DVD Reviews:  The Core

The blockbuster flop, The Core was doomed from the start when the movie was postponed indefinitely after the real-life space shuttle incident. Eventually after the hysteria had died, the movie was finally released to some of the worst reviews in history and now it's time for DVD owners, especially those who have never seen the movie to just see how bad it was. The storyline behind the Core is actually quite interesting and when the Earth's core stops rotating, hence weakening the planet's electromagnetic field, the Sun's solar radiation will eventually wipe out all life within three months. Fortunately for the denizens of Earth, a group of extraordinary people have been gathered to "jump start" the planet by detonating a plethora of nuclear weapons within the inner core.

The actors include the very talented Aaron Eckhart (Erin Brockovich) as Doctor Josh Keyes whose performance is thoroughly wasted in this movie and even the very beautiful Academy Award winner Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry) could not of saved the script. With some over the top performances by Delroy Linda (Ransom), Stanley Tucci and Alfre Woodard, the characters in the movie are all clichéd and I joked to my other reviewer on who would die first and what order and I actually got it right. The Core also features a variety of special effects that range from impressive (the space shuttle crash landing in down town Los Angeles) to abysmal (the cigar shaped vehicle named Virgil that takes the crew to the centre of the Earth).

The video transfer of The Core is crystal clear on DVD and features some exceptional picture quality with vibrant colours and sharp images. The downside to the perfect picture quality is that you can really see the flaws in the special effects, especially the computer generated images. The Core is also presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen for that true cinema experience.

The Core features Dolby Digital 5.1 and actually sounds quite impressive through my home entertainment setup that uses all satellite speakers to its advantage. Christopher Young also does an amazing job at the musical score of the movie that helps immerse the viewer into the title when they are not complaining about it.

For such an average movie, the Core features some quite interesting extras that include commentary by Director Jon Amiel, a documentary entitled "To the core and back - the making of the core", a featurette entitled "Deconstruction of the visual effects" and various deleted/extended scenes that make you wonder why they were taken out from the movie.

In conclusion, the Core misses it's mark completely with unrealistic storylines, over the top and clichéd characters and a variety of bad computer generated effects that appear to have been taken out of a computer game. Hilary Swank does a great job at portraying a NASA astronaut but unfortunately not even her talents could have saved this dreadful movie. Rent it for a laugh or wait for television!