Viaje al centro de la tierra

Until very recently, this remake of the famous Jules Verne story had completely passed me by. Though not a patch on the James Mason version (1959), it's not a complete write-off. Kenneth More takes on the role of the explorer "Prof. Lindenbrock" - this time an eminent German rather than Scottish scholar (there were some Deutsche Marks involved in the production here) and he and his small team set off down an Icelandic volcano on the adventure of any lifetime. The rest of the cast are completely unremarkable - a truly international mix of C-list collaborators, with Jack Taylor's young "Olsen" reminding me (audibly) a lot of Roddy McDowall. Anyway, it is a good, strong story and even the most mediocre of directors can't really screw that up too badly. The special effects - especially the prehistoric creatures - are the stuff of a school project (even then) but it is intercut with some fine volcanic actuality and it's paced well enough for More to just about have sufficient gravitas to carry it off. Memorable? No. Good? No. I still quite enjoyed it, though.

Essentially a recasting of the 1959 version as opposed to a remake (think a traveling version of your favorite Broadway play and you get the picture). Now that video allows us to experience the original over and over again, this film becomes less unique. The overall film is not so bad (considering the genre) if it weren't for the fact that this film was done so much better twenty years earlier. As far as casting Kenneth More in the James Mason role...what can I say? More is Less. This film was made during the time when films such as THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT, and AT THE EARTH'S CORE were successful, and this version shares much with those films regarding style. I think if I were a kid in 1977 watching this in a theater and never seeing the original I would have thought it would be great. If only the director would have introduced new themes or viewpoints to the familiar story it could be enjoyed today. The film can be recommended however for a great gimmick for it's opening credits...a montage of the original Georges Melies silent films of Jules Verne's works set to the film's theme song. I've never seen them used in any other adaptation and it was a nice tribute.

That is probably why I loved this movie as a child. The movie was called "Where time Began" when I saw it and it is based on the Jules Verne novel, but it is so absolutely different that it makes this movie almost unique. I prefer it a bit more to the 1959 version, granted I liked that one too. This one just has such curious elements that make it to me a more strange and different film. It is cheesy to be sure, but I have said many times that I enjoy cheese so I do find this film fun. The film is like any other "Journey to the Center of Earth" adaptation to start out with. However, the film has points where it goes totally crazy, I recall giant turtles or something, strange dinosaurs and a weird facility and a strange man called Olsen. Of course, that is a problem with the movie as well, there are many questions surrounding this strange individual and as a kid I did not understand what was with that character. I would love to see this one again and perhaps now that I am older, maybe I can see what the movie was trying to convey in regards to that character. This one pretty much ends on the same note though as the 1959 version. Then it has a very surreal ending involving Olsen. So while the film is not without its faults and while others may not like this one, I find this cave movie really entertaining to watch.

Back in the mid 70's there was a bit of a cycle of fantasy adventure b-movies. Quite a few of them were British and seemed to always star Doug McClure. One typical example being At the Earth's Core (1976) which was an adaption of sorts of the Jules Verne novel 'Journey to the Center Of the Earth'. Well, it can be of no real surprise that there were also some continental offerings in this sub-genre, and so from Spain we have The Fabulous Journey to the Centre of the Earth. While the British films were made on a fairly low budget, this Iberian equivalent is decidedly cheaper still. It was directed by Juan Piquer Simón who is probably best known for directing a couple of psychotronic 80's horror movies, namely the demented slasher Pieces (1982) and the crazy creature-feature Slugs (1988). I definitely wouldn't say that this film is up to the deliriously entertaining standards of those two but it is still a half-way decent effort.

Set in Victorian times, the story has a scientist discovering a secret entrance to the centre of the earth. He assembles a small party and they navigate down into the abyss where they encounter a mysterious stranger called Olsen (played by Jack Taylor who was the go-to American actor for a plethora of cheap Spanish productions at the time). A little later they encounter prehistoric monsters, giant turtles, a giant ape and...big mushrooms! The low budget hampers things a bit and it isn't directed with much impetus but essentially, any movie which throws in dinosaurs and various other creatures can't be all bad. And this one isn't. Its probably one on the lower side of the prehistoric fantasy sub-genre scale but it still essentially offers the goods, so fair enough.

The 2nd feature adaptation of the Jules Verne classic is oddly a Spanish effort, and is worse than the 1959 version (Which was only bad because of one scene).

I'm sure I don't need to recite the plot of such a classic novel but needless to say that it doesn't entirely follow the source material.

Our heroes must contend with giant lizards, giant turtles, a giant gorrilla and more in their journey and though it looks okay for it's time it manages to be a combination of baffling and entirely un-engaging.

I can't quite put my finger on why but at no point did I find myself even remotely engrossed into this. The cast are passable, the sfx are ahead of their time and the material for the most part is okay. Sadly it just isn't strung together very well and makes for less than enjoyable viewing.

I'm binge watching the adaptations and can only assume someone does the novel justice.

The Good:

Looks okay for its time

The Bad:

Same nonsensical tale

Some silly additions to the story

A few of the logistics are painfully stupid