SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

sddavis63 I would have no hesitation in saying that this version of Jules Verne's story is better than the big budget 2008 version. The cast in this one (featuring James Mason as Professor Lindenbrook, Pat Boone as as McKuen, Arlene Dahl as Carla Goteborg and Peter Ronson as Hans were, I thought, better than the '08 cast, and the story was tighter than that one. And yet, while better than than the '08 version, I still found watching this to be a rather ho-hum type of experience. Setting science aside, and acknowledging this to be a piece of sheer entertainment, some of the adventures that take place under the earth are pretty good and the effects aren't bad. The "dinosaur" scenes might just feature normal lizards with some fins attached and made to look huge worked reasonably well, and there was even a pretty fine piece of acting from Ronson (who played the Icelandic guide) when Hans discovered his beloved pet duck Gertrude slaughtered and confronted the man who had done the deed. I actually found that scene tense. At the same time I sensed no real chemistry between Mason and Dahl, which made the end of the movie feel a bit forced and unnecessary.The introduction to the story (as Lindenbrook begins to put together the expedition) for me went on too long and could have been quite shortened. Frankly, the musical numbers from Pat Boone also seemed out of place and added little. Yes, it's better than the '08 version of the story - which isn't exactly a ringing endorsement. But, for me at least, it still doesn't pack enough of a punch to be considered in any way a classic. (5/10)

SnoopyStyle It's 1880 Edinburgh. Young student Alec McKuen (Pat Boone) gifts Professor Lindenbrook (James Mason) a lava rock. Upon closer examination, the mysterious rock has markings on it. When they run an experiment, the rock explodes revealing a plumb bob with a message from a missing scientist. Another scientist Göteborg take their findings to do his own exploration, McKuen and Lindenbrook race to catch up. When they get there, Göteborg is found dead presumably killed by Count Saknussem. With the help of the widow Carla Göteborg (Arlene Dahl), the group must succeed in the race against Saknussem.The story takes a little too long to get going. There is a lot of setting up to do. It's old fashion. That's really my only complaint about the movie. It's understandable for an old movie. The adventure underground has a lot of fun. It looks beautiful with the colors of CinemaScope. It's a really fun kiddie adventure. It's not going to compare with modern movies although they did have that rolling boulder. It is one of the better adventure movies of its times.

AaronCapenBanner Based on the classic novel by Jules Verne, this adaptation stars James Mason as a Scottish professor who organizes an expedition into Iceland in order to locate the entrance to the center of the Earth, where a volcanic piece of rock he came into possession of originated from. Along with him are the widow of a colleague(played by Arlene Dahl) and a student(played by Pat Boone) They further enlist the services of local guide Hans, who brings along his duck Gertrude. They encounter an amazing array of things in the vast caverns including dinosaurs, and end up lost, though they meet up with the treacherous leader of a rival expedition(played by Thayer David). Can this group survive their attempts to return to the surface? Entertaining film is overlong and dated to an extent, but is still elaborate and imaginative, with a good ending(though poor Gertrude is another matter...)

montecellic Great memories of watching this movie on what turned out to be the last night of my carefree youth..."Journey to the Center of the Earth" is a well-produced family-friendly film with a good cast and gorgeous cinematography. James Mason is perfect as is Arlene Dahl. Pat Boone even sings one of his ballads.The special effects are quite good and the whole thing is pleasant diversion that leaves you feeling good at the end.For me, the film has unforgettable meaning: I saw it at mom's house the night before my grandmother had a stroke, an event which triggered a series of strokes in my mother as well. I lost them both and the family never fully recovered. So whenever I see this film's title, it reminds me of that last, "perfect" day at my long-gone home.