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The Core

  • 2003
  • PG-13
  • 2h 15m
IMDb RATING
5.5/10
111K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,860
251
Aaron Eckhart, Stanley Tucci, Delroy Lindo, Hilary Swank, Bruce Greenwood, and DJ Qualls in The Core (2003)
Home Video Trailer from Paramount Home Entertainment
Play trailer2:35
1 Video
86 Photos
Dark ComedyDisasterSci-Fi EpicActionAdventureSci-FiThriller

The only way to save Earth from catastrophe is to drill down to the core and set it spinning again.The only way to save Earth from catastrophe is to drill down to the core and set it spinning again.The only way to save Earth from catastrophe is to drill down to the core and set it spinning again.

  • Director
    • Jon Amiel
  • Writers
    • Cooper Layne
    • John Rogers
  • Stars
    • Aaron Eckhart
    • Hilary Swank
    • Delroy Lindo
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.5/10
    111K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,860
    251
    • Director
      • Jon Amiel
    • Writers
      • Cooper Layne
      • John Rogers
    • Stars
      • Aaron Eckhart
      • Hilary Swank
      • Delroy Lindo
    • 624User reviews
    • 86Critic reviews
    • 48Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    The Core
    Trailer 2:35
    The Core

    Photos86

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    Top cast58

    Edit
    Aaron Eckhart
    Aaron Eckhart
    • Josh
    Hilary Swank
    Hilary Swank
    • Beck
    Delroy Lindo
    Delroy Lindo
    • Brazzelton
    Bruce Greenwood
    Bruce Greenwood
    • Commander Richard Iverson
    Christopher Shyer
    Christopher Shyer
    • Dave Perry
    Ray Galletti
    Ray Galletti
    • Paul
    Eileen Pedde
    Eileen Pedde
    • Lynne
    Rekha Sharma
    Rekha Sharma
    • Danni
    • (as Rékha Sharma)
    Tom Scholte
    • Acker
    Glenn Morshower
    Glenn Morshower
    • FBI Agent
    Anthony Harrison
    Anthony Harrison
    • FBI Agent
    Tchéky Karyo
    Tchéky Karyo
    • Serge
    • (as Tcheky Karyo)
    Richard Jenkins
    Richard Jenkins
    • General Purcell
    Bart Anderson
    • Dad
    Nicole Leroux
    Nicole Leroux
    • Mom
    Justin Callan
    • Little Boy
    Chris Humphreys
    Chris Humphreys
    • GBTV Reporter - Trafalgar Square
    Dion Johnstone
    Dion Johnstone
    • Flight Engineer Timmins
    • Director
      • Jon Amiel
    • Writers
      • Cooper Layne
      • John Rogers
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews624

    5.5111.3K
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    Featured reviews

    andyhise

    Oh come on, give it a break

    I enjoyed The Core.

    Okay, we all know the centre of the Earth doesn't look as Hollywood as that. And the pressure suits, and the coincidences, and the split-second-timing giant nuclear bombs, and the blah blah blah blah ...

    For God's sake, what did you expect ... a documentary? The Core is escapism, just like a cartoon, just like your comic books. Movies can be highly implausible and still be fun. James Bond has made a career out if it.

    For what it's worth, I'm glad the Ugly Attractive Kid with the weird nose finally justified his salary at the end. Aaron Eckhart's chin must surely win Best Jawline in a Leading Role some time soon. I was disappointed Hilary Swank didn't get to struggle for half an hour in a sweaty, clingy t-shirt. And, for once, my private predictions as to the Exact Order of Death among the leading characters turned out to be 100% correct. I'm bad at that, so imagine how easy it is in The Core to forecast who's going to die next - it's eeeeeasy.

    And the earthworm-like ship varies in scale between awesomely big to comically small. And there was no real sense of claustrophobia. And the heroes didn't seem to mind, before launch, that they all had a "I knew this was a one way ticket", Ed Harris style, staring them in the face. I mean, two thousand miles, straight down ... better squeeze your nose and blow, because I know MY ears would pop.

    It was a laugh, I'll buy the DVD because it looked and sounded great, and the special FX were perfectly fine thankyou. Not awesome, but entertaining.
    5dfranzen70

    Core has chewy center, cheesy surface

    Hollywood's gone to the outer reaches of our galaxy (not to mention others), it's plumbed the depths of the ocean, mapped dank swamps and arid deserts, but one place it hasn't gone to with any sort of regularity is the inner core itself.

