not as good as all the hype

Lack of good storyline.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Ever likable fantasy genre star Kerwin Mathews is cast here as Commander Jonathan Shaw, an officer with the U.S. Navy. He's called into action due to mysterious seismic forces occurring underground throughout the U.S.A. He and his men find that a renegade Chinese general, Chan Lu (Martin Benson), is creating enormous tunnels DEEP underground stretching all the way from mainland China to the States, and placing bombs at strategic points. With the help of a shapely geologist, Tila Yung (Vivienne Ventura), he sets out about foiling the efforts of the diabolical villain.Provided the prospective viewer is aware that this is VERY old fashioned entertainment - with various Caucasians cast in Asian roles - and isn't too distracted by this fact, they should find this to be quite colourful and amusing. The movie (as well as its female actresses) is gorgeous to look at, with eye catching costumes and props and vehicles, and cinematography by Kenneth Talbot. The whole scenario is deliciously preposterous, and director Montgomery Tully gives the story a decent pace while getting solid and straight faced performances from his actors. "Battle Beneath the Earth" isn't overflowing with action set pieces, but it's reasonably rousing just the same, with some interesting "lasers" that offer little more than a light show. The sets are just right for this sort of deliberately cheesy diversion.Mathews, Ventura, and Benson are among a cast also featuring capable performers such as Robert Ayres and Bill Nagy as ramrod straight military officers, Peter Arne as the passionate Arnold Kramer, Al Mulock and Earl Cameron as reliable soldiers Mulberry and Hawkins, Peter Elliott as the nefarious Dr. Kengh Lee, and Ed Bishop as the engaging Lieutenant Commander Vance Cassidy.Fun to watch, and clearly never meant to be taken very seriously.Seven out of 10.

MASTER PLAN: tunnel underneath the USA with nuclear warheads and obliterate us. Take about the most outrageous James Bond-type plot against the free world you can imagine; act as if you're creating a comic book for sixties kids; now, make it even more unbelievable. That pretty much sums up this battle for the existence of the United States. This could have been really good but, for some reason, the plot usually veers into unwarranted silliness. This is evident in the very beginning, when the scientist-hero, the one who is the first to figure out the plot against the USA, is found by the cops ranting about ants underneath us; the scientist is carted off to the loony bin and, rightly so. Later, when the authorities are also aware of the plot, this guy is rational; what was all the business about him being a nutcase? I dunno. The primary hero, a military man (Matthews, best known as Sinbad) in the James Bond mold, ends up leading a squad of soldiers to confront the invading Chinese under our feet; the master villain is a Chinese general who got the idea to dig 3 tunnels underneath the Pacific Ocean and halfway thru the U.S. territory by the time the Americans find out. The premise is that while the U.S. was busy with outer space technology, the Chinese had developed heat ray weapons and a special rock-melting/boring machine. When the American soldiers fire their typical rifles, the invaders simply point what looks like a flashlight and *Ssssss* - *yahhhh!* The U.S. comes across as very limited in other ways: the squad of soldiers seems to be the extent of American military might in this movie.The (probably unintended) subtext here is compelling: the free world concentrated on technology above us while the communists focused on below us - and they end up with the advantage; see also "The Time Machine" by H.G.Wells for another take on the subterranean vs. overhead existence theme. At one point, it's mentioned that the rate of progression by the Chinese is 8 miles per day so, conceivably, they could have accomplished their goal in 3 years. But, that's about all which is plausible. When I first saw this as a kid many years ago, I also wondered about the Caucasians who apparently took over the upper echelons of the Chinese; well, the filmmakers weren't able to use oriental actors, for some reason. The main villains look somewhat absurd here - like, out of a comic book. There's even a scene involving brainwashing, a possible sign that the writers watched "The Manchurian Candidate" a few times too many. The Chinese general has nukes all over the place - even, it's surmised, under Peking, where he holds power over his countrymen. Yet, all it takes is one nuke to put him out of business, even though the 3 tunnels are about 500 miles apart from each other. The heroes give themselves 10 minutes on foot to escape an atomic blast, which is obviously footage of tests out on the Pacific, while all the invaders, it's suggested, are wiped out. Forget logic - the combined outrageousness of these loopy scenarios results in some strange entertainment - it's kind of one-of-a-kind. Don't take it seriously or you'll end up in a loony bin. Hero:5 Villains:4 Femme Fatales:5 Henchmen:4 Fights:5 Stunts/Chases:5 Gadgets:6 Machines:6 Locations:5 Pace:5 overall:5

This is one of those "so-bad-it's-good" B-movies. The production is not nearly as bad and low-budget like "Plan 9 From Outer Space", but in idiocy and sheer nonsense it isn't far-behind, either.The Chinese invade the U.S. through tunnels! Sillier yet, these "Chinese" are played by white guys - who couldn't be more white - with bad eye make-up. One of these whites plays a Chinese general who at times speaks with an Indian accent! One of the main characters says that "they (the Chinese) are like ants". Well, if that's the case, then why couldn't they find any Chinese actors? The movie offers cretinously funny scenes at quite a consistent rate. There is occasional tedium, though - prevalently in the second half. One of my favourite scenes: at the beginning, in the room of a lunatic asylum.

One of the scenes holds a special place in my memories as the most unintentionally hilarious piece of cinematography I have ever witnessed.Picture this: The hero is wandering along a discovered tunnel with the leading lady, a geologist. In their travels they come across an obstacle; the passageway is dissected by a lava river level with the passageway. This is excusable, too many films show heroes far far closer to lava than the human body would stand, especially underground. However the female GEOLOGIST is about to step onto the lava, when the hero has to hold her back to stop her saying IIRC "Stop Honey, its hot."Battle Beneath the Earth is a comic strip, fortunately the bad sets and casting have left it iconic and clean cut enough that it can pass for one in the manner of the 60's Batman series or Thunderbirds. If you choose to accept this you will enjoy the film, if for all the wrong reasons. If you cannot stay the hell away. This film rates one out of ten, but its a very watchable form of awful. In my opinion better than the cult Ed Wood films as it does have a followable plot, however ridiculous it may be.