Written by: Shayne at 3:23 am
Filed under: Movies,Sci-Fi Films
Movie Info:
Writer: Michael Weiss, Jennifer Flackett, Mark Levin
Director: Eric Brevig
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem, Seth Myers, Jean Michel Pare, Jane Wheeler, Frank Frontaine
Rating: PG
Studio: New Line Cinema
Release Info:
Theatrical Release: July 11, 2008
DVD Release Date: October 28, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon
I remember back in the day when New Line Cinema was synonymous with horror titles. Over the years they have branched out considerably, putting out everything from blockbusters to chick flicks. Journey to the Center of the Earth leans closer to the first option and much further from the second. People that are old enough to watch this should have an idea that it is based on the classic of the same name by Jules Verne. While some people shy away from literary based movies, this one contains at least a couple of notable celebrities and a fantasy based storyline that is sure to please fans of the genre. Finish things up with the option to watch in 2D or 3D and the basic specs are looking pretty good.
The key to enjoying this movie beyond a shadow of a doubt is to understand that this movie is far from perfect. I scratched my head trying to come up with a reason why they would put this movie out when they did. During a summer of blockbusters that were bigger and better, there was no way this film, with this plot, could ever compete. It didn’t compete. Many people passed it aside in order to watch the better options. Movie tickets aren’t cheap, after all. You go see the very best options and leave the rest to video. Now the question becomes, whether or not this would even be worth watching or buying on DVD. The answer all depends on how you rate your movies and the things that you get entertainment from.
If you prefer better acting than you do special effects and you require a decent, fairly worthy plot over the visually appealing aspects of film then you may be in trouble with this. I am not going to lie. Journey looks amazing. I watched it with the glasses and without and it looked great both ways. However, if I go off of the story alone then there isn’t much here to even bother watching. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this movie was made just to make money without much real thought to making the movie shine. It’s possible they realized that the plot wasn’t all that, so they had to do everything they could in the special effects department. Whatever it was, the film requires you to be giving to enjoy it enough to watch it frequently.
When Journey was at the theater I dismissed it completely. Watching Journey on DVD offers a bittersweet experience. The effects kept me interested in the movie and will help it get a better review than it would have without them, but watching it and liking it is somewhat hard when I think about the issues that it has. I just keep trying to remind myself that I had a good, albeit mindless time, so I don’t have too much to complain about. This is never going to be the best fantasy movie out there, but it can serve a purpose if you let it.
The Journey to the Center of the Earth Plot
The story for Journey to the Center of the Earth is fairly simple to comprehend. It’s not at all hard to understand. The film revolves around Trevor (Fraser). He works in his brother’s lab studying volcanoes. While things were good at some point, they have taken a downward turn and his brother’s long disappeared, so the lab is going to close. When it seems that nothing could get worse, he realizes that his nephew, Sean (Josh Hutcherson - Bridge to Terabithia) is coming for a ten day visit.
Trevor and Sean do not appear to have too much in common other than their interest for their missing relative. While things look pretty bleak on the bonding front, Sean brings some of his father’s things, which gives the two, something to talk about. One of the things the guys discover in the classic Verne novel, Journey to the Center of the Earth. After finding the book and the notes along with it they realize that it’s pretty important that they go to the place that is described in the notes. Apparently, Trevor’s brother believed that the world that Verne described was real. This leads the two men on a journey to find the truth.
The two men go on a journey that takes them places that they never imagined. A tour guide is meant to lead them on their journey, but after they end up trapped, they manage to find an underground world near the center of the Earth. As you might expect from the title of the movie, it is remarkably similar to the world that Verne describes in his novel.
The area is amazing. It’s filled with species that no longer inhabit the Earth and beautiful plants unlike anything they are used to. They are even able to discover the mystery of what happened to their loved one. While it seems that the area appears to be perfect, it soon becomes obvious that they will eventually need to leave or they will end up dead.
