Customer Reviews

Journey to the Center of the Earth

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(48)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(39)

 

 

Trevor: Hey, look at all the shist.
Sean: What?
Trevor: It's a metamorphic rock. Green shist, white shist, micro-guarded shist-
Sean: Oh. Shist.

This adaptation of the Jules Verne classic novel features Trevor, a goofy volcanologist (Brendan Fraser), his nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson) and Hannah, a canny Icelandic tour guide (Anita Briem).

While on a hastily arranged expedition to Iceland to retrieve data from a previously dormant volcanic sensor gadget, the trio emulates Alice by falling down a hole. Curiouser and curiouser, they end up not in Wonderland, but in a lost world, where long-extinct phosphorescent birds flutter by and the flying fish have a serious case of overbite.

Using the storyline of a missing brother and misunderstood Vernian volcanologists, the little group wanders around the treacherous terrain, overcoming insurmountable odds and horrible hardship (Eat your Trilobite, Sean) before reaching the grandly preposterous finale.


Short Attention Span Summary (SASS):

1. Three down the shist hole
2. Things start heating up
3. Underground ocean crossing brings separation anxiety
4. Tyrannosaurus wrecks
5. Geyser erupts with "flare"
6. Strong hint of "to be continued"

A little Goonies, a little Indiana Jones and a lot of tongue-in-cheek adventure, this movie is great as far as light entertainment goes, and can be viewed by the whole family.

[Warning: Beware of lame lines and ridiculous situations.]




Amanda Richards, September 29, 2008

It's important to note straight off that this IS NOT a remake or a retelling of Verne's classic novel in any way. This story is surprisingly original.

The storyline, in brief, is about a college professor, played by Brendon Fraser (The Mummy and George of the Jungle) with his usual boyish charm who lost his brother 10 years ago when he went off to prove that Verne's novel wasn't really fiction. Now, out of a sense of guilt or obligation he takes in his brother's son each summer, well played by Josh Hutcherson (Zathura, RV, and Bridge to Terabithia. Hutcherson is in danger of being typecast as the bitter, rebellious teenager with a secret heart of gold. His acting is good, but he's been essentially playing the same role over and over again.

Well, the pair get it in their heads to try and track down the possible entry to the center of the earth and end up in Iceland trying to track down another professor who may be of help, but discover he died awhile back. They are instead greeted by his lovely looking, but rather cold exterior daughter, nicely played by relative newcomer Anita Briem, who agrees to be a mountain guide for them in what she considers to be a fool's errand.

The rest of the film is the trip to the center of the earth which only seems to take them a few minutes to get to and includes a shamelessly copied scene on mine carts from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as well as a T-rex scene lifted from Jurassic Park. I wasn't sure if they were paying some kind of homage to these films (or genre), or if they were literally just copying the scenes thinking the 3D effects would make them better somehow. Other than that the film moves along at a fun and rapid pace with several predictable, but touching moments.

The Hits:

(1) The 3D effects are the advanced type (not the blue and red glasses) that doesn't leave you with a headache afterwards. The entire film is designed with 3D in mind and while a gimmick, it is effective and fun.

(2) The special effects themselves are magnificent and would hold up nicely even in 2D. The most beautiful effect is the beach scene. It was absolutely stunning!

(3) The performances were all much better than this gimmicky action genre would normally dictate. They know it's all nonsense, but they make themselves into rather believable characters that we care about.


The Misses:

(1) Although the plot is fast-paced, it is rather silly and even ludicrous much of the time, but again, we know this going into the film.

(2) There is some really awful cliché-ridden dialogue. It's a bit of a miracle that these actors were able to deliver them without bursting into laughter and that is to their credit.

(3) In spite of the overall nice entertainment factor of this film with all it's clever special effects, decent acting, and fast-paced feel, it is a rather shallow film that is hard to recall even right after seeing it.


The problem with all gimmicky films, whether they are 3D or using camcorders to tell the story, the focus is primarily on the gimmick and little else. So much time, energy and money goes into the gimmick that the other aspects of storytelling fall to the wayside. This film does a bit better job at trying to be more entertaining and cohesive than other gimmick-driven films, but it is still rather shallow when all is said and done. I doubt very much I would have enjoyed this film much at all if not for the 3D effects and that says a lot all by itself.

Received, the movie today, two sided DVD had the 3D side facing up! The 3D "glasses" scratched the disc. Loves the movie though.

This week my wife and I went to see "Hancock", "Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull", and "Journey to the Center of the Earth". For our part, the best of these was "Journey of the Center of the Earth". The story was a fun take off of the Jules Verne classic, by not trying to tell it as a period piece, and for my money, Brenden Fraser continues to be great as an action star.

