Review of Journey To The Centre Of The Earth

Introduction

The writings of Jules Verne have always been a rich source for Hollywood to plunder. Verne and the cinema have gone hand in hand since its invention around the same time that Verne was writing his romances. Some of the earliest movies with a proper storyline are based on Verne`s ideas such as Georges Melies` Voyage dans la Lune (1908). Disney have visited the works of Verne on more than one occasion and to spectacular effect, and there are generations of Verne fans to whom Nemo isn`t an orange clown fish.

To most movie buffs, Journey To The Centre Of The Earth conjures up images of Pat Boone and James Mason farting around Iceland in the 1959 version. This 1976 Spanish version (dubbed into English) is an energetic jaunt into Verne country in the style of those fantastically camp Doug McClure "Land That Time Forgot" romps and lacking only his presence. The movie is also known by its original title: Viaje al centro de la Tierra and in the US as Where Time Began.

Kenneth More, as the only international star involved in the movie, brings little of his customary ebullience to the part of Professor Lindenbrock. Film roles were coming few and far between for the actor towards the end of his career and he did more work on stage and television from the 1970s on. He was playing Father Brown on television the same year as this movie. He is surrounded by a largely European cast, Ivonne Santis playing his niece Glauben and Pep Munne playing her fiance Axel.

Directed by Juan Piquer Simon, who has a notoriety in his native Spain as their version of Ed Wood, the movie opens with a peculiar montage of silent film clips before the picture opens up into 1.85:1. Professor Lidenbrock (Kenneth More) enters a bookshop and purchases a manuscript from a dodgy-looking old man that includes a map to the centre of the Earth.

He sets off for Iceland with his niece, Glauben, and her fiancé, Axel, in tow where they are joined by Professor Fredrikson and a guide, Hans. Following the directions from the manuscript, they identify a passage leading deep into an inactive volcano. They soon discover they are being shadowed by an enigmatic stranger who is on an expedition of his own.

As they get deeper into the Earth`s crust, they discover all manner of strange and wonderful things - an underground sea, a forest of gigantic mushrooms, pre-historic creatures, dinosaurs and a wannabe King Kong-type gorilla.

Yep, it`s as nutty as it sounds and all carried out in wonderful seriousness and dodgy special effects. I was particularly taken by the prehistoric monster that looks like the Spitting Image dobermann.

Video

Presented anamorphically in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the movie is transferred from a none-too original source print. The image is soft and undefined, indicative of being a multi-generational print (probably a release print) rather than an archival master. Colours are vivid and contrast is a little harsh (also indicative of the generational status of the transfer master. Having said that, I`ve seen far worse.

Audio

Mono soundtrack reproduced as Dolby Digital 2.0.

Features

Only a theatrical trailer. No subtitles.

Conclusion

I`m racking my brain to think of a cute label to apply to this movie along the lines of Spaghetti Western. This was a European attempt to cash in on the family creature-feature fad of the mid 1970s. There had been the Hammer pre-hystericals (One Million Years BC, When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth, Creatures That Time Forgot), the Doug McClure Burroughs pics (Land That Time Forgot, At The Earth`s Core, People That Time Forgot and Warlords of Atlantis), and this movie complete with its rubber dinosaurs and King Kong ringer.

It`s wonderfully po-faced, filled with the most ridiculous set-pieces. If you`re a fan of cheesy sci-fi movies, this is definitely a keeper. If you`re a Jules Verne fan, then you`re probably no better served by this picture than any of the previous versions of Verne novels committed to celluloid since the days of Georges Melies.