Movie Review: At the Earth's Core (1976)
Synopsis: A British scientist, Dr. Abner Perry, and American financier David Innes build a drilling machine in Victorian times and use their "Iron Mole" to explore underneath the Earth's crust. To their surprise, they end up in an underground prehistoric land with strange, deadly beasts and a human population that is enslaved by the ape-like Sagoths, which are under the telepathic control of the Mahars, a species of pterosaurs. After being captured with the rest of the humans, David falls in love with a princess, Dia, and goes to her rescue when she is chosen as a sacrifice.
Who's in it? The movie stars Peter Cushing, Doug McClure, Caroline Munro, Godfrey James and Cy Grant.
Review: I came across At the Earth's Core last night, while looking for a movie to watch this morning. While it is a premise that has been done many times before (and after), I saw it started Peter Cushing and figured I'd give it a try as a result.
The movie certainly turned out to be a choice.
In all fairness, the movie did have a comprehensible plot, which isn't always the case with films like this. It was clear who the main protagonists and antagonists were. The primary objective of getting back home was obvious while the secondary objective of freeing Dia (Munro) and her enslaved people was necessary if the primary objective was to be achieved. And, mixed in with all of that, there was a nice combination of action and comedy, the latter especially being true of Cushing's Dr. Perry character, who should have been way out of his element but somehow managed to make the best of things.
My biggest complaint about the movie is it was what I would describe as being "too busy." There's a lot to take in, whether it's the colorful backdrop, the various ways the characters could be killed or trying to wrap your head around telepathic pterodactyls that insist on human sacrifices.
The end result of this was a movie that, as I said, had a surprisingly solid plot but, at the same time, was a bit hard to take seriously at times. And this includes one of the most boring fight scenes in movie history, which looked more like an awkward dance than a fight to the death. It made me wonder if the movie was supposed to be a comedy but just didn't have enough working jokes to make it obvious.
Of course, to be fair, that did arguably make it a bit memorable.
Final Opinion: The movie has its flaws, especially in the special effects department. However, the plot was good enough to make me want to watch until the end and, while I rolled my eyes multiple times, admittedly was entertained. I'd recommend it based on that.
My Grade: B-
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Here are some reviews of other movies starring Peter Cushing:
Movie Review: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
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