Like I said, the story itself is pretty simple. Some of the moments are incredibly crafted and some of them are so obviously done with a green screen that you cannot help but roll your eyes. At the end of the day, it slides by as not terrible. It’s entertaining for what it’s worth, I just don’t think that I will ever be able to call it good.
Storyline/Plot: [rating:3]
Replayability: [rating:3]
Acting: [rating:3]
Directing: [rating:3]
Audio/Visual:
Journey is shown in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and anamorphic widescreen. The film looks great for the most part. The widescreen looks considerably better than the fullscreen version, but that could just be a personal opinion. The DVD comes with 3D glasses so you can enjoy the film the way you were meant to, but there is also an adequate 2D version included. That way you don’t have to have or use the glasses. Personally, I preferred the 2D version myself. I think it’s because I’m not a huge fan of the glasses. The effects were interesting, but I doubt I will be putting those glasses on again for this movie anytime soon. When it comes to the quality the colors were amazing and the picture was as close to flawless as you can get. There might be problems with the movie as a whole, but they certainly aren’t with the picture quality.
Another excellent part of this DVD comes in the sound quality. The Dolby Digital 5.1 doesn’t have any problems. The soundtrack is rich and full bodied. The sound is spread evenly through the channels to create a good, even sound throughout the entire movie. A Spanish movie track is also included with the DVD. Subtitles are available in both English and Spanish.
Visual: [rating:5]
Audio: [rating:5]
Bonus Features:
The bonus section for Journey offers a few things that might be of mild interest to diehard fans. If you’re not in this category though you may not be too interested in what is here. Things get movie with an audio commentary. The commentary features the director and Brendan Fraser. It’s not bad, but not entirely engaging either. Some interesting facts are shared and the two men are entertaining, with most of the talking being done by Fraser.
Three featurettes are included in the bonus section. “A World Within Our World” lasts for about ten minutes and is narrated by the female lead in the movie, Anita Briem. This featurette includes interviews and looks at the theory that Earth has a hollow core. This is followed up by “Being Josh,” which profiles the young actor, Josh Hutcherson, and shows what it was like for him to work on Journey. This was probably my favorite featurette to watch because Hutcherson seems like a good kid. The final featurette is called “How to Make Dinosaur Drool.” Kids will love this featurette that shows how the slime-like substance was made.
There are also a couple of activities, “Ride the Mine Car” and “Bat the Fish.” Each activity plays by you pressing the DVD remotes directional buttons. The games aren’t very exciting considering they are relatively similar and not too fast paced. DVD games that are added to movies usually aren’t the best so this was no big surprise. A digital copy of the movie is also included. The final thing in the bonus section are previews for Get Smart, Speed Racer and Star Wars: Clone Wars.
Bonus Features: [rating:2.5]
Bottom Line:
Journey to the Center of the Earth looks and sounds great, but it is lacking in other areas. The acting works as much as it can, but the film just doesn’t stack up to others from the summer or from the genre. If you like those mildly entertaining, popcorn kind of movies then you should be good with this. However, if you require something more you might find this somewhat disappointing. You may want to rent this one first.
[rating:overall]
[tags] DVD Review, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Jules Verne, Movie, 3D [/tags]
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Written by Shayne - Visit Website
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I am the proud Papa of a son, Dylan Michael Keller. Other than spending time with my son, I have two main obsessions in life; video games & movies. Often, the two accompany time spent with Dylan. I've been married to Andrea for 13 years this December. One thing I've learned about married life is to always expect the unexpected. After nearly eleven years with just the three of us, and our Golden Retriever, Braeden, I've just found out I'm going to be a dad again. In my professional life, I'm a bit of a cyber geek. I enjoy D&D, writing stories, role-playing, computer games, working on websites, and just hanging out. I work for a computer firm doing computer-tech type work and that's all I can really say about my job. In my fantasy life, I escape to the world of film. I'm not ashamed to admit that I've seen The Return of the King at least 37 times. I signed up to review movies, and you can guarantee I'll do the job right. I hope you enjoy my reviews and always remember kids...Make Love, Not Warcraft.
