Earlier today, a really fun memory surfaced that I wanted to share, because I haven’t had an opportunity to tell a story in a little while. It’s an older memory, so I’m sure some of the specifics aren’t entirely correct, but this is way I remember it.
In the early 2000s, I worked on a couple of movies that were direct-to-DVD, low budget versions of successful, big budget movies of the moment. Call it the Roger Corman model.
In the first one I did, Deep Core, the whole Earth is going to explode or something, unless an unlikely band of misfits can drill to the Deep Core of the planet and set off the bomb or whatever. It’s sort of like Armageddon but underground, and also like The Core, but for about sixteen dollars and some wire from the bin behind the hardware store.
Now, having said that, it’s a charming and silly and extremely fun movie where my character eventually turns into a flaming skeleton with the help of an unexpected gout of magma in the third act. It understands the assignment, because we all understood the assignment. It was a fun set, where we got to just play our scenes to the best of our ability.
And I got to work with some lovely castmates. The unlikely band of misfits, collected from an oil field of questionable legality, were played by me, Craig Scheffer, Bruce McGill, and Terry Farrell.
At some point in the story, the four of us are in this drilling machine thing that looks suspiciously like a shuttlecraft from a popular 1990s science fiction program. It’s a practical set that comes apart in the middle, longways, and is set atop a system of boards and other boards that create a poor man’s gimbal to simulate the exciting motion while we are flying through space drilling toward the Deep Core. It was cool, especially for a low budget set. You could only see some of the nails, and the parts that weren’t supposed to wobble mostly didn’t. I recall the console having lots of practical toggles and buttons, which is always a lot of fun.
We filmed in this thing for about a week. On the first day, during our first rehearsal, those extremely safe and union-approved levers were tested out while we all sat in our places. Terry and Craig were in the driver’s seats, Bruce and I faced away from each other down the sides of the thing, behind them. I liked to imagine I was the Spock of this crew.
So the director gets us all together on the first day. We talk about the whole “drilling Deep into the Core ” of it all. He says, “So this isn’t a smooth ride, as you drill through the rocks. We’re going to move the set a little bit, but you’ll need to sell it with your own motion.”
Craig asks what that motion should look like and the director says it’s sort of like being in a tank over a dirt road.
At this point, I look at Terry over my shoulder, and find that she is already looking at me.
“So you think this is about a 3?” She says.
“Yeah, that seems about right,” I agree, and we both turn back to take our positions for rehearsal.
This is when Craig holds up a hand and says, “Hold on. What was that? You two just communicated something to each other, using words I understand, and I have no idea what you said.”
Terry and I burst out laughing.
“It’s the Star Trek shake scale,” I tell him. “When there are nine actors in a scene and we get hit by a photon torpedo, we all need to react with the same intensity, so we have the scale.”
“We weren’t even on the same show, and we both use the scale,” Terry added.
“Yeah, it’s standardized across all series,” I said. “First week at the Academy stuff.”
This makes Terry and me laugh, all over again.
“So are you guys going to teach us?” Bruce asks, his voice bright with amusement.
Terry and I look at each other and play out the bit just a little longer. “Sure,” I say, “a 3 looks like this.” I nod at Terry and we both start doing an identical level of shimmy and shake. “This is a 6,” she says, and we both flop over our consoles before we right ourselves.
“Damage report!” I say. As I remember this moment, even though my memories are a quarter century old and I’ve certainly gotten some of the specifics wrong, I can so clearly see and feel how much fun we had while we were doing this. When I talk about how Star Trek is a family that you never leave unless you want to, this is what I am talking about. Moments like this that only a few hundred people, in the history of the world, have experienced in this specific way. It’s such a blessing, such a gift.
At this point, the director and the whole crew are watching us. The director asks us for a 1, and we do it. Bruce asks for a 5, and we shake side to side before we steady ourselves on our consoles. Someone asks for a 10, and in the literal blink of an eye, we silently agree we are not doing that. They can’t handle a 10. They think they can, but they have no idea.
“Sorry, that only happens when we crash the Enterprise,” I say.
Everyone laughs, and the first AD asserts that we have to get to work, guys. The director gets ready to call action on rehearsal.
“Okay, everyone,” he pauses for a moment, then continues with purpose, “this is a 3,” he says. “And, action!”
I glance over my shoulder and see Craig is doing about a 2, but he’s getting there. Bruce is a solid 3, cheating a little bit with a sideways glace toward Terry, who makes it look easy.
I suppress a grin and gently rock side to side, as I match their tempo, a perfect 3.
Some fun stuff I came across while (unsuccessfully) looking for a place you can stream this, from Wikipedia.
From the “Reception” section: IMDb gave the film a 2.6 out of 10, AllMovie gave the film a 1.5 out of 5, Contact Music gave the film a 1 out of 5, TV Guide gave the film a 2 out of 5 Disaster Movie World gave the film a 1 out of 5.
That is entirely fair, generous, even.
From the “See Also” section: The Core, 2003 film with a similar plot.
This is the funniest thing in this post, and I didn’t even write it. Well played, Wikipedia.
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By the way, if any of you do manage to find it online, I’d love to know where. Maybe we could do some kind of watch along.