    The Core is certainly one of those movies for which one must suspend disbelief. It's a science-fiction movie that emphasizes fiction over all; that is, the physics of the film don't hold up to snuff. If you're an engineer or physicist, you should be smart enough not to watch it - you'll just spend most of your time second-guessing the inane psuedoscience.

    It seems the inner core of the Earth has stopped spinning, for some reason, and this has caused the electromagnetic field that surrounds and protects the planet to begin to decompose. This is evidenced by, among other things, pigeons in Tralfagar Square in London suddenly veering at plate-glass windows and sundry people who wish they were extras in a less-violent movie, like Daddy Daycare or maybe Finding Nemo. At any rate, the world's leading scientists, commissioned by the military (it wouldn't be a Save the Planet from Imminent Destruction without our pals in the movie military), figure out that the core's stopped rotating, and that Something Must Be Done to get it going again.

    Ah, but what? We've only drilled down about 8 miles, and according to my calculations the distance from the surface to the core is .... a bit further. We must drill down, sayeth the sage scientists, and lo and behold, through the magic of movies, there's this guy in the desert who's been working on a laser rocket thingy that'll help them blast all the way down. This handy little thing is just the cure, so a crew is hastily assembled: Commander Iverson (Bruce Greenwood), Major Beck Childs (Hilary Swank), Dr. Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart), Dr. Serge Leveque (Tcheky Karyo), Dr. Conrad Zimsky (Stanley Tucci), and Dr. Ed Brazzelton.

    Like such doomsday movies as Armageddon, what The Core has going for it are likeable characters and a lot of nifty FX. It also has the unknown working for it; we don't know what lies beneath the thin crust of the Earth, because we haven't drilled beyond it. That allows filmmakers a lot of free reign to depict whatever the heck they want in terms of What's Down There.

    What The Core has going against it, however, is a predictable plot and some howlingly awful dialog. Now, it's not giving anything away to mention that at least one person doesn't make it back from this mission. It's also not giving anything away to note that there's at least one knockdown, drag-out hissy fit of a scene in which Keyes admonishes Childs for something she didn't do. It's hysterical to watch, although I suspect the emotion the director was attempting to convey was more like empathy, not euphoria. Or ennui, which is unfortunately how some of the movie felt.

    The Core is cheesy. No, not the actual inner core - although, come to think of it, maybe it is, since we don't know for sure what it's made of. And wouldn't that be fitting? A cheesy core for a cheesy film made by cheesy people in a cheesy society? Who's up for some Muenster?
    7ilovedolby

    A likable film that actually had me cracking up more than shivering with fear.

    Hollywood has always had an infatuation with films that deal with natural disasters. However, the portrayal of such disasters is usually far over-blown for the sake of dramatic effect. But these films can't be taken seriously, as their purpose is nothing more than to give their audience an exciting, wild ride. This was the case in `The Core,' the new film from director Jon Amiel whose last film was 1999s `Entrapment,' which starred Sean Connery and Catherin Zeta-Jones. At first glance, `The Core' appears to be a science fiction/disaster flick about the end of the world. However, after analyzing the film, it's safe to say that this film is about 25% science fiction, and about 75% absurdity. But don't let that stop you from seeing it. Despite its silly story, `The Core' is a likable film that actually had me cracking up more than shivering with fear.

    The film opens with various minor catastrophes occurring worldwide, from 32 sudden deaths in a major American city to flocks of birds flying into crowds of people and buildings (an apparent rip-off of Hitchcock's, `The Birds'). Scientists are brought in to examine these occurances and they hypothesize that the core of the earth has stopped spinning. They now need to find a way to get the core rotating once again in order to stop the cataclismic events from taking place. With the help of world's best scientists, they create a ship, properly titled as `Virgil,' designed to travel to the center of the earth, dump off a nuclear payload of about four bombs, and then as Aaron Eckhart's character, Josh says, `then we outrun the biggest shock wave in history.' `The Core' has some great talent. Eckhart (`Erin Brockovich') and Tcheky Karyo (`The Patriot') portray professors brought on to study the devastation of the super storms and strange deaths that are happening. Stanley Tucci (`Road To Perdition') plays a famed scientist with a severe ego problem. Hilary Swank, the Oscar winning actress of `Boys Don't Cry' plays a NASA astronaut sent to maneuver the ship through the earth's interior, along with Bruce Greenwood of `Double Jeopardy.' Richard Jenkins, who has appeared in several Farrelly brother's films including `There's Something About Mary,' and `Me, Myself, and Irene' appears as a general in charge of the mission.

