Rent Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)

Totally mad, dated curiosity piece movie with REAL dinosaurs (well, lizards with glued-on fins!) - Journey to the Center of the Earth review by PV

I hadn't seen this movie before, even on TV - I've seen the 1970s version of the same Jules Verne book though which is totally different. I expect neither version sticks to the original book though.

It's basically an old-fashioned adventure story which, unlike any other film I have seen, manages to go to Iceland - filmed in a US national park - where a volcano will lead to the centre of the earth.

Of course, there's a baddie or two - antagonist to the protagonist - and some supposedly scary bits.

I have seen clips from this movie before - the scenes of the dinosaurs. Or lizards with stuck-on fins (hope the glue came off). At the same time this was being made, Ray Harryhausen was experimenting with his stop-motion, which has much more charm that slowed down footage of abused lizards really.

A real curiosity piece and with singer Pat Boone starring too.

Worth remembering it's now over 60 years old as well. The 1970s version had more exciting bits and no doubt the recet TV adaptation was chock full of CGI monsters BUT oldies like this have all the more charm when compared to the CGI-fests today.

I enjoyed it anyway! It's well-paced, well-written and a real story. 4 stars.

Family Adventure. - Journey to the Center of the Earth review by Steve

Surprisingly faithful adaptation of Jules Verne's 1864 sci-fi novel. Four scientists/adventurers make a subterranean exploration via a cave in a volcano in Iceland, and discover a fabulous landscape of quartz and phosphorescent lakes, and eventually the remains of an ancient civilisation inhabited by prehistoric animals. It's like a prototype for a video game with different levels of jeopardy.

The group is led by James Mason, as the kind of cranky professor who has a tantrum when he has to take a woman along but it barely registers when the group acquires a pet duck. He and Arlene Dahl squabble like an old married couple. Singing student Pat Boone and strapping local rustic Peter Ronson fill the group out into a makeshift family.

This is a fun, child friendly adventure typical of the big budget studio blockbusters of the fifties. Mason is wonderful. The top billed Pat Boone is little more than cheerful (and wears a kilt), but Gertrude the Duck provides plenty of comic diversion. And there's a particularly good villain (Thayer David), who, astonishingly, actually eats the duck!

The sombre, proto-prog soundtrack is an unusual touch. Period costumes and set design are great. The vast, underground terrain is lavishly realised. There's even a message to take away, celebrating the fearlessness of human enterprise and lamenting man's capacity to make war absolutely anywhere. The best of the Jules Verne films of the period.