大学教授トレバーは、夏休みに甥のショーンを預かることになった。10年前に姿を消した兄マックスの息子ショーンは、父の形見の小説「地底旅行」を愛読していた。あるとき、トレバーはその本の中に、同じ地質学者だったマックスのメモが残されていることに気づく。マックスは何かを見つけていたのだ。メモを解読したトレバーとショーンは山岳ガイドのハンナを雇い、地球の中心への入口があると記されたアイスランドの山へと向かう。
製作費: $45,000,000 (68億円)
興行収入: $101,702,060 (153億円)
推定収支: $56,702,060 (85億円)
※製作費・興行収入はTMDBのデータを参照しています。収支は(興行収入 - 製作費)で算出したFindKey独自の推定値であり、広告宣伝費や諸経費は含まれません (1ドル=150円換算)。
監督: Eric Brevig
脚本: Jennifer Flackett / Mark Levin / ジュール・ヴェルヌ
音楽: アンドリュー・ロッキングトン
制作: Beau Flynn / Toby Emmerich / Charlotte Huggins
撮影監督: Chuck Shuman
制作会社: New Line Cinema / Walden Media / Journey Films
Its Jules Verne and I remember having some very positive experiences with him at a very young age. So it has that going for it even if its not really the Jules Verne story, at least not in anything but name and concept. When I was little there was a made-for-TV movie that looked like it was intended to start a series that never happened and all the kids on the block ate it up. Unfortunately the made-for-TV movie was better. This version suffers from the same failure that Beowulf did....it was just too much. They toned it down a bit with the 3D, there were scenes that gave the viewer a break, albeit a short break. The problem is that once the action hit, once the story started to move along the 3D was too much and too constant. I remember vividly when they first arrived in Iceland....and that's about it. Afterwards I just remember all the 3D being too much and too CGI and in the end, I forgot I was watching a movie. They bombarded the audience with too much and, yes, it looked cool, but does that even matter when, in the end, you are too distracted to remember you paid for a movie, and somewhere in there, there was a story with actors actually acting it out...but they were well hidden beneath the 3D effects and you really didn't get to see them. Thank God movies learned how to tone it down and find a happy medium since.
What an ugly looking movie! It's all watchable, mind you. Even for 2008, the special effects of <em>'Journey to the Center of the Earth'</em> are quite bad, they are more reminiscent of early 00s video game graphics. That whole initial sequence looks awful, admittedly the effects aren't actually as bad as that opening suggests but still looks unbefitting of a flick with a reported $60m budget! What saves this film is that the adventure plot itself is solid and the cast do admirable jobs. Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson and Anita Briem are a trio that made it work for me. I haven't got much more to say about this one, it is visually woeful but as a picture overall it didn't drag or anything for me personally so I narrowly view it positively. Now to see what the sequel had to offer!
