Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1977)
1h 30m | PG-13
A 19th-century expedition to the Earth's core reveals primordial wonders, prehistoric monsters and a subterranean civilization that may convey the greatest discovery of all.
Director: Juan Piquer Simón
Studio: Almena Films
Genre: Family, Science Fiction, Adventure
Video: 720p
Cast
Kenneth More
as Prof. Otto Lindenbrock
Pep Munné
as Axel
Frank Braña
as Hans
Jack Taylor
as Olsen
Ivonne Sentis
as Glauben
José María Caffarel
as Professor Fridleson
Reviews
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.