It's not as if they're known for originality, but the Sci-Fi Channel films at least try to do something different, even if it rarely works. That's not the case with the deplorable Descent, a straight knock-off of 2003's The Core. Though a few discernable differences are here, this is, for the most part, a carbon copy of a film that wasn't even enjoyable to begin with.
The Core took us to the center of our planet to actually shift the Earth's core because it stopped rotating. Descent doesn't take us quite that far down, likely to disguise this somewhat as a direct rip. Here, Luke Perry and his conflicting crew need to move plates that have shifted due to a failed government experiment.
They couldn't even think of an original reason to get them below ground, which probably tells you what you need to know. The movie is filled with characters that have no point or are so horribly clichéd, you could care less what they're doing. Any dialogue is here simply to kill some running time so the special effects team only has to work for half the film. The actors seem to struggle with the scientific terms, making the already ludicrous explanations harder to comprehend.
There's little banter as to how the plan put in place to save us all is actually going to work. They spend all of two minutes planning for it all, and it's amazing how quickly they're provided with two bombs containing "more power than 40 Hiroshima bombs." You can try and figure out how blowing up the Earth's plates is actually going to relieve the pressure the crust is under, but the script isn't going to help.
For a disaster film to succeed, it needs destruction. That's what could have made this one tolerable. Descent has all of two brief scenes, and by brief, that actually means a few seconds. Not a single building collapses (it just sort of loses a small portion of 50th floor) and when a bridge begins shaking, it miserably disintegrates with some of the lowest quality CG ever put on film. The lava flow, which is what the film relies on to create danger, doesn't fare much better.
Never before has putting billions of people in peril been this boring. That must be Descent's claim to fame. There's nothing worth watching here unless you enjoy watching CG lava (which actually looks like radioactive pudding) covering small sections of the Earth.
Article comments
1 - Gina
Hah I was about to write a similar review. I saw the immediate similarites between this movie and The Core, which I've seen several times, just from the commercial for it that I saw last week. I'm watching the movie now, just to see how badly they ruined the movie I love so much.
2 - bob smalls
Actually guys 'The Core' itself was a rip off of a B-grade schlocker called Deep Core which starred terry farrel from Becker and DS9. So I guess this brings it all back full circle :)
3 - Joe Songer
Another Sci-Fi unoriginal
4 - Jimbo
I worked on this film and it was EXTREMELY low budget. Not a single person on the crew thought it was anything but air-time filler.
The sets were even more laughable in person believe me. What can I say, it was a pay cheque (however small).
Luke Perry is a cool guy and not bad of an actor. He deserves better roles than this.
5 - Matt Paprocki
What did you actually do on the film? I'd love to hear about your experiences working on a flick like this, or even do a quick interview is possible. Drop me a line if interested:
videogamer@bex.net
6 - Matt
Hey, this movie was pretty bad, and Worf needs to step up from star trek not down. Any how the main actress in the film, I know I have seen her in other films, but I can't find her name anywhere. Anyone know?