Here's the funny thing though, the theater was out of the 3D Glasses so we watched it without the special 3D effects and still thought that it was a way fun ride! So much so, that we went back and watched it again with the 3D glasses so we could get the whole fun. Without the 3D we thought it was a 4star movie but with the 3D it was way a 5Star movie! It was so much fun even without the 3D gags, I wonder why they dont just make all films like this, as the "RealD" 3D is amazing and completely supeior to the old blue & red 3D we are used to.

So here's the deal,
"Journey to the Center of the Earth" is great family film kind of fun!

**** Without 3D
***** With 3D

By definition, what you like or enjoy is subjective. Whether or not something is of a certain quality is more debatable. In between, lands films like this that you can enjoy quite a bit while readily admitting it might be one of the dumber films you've ever watched. I would not dare debate the artistic quality of this film other than the stunning visuals and appropriate acting. At the heart of most film is the story. This story is so stupid and full of nonsense, that enjoying it automatically falls in the "Guilty Pleasure" category, only without the guilt. Let's quickly chop it up to make this clear.

-OH SO STUPID!!
This film has so many scientific inaccuracies, so gleefully digs enormous plot holes, so often defies probabilities, so boldly slaps the face of logic and so blatantly ignores physics that suspension of disbelief is nearly forced upon you; "Don't even START to believe ANY of this!!!" the film makers seam to be shouting. I accepted this like the sugar coated pill that it is. Even with the stupidity, the concept was actually pretty cool; Jules Vern was using REAL sources. My biggest complaint is they spent too much time developing a back story and a prelude to the action. Even though those aspects weren't poorly thought out, it actually detracted from the bold stupidity of the rest of the film.

-I LIKE BRENDAN FRASER
Here's a guy who currently is really good at only one thing; playing the capable yet imperfect, attractive but not handsome, intelligent yet simple, irritating but admired, reluctant but heroic "everyman". Talk about type-casting!!! Other than his cartoon adaptations (bad ideas to begin with), I can't think of one film he's done that I haven't enjoyed a lot. Whether it was "Bedazzled" or "The Mummy" series, I always feel good after watching his movies. He really has a talent for acting like we think we would (or at least WISH we would) if put in the same situations. The other actors didn't hurt this film either.

-LIKE A DISNEY 3D ATTRACTION
If you've ever been to any of the Disney theme parks, you've probably seen a 3D attraction of some sort (Honey, we Shrunk the Audience" comes to mind). Well, if you have, that is what this film is like for one and a half hours. Anyway, needless to say, it's extremely cool regardless of the films inherent problems. My kids were reaching for stuff coming out of the screen and my wife jumped out of her skin a couple times; a real thrill ride. A lot of screams and giggles occurred throughout the audience. As most have stated; without 3D this film is rather pointless but still ok.

-SET PIECE HEAVEN
After the initial (boring) set up, the film progresses from one cool and silly set piece to another. Each scene plays out almost like a video game;
-Confront strange new environment.
-Solve the puzzle/beat the challenge.
-Move to the next set piece.
I have to say, this made it all a lot of fun without ever challenging your brain; sometimes its fun to turn your brain off.

-RECOMMENDATION
This is the first time I took my son to a film where he shouted out "That was AWESOME!!!" after a scene. Though shamefully derivative and sometime scary, my kids absolutely loved it. My wife and I had fun despite the unparalleled suspension of disbelief. I would put this in a similar category with the original "Tomb Raider" film; a turn your brain off thrill ride. The big difference is that this one is even less probable yet more family friendly.

-story...2.5 stars
-visuals.5 stars
-Acting..4 stars
-Fun.....5 stars

Average...4 Stars

I thought this was an okay summer action flick. It won't win any awards, and I think it's only good for one-time viewing, but it kept me interested in the movie until the end. Of course, I think the fact it was 3-D helped some as the 3-D parts did cause the "oohs" and "ahhs" and were neat to watch on the screen. Watching objects fly out toward you and reach for you is always fun to watch.

Unfortunately, other than the 3-D effects, the movie wasn't all that great. Characters are somewhat flat, there wasn't much you knew about any of the characters besides surface level details.

Also, the world beneath the surface wasn't fully developed and explored. Sure, there were a few action-packed scenes (the ride on the ocean with the sea monsters, the chase by the T-rex, and the man-eating plant scene), but I felt a bit disappointed. I was expecting to see *more* of this underground world, but there wasn't much given, before the main characters all leave to the surface. Another thing that puzzled me was the little glowing bird that followed the nephew of the professor, Trevor, everywhere. Oh well, it was a cute little glowing blue bird, but I felt it was a bit pointless and didn't do anything except make you, the viewer, think, "Aw, how cute!!" LOL.

I felt there also wasn't enough conflict either, not much struggle while they are in this underground world. Not much going on, of course, I noticed a lot of people bringing their families to this movie so maybe the less unpleasant conflicts going on the better.

