A Journey to the Centre of the Earth

Critique • Quotes • At the movies

More is less in little-known remake

Fabulous Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1977): Originally Viaje al centro de la Tierra; also known as Where Time Began; film, 90 minutes; director Juan Piquer Simón; writers John Melson, Carlos Puerto, Simón; featuring Kenneth More, Pep Munné, Ivonne Sentis, Frank Braña, Jack Taylor

The 1977 adaptation of Jules Verne's subterranean adventure tale tries to replicate the success of the James Mason-led adaptation of 1959, but has almost disappeared from public view.

This may be due to, first of all, to confusion about its name. The original Spanish title (Viaje al centro de la Tierra) was translated as Fabulous Journey to the Centre of the Earth for English television but as the nonsensical Where Time Began for the all-important United States market.

Origins of the film in Spain probably did not help much either, even after bringing in once-popular British actor Kenneth More to head the international cast as Professor Lidenbrock. More's calm demeanour is adequate for the film, though he's no Mason.

It also probably also didn't help him that some of the Spanish actors he interacted with delivered dialogue in their native tongue, with obvious dubbing for the English-language editions of the film.

Then there's the script. The whole first part of the novel devoted to Lidenbrock and his nephew Axel deciphering ancient manuscripts is condensed into the professor finding an old volume in a book shop. On the journey he takes his niece Glauben, Axel (now his niece's fiancé), and shepherd Hans to do the manual labour.

So far not too different from the Verne story or from the earlier adaptation. But during their descent they gain a new member of their team, a time-travelling scientist, no less. And Olsen (American actor Jack Taylor) shows them an underground laboratory seemingly operated by clones of him. There's also some nonsense about a mysterious box they use for their experiments for, but I've never understood what any of this subplot has to do with the main storyline.

In his novel Verne introduced the idea of prehistoric creatures surviving in the earth's interior but this movie goes to town with monsters, perhaps playing to the proclivities of Spanish director Juan Piquer Simón, known for his horror exploitation flicks.

Which might have worked if the results were not so laughable. The not-so-special effects include two dinosaurs fighting to death in the underground sea our intrepid explorers traverse on a raft. The sea monsters look like outcasts from a bad 1950s movie, not really scary in 1977, despite all the blood in the underwater photography.

There also a King Kong-style gorilla who seems out of place. But the funniest confrontation with wild creatures comes when a couple of the explorers get caught among a herd of rampaging...wait for it...tortoises. How can they escape?! Uh, maybe by running faster that the one-inch-a-minute speed of the ancient turtles.

Nothing else seems to work in this movie. The film-editing is sloppy, the lighting doesn't make sense, continuity is hit and miss.... But why go on about it. To tell the truth this film is almost so bad sit's good. Almost.

And, unbelievably, a couple of Centre of the Earth adaptations to come are even worse.

— Eric

 

Critique • Quotes • At the movies

1959, 1977, 1989, 2008b

See also:

Frankenstein

Treasure Island

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

The Coming Race

Erewhon

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Journey to the Centre of the Earth

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