Battle Beneath the Earth

1968 "An Incredible Battle Is Raging Right Under Your Feet!"
4.5| 1h31m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 15 May 1968 Released
Producted By: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Government officials discover a horrible plot: the Chinese are tunneling their way to the United States.

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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios

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Reviews

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!
Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.
Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
Scott_Mercer So many opportunities to laugh at this film. Where does one begin? European actors in "yellowface" playing the bad guy renegade Chinese army. (Let's see here -- the bad guy in his lair always has an eccentric pet with him -- okay the guy has a parrot! Check that off the list!)A film obviously made in Britain pretending to be a Hollywood film, which takes place in Las Vegas (unconvincing cardboard set inside a sound stage, plus some actual second unit stock footage), San Diego (England), Oregon (England again) and Hawaii (more stock footage, plus various underground tunnels (more paper mache sets in a sound stage).Comically fake nuclear bombs. Laser guns mounted on bulldozers. Giant spinning tape reel computer banks...no wait, those were real at that time.Bad directing, jump cuts, dropped frames, one establishing shot where the camera drops off the tripod. Awkward staging. Hokey dialog. The whole plot totally ridiculous. Well, it is like a live action comic book. So why should I take any bit of it seriously? Well, the characters seem to be dead serious about the whole enterprise. (That's good. True camp does not work if you give a "nod and a wink" to the audience...though that one scene with the slot machines in the mental hospital was perhaps a bit over the line...) Yes, fans of The Batman or Green Hornet TV shows of this time period will be right at home here. Plenty of bright primary colors, swish pan transitions, and blaring cool-daddyo-jazz soundtrack. It's all here for the fan of 1960's camp and Cold War pop culture kitsch to treasure as an endemic artifact of its time, the likes of which we may never see again.Thank goodness.
bkoganbing In Battle Beneath The Earth the never ending Communist plot has decided on a new tactic to take over America. They're going to tunnel their way in from Asia. After that it's just planting nuclear bombs in strategic places, military bases, large cities and they blow up a couple and dictate surrender to the survivors. Neat ain't it.Interestingly enough at the time Battle Beneath The Earth came out it might have found a resonant audience because in the People's Republic Of China the Red Guard phenomenon was getting underway. Mao Tse-Tung turned on a whole lot of his comrades from the 1949 Revolution feeling that they had lost the zeal for change. The young people were those he placed his trust in and his guy for dealing with the old line Communists was a fellow named Lin Piao who met an untimely end a few years later after things really got out of hand.The Chinese general played by Martin Benson who is doing all this tunneling, a Communist mole in a literal sense of the word could have been based on Lin Piao. But sad to say this film plays like one of those old Fu Manchu stories and those in fact were coming back somewhat with Christopher Lee doing some of those new films as well around the same time as this came out.Peter Arne is the scientist who discovers the tunnels, something he wanted to work on for the west, but no one would let him. Kerwin Matthews handles the military end of stopping the Commies.If you're taste runs to Fu Manchu, I suggest you watch the real deal instead of this.
bensonmum2 It'll never be on my "favorites" list, but Battle Beneath the Earth is not a half bad way to waste away an hour and a half or so. The movie is beyond silly, but that's what makes it fun and entertaining. The plot involves a Chinese General named Chan Lu (Martin Benson) who has a plan to destroy the United States from below. Using his boring machine, he and his renegade army have dug several large tunnels below the North American continent that they plan to use to launch a nuclear attack. Armed with his own borer, Cmdr. Jonathan Shaw (Kerwin Mathews) leads an American expeditionary force to investigate and stop General Lu in his tracks.Everything about this movie is utterly ridiculous. The plot, acting, and special effects are all ridiculous. The movie seems to have been made on a budget less than what a grande Starbucks might cost. I swear I saw our heroes go past the same stack of crates about a half a dozen times in their escape from the tunnels. And whose idea was it to use so many non-Asians in all the primary Chinese roles? These people look about as Asian as I do (which is not at all). Finally, the whole thing is shot in a style reminiscent of the 60s Batman television show with overly bright primary colors, poor and fake looking props, and weak staging in the action sequences. Still, it's all these factors that make the movie a blast. It might not work for everyone, but I enjoyed Battle Beneath the Earth. A 6/10 seems about right.
ma-cortes The picture concerns upon Chinese communists (leader is Martin Benson as general goes berserk and who places atomic bombs) trying to destroy United States via some continued series of underground tunnels , made all the way from China under the Pacific Ocean , but some US Navy soldiers , scientists , military (Kerwin Mathews , Al Mulok , Ed Bishop) and a gorgeous geologist (Vivienne Ventura) discover the scheme and go underground to repel the invaders .It's a pulp movie of science-fiction genre in which there are noisy action , suspense , intrigue , tension and results to be quite bemusing . The history deals with nasty Chinese people and American patriots who fight strongly to vanquish them . In spite of lack luster and budget is quite agreeable and fun . The plot is almost ridiculous and senseless but it's developed in fast moving and numerous surprises and that's why it is amusing . The movie has precedent in those films of the 30s with Fumanchu (by Sax Rohmer) and Boris Karloff as heinous starring and nearest the series of the 60s (produced by Harry Alan Towers with Christopher Lee as the Chinese baddie) in which the ¨yellow danger¨ was a fearful enemy . The motion picture takes part of a genre which in the 80s attained splendor , thus : ¨Red Dawn¨ (by John Milius with Patrick Swayze) , ¨Invasion USA ¨ (by Joseph Zito with Chuck Norris) and ¨Amerika¨ (by Donald Wyre with Kris Kristofferson) where the communists -Russkies generally- execute invasion on America . Rating : Average but entertaining .