Good for kids, but not for me
Added 11/2/2009
received this movie from Netflix last night and was in the mood for a good adventure flick, so I decided to give this movie a try. From the opening scene I started to have this bad feeling in my gut as Trevor Anderson(Brendan Fraser) is having a nightmare about his brother Max running from a very silly looking CG Dinosaur and falling to his death. Still I figured it's just a dream sequence I'm sure the movie won't be as bad as the first minute, so I decided to continue with hope. In the first few scenes we see Trevor is not fairing to well at his job as a volcanologist at a school, infact his office is about to be shut down by some wormy looking guy you just want to hit. When Trevor goes home that evening and listens to his answering machine he is reminded that is thirteen year old nephew Sean(Josh Hutcherson) is coming to stay with him for the next ten days. When Sean's mother drops him off she gives Trevor a box with some of Maxes old stuff including a book Journey To The Center of The Earth.When Trevor opens the book later on he finds notes written by his late brother indicating he might have actually found the center of the earth. After going to his lab to look into it Trevor decided to head to Icland to investigate and brings Sean. So they get to Icland and pick up a guide Hannah(Anita Briem) and after a series of events get stuck underground where they end up in a world inside our own world, the center of the Earth.
So here's my take on this movie. It had it's moments, but they were few and far between. The effects weren't that good in my opinion, maybe if this was a made for TV movie but not up to par for blockbuster movie theater standards in my opinion. Most of the scenes look like they were real people with a moving picture behind them, and any of the creatures in this movie look so fake, almost cartoonlike with there expressions, infact this movie was like watching some kind of looney toons cartoon with live people. They can fall for miles and somehow survive without a scratch. The movie was released in 3-D in the theaters and maybe it looked good in that setting, but on DVD it just looks silly. I'm going to give this movie a 2 out of 5 I say if you have kids under ten it might be worth watching with them, otherwise I'd stay away from this one, there is a 1959 movie of the same name maybe oneday I'll check that one out.
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A brief comment
Added 10/21/2009
Please note that I watched this on my LCD TV on the HBO channel so I can't speak to the quality of the 3D, but after reading several of the reviewers here who know something about it, it looks like I didn't miss anything since they say the polarized 3D method that was used wasn't that good.
But I thought the movie itself was great for the spectacular special effects. Some are eerily beautiful, like the phosphorescent pools and the luminescent birds. The CGI animation, such as in the chase with the tyranosaurus, is also outstanding. The movie only loosely sticks to the original book, but then most people don't know the original book anyway. (I don't either, I only read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which is the more popular of the two books).
By the way, a little trivia here, Verne originally got started writing westerns, only set in South America, oddly enough, but later turned to writing sci-fi, which is what he's best known for.
The acting is also fine and Brendan Fraser projects a sort of goofy benevolence and exasperatedness which gives him an engaging on-screen presence--actually very similar to Cary Grant in many of his movies. He'll probably never be considered a truly great actor like Grant because of the movies he's been in, but he brings something to his roles that perhaps no one else but Grant did.
So overall a fun CGI and special effects filled romp that, while nothing profound, is still worth watching for the stunning visuals and also suitable for the whole family.
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Eh. . . . .whatever.
Added 9/24/2009
This (latest, mindless) remake of the Jules Verne classic is hopelessly silly, Brendan Fraser must possess an innate "annoyance" chromosome, and if I saw one more death-defying plunge down some endless abyss I was promising to scream louder than the actors. Yet, oddly, indescribably, uncharacteristically, I found myself having a bit of fun watching this moronic bubble-gum version of JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH. I'm just not going to tell anyone.
Playing a pseudo scientist (which is fitting, as Fraser is a pseudo actor) journeying to Iceland with the young son (Josh Hutcherson) of his dearly-departed brother, Fraser's Professor Trevor Anderson comes under the tutelage of Hannah Asgeirsson (Anita Briem), the daughter of Trevor's brother's former mentor (huh?). Hannah takes the two Americans on an Icelandic expedition, where they end up plunging down a hole and into a funky world of animated nonsense. All the silliness is amplified by cornpone action sequences, yet I had to keep reminding myself this film was initially a 3D offering for kids (and Hutcherson darn sure plays to that audience), so it's all in good clean (sort of) fun. The ending is predictably (and conveniently) over the top, and the plot instantly forgettable, but JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH is still worth one or two giggles and gaggles.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning
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journey to the center of the earth dvd
Added 9/7/2009
It was a great movie and in great shape when I recieved it! I would highly recommend this product!
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Watchable, Even Fun, But Can't Be Taken Seriously
Added 7/6/2009
This incarnation of Jules Verne's novel A Journey to the Center of the Earth (AD Classic) was really not much more than an excuse to make a cute 3D movie with the always popular Brendan Fraser as a Geologist in search of his missing brother. It also stars Anita Briem as a Mountain Guide/Love Interest and Josh Hutcherson as Fraser's nephew.
No plot spoilers from me, but even with a healthy suspension of disbelief, this movie has so many holes and overly cute elements that it falls firmly into the same category as Looney Toon Cartoons for me. Except for one tear jerker scene (relatively short and needed to close a plot line), it is mostly comic mayhem and some bits of genuine excitement. It flows like a video game, moving from scene to scene at a hectic pace that most kids will enjoy.
About the 3D: The DVD we received had the 2D version on one side and the 3D version on the other. It also came with four 3D glasses. The 3D shown in the theaters uses a completely different technology to produce the 3D effect than the type that is possible on home TVs. This resulted in a hugely disappointing experience for my family, as the 3D effect bothered all of our eyes. We toughed out the bad 3D for about 1/3rd of the movie before flipping it over and finishing with the 2D version.
All in all, it is a fairly fun movie but it is completely disposable.
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3d Wheeee!
Added 11/6/2009
This would be just another saturday matinee kid show had is not been for the high quality 3D and exciting cinematography, Very fun, mindless entertainment with great performances.
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Another Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Added 11/16/2009
You know you have seen two or three previous versions of the Journey to the Center of the Earth. Well here we go again. This time the journey is in HiDef Blu-ray. That fact alone made me want to watch the video, plus the movie is in 3D! The movie is ok. It comes across as a Part II for the older versions. In the beginning of the movie the 3D special effects are nice. However, I got a headache about half way through. 3D needs to be improved. Get rid of the colored glasses. I think if you watch the movie in 2D you will enjoy it just as much.
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2D not 3D
Added 11/4/2009
Amazon shipped me the 2D version too. What's worse is I have to contact a different store for the return and I already opened it. I bought this movie only for 3D.
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