Review of Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1977) by Aaron A — 02 Oct 2011

"I don't sleep. I hate those little slices of death.".

Synopsis: Fraught with peril from careening boulders, falling stalactites and weird dinosaurs, this fantasy movie for the whole family involves an expedition to the center of the earth.

Being a picture that is adapted (as opposed to "based on" or "inspired by") from the much beloved Jules Verne novel of the same name, the film lacks any credible scientific merit or even any meaningful contributions to cinematic storytelling/filmmaking. But really, such ambitions are not the one's of this picture, it's a simple adventure, meant for it's audience to see unique vistas, fauna and animal life, and to ultimately have a good time. On that basis, this adaptation succeeds.

The film achieves it's "good time" moniker mainly by offering the audience an experience chalked full of cinematographic tricks and special effects, that are by today's standard outdated, but still offers the cinebuff a charming escapade. There are enough matte paintings to fill the museum of modern art, animals are filmed at various rates to achieve a larger than life look, foam rocks, fake plastic looking sets you name it, it's here.

The film is definitely B-movie, but it somehow manages to steer away from becoming mockingly ineffective like so many of it's 50's counterparts. How it achieves this feat I am not entirely sure as the acting and script are entirely unremarkable. I suspect it has alot to do with a generous budget (3.44 million, compare that to the abysmally cheap Journey To the Seventh Planet's budget of $75,000 released 3 years later) and the already mentioned exceptional cinematography and some solid direction.

Journey To The Center of The Earth may be dated, and lacking in anything meaningful, but it's a pretty good time.