When I wrote my previous post, my original intent was to recommend the movie, At the Earth’s Core. But I decided I should first discuss the novel on which it was based.
There was a brief period in movie history, before CGI, during which, practical effects were the only effects. No one had any idea that something more convincing, or realistic, or less labor-intensive was on the horizon. And they didn’t worry that the audience would not be fooled by their creations. They were creating the best weird creatures, strange vehicles, settings, aliens, jungles, and lost cities anyone had ever seen, and they knew it.
So they shamelessly created entire jungles out of paper mâché, monsters from foam-rubber to be worn as costumes, stone temples and fortresses of fiberglass, and miniature models of entire cities and landscapes. If they wanted to make something look larger and or further away, they used rear-screen projection, and maybe slowed it down to give it a feeling of greater mass, and used children or small models of the actors to give a sense of scale.
I have to say, I really wish more movies had been made this way. This era was too brief and these methods, an artform in their own right, could have done so much more than they ever got to do. Some CGI is awesome. Some CGI is soulless, boring and awful. But the worst thing about CGI is that Practical Effects fell by the wayside, not because CG is better, but because it is more “cost effective.” Given a choice between art and realism, I prefer art.
(gets down from soap-box)
At the Earth’s Core is (imho) one of the most underappreciated movies in history, specifically because it used all the techniques described above, to bring to life one of the most fun and imaginative stories in literary history.
I don’t want to oversell it, and possibly lead you into a disappointing movie experience. It is a silly movie, based on an impossible premise. The dialogue is hokey. The story launches with very little setup. And if you are looking for realism, you’re looking in the wrong place.
At the Earth’s Core is not about having a serious “cinematic experience.” It’s more like a theme-park ride, where you sit in the little rail-car, ride through various model settings, and watch the animatronic monsters do interesting things.
It’s an opportunity to indulge the child within, who still wants to play with toy dinosaurs, robots and rocket ships, or ride the ride at the amusement park.
That said, for what it was, it was very well done. The jungle and caves are big, weird and mysterious, especially for having been built entirely in one warehouse-sized sound-stage. The lava, mostly carefully lit water or translucent paper etc., is actually surprisingly convincing (on the theme-park scale). And the creatures are strange, beautiful, toothy and scary in the fun way that toy dinosaurs are scary.
The characters, while not always very convincing, are very likeable and sympathetic, except for the bad guys, who are very satisfyingly unlikeable.
Doug McClure plays David Innes, the young, two-fisted adventurer. You may know him from other movies like Warlords of Atlantis (which I will surely be posting about later on) or the Land that Time Forgot, or its sequel, The People that Time Forgot. And even typing that, I am reminded of the Simpsons character, Troy McClure, a sendup of Doug McClure and Troy Donohue. “You may remember me from such movies as…” Yeah, that Doug McClure.
The doddering professor, Abner Perry, is delightfully played by Peter Cushing, whom you may know as Grand Moff Tarkin in the original Star Wars (Episode IV). Cushing is a favorite of mine and also alternately played Dr Frankenstein and Doctor Van Helsing in several Hammer Horror movies, which deserve several posts themselves (if I can get around to it (so much sci-fi, so little time)).
And Princess Dia is enticingly played by Caroline Munro, whom sci-fi/fantasy movie fans may recognize from the James Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me, or another of my favorites, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Sadly, Dia is mainly a MacGuffin in this story. I blame Edgar Rice Burroughs for that. (at some point I do intend to post on the subject of problematic themes in early sci-fi and fantasy) In any case, Caroline did a great job with what she was given.
Hopefully, I have bad-mouthed the movie just enough to manage your expectations without turning you off of it entirely. At the Earth’s Core is a great movie for letting your inner child have a little fun. My recommendation: lock your inner critic up in the back of your brain and take a little break. Take the inner kid on a theme-park ride. You deserve it.
