Journey To The Centre Of The Earth 3D (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Satisfactory
Special Effects	Outstanding
Soundtrack	Average

Advantages:	Amazing graphics, great fantasy film, some good humour
Disadvantages:	Some bland acting

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I watched this film a few times now, both in 3D and normal, but bear in mind I've actually not done many DVD reviews as I'm really not confident in them! I'm trying it here as I think it makes more sense and anyway I think it's the only way you can review it, but I'll keep it simple. This film is very different to the 1950's film Journey to the Center of the Earth, even though it clearly has been based on that. I have also seen the older film and just feel that it is best not to compare the two as they are both good in fundamentally different ways. It's nice to be able to say that this film is worth seeing in its own right.

Story

Professor Trevor Anderson works in his missing brother Max's lab, and on his return home one day suddenly realises that he has his brother's son, Sean visiting for 2 weeks before moving to Canada. A messy guy who is not very good with kids, sorry, teenagers, he finds it hard to impress his nephew. But then, when Sean sees some research work that Trevor was keeping up for his brother, they realise that they have just made a breakthrough, and decide to find Professer Asgeirsson, another follower of Jules Verne and the seismic sensing/testing device at a volcanic mountain in Iceland to investigate further/share their information, and hopefully to findw where Max went. In Iceland, they find Asgeirsson is dead, but his daughter Hannah is willing to take them up the mountain as a guide. How will their adventures go and will Trevor be able to build a good relationship with his nephew?

The film is more a sort of fantasy-adventure film, although it also appears as a bit of a geological sci-fi. It seems like an interesting theory that there might be another world at the centre of this world, but really I'm sure most of us wouldn't believe that or that you could actually get there! If I spent time criticising all the flaws in the theory, however, I would not have enjoyed the film as much. It's better to just accept this as part of a fantasy or imaginary story and then appreciate it for what it is.

I don't think it is aimed at any specific age group although may well appeal more to females (some males may like Hannah, though). I watched this with my best friend and we both really enjoyed it and also with my mum who was practically on the edge of her seat and did quite a bit of laughing out loud.

The main parts of the story are kept very simple and really the real detail and interesting parts of the film are in the actual journey towards that amazing place. The pace was a little slow starting to begin with, and there were a few scenes that I felt could really have been cut down quite a bit, but just as you start to feel that twinge of 'uh-oh, this is going to be a boring film,' suddenly you are thrown, full speed into the adventure. After this point, you'll be glad you watched.

Acting/Characters

To be honest the acting wasn't brilliant, but wasn't poor either in a way that would spoil your enjoyment of the film. For me, as I quite like him, Brendan Fraser was pretty much the highlight of the film. His humour is quite natural and he's funny more because of his mannerisms and the silly things he does or circumstances he gets into rather than any specific phrases. I think you are more likely to enjoy this film if you are a Brendan Fraser fan, but even if you don't like him, I still think it is worth a go.

Josh Hutcherson plays Sean Anderson reasonably well, and as a difficult teenager I suppose he is fairly convincing. However, something about him is just a bit unmemorable, and also he seemed to change a little too quickly, so unfortunately it was hard to be too impressed with him. However, he was quite funny at times and as I say he was believeable so I wouldn't completely put him down.

Anita Briem is Hannah, and to be honest while she has the looks and is not a terrible actress, again she is just quite mediocre and not that effective. At times I also found her less convincing. However, she does have some very funny moments in the film so does bring it to life a bit too. I guess the guys will like her as she is also very pretty. I am completely unfamiliar with the Icelandic accent and so can't say much about that but certainly it was an unusual and interesting accent from Briem, which adds to the interest of the film in some ways.

Film qualities

This is the most amazing aspect of the film, and, believe it or not, the graphics in this film alone are enough for me to say that the film is worth watching. Even if everything else was rubbish, I'd have had to say give it a go just to see the lovely images. It really is a film about exploration and there's loads to explore. Going along with the fact this is a fantasy and therefore probably not intended to be realistic, some of the scenes do look very unreal, and yet so artistically done that you think 'wow' anyway. In particular, it almost looks like there is a sky underground which is obviously impossible, but actually if you look close enough you can see that it is rock and other things overhead. There are all sorts of environments, not just a dark cavern or mine hole. In fact there is a really exciting scene involving the mining carts that reminded me of Indiana Jones! My favourite scenes were by a sort of beach and some giant mushrooms, which look really cool. There's all sorts of strange animals too, from glowing birds to a tyrannasaurus and even some flying biting fish.

3D

All of this is beautiful, but what about in 3D? Well, my first time watching it was in 3D and admittedly it was a little on the blurry side, but I was glad I watched it just to know what it was like. There are certain scenes, like the flying fish and yo-yos that did have quite an impact and almost made me lean back in my seat! However, through most of the film it wasn't really so effective as I'd imagined. The glasses weren't great but also I think it is better viewed on a large screen not too far as we were probably straining our eyes to see what was happening on the 20-something inch. It brings the film to life a bit more, and sometimes you feel more like you are there, but apart from this, it isn't really anything that special - well, I wouldn't too much more for it anyway.

Classification

This film is classified as a PG, meaning that children can watch it with the approval and supervision of their parents. It isn't really violent although there are some scenes that imply something violent or horrible could happen and the tension at times really is quite strong. Only very small and vulnerable kids are likely to get scared at all watching this film and then not even enough to really mean they shouldn't watch it. There's no memorable swearing and although there are some naughty innuendos in some of the jokes, if children get these, they've already been badly influenced enough! Apart from that, theres nothing sexual and nothing else to stop kids from watching the film. This really is a great family film and I'd recommend it to people of any age as there is something there for everyone.

DVD Special Features

You get commentry by Brendan Fraser and also the film director, Eric Brevig. There are also some historical bits and theories in "A World Within Our World" - again, I wouldn't personally fall for this kind of thing but it could be interesting and some might wish to keep an open mind! Then theres profiling on Josh, not too interesting for me, how to make a dinosaur drool (lol) and adventure at the center of the earth challenge, which could be a lot of fun for younger viewers!

Conclusion

This film is definitely worth a watch, and to be honest, seeing it the second and third time I still enjoyed it as much as the first. Alright, it's totally unrealistic and probably speckled with flaws, but the fact is it is really enjoyable, and even inspiring. It's that sort of film where you really feel like you can escape the real world and imagine you are there and what you might do if you found that place. I've watched this film about three times now, once in 3D and I still wouldn't mind seeing it again, but rather in 2D. In fact I'd like some of the scene flicks for drawing/painting because they are so nice! So yes I would recommend you buy/rent or see this film any way you can afford to!

The DVD comes in English and Spanish, and has both 3D and 2D capability. You get the little plastic coloured glasses with it.