My opinion: I think perhaps the makers of the movie decided to skimp out on a lot of substance and meat to the story and instead relied on 3-D effect to carry the movie. It is easy to be distracted by the 3-D effects, and not notice that the movie is lackluster. If you like 3-D movies, go see it for the 3-D, but not for any good storyline.

Don't try to play this on an old fashioned CRT TV set - it won't work and will give you a headache.

BUT..

Put this DVD in your COMPUTER's DVD Player and get ready to be blown away. I upgraded monitors and both worked perfectly. My LCD HDTV would have worked better and be bigger, but I never got the colors to match up as perfectly as they did on my Computer's WS LCD (Media Center 2005). You get 4 pair of Red-Blue glasses, which, although, sometimes one would wish that the Set Directors would have chosen better set and costume colors for this Anaglyph version of the 3-D Polarized version that was shown in Theatres, the effect is surprisingly viewable for those who don't mind getting a headache from focusing on things as the scene changes.

This should be a wake up call to all those 3-D movies that were released in Theatre's in the 50s. "Creature from the Black Lagoon" would be stunning. MORE 3-D, MORE 3-D~!

I love this movie. It is good clean solid family fun. Here are some 3D viewing tips. I watched this on my computer and the 3D was great. On an HDTV turn up the contrast and view in a darkened room (like at the show). Also note for some people slightly bending the glasses at the nose rest curves the lenses closer to your eyes and prevents reflection from outside sources. I am a 3D fan and this is one of the best 3D experiences you can have at home.

Journey to the center of the earth is just wonderful family film to come out and best way to and only is to see in 3D because that's when it comes alive, other than that is just an ok three or four star B movie. Brendan Fraser in another kid like role which he is good at. But he a lot better in this than the trailer gives him credit for (actually the trailer for this was pretty bad, but the film proved it's a lot more fun then trailer) he isn't as cheesy as his previous roles in films and is serious in this role but he is still quite silly but that why most people like him as do I for that reason. He plays a nerdy goofy Prof. Trevor Anderson a nice earth scientist/professor studying the earth movements and teaching students too. He gets a visit from his less than excited nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson) for some male bonding getting to one another you know guys stuff. He finds a book that his deceased brother box of things had in it, that book being Jules Verne's book "Journey To The Center Of The Earth" finds clue that his brother left and has to take his nephew along. Where they have quite an adventure of a lifetime that nobody would really believe expect those who belief it could happen.


It's PG for action/ mild violent scary scenes, umm language I didn't hear any so they're none.

Highly recommended to see in 3D for a good time. It well worth your money to see it, just think of it as fun B-movie with great 3D effects in it, oh watch the flare at the end credits there a surprise effect near at the end of credits.

Now only if the studios would restore and re-release all the good 3D films in 3D like: House On Haunted Hill, The Tingler, of course The House Of Wax 1953(Vincent Price Started in all of These Titles). 13 Ghosts 1960, even Jaws 3-D 1984, and many others Please. Do not remake them just clean and restore the 3D elements to these films and then release them in theaters.

This is a fun film that has enough excitement and action for anyone without any real violence to worry parents of small children - i.e., dinosaurs chase people, but never catch them. There's a family-oriented story about a scientist (Brendan Fraser) spending time with his nephew (Josh Hutcherson) while continuing the work of the boy's missing father. Establishing these characters and their developing relationship with fine acting, particularly by Hutcherson (Little Manhattan, Bridge to Terabithia (Widescreen Edition)), makes the far-fetched sci-fi sequences that come later much easier to swallow.

After they follow clues to a volcano in Iceland, the story gradually builds to more thrills, mostly taking advantage of the refined 3D medium without sacrificing the story for it. There is a rail-car ride through a mine reminiscent of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Special Edition), but in my opinion better due to 3D. There is a touching sequence in the middle to keep us grounded. And there are several spectacular action sequences building up to the conclusion. In my favorite sequence Hutcherson finds himself walking across huge boulders and rocks suspended by a magnetic field, hundreds of feet from the "ground." He must jump from rock to rock as you would in crossing a stream, but with a much scarier potential fall. It's hard to do justice to this part in words; you have to see it. This part seemed very original and extremely well-suited to 3D.

For fans of the old James Mason (Journey to the Center of the Earth) film which was more of an adaptation of the classic Jules Verne novel (Journey to the Center of the Earth (Unabridged Classics), you can't really compare this one because it's story follows modern day characters, but assumes the events of the novel were true in the past. I like both movies.

Of all the 3D films I've seen, this is the best for several reasons - acting isn't sacrificed, the story stands alone, and the 3D is refined since a couple years ago. I see 2 movies a week and so far this is my favorite of the year.

Warning: The above review was written for the theatrical release of the film. Now that I've bought the DVD it turns out they did not use the same excellent 3D system on the DVD as in the theatres, which used a new kind of glasses. With the DVD you get the same old cardboard glasses with red plastic for one lens, green for the other, and while the 3D effect still works ok, the color is much worse.