| The Core | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jon Amiel |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | John Lindley |
| Edited by | Terry Rawlings |
| Music by | Christopher Young |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 135 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $85 million[1] |
| Box office | $74.1 million[1] |
The Core is a 2003 Americanscience fictiondisaster film directed byJon Amiel with screenplay written by Cooper Layne andJohn Rogers and starringAaron Eckhart,Hilary Swank,Delroy Lindo,Stanley Tucci,D. J. Qualls,Richard Jenkins,Tcheky Karyo,Bruce Greenwood, andAlfre Woodard. The film focuses on a team of scientists whose mission is to drill to the center of the Earth and set off a series ofnuclear explosions in order to restart the rotation of theEarth's core.
The film was released on March 28, 2003, byParamount Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $74 million worldwide with a production budget of $85 million.
After 32 people mysteriously drop dead, theU.S. government calls in scientists Dr. Joshua "Josh" Keyes and Dr. Serge Leveque. They determine that each person had a pacemaker and that electrical interference has caused them to malfunction. Other incidents involving theEarth's magnetic field lead Josh and Dr. Conrad Zimsky to the conclusion that theEarth's inner core has stopped rotating. Unless it is restarted, the magnetic field will continue to degrade and eventually collapse, exposing the Earth to devastatingsolar radiation.
The U.S. government devises a plan to detonatenuclear weapons within theEarth's outer core to restart the rotation. They bring on Zimsky's former partner, Dr. Ed "Braz" Brazzelton, to build a vessel to deliver the bombs. The vessel, namedVirgil, is made ofunobtainium, a material Braz developed that can withstand extreme pressure.NASA pilotsCommander Robert Iverson andMajor Rebecca "Beck" Childs are enlisted to pilotVirgil and computerhacker Theodore Donald "Rat" Finch is brought on to avoid general panic by keeping news of further disasters andVirgil's mission off the internet.
Virgil is launched through theMarianas Trench and enters thecrust using a laser-based drilling array. After entering themantle,Virgil drills and falls into a gigantic emptygeode, damaging the drilling array. While working to free the vessel from the outside, Iverson is killed by a falling shard. They escape before the geode is flooded with magma. AsVirgil passes through a field ofdiamond formations, one of them breaches the compartment housing the weapons-control module. Serge sacrifices himself to get the team the information and tools they need to detonate the nukes before the compartment is sealed and jettisoned.
The team reaches the outer core and realizes that it is much less dense than previously believed, meaning their nuclear payload is too small for their current plan. Zimsky shares this with mission leaderLieutenant General Thomas Purcell and reveals to the team his work on DESTINI, a U.S.tectonic weapon that likely stopped the core's rotation. Purcell orders them to return, as he plans to try to use DESTINI to restart the core. However, Josh argues that doing so could permanently destabilize it and trigger massive natural disasters. The team elects to continue over Zimsky and Purcell's objections.
A burst ofultraviolet rays destroys theGolden Gate Bridge and causes power outages along the West Coast. Concerned about further power outages preventing DESTINI from being fired, Purcell gives the order to do so. Josh communicates with Rat about DESTINI and the latter prevents Purcell from firing the weapon by redirecting power away from it.
The team devises a plan to place a bomb in each ofVirgil's remaining compartments, jettison them, and stagger the detonations, using constructivewave interference to increase the force of the bombs. Braz sacrifices himself, going into the uncooled crawlspace of the ship and activating the control so they can manually detach compartments.
As they set the charges, Josh and Zimsky realize that the last bomb needs more explosive power than the others. The bomb in the second-to-last compartment falls on Zimsky's leg and he is unable to escape before the compartment is ejected. Josh uses thenuclear fuel rods fromVirgil's reactor to provide the additional energy for the final detonation. The main compartment is left powerless as the bombs begin to detonate, killing Zimsky, and successfully restarting the core's rotation.
Josh recalls that unobtainium can convert heat and pressure to energy and the two restoreVirgil's power in time to ride the pressure wave from the explosions out of the core. Eventually they breach the ocean floor nearHawaii, but lose power due to the cold water. Purcell and theU.S. navy search for them until Rat realizes that theVirgil crew is using low-powerultrasound to draw whales to them, leading to Josh and Beck being rescued.
Shortly afterward, Rat uploads information aboutVirgil, its team, and DESTINI to the internet, leading to worldwide news reports and tributes to the lost team members.
The Core began development in the late 1990s under producerDavid Foster forParamount Pictures and was one of severalJourney to the Center of the Earth inspired projects in development at the time along withInner Earth at20th Century Fox and a straight adaptation of the novel atWalt Disney Pictures.[2] InitiallyPeter Hyams had been announced to be in final negotiations to direct.[2] In September 2001, it was announcedJon Amiel had signed on to direct.[3] That same month, it was announcedAaron Eckhart had signed on to star in the film with co-starHilary Swank joining the following month in October.[4][5]
The Core had out-to-sea scenes, featuring theUSS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), with full support of theUS Navy.[citation needed]
The original plan for the shuttle landing scene had been forEndeavour to attempt a landing atLos Angeles International Airport with the shuttle coming to a halt on the nearby beaches. However, due to the events ofSeptember 11, 2001, the crew was not allowed to film at LAX. The scene was therefore rewritten withEndeavour landing in the L.A. River.
The Core garnered mixed reviews from critics. On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 39% of 160 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "A B-movie with its tongue planted firmly in cheek,The Core is so unintentionally (intentionally?) bad that it's a hoot."[6] OnMetacritic, another aggregation website, the film has aweighted average score of 48 out of 100 based on reviews from 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7] In his review,Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four and said "I have such an unreasonable affection for this movie, indeed, that it is only by slapping myself alongside the head and drinking black coffee that I can restrain myself from recommending it."[8]
The film grossed $31.1 million in United States theaters, and another $43.0 million overseas for a total worldwide gross of $74.1 million[1] against a production budget of $85 million.[1]
Several reviews cited the numerous scientific inaccuracies in the film.[9][10][11]Elvis Mitchell ofThe New York Times said: "The brazen silliness ofThe Core is becalming and inauthentic, like taking a bath in nondairy coffee creamer. The Earth core's inability to turn is mirrored in the cast's inability to give the picture any spin."[12]Kenneth Turan of theLos Angeles Times was a little more forgiving, saying: "IfThe Core finally has to be classified as a mess, it is an enjoyable one if you're in a throwback mood. After all, a film that comes up with a rare metal calledunobtainium can't be dismissed out of hand."[13]
In response to criticism of his screenplay's lack of scientific realism, screenwriter John Rogers responded that he tried to make the science accurate, but expended three years fighting "to get rid of the ... dinosaurs, magma-walks in 'space-suits', bullshit-sci-crap sources for the Earth's crisis, and a windshield for the shipVirgil."[14]
On March 30, 2009, it was reported thatDustin Hoffman was leading a campaign to get more real science into science-fiction movies. Hoffman is on the advisory board of theScience & Entertainment Exchange, an initiative of theUnited States National Academy of Sciences, intended to foster collaborations between scientists and entertainment industry professionals in order to minimize inaccurate representations of science and technology such as those found inThe Core.[15]
In a poll of hundreds of scientists about bad science fiction films,The Core was voted the worst.[15]
On February 21, 2010,The Guardian ran an article about American professorSidney Perkowitz's proposals to curb bad science in science fiction movies. In the article, Perkowitz is said to have hatedThe Core. "If you violate [the coherent rules of science] you are in trouble. The chances are that the public will pick it up and that is what matters to Hollywood.The Core did not make money because people understood the science was so out to lunch".[16]
