Journey to the Center of the Earth

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good, with some surprises
Review: I hadn't seen this film in twenty years and when I watched it again last night I was surprised at how well it's held up. The picture and audio quality in this CD are well above average and the color tones are vibrant throughout. As always, James Mason delivers a stand-out performance in a film he always disliked. His Scottish accent is a little odd and one wishes he had merely used his own voice, which was so oustanding and memorable. More surprising is the performance of Pat Boone who actually acquits himself well here. Boone is never campy, silly or contrived; he honestly delivers a good all-around performance. His relationship with Mason in the movie unfolds nicely and there's never a forced word of dialogue or campy forays into 1950's kitsch.

The sets are not cheesy at all and hold up well. The special effects are, as one would expect, rather dated, but by 1959 standards, they are exceptional. One can honestly imagine this group being in the middle of the earth. All in all, this is a quality film, hardly a classic, but entertaining for adults and children alike.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Journey
Review: This is a GREAT Example what can be done to improve an existing COLOR classic to make it even better. The colors are even brighter than when the picture first came out back in the late 50's. The sound score is even more rich and fuller than I imagined. If you like movies from the 50's then this is definitely one worth having.

Rating:
Summary: Ignore previous review!
Review: Journey to the Center of the Earth WAS shot in colour (Deluxe).

The film looks better than it ever has, a superb transfer of a fun family fantasy film.

It will obviously look dated by 2003 standards but this doesn't detract from the films entertainment value.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, not great
Review: This one has some solid acting, via James Mason. I could have done without the duck which added a silliness this movie didn't need. There were two remakes of this flick and although it was made some time ago, it is the best one. (The others are fairly cheesey ripoffs and hardly worth the effort.)

For it's time, it isn't bad. Not a great movie, but something to watch late at night when there is nothing on the tube.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, not great
Review: This one has some solid acting, via James Mason. The effects weren't bad if you don't mind dressed up lizards. I could have done without the duck which added a silliness this movie didn't need. There were two remakes of this flick and although it was made some time ago, it is the best one. (The others are fairly cheesey ripoffs and hardly worth the effort.)

For it's time, it isn't bad. Not a great movie, but something to watch late at night when there is nothing on the tube.

Rating:
Summary: Classic at its Greatest
Review: I have watched this movie at least 35 times. And I plan on watching it at least 35 more.

Rating:
Summary: Good movie, bad DVD
Review: Those who know and love this movie, beware:

The film was remastered from black-and-white stock and then colorized. Looks like all cheap, colorized movies. Read the notes carefully. Not that you should have to.

The so-called "restoration comparison" is dishonest. It shows old stock against remastered (true color) version from the '90's. NOT from this release.

Finally, the soundtrack is not in synch with the actors' lips. Looks like it was dubbed, which it wasn't.

Bottom line: Major disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Classic - 'nuff said
Review: One of those timeless movies that make you say, "Hey, where did those two hours go?" Saw this when I was 13 years old, and remained convinced for years that I could make it to the center of the earth if I could just find the right hole!

Ah, well. Makes me long for the production values and script writing talents of those days. No cursing, no nudity, no sex, no loud, frantically cut fight scenes. Just classy entertainment!!

Regarding the dinosaurs - in the absence of budget for stop motion animation, they actually did something very clever. They came up with dinosaurs that DID run about on all fours - dimetrodons. Rigging up a few iguanas with fins was quite an elegant idea. At least they weren't dishonest - they didn't call them tyrannosaurs and brontosaurs, like the makers of "The Lost World" a year later.

Rating:
Summary: Love that Corn
Review: This is such a typical 1950's Saturday matinee fair, especially with the addition of Pat Boone to the all "foreign" cast as your typical Scottish student. The plastic sets and the lizards shot in slow motion make the film laughable at times.

But then add the magic of a performer like James Mason, and add a score like Bernard Herrmann wrote, and the film takes on the edge of a suspenseful science-fiction drama. That is where the core of appeal can be found for this rather light adaptation of Jules Verne's novel of expedition into the Earth. Fox studios and Verne's publisher were all about making money, so there is no pretense that this is anything else but a popcorn pleaser. The DVD transfer is crisp and clean, with good color saturation. But there are few extras, unlike the laserdisc version, which had the alternate European version of the film.

However, as my seven year old son points out, "...it's got some pretty cool moments, Dad!" Yes, indeed it does.

Rating:
Summary: Solid, entertaining classic restored
Review: It's a fun movie. You can argue with the the "science"; you can argue with some of the optical effects (the use of poorly matted lizards vs. stop motion animation is a minor drawback to the film)and you can argue with some of the deviations from Verne's classic novel but none of this off sets the sheer aura of fun that surrounds this 50's classic. Made at the tail end of the science fiction boom that made the cinema profitable again during the threat of television, Journey succeeds through the top flight direction, witty dialog and performances of the cast.

James Mason is perfectly cast as Professor Lidenbrook and Arlene Dahl plays his spirited romantic interest. The plot is fairly well known so I'll stick to the quality of the film, restoration and DVD transfer. Pat Boone's career as an actor was often blighted by his singing career. He wasn't considered a "serious" actor. He gives a energetic performance that counter balances Mason's intense take as Liddenbrook.

The direction by Hollywood vet Henry Levin sparkles with a number of inventive set pieces. Michael Todd's spare no expense production allows this lavish production to continue to shine nearly 45 years later. The art direction is often imaginative and, despite the limitations of the time, manage to convey the wonder of Verne's original novel.

The optical effects are quite good half a century later. The matte paintings and miniatures still allow one to suspend disbelief and sink into the world portrayed here. The use of redressed lizards for the grand finale does undermine the conclusion a bit. Surprisingly, Todd and director Levin opted for using this approach instead of the more time consuming stop motion animation of Ray Harryhausen or Willis O'Brien. Although it would have delayed the film a bit and increased the budget as well, this brief sequence would have been more believable and lively if it had been made using O'Brien or Harryhausen.

All of this would have been to no avail if not for Bernard Herrmann's moody, inventive and idiosyncratic score for the film. Herrmann's best scores (North by Northwest, Psycho, Citizen Kane among many other classic scores)helped elevate the quality of many films. Hitchcock, Welles, Ray Harryhausen, Brian DePalma and Martin Scorese all recognized that Herrmann's scores were important characters in the films they directed.

The transfer is beautiful given the age of the original negative and condition of many of the films from this time frame. While the restoraation isn't as rich as that given to cinematic classics like Vertigo and Spartacus, the film benefits from the restoration efforts. The colors are vibrant and rich and, with few exceptions, the transfer is sharp and not as grainy as one would expect (particulary during the optical effects sequences).

The DVD transfer is quite good as well. Again, grain problems to crop up now and again and the widescreen transfer isn't flawless but these are fairly minor complaints. Fox has, on the whole, done a marvelous job restoring this classic adventure film. Sadly, Mason, director Levin and Todd are all deceased so we don't get any first person observations about the production of the film on a second audio track. Since Pat Boone is still very much with us, it would have been interesting to hear his memories on the production of this fine film.

I have very fond memories of watching this on the 3:30 Afternoon movie on KGO-TV in San Francisco (and, if memory serves, a couple of times on John Stanley's Creature Feature program as well). It's a perfect rainy day Saturday movie. It's enjoyable for the kids and, yes, even for this adult despite the wonderous explosion in visual effects over the years. While you're at it, you might also enjoy Jon Amiel's The Core an update of sorts of this classic film. Amiel's film vividly recaptures the sense of wonder and power of this type of film with his modern day take on the same theme.