The Core (2003) - Movie Review

These intrepid souls will travel to the Earth's core to save the planet!

The first time I saw Aaron Eckhart (Battle: Los Angeles), I saw him play the role of Harvey Dent/2 Face in Christopher Nolan's, The Dark Knight (2008), and I have to admit that I was impressed... Not just with the caliber of movie, but also with his performance in the movie as well!

Since then though, he has continued to give pretty solid performances in just about everything that I have seen him in, the only problem is that the movies that he has done, just have not quite cut the mustard...

Now you might be wondering why I am mentioning this, well... That is because, The Core (2003), is another one of those movies that he has done, that was good... But not quite good enough... But we will get in to that in a minute.

The movie poster for: The Core (2003). 

Written by: Cooper Layne (The Fog) & John Rogers (Transformers), Directed by: Jon Amiel (Copycat). Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank (Terror In The Family), Delroy Lindo (The Big Bang), Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games), DJ Qualls (Z Nation), Richard Jenkins (The Cabin In The Woods), Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek), Tchéky Karyo (Vampire Party) & Alfre Woodard (Star Trek: First Contact).

"Why do you get dibs on being the hero?"

- Dr. Josh Keyes (A quote from the movie: The Core.)

This movie tells the story of how when planet Earth stops it's rotation, mankind becomes doomed due to the effects of the Earth no longer rotating... Discovering this is Dr. Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart), a brilliant college professor, who ends up taking his findings to the arrogant, yet brilliant Dr. Conrad Zimsky (Stanley Tucci)... Of course the good Doctor dismisses Keyes findings, that is of course until he discovers something from his own work...

Now along with the help of General Thomas Purcell (Richard Jenkins), Commander Robert Iverson (Bruce Greenwood), Major Rebecca Childs (Hilary Swank) and a team of scientists, Dr. Keyes will lead a team of scientists in a ship designed by Dr. Ed Brazzleton (Delroy Lindo) to the Earth's core in the hopes of restarting the Earth's rotation, and save humanity!

This team will prepare for the mission of a life time, as they try to save humanity!

In the end, this movie had great special effects, and a great story line, but the ending... While having some good elements, also kind of really sucked!

What I mean by this, is that I don't know if it was the writing that failed or the actors, but one right after the other, everybody just began to suck! Down to cliche's being spouted left and right, Aaron Eckhart taking a scene out of early 90s teen comedies, and Hilary Swank seeming to all of a sudden becoming dazed and confused through most of the rest of the movie... Well it just made the ending suck!

But the rest of the movie is really quite good, and worth checking out!

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Star Trek (2009) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

Being a huge Star Trek fan I was saddened when I heard that after the failures of the last 2 Star Trek The Next Generation movies and the failure of, 'Enterprise' that Paramount was putting a moratorium on any future Star Trek show (A moratorium being a hold on any future Star Trek TV project,) and that with the disaster that was, Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), that there was going to be nothing more from Star Trek...

The reason for this is that not only did they deprive the world of some truly awesome entertainment, but Star Trek has always stood for the idea that instead of only being able to see the problems that mankind faces, and will face in the future, it put forth the idea of what life could be like if mankind is able to get past it's petty squabbles...

But there was light at the end of the tunnel for us Star Trek fans out there... That light being when they release the re-booted series by going back to the beginning with Star Trek (2009)!

[caption id="attachment_2103" align="aligncenter" width="450"] A scene from, 'Star Trek' (2009)![/caption]

Directed by: J.J. Abrams (Super 8) and Starring: Chris Pine (This Means War), Zachary Quinto (Heroes), Simon Pegg (Shaun Of The Dead), Leonard Nimoy (Invasion Of The Body Snatchers), Eric Bana (Hulk), Bruce Greenwood (Double Jeopardy), Karl Urban (Dredd), Zoe Saldana (Colombiana), John Cho (American Pie), Anton Yelchin (Fright Night) & Chris Hemsworth (Thor).

Now I could tell you that the acting was great... (It was!), I could tell you that the Sound Effects were spectacular (they were), but the truth is, is my favorite thing about this movie is the story!

You see this story is truly an interesting twist on rebooting a franchise right! What I mean by this is that instead of the classic remake that would have inevitably butchered the series they took the story in a whole different direction...