I’m actually the VP of FlixFling an online streaming service (among other roles I do) that is independently owned. I did just find this film through one of our global referral affiliates Just Watch. Unfortunately it is not available for streaming in the US. (only Germany and Switzerland right now) However here is the link for folks who have a VPN https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/deep-core . We get films from 40+ studios I would love to add it to our collection if possible. As a SAG-AFTRA person I heard about a local film from our actors in the area at our annual meeting a couple weeks ago that was made last summer and ordered it from MVD Entertainment. Anyway, Wil if you hear of a US distributor please let me know. For Invincible Pictures I did dvd distribution for 33 titles between 2014 and 2018, and personally did the closed captions for 80 more to send to other vendors. Any film you have ever been a part of I would love to add to FlixFling.
https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/deep-core is where you want to go to watch especially if you are VPN savvy.. I wrote a heartfelt note to you Wil but somehow it didn’t post. Anyway that particular film is not available in US for streaming. If it was I’d order it FlixFling along with anything you’ve ever done.. But check out Just Watch for other rare gems too..We pay them if they refer rentals or subscribers to us but they are my first recommendation to film lovers regardless if we have it or not. Happy summer to everyone!
appears to maybe be viewable in German, but not from here? VPN?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bma5JnnpKaM
Apparently it is popular in Germany right now. Found it in German on three streaming services in Germany, but I don’t have a VPN to watch it. 😀
My online searches first turned up something called Core Deep. Definitely NOT your film! 😀 I eventually found a copy of Deep Core dubbed in Italian. But its .mkv file still had an English subtrack. Yay! So I re-ripped it to an .mp4 file with the original soundtrack, using the older universal H.264 codec so it should play on any machine (including my ancient laptop, which is why I routinely do this). Anyway. I’ve posted the file to my public dropbox. Enjoy! And you’re right, it looks like about a three. 😉
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xceywcoagl7763qxgigsl/Deep_Core_-2000.mp4?rlkey=igvt574q5fvs7ooxndj0gheh9
My first online searches turned up something called Core Deep. This is definitely NOT your movie! 😀 I eventually found a copy of Deep Core dubbed in Italian. But its .mkv file still had an English subtrack. Yay! So I re-ripped the file, keeping its original soundtrack, writing it to an .mp4 file with the older universal H.264 codec so it should play on any machine, including my ancient laptop which is why I routinely do this. Anyway. Great fun! And you’re right, it looks like it’s about a three. 😉
(I tried adding a link to the file in my public dropbox, but my comments aren’t getting posted. Maybe I can’t post links in these comments. Email me and I’ll send you the link, and you can do with it what you will.)
What a silly and joyful story. I think I speak for a bunch of us when I say thanks, Wil. We needed that.
I love this memory so much. Would love to do a watch along if anyone can find it!
Thank you for sharing, what a great memory. And I gotta say – I watched ‘Deep core’ a few years ago, and absolutely loved it! It absolutely comes across as a pure genre romp that’s gleefully leaning into the ridiculousness, and even as one watches we can only think “okay, it sure seems like everyone was having a great time making it.” And this post only confirms that.
Now I kind of want to find it to watch again.
It’s wonderful to know that you have this group of people from your time on Star Trek who are a chosen family for you. Everyone needs that, and when you find that group it makes up for so many shortcomings in your family of birth.
This was absolutely wonderful, Wil. I know how wonderful it was for you to have your Star Trek family and it just have been great getting to work with, let’s say, a distant cousin of your Star Trek family!
Thank you for sharing 🙂 This little piece of precious memory will leave me smiling for the rest of the day.
Found it on EBay! https://www.ebay.com/p/3350220 DVD for about $30. And maybe on AppleTV, but I’m on my pc right now and they do not play nice together. It’s suggesting I try a different country – which is odd, never had a service suggest I use my VPN to watch content. But I will indeed attempt to see it. But inquiring minds want to know – will you be in the cast of The Guild movie?
Love this. When I was in Resident Assistant training in college circa 1988, we had to do skits. My team did a Star Trek parody and I (in my before ST fan days) had to be taught to do the various levels of flailing and lurching called for, and also the swish-swish of the door panels. The other RAs were all on the same page, and I didn’t get it, at all, but I dutifully cooperated. It was only after college, when I met my future husband the trekker, that it all clicked into place. Wish I could go back and see that skit now, with opened eyes.
Also, just to let you know… Whenever you ask if you can tell me a story, it’s gonna be a Yes from me, dawg.
Check just watch.com looks like you can rent Deep Core in Germany. https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/deep-core
Honestly, not sure why this gave me a little misty eyed nearly cry feeling but it made me smile this morning, thank you for sharing. I think recently embracing all my love for Star Trek and remembering how happy I was during TNG era has really given me an unexpected measure of joy, so I appreciate you.
Omg I love this so much. What a lovely memory.
Reading your story was the perfect way to start my morning! Thank you for telling another great one!
This just made me so happy, a rare thing theses days. Thanks Wil!
Thank you so much for sharing the story with us! I particularly love the thought that you and your Trek family have shared tips and tricks from your professional repertoire with other actors and creators over the years. Granted, some of the skills are pretty situation specific… but dissemination of knowledge is always valuable!
Gosh, I love stories like this… thanks for sharing it!
That’s funny as hell, and sweet. But I have the sads because apparently this movie is not available. Who knows, maybe one of your readers has a copy!
Thanks for the story! I was grinning ear to ear imagining the scene. I miss TNG. I stopped watching ST partway through Enterprise and I hear whatever came next was much worse. But I’ve got the golden years to fondly remember and I’m so so thankful for your stories that bring it back. The cast of TNG was magic. Love that you got to be part of that and it became a really healthy family for you! Keep writing. You make words become vivid pictures. That’s a gift.
Haha. Great story, Will!
There was a very hearty laugh at the end here. Well told. 😆
Wil, I don’t know what’s going on in your life now and I hope it’s all good, but a lot of us would love to see you post to this blog more often. I love your writing and hearing your stories (and your podcast, too).
Thanks for the laugh and warm feelings.
Great story – love it!
I always wondered how everyone moved in such synchronous ways during those scenes. Mystery solved! Thanks for sharing that lovely bit of history. Makes my eyes water with nostalgia. <3
What a fun way to start the day, thanks for sharing that memory!