The Cave (2005)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Bruce Hunt

Writers (WGA):

Michael Steinberg (written by) &
Tegan West (written by)

Release Date:

26 August 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Horror

Tagline:

There are places man was never meant to go.

Plot:

Bloodthirsty creatures await a pack of divers who become trapped in an underwater cave network.

Plot Keywords:

Cave | Diver | Romania | Monster | Explosion

Cast

Cole Hauser	...	Jack McAllister
Eddie Cibrian	...	Tyler McAllister
Morris Chestnut	...	Top Buchanan
Lena Headey	...	Dr. Kathryn Jennings
Piper Perabo	...	Charlie
Rick Ravanello	...	Briggs
Daniel Dae Kim	...	Alex Kim
Kieran Darcy-Smith	...	Strode
Marcel Iures	...	Dr. Nicolai
Vlad Radescu	...	Dr. Bacovia
Simon Kunz	...	Mike - Caver #1
David Kennedy	...	Ian - Caver #2
Alin Panc	...	Razvan - Caver #3
Zoltan Butuc	...	Corvin - Caver #4
Brian Steele	...	Creature Performer

Also Known As:

Prime Evil (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense creature violence.

Runtime:

97 min | Germany:93 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English | Romanian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Philippines:PG-13 | Ireland:15A | Taiwan:PG-12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:13 | Mexico:B | France:-12 | Brazil:14 | UK:12 (video rating) (2005) | UK:12A (original rating) | Malaysia:U | Germany:12 | Sweden:15 | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Australia:MA (TV rating) | Netherlands:16 | South Korea:12 | USA:PG-13 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Screen Gems

Trivia:

The film claims to have some basis in truth because new micro-ecologies have been discovered in deep caves, especially in Romania. According to film consultant Dr. Christi Lascu (acclaimed speleologist and Romanian editor of National Geographic magazine), 35 brand new species were found in the Movila Caves in the late-1980s. Among the species found was a 10cm centipede with a poisonous bite. There was nothing the size of the creature in the movie, but in theory there is not a limit for the size of animals living down there.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Several scenes show the explorers using their HID (High Intensity discharge) dive lights out of the water. HID lights use the surrounding water as a coolant and thus cannot be used for long periods of time above water as they would heat up too much and croak.

Quotes:

Charlie: They fly! They frickin' fly!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HypaSpace: (#4.170)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Nemo

average creature flick

This wasn't a bad movie if you like creature flicks. It isn't original, but it does nothing badly and is interesting enough to spend 1.5 hours with.

Firstly: why is it that the entire team consists of hunks and babes? Even the scientists are good looking chicks. Oh well, we'll just have to suspend our thinking and just accept that actors have to be good looking these days, even if their roles completely rule out looking like a supermodel.

As for the movie itself: the action, plot (if there is any to speak of), effects and direction are OK, as is the acting.. Once again, nothing special, novel or interesting but not bad either. The editing was decent except for the action shots. Why does every editor and/or director think that they are doing an MTV clip these days? Keep the camera still! If you think I can see what's going on in random .3 second bursts of film, you're wrong. So irritating.

The effects are OK. Although at times the caves are lit in ways that are impossible for the little flashlights to accomplish, the set is generally dark enough to be realistic. The caves look real. The monsters are not that good but they are almost never shown completely, and in doing so they are acceptable. I do wish the movie had more gore though. Being, as almost all horror movies these days, PG-13 to cash in on teenage kids' money, it does not show any gore besides some scratches and some ugly but very brief ceature shots.

Final comment: I wish the movie had revolved around the first cave expedition that is shown during the introduction titles. They seemed a hell of a lot more interesting than that group of supermodels who came in later. Real men, real people, driven by greed. Oh well.

Decent action, decent thrills. Not bad to kill some time with.