MovieChat Forums > At the Earth's Core (1976) Discussion > Finest sci-fi movie ever.

Finest sci-fi movie ever.

posted 17 years ago by mam13143
20 replies | jump to latest

The storyline is incredibly intricate so you have to follow it closely and the creatures are truly lifelike and scary and certainly the pig-like drones strike fear into me every time I see this film. And then I laugh out loud!!!!

Truly a movie to watch with others so you can really enjoy it like so many awful films - would make even that unbearable if it wasn't for the actors - watching gorgeous Caroline Munroe laugh her way through scenes is priceless, Cushing plays it for laughs and Doug McClure plays it straight which makes him the funniest of all.

Seriously though, always liked these actors so I can laugh with them so to speak - own this on dvd with War Gods of the Deep which is in the same vein except Tab Hunter instead of Doug - every time I see this one I wish they had gone with Doug.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] RichN36 16 years ago

How sad I remember seeing this with my best friend in Middle school. Was a double feature with "Land that Time forgot" But this is the kind of film you wish that MST3K was still on the Air for. Not only a Fun Film in its own right but would be great fodder for Mike and the Robots.

Q: How does Soylent Green taste?
A: It varies from person to person.
"Futurama"

[–] chet19 16 years ago

Yeah, you have a good point...that Cushing was clearly overdoing it for laughs on purpose, but Doug McClure thought this was a real sci-fi drama and played it seriously. Dia!! No!!

The voices/talking of the Sagoth pig people was cool though. Some kinda weird 70s audio effect.

[–] lovecraftfan 16 years ago

"They're so excitable, like all foreigners!"- classic

The box, you opened it we came.

[–] Xcalat3 16 years ago

are you serious?

this was cheesy and very very bad

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

[–] darrell4562000 16 years ago

Outstanding!! in my TOP 20 scifi!!

[–] jaloquisimo 16 years ago

Clearly, it's a bad film. But that doesn't stop it from being hugely entertaining.

The immortal Peter Cushing is on top comedy form as a kind of Victorian science-fiction Mr Chips. The rubber "monsters" are astonishingly bad. But somehow it works. It shouldn't, but it does.

A testament to the brilliance of Cushing - he can act a comedy role next to the execrable McClure and the enormously talented (ahem) Caroline Munro and still come out with his dignity intact.

[–] AardvarkRatnik 16 years ago

Saw this last night as I was suffering from flu induced insomnia.

Cushing gave what has to be one of the best movie lines ever; "You can't mesmerize me! I'm British!!" Pure class! And just think that within a year of playing the eccentric Professor here, he was playing the utterly evil Tarkin in Star Wars. Can you think of 2 more contrasting characters? Could any other actor have managed to do both parts so well?

"And with that sentence you've just lost the right to even talk to me, now BACK OFF!"

[–] studor1124 15 years ago

This movie was just one year prior to "Star Wars" but there's a world of difference in the roles for Peter Cushing. He sounds so prissy in "At the Earth's Core" - more like CP3O than Grand Moff Tarkin. I guess that's a testament to his acting ability.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Woodyanders 15 years ago

I thought this film was an absolute campy hoot. Peter Cushing was so funny as the dotty professor. Plus those rubbery monsters were hilariously hokey!

"We're all part Shatner/And part James Dean/Part Warren Oates/And Steven McQueen"

[–] honeylocs 15 years ago

This movie is so much fun!! I'm watching it now on THISTV.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] karlbark 14 years ago

Hahaaa! :-D
This was really a *lot* of fun!!!

I just saw this film on a german TV channel. (Dubbed in german - OUCH)!

But.... - although I had to suffer through german dubbing (*shudder*),..
..I must say that the Germans are much more "adventurous" than our own national (Icelandic), TV channel when it comes to choosing Very-Late-Night films!

In fact, I have never, ever seen an old "forgotten" sci-fi film like this on our
national (Icelandic) TV channel (RÚV)!

-I wholeheartedly enjoyed this old sci-fi actioner, although I couldn´t really understand more than 4/5 ths of the spoken (dubbed) dialogue.

[–] bigmaxxb 14 years ago

Smoke a massive bowl before watching this flick! It helps get through it.