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The Core (2003)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 5.3/10
Reviews Counted: 151
Fresh: 63 | Rotten: 88

A B-movie with its tongue planted firmly in cheek, The Core is so unintentionally (intentionally?) bad that it's a hoot.

Average Rating: 5.3/10
Critic Reviews: 31
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 17

A B-movie with its tongue planted firmly in cheek, The Core is so unintentionally (intentionally?) bad that it's a hoot.

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Average Rating: 2.7/5
User Ratings: 96,631

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Movie Info

An unlikely band of scientists and soldiers join forces to save the world from certain destruction in this action-drama. As the world is struck with a variety of inexplicable phenomena -- attacks by enormous swarms of birds in London, the explosion of the Colosseum in Rome, a potentially deadly malfunction which forces the Space Shuttle into a Los Angeles riverbed, and the simultaneous deaths of 32 people with pacemakers in Boston -- a team of top scientific minds from around the globe is

PG-13, 2 hr. 16 min.

Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Directed By: Jon Amiel

Written By: Cooper Layne, John Rogers

In Theaters: Mar 28, 2003 Wide

On DVD: Sep 9, 2003

Box Office:$31.0M

Paramount Pictures

The Core Trailer & Photos

More Photos (20)

Cast

Aaron Eckhart
Dr. Josh Keyes
Hilary Swank
Major Rebecca "Beck" Ch...
Delroy Lindo
Dr. Ed "Braz" Brazzelto...
Stanley Tucci
Dr. Conrad Zimsky
D.J. Qualls
Rat
Richard Jenkins
General Purcell
Tcheky Karyo
Dr. Serge Levesque
Bruce Greenwood
Commander Richard Ivers...
Alfre Woodard
NASA Chief Talma Stickl...
Nathaniel De Veaux
U.S.S. Constellation Ca...
Glenn Morshower
FBI Agent
John Shaw
FBI Agent Rat's Apartme...
Claire Riley
News Anchor
Gregg Bennett
Technician Virgil Base
Rosa DiBrigida
Rome Café Patron, Rome...
Matt Winston
Luke Barry
Lenie Scoffie
Paris Café Lady, Paris...
Laurie Murdoch
Project Destiny Enginee...
Christopher Shyer
Dave Perry
Anthony Harrison
FBI Agent
Ray Galletti
Paul
Fred Keating
Court Martial Presiding...
Hrothgar Matthews
Chief Engineer Mission ...
Dion Johnstone
Flight Engineer Timmins
Morris Bart & Kimberly C....
Dad
Rekha Sharma
Danni
Nicole Leroux
Mom
Fred Ewanuick
Endeavor Flight Enginee...
Nickolas Baric
Security Policeman Trib...
Eileen Pedde
Lynne
Marke Driesschen
News Anchor
Costa Spanos
Project Destiny Enginee...
Tom Schilte
Acker
Justin Callan
Little Boy
Chris Humphreys
GBTV Reporter Trafalgar...
Shawn Green
Himself
Hong Ming-Tzong
Scientist
Jennifer Spence
Zimsky's Assistant
Michael St. John Smith
Pentagon General
Roberto Roberto
Rome Café Patron, Rome...
Ermanno De Biagi
Rome Café Patron, Rome...
Marcello Laurentis
Rome Café Patron, Rome...
Monique Martel
Paris Café Lady, Paris...
Robert Mantiopyes
U.S.S. Constellation Sc...

Critic Reviews for The Core

All Critics (170) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (64) | Rotten (89) | DVD (27)

Undigestible fusion of worst-case earth science and leaden pacing.

April 1, 2003 Full Review Source: Village Voice

| Comment

Ed Park

Village Voice

Top Critic

[I]t's not campy enough to be consistently entertaining, and it's certainly not exciting or smart enough to be a first-rate sci-fi epic like a Deep Impact.

March 31, 2003 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper

| Comment

Richard Roeper

Ebert & Roeper

Top Critic

Jules Verne this isn't, but it makes for fairly diverting escapist fare.

March 28, 2003 Full Review Source: USA Today

| Comment

Claudia Puig

USA Today

Top Critic

There's a marked absence of panic in The Core.

March 28, 2003 Full Review Source: Toronto Star

| Comment

Geoff Pevere

Toronto Star

Top Critic

The Core works because the characters are idiosyncratic enough to seem authentic but not so zany that they seem contrived.

March 28, 2003 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle

| Comment

Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

Top Critic

I never thought I'd see the day when I would write that someone like Qualls acts circles around Tucci, Jenkins or Lindo, some of our best actors.

March 28, 2003 Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee

| Comment

Joe Baltake

Sacramento Bee

Top Critic

This is a big, dumb, explosion movie.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comment

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

'The only truly interesting aspect found in "The Core" is Jon Amiel's thoughts as to what the inner parts of Earth might look like.'

March 31, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat

| Comment

Rory L. Aronsky

Film Threat

If something isn't done soon, the earth as we know it (love that clich�) will destroy itself. Who do you call? Core busters!

October 15, 2004 Full Review | Comment

Steve Crum

Kansas City Kansan Source: Kansas City Kansan

Should be a sci-fi screenwriter's dream; but this dream is more like one that Michael Crichton would have than Jules Verne, and there's not a breath of imagination on display

July 6, 2004 Full Review Source: F5 (Wichita, KS)

| Comment

Jake Euker

F5 (Wichita, KS) Source: F5 (Wichita, KS)

'Look out! It's diamonds big as Cape Cod!' No, they're large black blobs that the CGI guys clearly didn't have time to fill in with vector graphics. No need for alarm.

March 8, 2004 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com

| Comment

eFilmCritic.com

The Core ain’t your grandma’s journey to the center of the earth.

February 12, 2004 Full Review | Comments (2)

Lori Hoffman

Atlantic City Weekly Source: Atlantic City Weekly

The Core is really nothing more than a special effects show, but for the most part, they aren't exactly special.

January 6, 2004 Full Review Source: Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)

| Comment

Greg Maki

Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)

A disaster film with a high calibre cast, atrocious, inane dialogue, unspectacular special effects and questionable science. But fun nonetheless.

October 27, 2003 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide

| Comment

Terri Clark

Apollo Guide

Hillary Swank and Aaron Eckhart lead the latest adventure to save the world from natural forces... YAWN.

October 7, 2003 Full Review Source: EDGE Boston

| Comment

David Foucher

EDGE Boston

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Audience Reviews for The Core

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The Core is one perfect example of a terrible film that should've never been made. What's stunning about this film is that it has a good cast of talented actor, aside from D.J. Qualis, who was always a terrible actor. I can't believe the amount of really good actors who acted in this pile of junk. The film is yet

August 24, 2011

Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski

Super Reviewer

Action/adventure sci-fi about an intrepid team of scientists who must journey to the center of the earth in order to save the world. I wonder what can happen? Summer movie fun.

June 26, 2011

moon rivers

Super Reviewer

The Core Quotes

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