Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Mischa Redfern I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

jvance-566-20403 This movie came out during Project Mohole intended to drill into the mantle. I've always assumed this movie was a take on that activity. Though the Mohole was a failure, "Crack in the World" was a solid success.The science was implausible even at the time. You'd never try this anywhere but the ocean floor and flying a conventional rocket down into the Earth was frankly ridiculous and looked goofy even to my 11 year old self.But those deficiencies don't notably detract from the fine performances and well-directed suspense. The movie moves along nicely with only a couple of draggy romance scenes. The special effects were well-done and quite convincing for the mid-1960s. All the characters are plausible and deliver equally plausible lines. Dana Andrews elderly stud good looks and mellifluous voice are a joy to watch. Kieron Moore, as always, plays the hunk with broad-shoulders and large biceps who always knows the right thing to do - and can do it all himself. Janette Scott is underused except as attractive scenery and damsel in distress.Definitely worth the time it takes to watch.

merklekranz A dream of harnessing the Earth's magma to create unlimited energy for mankind is brought into reality by a dying scientist. His suspect method of firing a ballistic missile into the Earth's core leads to a disaster of unprecedented magnitude, threatening to rip the Planet apart. "Crack in the World" is exciting, well written, beautifully depicted, science fiction. Character development is good for this type, and includes an uneasy alliance between two scientists caught in a love triangle with Janette Scott. Especially notable are the great pre- C.G.I. special effects, along with actual volcano footage. I rank this right up with the best sci-fi's I've seen, and I've seen a lot. - MERK

MartinHafer While this is not the sort of movie I usually like to watch, I sought it out for one reason--Dana Andrews. While he's not especially famous today, Andrews was a wonderfully realistic and solid actor who never seemed to get his due--even though he made a ton of films--many of which were terrific (such as "Laura", "The Ox-Bow Incident" and "The Best Years of Our Lives"). Part of this might be because of his rather ordinary looks and perhaps part of this might be his own fault, as later in his career he wasn't exactly choosy about the roles he took--with appearances in schlock films like "The Frozen Dead". Whatever the reasons, even his disappointments feature him doing his best and putting in one great acting performance after another. I just marvel at his professionalism and seemingly effortless acting and would watch him in anything.Andrews plays a very flawed scientist. Because he is dying and wants to make a name for himself, he has decided to try a risky experiment--one that his co-worker thinks might cause a chain-reaction that could rip the planet apart. At first, the experiment seems to have worked, but by shooting a nuclear bomb into the Earth and releasing magma, the integrity of the planet has been compromised. Earthquakes and tsunamis begin and it appears as if eventually the Earth will crumble apart. In a last-ditch effort to avert this disaster, a wacky plan involving blowing up a volcano to relieve pressure is planned. Will this work or is mankind royally screwed?! This movie is reasonably well done technically, though a few scenes are a tad clumsy when it came to special effects. As for the plot and acting, they are all fair--worth seeing, perhaps, but it's far from a must-see and really only a pretty good time-passer.

MARIO GAUCI This is another popular sci-fi outing – which follows a world crisis pattern established by the superior THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE (1961) – that I had only previously read about in books; I finally watched it via a DivX made from a P&S TV broadcast on AMC (unfortunately, my enjoyment was slightly hampered by recurring lip-synch problems).Anyway, the film itself – initially slow-going and talky but becoming persuasive and fairly gripping once the disasters start – is good-looking and features remarkable special effects, while the principal actors are all adept at this sort of thing (an ageing and quite moving Dana Andrews as the dying scientist, Janette Scott and Kieron Moore – both from THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS [1962] – and Alexander Knox from THESE ARE THE DAMNED [1963]); besides, unlike many films of its ilk, the characters' personal dilemmas actually contribute to the tension.While not exactly a milestone of the genre and ultimately forgettable, the film ought to get a decent DVD release (if it weren't problematic, I guess I could have lived with my current copy); however, being a Paramount production, it can't be much of a priority (seeing how they've reportedly leased one of their more desirable properties – ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS [1964] – to Criterion, thus burdening fans with a much more expensive edition!)