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The Core

The Core on DVD

There are two kinds of disaster movies: good-looking ones that are really bad, and good-looking ones that aren’t so bad.

The Core falls into the latter category. It has some great special effects and a pretty great idea, but as is common with this type of movie, it doesn’t live up to its full potential.

When people begin dying suddenly and birds start going crazy (a la Hitchcock’s The Birds), scientists discover that the Earth’s core has stopped rotating. The entire planet will be destroyed within months thanks to that and a deteriorating electromagnetic field.

In the tradition of Armageddon (only in the opposite direction and executed much better), the American government decides to send a team down to the center of the Earth to detonate a series of nuclear warheads that will – in theory – get the core turning again.

Kind of like jumper cables for the heart of the planet!

The team includes Dr. Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart), Major Rebecca Childs (Hilary Swank), Dr. Ed Brazzelton (Delroy Lindo), Dr. Conrad Zimsky (Stanley Tucci), top computer hacker Taz Finch (D.J. Qualls), Dr. Serge Leveque (Tcheky Karyo), and Commander Robert Iverson (Bruce Greenwood). They’re all at the top of their various fields, but they all have their flaws as well, which always comes in handy in a drama. Alas, when you get them together, and give them a chance to point out each other’s negative aspects, you get the weakest, most clichéd scenes in the film.

But the best scenes come with the action. There are some very nice special effects when Rome and San Francisco are destroyed, and also when Virgil (the burrowing ship) encounters its various obstacles on its way to the core.

The Core looks good, but it suffers from the same problems as so many disaster movies, which are most commonly the ludicrousness of some situations that prevent our suspension of disbelief.

In this case, we can’t really say what the core of the Earth would be like, because we have no idea, so the writers can do whatever they want. But it’s hard for us to believe that a so-called “expert” in his field would pronounce nuclear “nucular.” Other than that and a couple of events at the end (which we won’t mention for fear of spoiling anything), we were able to sit back and enjoy.

It may not be as good as disaster movies like Deep Impact or Dante’s Peak, but it’s certainly better than disaster movies like Armageddon, The Swarm, and Volcano.

As one of this year’s guilty pleasures, The Core is worth checking out.

A theatrical flop, The Core still managed to garner a decent DVD release. It’s presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen (16x9 TV compatible) and Pan&Scan (WARNING: SOLD SEPARATELY). We got the widescreen version, fortunately, and it features a crystal clear picture. A lot of the movie happens deep under the Earth’s crust, where it’s dark, but details are still very visible. Colors are rich and vibrant, though it does look a little soft in a few places.

Audio is also very good, with strong surrounds and bass. Dialogue and score use the front channels effectively, while the rear channels fill the room with the various action sound effects. At some points the dialogue is a bit quiet, so you may have to turn up the volume, but make sure you turn it back down before the action starts.

Extras include an audio commentary by director Jon Amiel, a 10-minute “making-of” featurette (that is pretty much just a bunch of interviews), just over 20 minutes of visual effects featurettes (which are informative and entertaining, but not in-depth enough), and a series of deleted and extended scenes. A few of the scenes are pretty good, but were understandably cut for pacing reasons.

If you enjoyed the movie, the disc is a good accompaniment.

The Core, from Paramount Home Entertainment
134 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) 16X9 enhanced, 5.1 Dolby Digital
Starring Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Tucci and Alfre Woodard
Produced by David Foster, Cooper Layne, Sean Bailey
Written by Cooper Layne and John Rogers, Directed by Jon Amiel

 

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