Deep Core (2000)

User Rating:

2.1/10   

Director:

Rodney McDonald

Writers:

Jim Christopher (writer)
Phillip J. Roth (story)

Release Date:

21 October 2000 (South Korea)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

As the new millenium begins, the end of the world will come from below.

Plot Keywords:

Oil Drilling | Drunk Scene | Cigarette Smoking | Lava Floe | Private Jet

Cast

Craig Sheffer	...	Brian Goodman
Terry Farrell	...	Allison Saunders
Bruce McGill	...	Sam Dalton
Harry Van Gorkum	...	Alan Morrisey
Wil Wheaton	...	Rodney Bedecker
James Russo	...	Darryl Simmons
Ron Yuan	...	Chin Li
James Lew	...	Lou Chang
Ken Choi	...	Wayne Lung
Dean Cameron	...	Head Engineer
Donald Li	...	Colonel Sun Po
Catherine Kwong	...	Phong Li
Joseph Patrick Kelly	...	M.I.B. #1
Dean Biasucci	...	M.I.B. #2
Gary Hershberger	...	Henry

Also Known As:

Deep Core 2000 (USA)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for action violence, language and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

Germany:80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Cantonese | Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:PG | Netherlands:16 | South Korea:15 | Germany:16 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13

Company:

Unified Film Organization (UFO)

Trivia:

The display used when Sam, inside the drilling machine, is monitoring the materials in rocks that they are about to drill through, is reused in _Epoch: Evolution (2003)_. Before the "object" in that movie is unlocked and entered, one of the displays used to monitor technical data is exactly the same display used in "Deep Core".

Movie Connections:

References Armageddon (1998/I)

Some Fun Entertainment With Average CGI

Alright then, we've got Craig Sheffer playing the creator of a mobile drilling machine that causes a major worldwide countdown to disaster. Of course, he walked off the job a year or so earlier fearing that his creation might be used as a weapon. He was right. It's the potential for that disaster thing I just mentioned which brings our would-be hero back to save the day. If this sounds remotely like so many other films out there, it probably is.

This is B movie territory, folks, but it's a FUN ride! Sheffer gets to dig down 120 miles into the Earth and place 5 nuclear bombs that will create a chain effect that stops the planet from tearing itself apart...while also saving valuable budget money by not showing too many disasters on the surface (always visible because the camera shakes before we get some cheesy CGI effects).

Along for the ride is James Russo, Wil Wheaton (giving a better performance than in "Python") and Terry Farrell (Dax from "Star Trek: Deep Space 9"). What the film isn't able to entertain you with visually because of what I'm assuming is a modest budget, it more than makes up for in dialogue and acting. There are a few techno-babble bits here and there, but these guys (and gal) are enjoying themselves and provide some welcome laughter. Forget the other Government stiffs. They kind of pad the film a bit and aren't nearly as fun to watch.

It's especially nice to see Sheffer in a more heroic role after "Hellraiser: Inferno" and Wheaton still has a smile that will make you melt. If you can overlook some really fake CGI effects and just take the movie for what it's supposed to be, entertainment, then you could do a lot worse than give "Deep Core" a try.