In this movie, on the day that the future Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is born... As a matter of fact while his mother is giving birth to him... The U.S.S. Kelvin is confronted with a Romulan ship that has just traveled to the past from the future... A ship that is being commanded by Captain Nero (Eric Bana)...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="512"] The ship that changed the future of, 'James T. Kirk'![/caption]

You see Captain Nero is looking for Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy) who had ended up going back through time to the past (At this point in the Star Trek Universe, everything is moving the way it would have through out all of the previous movies and TV shows.)

Anyway Nero pushes to try and find Spock, but when he realizes that he went to far back in time, he ends up destroying the Kelvin... Fortunately just about everyone (including the newborn Jim Kirk and his mother Winona) escape the ships destruction... The only problem is that the only one left is the new born Jim Kirk's dad (who ended up saving the Kelvin survivors from Nero...

Now things are different, instead of young Kirk working his way to becoming the legend that he would have eventually become, he is a drunk, and a looser... That is until Kirk is confronted by a friend of his father's by the name of Captain Christopher Pike (Greenwood), who convinces him to at least give him a try.

During his initial run at Starfleet Academy, Vulcan is being attacked by Nero... Who has hatched a master plan that would eventual destroy the Federation of the past (A.K.A. the world of today.)

And now it will be up to the, until recently Jim Kirk that would not become the legend that he would have been in the previous time line, to finally own up to the man he was always meant to be and along with the crew oft he U.S.S. Enterprise, stop Nero, before Nero destroys the Federation!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Kirk & McCoy as they head toward their, 'destiny'...[/caption]

Really my main problem (and I know from talking to to other Trekkies out there that I am not the only one who thinks this), but the problem is, is that as good as this story is, it does have some disjointed continuity errors (well I won't bore you with the details, but if you are a trekkie, you probably will know which ones that I am talking about.)

But regardless, this movie is a fun one, and I thought it was well worth it, and if you give it a try, you might find the same thing as well!

http://youtu.be/SyJszxnJydA

Pike Vs. Pike Who Is Better?

Most people probably don't know this, but I suspect that in the process of making Star Trek (2009), that J.J. Abrams (Lost) probably checked out the failed Star Trek pilot, the reason that I mention this is the fact that before William Shatner and the cast that we have come to know as the legitimate first Star Trek cast. Gene Rodenberry (Andromeda) created a Star Trek script that did end up getting filmed, but when NBC checked it out, they had Rodenberry re-work it because there was, 'not enough action in it!' And thus we have the original Star Trek as we know it!

Now with that in mind, the unused episode was cut up and used for a special 2 parter of the original series called, 'The Menagerie'... And would later be re-constituted and shown in it's entirety as an episode in 1986!

With that in mind though, in 2009, when J.j. Abrams re-booted the series, he re-booted it bringing Captain Pike back to the big screen and has since been in both the first and second Star Trek reboot movies... So I ask the question... Which Pike is better?

Now in all fairness the amount of screen time that Jeffery Hunter's 'Pike' (Jeffery Hunter was the first person to play the character), had significantly less screen time then Bruce Greenwood's (I,Robot) Pike, but in all truth, I have to admit that I really liked Greenwood's Pike over Jeffery Hunter's Pike!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Bruce Greenwood definitely did the best job of playing the role of, 'Captain Christopher Pike'![/caption]

Now the reason for that is manly the fact that Greenwood's, 'Pike' was pitted in a feasible world, where you can easily see Greenwood's Pike in an environment that you could believe as really happening...

The truth is, is that Jeffery Hunter's Star Trek really was a little to campy, and in all fairness, if they had never actually brought Pike back in a more real world styled setting, then I would have to say that Jeffery Hunter's Pike would probably be better then Greenwood's! The reason that I say this is the fact that Jeffery Hunter did a great job in portraying a young Captain, but still a seasoned veteran. Greenwood on the other hand seemed like he should have actually been an Admiral at Star Fleet Command!

Well in the end it was a tough call, but I have to say that Bruce Greenwood did a great job at portraying Pike, and I am going to have to say that he actually ended up doing the best job with this role!

Never the less please enjoy this scene from the Star Trek episode: The Cage, feautring:  Jeffrey Hunter!

http://youtu.be/6F5pAFhByU8

And the trailer for Star Trek (2009):

http://youtu.be/SyJszxnJydA