Journey to the Center of the Earth
Tags: fantasy

Plot synopsis:
The story begins in May 1863, in the Lidenbrock house in Hamburg, Germany, with Professor Lidenbrock rushing home to peruse his latest purchase, an original runic manuscript of an Icelandic saga written by Snorri Sturluson (Snorre Tarleson in some versions of the story), "Heimskringla"; the chronicle of the Norwegian kings who ruled over Iceland. While looking through the book, Lidenbrock and his nephew Axel find a coded note written in runic script along with the name of a 16th-century Icelandic alchemist, Arne Saknussemm. (This was a first indication of Verne's love for cryptography. Coded, cryptic or incomplete messages as a plot device would continue to appear in many of his works and in each case Verne would go a long way to explain not only the code used but also the mechanisms used to retrieve the original text.) Lidenbrock and Axel transliterate the runic characters into Latin letters, revealing a message written in a seemingly bizarre code. Lidenbrock attempts a decipherment, deducing the message to be a kind of transposition cipher; but his results are as meaningless as the original.
Professor Lidenbrock decides to lock everyone in the house and force himself and the others (Axel, and the maid, Martha) to go without food until he cracks the code. Axel discovers the answer when fanning himself with the deciphered text: Lidenbrock's decipherment was correct, and only needs to be read backwards to reveal sentences written in rough Latin. Axel decides to keep the secret hidden from Professor Lidenbrock, afraid of what the Professor might do with the knowledge, but after two days without food he cannot stand the hunger and reveals the secret to his uncle. Lidenbrock translates the note, which is revealed to be a medieval note written by the (fictional) Icelandic alchemist Arne Saknussemm, who claims to have discovered a passage to the centre of the Earth via Snæfell in Iceland. In what Axel calls bad Latin, the deciphered message reads:
In Snefflls [sic] Iokulis kraterem kem delibat umbra Skartaris Iulii intra kalendas deskende, audas uiator, te [sic] terrestre kentrum attinges. Kod feki. Arne Saknussemm.
In slightly better Latin, with errors amended:
In Sneffels Jokulis craterem, quem delibat umbra Scartaris, Julii intra kalendas descende, audax viator, et terrestre centrum attinges; quod feci. Arne Saknussemm
which, when translated into English, reads:
Descend, bold traveller, into the crater of the jökull of Snæfell, which the shadow of Scartaris touches (lit: tastes) before the Kalends of July, and you will attain the centre of the earth. I did it. Arne Saknussemm
Professor Lidenbrock is a man of astonishing impatience, and departs for Iceland immediately, taking his reluctant nephew with him. Axel, who, in comparison, is cowardly and anti-adventurous, repeatedly tries to reason with him, explaining his fears of descending into a volcano and putting forward various scientific theories as to why the journey is impossible, but Professor Lidenbrock repeatedly keeps himself blinded against Axel's point of view. After a rapid journey via Kiel and Copenhagen, they arrive in Reykjavík, where the two procure the services of Hans Bjelke (a Danish-speaking Icelander eiderdown hunter) as their guide, and travel overland to the base of the volcano.
In late June, they reach the volcano, which has three craters. According to Saknussemm's message, the passage to the center of the Earth is through the one crater that is touched by the shadow of a nearby mountain peak at noon. However, the text also states that this is only true during the last days of June. During the next few days, with July rapidly approaching, the weather is too cloudy for any shadows. Axel silently rejoices, hoping this will force his uncle – who has repeatedly tried to impart courage to him only to succeed in making him even more cowardly still – to give up the project and return home. Alas for Axel, however, on the second to last day, the sun comes out and the mountain peak shows the correct crater to take.
After descending into the crater, the three travellers set off into the bowels of the Earth, encountering many strange phenomena and great dangers, including a chamber filled with firedamp, and steep-sided wells around the "path". After taking a wrong turn, they run out of water and Axel almost dies, but Hans taps into a neighbouring subterranean river. Lidenbrock and Axel name the resulting stream the "Hansbach" in his honour and the three are saved. At another point, Axel becomes separated from the others and is lost several miles from them. Luckily, a strange acoustic phenomenon allows him to communicate with them from some miles away, and they are soon reunited.
