Deep Core is a 2000 American action science fiction film. The film was generally poorly received.

Synopsis

Brian, the head drilling engineer of an unnamed company, sabotages the drilling operation as he is concerned that Alan the CEO is drilling too deep without taking necessary precautions. Alan restarts the drilling operation on an island off the coast of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and while drilling using a mole-like machine, the drilling team hits a

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...

flow which kills them. This then causes a large

volcanic eruption A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior h ...

and

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

. Alan and Brian start investigating the effects of the drilling, with help from Allison Saunders, head of research and development at the company. They realize that they have affected the stability of the

Earth's core The internal structure of Earth are the layers of the Earth, excluding its atmosphere and hydrosphere. The structure consists of an outer silicate solid crust, a highly viscous asthenosphere, and solid mantle, a liquid outer core whose flow g ...

, which is going to cause

natural disasters A natural disaster is the very harmful impact on a society or community brought by natural phenomenon or Hazard#Natural hazard, hazard. Some examples of natural hazards include avalanches, droughts, earthquakes, floods, heat waves, landslides ...

all over the world. They figure that the only way to stop the magma flow and earthquakes is to use a series of nuclear explosions to reset the spinning of the Earth's core. They plan to drop these

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

s using a new drilling machine. The earthquakes start to spread all over the world, affecting major cities.

Quito, Ecuador Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

is hit and many important buildings are destroyed. Darryl obtains the nuclear bombs from the Chinese government. However, they want their own team to do the drilling. Brian disagrees and assembles his own team including Allison and his drilling engineer colleagues Brian and Rodney. Alan also volunteers to be part of the team. They prepare to drill down into the earth to position the nuclear bombs at strategic positions ready for a coordinated sequence of explosions. They start drilling down into the ground, and successfully drop the first 2 nuclear bombs. They have an issue with the cabin pressure, but after running diagnostics, they realize that the sensors malfunctioned and they manage to reset them. A large piece of rock breaks one of the connections to the feet, which needs to be repaired. Allison and Rodney go outside to fix it. Meanwhile, Brian realizes that they have been drilling into a magma flow. The magma comes through the roof of the tunnel, killing Rodney. Brian goes outside and rescues Allison. They continue drilling to escape the Magma flow and drop the third nuclear bomb. There is another large volcanic eruption from

Mount Pinatubo Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano in the Zambales Mountains in Luzon in the Philippines. Located on the tripoint of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga provinces, most people were unaware of its eruptive history before the pre-eruption volc ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, as the destabilization of the Earth's core gets worse. Alan confesses that he has partnered with the Chinese government, that they had a lot of input into the design of the drilling vehicle, and that the vehicle will go to the government after the drilling mission so they can use it as a weapon. Darryl is contacted by Colonel Po, a Chinese government official who threatens him to ensure the government get control of the vehicle after the mission has been completed. Meanwhile, the drilling team hits a cave full of

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

s, which they can't drill through so they must go around it. The drilling team successfully drops the fourth nuclear bomb, but due to their detour around the diamond cave, they run out of communication cable they have been laying to stay in contact with the command center. This initiates a

self-destruct A self-destruct is a mechanism that can cause an object to destroy itself or render itself inoperable after a predefined set of circumstances has occurred. Self-destruct mechanisms are typically found on devices and systems where malfunction coul ...

countdown of the bomb pod within the drilling vehicle. They eject the bomb pod from the main mining vehicle, but Alan stays in the pod and delays the self-destruct by tying up the computer with a diagnostics program. Brian and his team find a magma flow, to get them to the surface away from the nuclear bombs before they detonate. The nuclear bombs all explode successfully. Brian and his team make it to the surface of the sea. They are rescued by the Coast Guard. Darryl tries to cover up the fact that the drilling vehicle has survived and not fallen into the hands of the Chinese, by destroying all the evidence of the drilling vehicle. He then tries to escape in his car, but Colonel Po finds him and kills him.

Cast

Craig Sheffer Craig Eric Sheffer (born April 23, 1960) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his starring roles as Hardy Jenns in '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987), Aaron "Cabal" Boone in '' Nightbreed'' (1990), Norman Maclean in '' A Ri ...

as Brian Goodman, head Geologist and engineer * Terry Farrell as Allison Saunders, head of Research and Development *

Bruce McGill Bruce Travis McGill (born July 11, 1950) is an American actor. He worked with director Michael Mann in the films '' The Insider'' (1999), '' Ali'' (2001), and '' Collateral'' (2004). McGill's other notable film roles include Daniel Simpson "D-D ...

as Sam Dalton, a drilling engineer *

Harry Van Gorkum Harry Van Gorkum is a British actor living in the United States. Born in London, he studied at Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in ...

as Alan Morrisey, CEO of the drilling company *

Wil Wheaton Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor and writer. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film ''Stand by Me (film), Stand by Me'', ...

as Rodney Bedecker, a drilling engineer *

James Russo James Vincent Russo (born April 23, 1953) is an American film and television actor. He has appeared in over 150 films in three decades. Early life Russo was born in New York City to an Italian father and German mother. A graduate of the High Sch ...

as Darryl Simmons, liaison with the Chinese government *

Kenneth Choi Kenneth Choi (born October 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for playing Henry Lin on the television series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014), Chester Ming in Martin Scorsese's '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013), and Judge Lance It ...

as Wayne Lung, head of the Chinese control centre * Donald Li as Colonel Sun Po, a Chinese government official

Reception

IMDb gave the film a 2.6 out of 10, ''AllMovie'' gave the film a 1.5 out of 5, ''Contact Music'' gave the film a 1 out of 5, ''TV Guide'' gave the film a 2 out of 5 ''Disaster Movie World'' gave the film a 1 out of 5.

References

External links

* * {{Phillip J. Roth, state=collapsed 2000s English-language films 2000 films 2000s disaster films 2000 science fiction action films American disaster films American science fiction action films Films set in China Films set in California Films set in Mexico Films set in the United States Films shot in California Films about nuclear war and weapons Travel to the Earth's center Films directed by Rodney McDonald 2000s American films English-language science fiction action films

Synopsis

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links