrayed by Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Bruce Greenwood and Stanley Tucci) who must drill to the center of the Earth to jump-start the planet's inactive core.
> 
> "The Core is a huge film with exciting, innovative effects, and we always knew we were on a tight post-production schedule," Rob Friedman, chief operating officer and vice-chairman of Paramount's Motion Picture Group, told the trade paper. "In order not to compromise the quality of the effects, we have decided to give the filmmakers more time to perfect them. It's important to make the best film possible, not a release date."
> ...


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## Dave (Jan 7, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Tabitha _
> *Anyone seen the trailers for this film yet?
> Doesn't look good, seems more improbable than most SF films, I think it'll tank. *



I just saw it before 'Star Trek: Nemesis' and it didn't look REALLY bad. Also I detected that there may be some intentional humour. Was the sequence about 'Star Trek' tapes added for the 'Trek' audience, or was it in the trailers that you've seen too?


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## Tabitha (Jan 8, 2003)

To be honest, it was August the last time I saw the trailer, but the ref to trek tapes doesn't ring any bells.

There was some intentional humour, but the giggles I mentioned above came from the boardroom-like scenes where TPTB are discussing what's going to happen and how they might solve the problem, it seemed too serious for its own good, and anyone with even a passing interest in geology or physics might be skeptical at the solution that is touted in the trailer...


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## Dave (Jan 9, 2003)

There was a short 'boardroom-like' scene, but I think that they may have souped up the trailer to make it more exciting.


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## Tabitha (Feb 2, 2003)

*"The Core" trailer pulled due to Columbia disaster*

It is apparently being pulled from theatres in America (and elsewhere?) due to yesterday's Columbia tragedy.

More info from www.aintitcoolnews.com

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=14351




I am never sure how I feel about things like this - do the public need this kind of sensitivity?  I understand that these would be painful images for many, but I also thought that most people could separate fact and fiction.  I worry that the main reason is that the promoters are concerned that any negative press or even subconscious distaste will damage box office gross - which doesn't seem like sensitivity at all, just cold hard economics


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## Tabitha (Feb 7, 2003)

Scifiwire reports:



> Shuttle Stays In Core
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## ray gower (Apr 26, 2004)

The trailer wasn't bad on the face of it.

As for the film. It does so much depend upon how you look upon it.

The good. It is an action romp with flippant throw away gags. If it had Jules Verne as writer and filmed by Rank, it might just scrape the score of fun.
The landing of the shuttle in Los Angles river was entertaining, beats car chases at least 

The bad- 90% of the science sucks. We have iron bars that melt in peoples hands for heavens sake! And if a chaps needs a spanner to undo a nut. Once the said spanner has melted, how the hell does he undo the nut with his hand?
So the plot holes are big enough for the Queen Mary to pass through sideways. And we will avoid commenting upon the 'acting', except to note it was a league better than Deep Core.

The later is probably where the Star Trek imagry comes from. As it boasted two major Star Trek people. Wesely Crusher and Dax


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## ray gower (Apr 26, 2004)

*Deep Core- Die, Wesley, Die!*

The world is danger. The techtonic plates that help hold it all together aren't behaving the way they should, I think, the thinking part of the old brain shut down after five minutes and went into fantasy speculation.

Facing the mass extinction of the human race, who does one look to? 
Of course. A bunch of oil well fire fighters. Unfortunately they could not find Bruce Willis, so they use Wil Wheaton instead,  who is teamed up with Terry Farrel to save the world by dropping nuclear bombs at startegic places.

To help them, they have a wonderful underground machine the military just happen to have laying around for such light duty exploration work, invading China.

To say that the film was poor would be a compliment. Wheaton looks as if he is trying and manages to the point of being just as big an obnoxious as he ever was in TNG. Other wise Farrel looked as she was looking for the cheque.

The high point- Wheaton under a molten lava shower! Die Wesley, Die!

If all this sonds familiar. It is. Try The Core.


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## khatab (Feb 19, 2005)

I agree with Gower here.. 

The science was an absolute joke.... I generally enjoy scifi and admit that in some cases suspension of disbelief is necessary to  to enjoy certain farfathced "science" based films..... but not here!! More like suspension of common sense and consistency.. I think they took their artistic licence too far resulting in the wasting an hour and half of my life, not to mention a Fiver...