After descending many miles, following the course of the Hansbach, they reach an unimaginably vast cavern. This underground world is lit by electrically charged gas at the ceiling, and is filled with a very deep subterranean ocean, surrounded by a rocky coastline covered in petrified trees and giant mushrooms. The travelers build a raft out of trees and set sail. The Professor names this sea the "Lidenbrock Sea" and the port as "Port Gräuben", after the name of his goddaughter. While on the water, they see several prehistoric creatures such as a giant Ichthyosaurus, which fights with a Plesiosaurus and wins. After the battle between the monsters, the party comes across an island with a huge geyser, which Lidenbrock names "Axel Island".
A lightning storm again threatens to destroy the raft and its passengers, but instead throws them onto the coastline. This part of the coast, Axel discovers, is alive with prehistoric plant and animal life forms, including giant insects and a herd of mastodons. On a beach covered with bones, Axel discovers an oversized human skull. Axel and Lidenbrock venture some way into the prehistoric forest, where Professor Lidenbrock points out, in a shaky voice, a prehistoric human, more than twelve feet in height, leaning against a tree and watching a herd of mastodons. Axel cannot be sure if he has really seen the man or not, and he and Professor Lidenbrock debate whether or not a proto-human civilization actually exists so far underground. The three wonder if the creature is a man-like ape, or an ape-like man. The sighting of the creature is considered the most alarming part of the story, and the explorers decide that it is better not to alert it to their presence as they fear it may be hostile.
The travellers continue to explore the coastline, and find a passageway marked by Saknussemm as the way ahead. However, it is blocked by what appears to be a recent cave-in and two of the three, Hans and the Professor, despair at being unable to hack their way through the granite wall. The adventurers plan to blast the rock with gun cotton and paddle out to sea to escape the blast. Upon executing the plan, however, they discover that behind the rockfall was a seemingly bottomless pit, not a passage to the center of the earth. The travellers are swept away as the sea rushes into the large open gap in the ground. After spending hours being swept along at lightning speeds by the water, the raft ends up inside a large volcanic chimney filling with water and magma. Terrified, the three are rushed upwards, through stifling heat, and are ejected onto the surface from a side-vent of a stratovolcano. When they regain consciousness, they discover that they have been ejected from Stromboli, a volcanic island located in southern Italy. They return to Hamburg to great acclaim – Professor Lidenbrock is hailed as one of the great scientists of history, Axel marries his sweetheart Gräuben, and Hans eventually returns to his peaceful life in Iceland. The Professor has some regret that their journey was cut short.
At the very end of the book, Axel and Lidenbrock realize why their compass was behaving strangely after their journey on the raft. They realize that the needle was pointing the wrong way after being struck by an electric fireball which nearly destroyed the wooden raft.

Review: that would definitely make the movie better in my opinion.Other than my hurting eyes though, this movie was a nice break from monotonous depressing dark plot based films.With a fun premise, tongue in cheek humor, and decent 3-D effects, Journey to the center of the earth gets 7 glowing birds, out of 10.
I was not dreading watching Journey To The Center Of The Earth, but at the same time I was not thinking it was going to be the best movie ever either.
It was a good movie, but a lot of things were just unneeded and uninteresting, and also they tried to hard to make a cool, awesome, totally tricked out film when they should have focused a little bit more on plot and character structure.
(They tried to hard to please the audience, as far as I could tell.) The performances were decent enough, I should add, as well.Well, overall, it was a nice, enjoyable film, but it is nothing that I would just praise down to the very core of the film, or really care to watch again, because there is not much that absolutely "wows" you throughout the movie, but it entertained, and there were some pretty cool action scenes I guess.
In fact, I could see this exact premise working PERFECTLY in a Guillermo Del Toro or Tim Burton type horror film.We really only got three characters in the movie (and less than ten speaking parts), so a lot rides on our three leads.
So, see this 3-D, if possible, otherwise expect it took look pretty bad.Teen girls in the audience will like Josh Hutcherson ("Sean"), a handsome young kid who looks ad sounds good, until he gets excited and his voice cracks.
