Battle Beneath the Earth

Claustrophobic, by Nature, Story of a "Chinese" Communist Invasion on America's Homeland by Tunneling.

Driving, Supposedly, Futuristic Sci-Fi Boring Vehicles.

That are Shown as Nothing More than Toy-Trucks Painted in Loud Colors with some "Teeth-Like" Appendages.

Moving at a Whopping 8 MPH and Encountering USA Resistance Once in a While to Slow Them as the Home of the Brave Manage to Invent a Rival, Unimpressive Looking (for Movie Buffs) Toy of Their Own.

The Film Starts with some Levity as a "Crackpot" Scientist with Ear to the Ground on a City Sidewalk Says...

"Listen, they're down there like ants, coming to exterminate us."

Turns Out the "Mad Scientist", who was "Locked-Up" in the "Loony-Bin", is the Only One Who can Invent such a Toy.

Unintentionally Funny Lines Pop-Up like...While Exploring with a Fellow, but Female Researcher, B-Movie Swashbuckler Kerwin Matthews, Stops Mid-Stride to ask...

"So how long have you been researching tunnels?".

Another Guffaw is, During the High-Tension Invasion, Discovering the Enemy, a Military-Man Gets on the Phone and Shouts...

"This is a PRIORITY, DOUBLE-SCRAMBLE THE SIGNAL."

Some Colorful Images as Wall-Paper and an Over-the-Top Comic-Book-James-Bond Megalomaniac, Can't Save the Boredom.

Forgotten Vietnam Conflict Propaganda Picture is Not Worth Remembering.

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 .

I knew this movie was going to be silly but I tried to watch it as objectively as possible. In the beginning this still went well but as the movie progressed the story lost more and more credibility, which was not only due to the poor silly story but also due to the poor film-making in general.

The story is not just only silly in terms of its premise but it's also filled with some implausibilities and giant plot holes. Like for instance, why don't the Americans launch a full scale attack after they discovered the Chinese rouge army, that plans to explode nuclear bombs on (or under) American soil? Instead they send about a dozen man, of which some aren't even used to combat situations. And why do the Chinese transport a couple of nuclear bombs without even an escort? The more you start thinking about this movie and its story, the sillier it gets. Perhaps you should try to watch this movie without thinking too much. It's the kind of story material normally used in a simple "Thunderbirds" episode, in which they have to save the world in 20 minutes time.

The story is original and in its core it had potential. However the way everything is brought to the screen is far from impressive or credible. I mean when they basically use giant flashlights for laser-beams, it's hard to take this movie serious. Also throughout the movie they occasionally use multiple sequences multiple times, in some cases even three times the same shot! Due to money or time problems? Anyway, it doesn't do the movie much good.

And why aren't the Chinese main villains being portrayed by Chinese, or even just Asians for that matter. Instead they are now being portrayed by British actors, with make-up, which works far from convincing to say the least. But also the rest of the actors aren't much good. Hard to say if that's entirely their fault, since the characters that they have to play are also far from well developed or even interesting enough to follow.

Guess in a way it's one of those movies that is so bad that it becomes good. The movie still does has its entertaining moments but yet the way the movie is made as a whole makes sure that you can't help to laugh and cringe at this movie.

4/10

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"Battle Beneath the Earth" is an enjoyable film. But just because I enjoyed watching it does not mean that it's a particularly good nor intelligently made movie! After all, the plot is utterly ridiculous and the 'Chinese' in the film look about as Chinese as Steven Seagal or Bela Lugosi!

The story begins with a seemingly insane man ranting and raving in Las Vegas about sounds he's hearing beneath the pavement. Eventually, however, they realize that the man should be released from the asylum because there IS something going on under the ground....and it's a Dr. No-like Chinese general who is bent on world domination! Can he be stopped?

As I mentioned above, the Chinese in the film are certainly NOT Chinese but are Brits with Bela Lugosi hairdos and bits of prosthetic material around their eyes to make them look Asian! While the Americans are all played by Brits isn't that badly done, the Chinese in the film were embarrassingly bad. Plus the notion of Chinese folks tunneling from China throughout America....utterly silly and impossible. But despite all this, the film is fun and enjoyable...provided you first turn off your brain!

I can agree with the various shortcomings of this film although I loved it when I first saw it at a kid's matinée feature. The concept is so like a Bond movie I'm surprised it wasn't used for one. The scheming Chinese General could easily have been Dr. No. The special effects are nominal but serviceable and I'll offer the backhanded compliment that it could have been much worse if it had been an penny-pinching American production.

Anyway, see it for yourself if you dare but it's light fluffy fun from the late 60's when it seemed the viewing public knew nothing of science and could ignore the glaring errors, both scientific and plot-oriented.

Bonus! Ed Bishop of Gerry Anderson fame has a substantial role. Bonus again! The Chinese officers drive around in yellow German Kubelwagens.