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## immortalem (Mar 3, 2005)

the movie was highly unbelievable, which made the movie come off hokey.  The acting wasn't too bad but some of the dialogue was cheesy.


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## Dave (Jul 11, 2007)

khatab said:


> ...the wasting an hour and half of my life, not to mention a Fiver...


I finally saw this. I'm glad I didn't spend any money. It was just shown on Film4.


ray gower said:


> The landing of the shuttle in Los Angles river was entertaining, beats car chases at least


 Those early set pieces - the Shuttle Landing, the pacemakers, the pigeons - those were probably the best parts of the film.


immortalem said:


> the movie was highly unbelievable, which made the movie come off hokey.  The acting wasn't too bad but some of the dialogue was cheesy.


 Pure Hokum! And I'm not so sure about the acting.

The problem with the last 2/3rds of the film was the characters. I disliked them all, so I wasn't really bothered when they argued, could care less when they died, and was totally neutral to whether or not they survived or made good in the end.


ray gower said:


> 90% of the science sucks. We have iron bars that melt in peoples hands for heavens sake!


 That's not unusual for this type of film. I mean the whole idea and concept was pure fantasy. I was actually astounded at how beliveable they made it all sound, though that was only possible with the use of  far-fetched technology - *DESTINI* and the multi-billion dollar laser drill known as the *Virgil* - and equally far-fetched materials - the *Unobtainium* that the ship was made of that seemed to solve every problem.

I think on the whole I prefer 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth'.


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## TK-421 (Jul 12, 2007)

Agree. Only one word describes this movie: rubbish!


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## Pyan (Jul 12, 2007)

And not even rubbish enough to be *cult* rubbish!


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## HardScienceFan (Jul 12, 2007)

Stanley Tucci is always a sign a film is going to be 'off'


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## Talysia (Jul 12, 2007)

In all honesty, when I saw this film (although it's been a while now) I didn't like it.  The storyline seemed implausible even for a science fiction film, and there was no connection to the characters.  I won't be watching it again.


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## Anthony G Williams (Nov 28, 2015)

This is my take on it, from my  SFF blog: http://sciencefictionfantasy.blogspot.co.uk/

This is one disaster movie that I missed when it first came around. It begins with various mysterious events connected with electromagnetic disturbances. It is eventually realised that these events are all connected to one occurrence: the Earth's core has stopped rotating, so the electromagnetic shield which protects our planet from most of the solar radiation is dissipating. Before long, this will lead to the end of life on Earth.

Not to worry, we just visit the core and kick-start the thing. Cue a solitary scientist and inventor who just happens to have devised a machine with a laser cutting device which can drill its own tunnel through rock at high speed, and who also happens to have developed an almost indestructible material capable of resisting the enormous pressure and heat close to the core. He dubs the substance "unobtainium", although "impossibilium" would have been closer. So five intrepid explorers set off in his machine on a trip to the core, armed with a handful of 200 megaton fusion bombs to persuade the planet to behave.

It is fair to say that accepting this scenario involves a truly heroic suspension of disbelief, and most of us won't make it. It is almost as bad as swallowing the Mayan "end-of-the-world predictions" in *2012*. However, having said that, in other respects the film isn't as bad as it might have been. The rest of this review contains some spoilers.

*********************

So what's good about the film? Thankfully, there are no broken marriages to be repaired, or cute, screaming children who need to be rescued (we see a photo of one of the characters' family, which is bearable); the characters basically get on with the job rather than wasting time emoting; the obligatory attractive female on the crew (Hilary Swank) is the very tough and capable pilot; the hero (Aaron Eckhart) is a charismatic college science teacher (imagine that!); there are some grim tragedies as the team members are killed one by one but, despite this, the mood is lightened by frequent flashes of humour in the reasonably adult dialogue; and at the end of the film the male and female survivors do not form a romantic liaison but plan to return to their previous jobs. Which all makes a pleasant change from Hollywood routine.

I gather that *The Core* had mixed reviews and turned out to be a commercial flop, which is no great surprise. However, it is not bad entertainment as long as you can swallow the initial impossibilities; the acting is fine, with Swank and Eckhart in particular carrying off their roles well enough. Not an entirely wasted couple of hours.


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## BAYLOR (Nov 29, 2015)

This is a film that should have been made back in the 1960's by Irwin Allen.


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