Actually, Anita has a lot of credibility in this role, playing a character living in Iceland who, in real life, was born and raised in Iceland before moving to England at the age of 16.As for the story, it's a re-make of the famous Jules Verne story about discovering a whole new world (without people) in the center of the earth, complete with amazing birds and frightening animals and fish.
As with many adventure stories, though, it gets totally carried in the final third of the film.In all, the movie is fairly entertaining to the degree that adults wouldn't be bored if they took their kids.
'Journey' is light hearted fun, but as a piece of light hearted fun, it excels.The story centres (no pun intended) around publicly abhorred professor Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser) whose lab in New York faces closure just as things are getting exciting (cough cough) with his research into volcanic something or other, a project derived from his obsession with the unexplained disappearance of his late brother.
To further complicate things Trevor gets landed with his smart alec techy nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson) and thus premieres a generic 'odd couple' relationship as the stuffy academic trades words and yo-yos with his post-mod companion.Anyway, as soon as this gets underway, Trevor finds an excuse to jet off to Iceland where for one reason or another he descends two hundred feet into a volcano and after one big 3D disaster leads to another, he finds himself (big shock) at the centre of the earth, wherein he, Sean and annoying Icelandic guide Hannah (some unknown Icelandic actress making her unconvincing debut) encounter all manner of 3D perils and wonders including carnivorous plants, troublesome fish, massive great geyser thingies, and the impending doom threatened by an up and coming volcanic thermal heating up whereby everything gets roasted...oh, and a dinosaur...he's cool :D.The good stuff?
Go for the 3D cinema experience, but don't bother with the DVD, because the more you watch this, it's probably going to become more and more tired.Ultimately, Journey to the centre of the earth is a solid family film that thankfully never tries to be anything more.
Film refers to Indiana Jones and perhaps some other great adventure movies done in 80s but it only copies it badly with some lame blue screen effects.
Brendan Fraser is his usual self, just passable as an actor (though he's much worse in this than the Mummy) plus cheesy lines, Josh Hutcherson is plain annoying (just like those annoying brats in Spielbergs Wotw) and the rest of the cast just seem to be uninterested (not surprising seeing how bad and clichéd this film is).
Let's fact it--nothing original about the story but it does feature some neat special effects (courtesy of CGI), not all of which are totally convincing, but hey, this is a kiddie romp if ever there was one.Josh Hutcherson is especially good as the adventurous nephew who trades quips with his fun-loving, equally adventurous uncle who is able to strong arm himself out of every incredible predicament.The scientific angle of the film is just plain silly but the film is fast moving enough to help us ignore all the lack of credibility angles.
The roller-coaster ride in the mine is probably the high point of 3D effects if you can see it in that dimension but it's equally thrilling on a big flat screen TV.The only real asset the film has, aside from a script that is full of some good byplay between Fraser and Hutcherson, is the fact that the center of the film is Brendan Fraser who has lost none of his appeal as an action hero.
Originally released in 3D (I've not seen it in that format, sadly), Eric Brevig's take on the Jules Verne novel updates it to modern day and sends Brendan Fraser, his nephew (Josh Hutcherson) and Icelandic babe Anita Briem down to, well, the centre of the Earth.
The classic old version from my childhood with James Mason, Arlene Dahl, and Pat Boone set during the 19th century in Verne's time is not anything you'll recognize here.Instead what you'll see is something like an Indiana Jones film with the intrepid explorers just facing the unknown.
And it's not a planned expedition from the Icelandic volcano into the earth's bowels, the travelers sort of stumble into things.Brendan Fraser is a scientist who's brother went missing eleven years ago searching for the fabled land underneath that Verne talks about in his novel.
Josh Holloway brings his father's copy of the Verne novel with all kinds of notations which lead them to Briem who just happens to be a guide and who takes them up the side of the volcano Verne wrote about.But as I said, the three of them sort of stumble into the path to the center of the earth and then the next hour or so is like an Indiana Jones film with some Jurassic Park tossed in.
