Journey to the Center of the Earth (1999) (TV)

Director:

George Miller

Writers (WGA):

Jules Verne (novel)
Thomas Baum (teleplay)

Release Date:

14 September 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi | Fantasy

Plot:

Remake of Jules Verne's classic story finds adventurers (Treat Williams, Jeremy London, Hugh Keays-Byrne) seeking a mysterious hidden land...

Plot Keywords:

Expedition | 1870s | Rescue Mission | Cave | Dinosaur

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Treat Williams	...	Theodore Lytton
Jeremy London	...	Jonas Lytton
Tushka Bergen	...	Alice Hastings
Hugh Keays-Byrne	...	McNiff
Bryan Brown	...	Casper Hastings
Tessa Wells	...	Helen
Petra Jared	...	Ralna (as Petra Yared)
Sarah Chadwick	...	Mashowna
Peter Kaa	...	Te Mahua
Joe Bugner	...	Boxer
Alan Hardy	...	Reverend Polson
Bill Charles	...	Doctor
John Forsyth	...	Society Member
Warwick Begg	...	Policeman
Christopher Christo	...	Johnny Alcott

Also Known As:

Voyage au centre de la terre (Canada: French title) (France) (video title) [fr]
Cesta do stredu zeme (Czech Republic) [cs]
Matka maan uumeniin (Finland) [fi]
Reise zum Mittelpunkt der Erde (Germany) [de]
Resan till jordens medelpunkt (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Taxidi sto kentro tis Gis (Greece) [el]
Till jordens medelpunkt (Sweden) [sv]
Viaggio al centro della Terra (Italy) [it]
Viaje al centro de la Tierra (Spain) [es]

Runtime:

180 min (3 parts) | Germany:178 min | USA:188 min (DVD version) | Finland:180 min (4 parts)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Finland:K-11

Filming Locations:

Australia

Company:

Hallmark Entertainment

Quotes:

Helen: He's going to the center of the Earth. You get dizzy on the botton rung of a ladder.
Jonas Lytton: Not the *bottom* rung.

Movie Connections:

Features 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997/II) (TV)

Nice try, but extremely BORING!

Now let's get one thing straight before I fire my gun: I'm a BIG fan of Treat Williams (and I am not ashamed to admit I LOVED "Deep Rising"). I even like both the London-brothers, and fondly remember young Petra Jared from the TV-show "Sky Trackers". BUT what's with all these positive user comments? It doesn't make sense compared to (at the time of writing) a user rating of 4,6!

And here's why, I am sad to say, it deserves just that low rating: it's god awful BORING! It goes on for three hours and barely nothing happens!!! Sure, a few cool monsters here and there, some "cavemen", and the presence of Treat Williams, but still: this Hallmark production doesn't come close to the excitement of reading the original Jules Verne classic.

1/3 of the time is spent in a monotonous climb through caves (which all look like they are walking through the same studio over and over again). Then they reach to the "center", where another 1/3 is spent on another sound stage made to look like a village surrounded by a deep forest (for the occasion spray painted in blue). Two or three times they are attacked by some badly computer animated dinosaurs. Definitely not what one would expect from any studio SIX years after the lifelike "Jurassic Park".

And not forgetting the worst thing of it all: the soundtrack! What soundtrack? It reeks and stinks so bad I could not believe it made it to a production of this magnitude. This is one time I actually believe it was written by a computer! It doesn't fit any of the action, come to think of it: it is so simple, so without charm or any redeeming qualities what so ever it could fit ANYTHING. As a big fan of movie music I can't in my wildest dreams even begin to imagine what creature actually got paid for composing it! The end credits even tell us the crap is available on CD!!! Oh... my... God!

A nice bonus however is the appearance of some real maori tribesmen, and the fact that it is shot on location in New Zealand and Australia. All that said, this re-telling of "Journey to the Center of the Earth" isn't that bad. It just has cheesy effects, a laughable "soundtrack", and is presented in an excruciatingly boring way! And this comes from someone who has never had a problem sitting through looong movies, or mini-series for that matter.