    Perhaps the film's most humorous points transpire when DJ Qualls (`The New Guy') enters the film has a hacker recruited to keep the media out of the public's eye by hacking the Internet and rooting out those who know of this secret mission to save the planet. If word of the events did get out, naturally as in any disaster flick, the fear of rioting and social unrest could take place. `The Core' is filled with clichés. It's easy to sit there and point out scenes that have taken place in other films, especially `Deep Impact,' and `Armageddon.' However, I found it to be forgivable. I liked `The Core' and found it to be fun escapism, not to be taken to heart. Disaster films have always been ridiculous, especially the greatest disaster schlock film of all, `Earthquake,' which starred Charlton Heston and George Kennedy. In recent years though, the idea of Earth's destruction from a force that mankind has no hold over has grabbed both the film industry and the public's attention, most notably with `Armageddon.' Quite frankly, I don't see why so many people loved `Armageddon' what with its stupidity, exaggerated direction from Michael Bay (`Pearl Harbor') and its dumbfounded performances from Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis. `Deep Impact' was a far superior film that was a box-office success in its time, but wasn't remembered because of mass appeal of `Armageddon.' Nonetheless, `The Core' is a decent flick that the average person can check his or her brain at the door of the theater with and veg-out to. ***
    6buiger

    I actually enjoyed this one...

    How do you jump start the Earth's core? Well, if you want to find out (and have a few laughs in between) all you need to do is watch 'The Core'...

    Yes, it's stupid, yes, it makes no sense, yes, the science is flawed, and yes, it's impossible. Nevertheless, I have to say I enjoyed watching this movie. It's one of those 'get a beer and some popcorn, turn your brain off and enjoy the afternoon' type of pictures. If you are not pretentious and take this film for what it is, you are more likely than not to enjoy it as I did.

    All in all, this is a classic disaster flick, and for a disaster flick, this is above average.
    8Colin-630-935811

    Awesome rubbish.

    I love this flick,not boring for a second,moves along at a fair clip,no long drawn out boring scenes.But boy,is it stupid,oozes out of every frame but not for a second does that get in the way of doing it's job,which is to entertain,which it does in spades. The science is at the same level as 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' with James Mason,no giant mushrooms here,but we do get giant diamonds and a geode the size of New York. The actors are all having a blast,playing it straight for the most part,their fun translates to the audience,but never over the top.The effects are capable,the story ridiculous,but who cares,a more fun disaster movie is not too easy to find,it certainly is a 'guilty pleasure' type of flick,and some days,that's all you want to see.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      (at around 9 mins) Near the end of the "birds" scene, a trout is seen smashing into a window instead of a pigeon. This was a joke left in by the team that did the CG pigeons.
    • Goofs
      (at around 1h 30 mins) During the bridge scene the microwave energy can melt through several feet of galvanized carbon steel wire (main cable) and the bridge beams themselves but not through less than 2mm of metal on the car's body shell.
    • Quotes

      Taz 'Rat' Finch: How many languages do you speak?

      Dr. Conrad Zimsky: Five, actually.

      Taz 'Rat' Finch: Well, I speak one... One Zero One Zero Zero. With that I could steal your money, your secrets, your sexual fantasies, your whole life. Any country, any place, any time I want. We multitask like you breathe. I couldn't think as slow as you if I tried.

    • Crazy credits
      At the beginning when the Paramount pictures logo is shown there is a transition between the Paramount pictures logo and the film - the camera zooms in on the mountain then starts to move down through the mountain to the core of the earth.
    • Connections
      Featured in Troldspejlet: Episode #28.14 (2003)
    • Soundtracks
      Weren't You the One
      by Roger Kellaway & K. Lawrence Dunham

      Performed by Sherry Williams

      Courtesy of WilliamSound West

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    FAQ24

    • How long is The Core?Powered by Alexa
    • What is 'The Core' about?
    • Is 'The Core' based on a book?
    • Is it really possible to go to the core with a subterranean ship?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 28, 2003 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • France
      • United Kingdom
      • Italy
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • El núcleo - Misión al centro de la tierra
    • Filming locations
      • Trafalgar Square, St James's, London, England, UK(Exterior)
    • Production companies
      • Paramount Pictures
      • David Foster Productions
      • Munich Film Partners New Century & Company (MFP) Core Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $60,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $31,186,896
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $12,053,131
      • Mar 30, 2003
    • Gross worldwide
      • $73,498,611
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 15 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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