Brendan Fraser plays a scientist and school professor who studies the earths core, magma and seismic changes and yearns for a life outside of the lab.He has a knack for these adventure movies as he has in the Mummy movies, and the kid who plays his nephew Sean link up for family time to uncover some of the mysteries of the notes Seans father left in his journey to find a Lost land.They decipher the notes and their adventure takes them to Iceland where they meet the other member of this trilogy a mountain climber who has the energy and smile to melt any glacier and keep up with the boys.The CGI and graphical were probably more effective in 3D so I'll let that go but the story has fun and the relationship between the character evolves with every adventure they encounter.7.5/10 For EntertainmentOverall: 7.5/10.
To be honest, I've never heard of the 1950s movie based on the book by Jules Verne (I've read it by the way) nor the other adaptations that came out at that time and I've regretted not seeing this in theaters, but after watching this nearly three times in a row on a DVD copy, I actually thought this is a pretty good.But, don't expect a more complex plot than most action films have because there are a lot of flaws with this movie.
I saw "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in RealD 3D with interesting company- a Verne purist determined to hate the film and her son, who even at just five years of age has decided to hate Brendan Fraser.
I love adventure flicks!' guy.With 25 minutes or so of the film gone I saw that not only was the five year old having fun but that his mother appeared to be glad that this wasn't really an adaptation of any sort but a movie that treats Verne's book as if it was based on reality (the novel exists and is referenced throughout the film, and the characters discover that it must have had basis in reality when the novel comes to life before them and they find evidence of life at the center of the Earth).
The acting gets worse, the direction is stiff, the special effects are mostly quite unimpressive, and worst of all it starts to get incredibly, incredibly tedious.I had to keep myself from walking out several times and by the end of it the kid went back to hating Brendan Fraser.
They seek an exit and falls in a hole, discovering a lost world in the center of the Earth.This nth version of the classic novel of Jules Verne is an entertaining adventure.
The trailer looked great, and Journey To The Centre Of The Earth appeared to have everything a good action/adventure movie could possibly want - dinosaurs, man-eating plants, volcanoes and more.
The dramatic music may fool you into thinking something amazing is happening, but in reality your just watching a kid cling to rotating rocks for ages, or something equally uninspiring.Add on to all of this the fact that there is zero plot beyond trying to get in to the centre of the earth...before trying to get out again, or the fact that there is virtually no character evolution or interesting relationships between them (of course, Anita Briem's character was thrown into the equation only to serve as a half-hearted love interest for Brendan Fraser - no interesting chemistry whatsoever) and your left with a bad taste in your mouth.
Brendan Fraser was great in the mummy - and that's about the best I can say for this movie.Lack-lustre acting, especially from child/teen actor Josh Hutcherson who was significantly better in Bridge To Terrabithia, dismal special effects (for a 2008 movie) and very poor direction make this movie very forgettable.
It's a rental for family movie night.But the visual effects and the 3D make it worth seeing in the theater if you're with a bunch of friends or are taking children who have yet to experience a 3D movie.It's not great, but as a group of friends or as a family, it's a good watch.
The movie itself has some thrilling moments and of course the Jules Verne story is a great fantasy that you will love from beginning to end.
Laws of physics and known facts about the prehistoric earth are just ripped through like so much tissue paper.The characters are devoid of personality and have no interesting dialog - "we're still falling!" has become a joke around here, not because it was humorous but because it was so obviously out of place.My friends and I had a grand time saying lines and remarking action - BEFORE they happened, everything was so painfully predictable.There were also lame 'dramatic' moments we fast-forwarded through since we knew them all by heart from other films.Speaking about which - is Spielberg suing these cruds for not only using his "Temple of Doom" mining sets, but actually using (with CGI alteration?) large chunks of that scene in the Indiana Jones film?
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D is a mostly underwhelming experience, lacking much in thrills or excitement, but providing a great deal in the way of boredom.Set in the modern day, we are introduced to Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser), a professor of geology whose brother disappeared a decade earlier.
There was noticeable depth in the picture, every time something flew towards the screen it looked like it was really coming towards me and so on.But, and it really is a big but, the movie itself isn't very good.
And then they said it was going to be 3D too - yikes - didn't make me want to see it any more, but I think the 3D is the only redeeming feature in this movie - I mean, it could be made into a credible ride at a theme park, where you wouldn't think too much about how stupid the idea behind this story is.They did try to change it a little by saying that Verne's book must have been based on fact, but unfortunately that just made the movie even sillier because we ALL know it just isn't possible to journey to this place because we know about science now.At the time Jules Verne originally wrote this the genre of science fiction wasn't really even invented, so at that time it was a huge hit and amazingly original - but the director should have realized we have come a long way since then and this kind of story (remember The Core - ugh, that was actually worse than this movie!), doesn't work for this generation.Kudos on the 3D - it's probably the only way this movie can make any of its money back.Bad luck to Brendan Fraser on having 2 similar style movies coming out at around the same time - this movie could have a negative effect on the Mummy part 3!
Scientist Treven Anderason (Brendan Fraser), nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson) and sexy Hannah Asgerersson (Anita Brieren) travel to the center of the Earth and discover a whole other world.As an adaptation of Vernes' "Journey..." this is a disaster.
I wasn't expecting a lot from it but I do had a little hope to say that at least it was a decent summer blockbuster but now definitely I can't say that.For the record I didn't watched it on its 3-D version since yesterday was an extremely rainy day and the city usually turns into a chaotic place so I went to the nearest theater, of course there was only the "normal" version so I do missed the main attractive of this film but that doesn't change the fact that is a crap film and not in the good and fun way.
Everything is so dam predictable and the center of our Earth is an f*cking amusement park but again not in the good and fun way.The cast is mostly just Fraser, Hutcherson and Briem and even I don't found annoying Fraser (I do have enjoyed some of his films, for example Bedazzled) I do found annoying that he is coming again next Friday and with more budget!
This film is also way better than the 1990s version of Journey to the Center of the Earth.
You might think my opinion is biased because I have young kids and watch a lot of family films but that is completely wrong; our kid is grown and we watch all kinds of movies from brutal horror to love stories; (the only thing we avoid are those overly cutesy chick flicks aimed at 12 year old girls).
This film tries to adapt to the cinema the sci-fi novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth" by Jules Verne.
Further, this is one of those films that I sort of look at the cover and ask myself why I actually bought it, and then within half an hour of actually watching it, discover that I am actually really enjoying the film and have a lot of difficulty actually turning it off.The film is based upon the Jules Verne story of the same name, though set about a hundred and fifty years after the original adventure.
One of these people was Trevor's brother, who disappeared about ten years before the film leaving a wife and a child.Trevor's sister in law, decided to finally try to start a new life, leaves her son with Trevor and goes off to set up a new home, but while going through his brother's stuff, discover a copy of Verne's book which has been scribbled in and annotated to an extent that it actually looks like a bible.
And the second is this supercharged action version starring Brendan Fraser (CRASH) who's probably best known for his portrayal as Rick O'Connell in the new Mummy series' of films.The big question as to this particular Jules Verne story's appeal is obvious: Why?
I did see the original Journey to the Center of the Earth when I was a kid, I used to love watching it, now I'm an adult so seeing this newer version of the film brought back a few memories and created some new one's for this generation.Trevor is a professor who isn't really taken serious by his colleagues at the college as well as his students.
Never mind just enjoy this movie not really thinking about the logic of a actual adventure to the Center of the Earth.End Result: This was a very entertaining movie, I am sure I would of liked it a lot better if the 3D quality on the DVD was way better.
But I just thought why not watch two movies on the same day.Trevor (Brendan Fraser), a college professor and his nephew Alex (Josh Hutcherson) go on a journey to Iceland to find the missing brother of Trevor.
I thought the creatures were original and seem to fit with the story very well.Journey to the Center of the Earth is a great fantasy and family movie.
Its sort of weird why they travel to the center of the earth but when you watch the movie, you'll understand about it, its a great film.Id recommend this to people that like action and adventurous films..its worth the watch...seriously!.