guillenpascal As Stevenson once said "to travel is a better thing than to arrive". Unfortunately, this TV movie doesn't offer neither travel nor destination worthwhile. The travel through the Earth is dull and rushed: expect no thrill and no wonderment. And when they arrive in the center of the Earth, all looks exactly the same than the surface, with a sepia tone. The last part adds to the Verne's novel a very forgettable story about Indians and a lost husband that will make us want to run away from this place as soon as possible... and to condemn the entrance of the cave to prevent from returning by mistake.

TheLittleSongbird The story is a timeless classic, and while I was dubious of seeing this version of Journey to the Center of the Earth I watched it because I love the story, and I loved the 1959 film, liked the 2008 Brendan Fraser film(though it is nothing amazing) and was marginally entertained by the 1989 version. But I found myself bored and frustrated by this version. The only real redeeming quality was the atmospheric soundtrack. Other than that, I didn't enjoy this one bit. The production values didn't really impress me, the costume and set design are okay-looking but I felt they lacked authenticity, however the photography was often too bright for my tastes. But they are nothing compared to the script, story and acting which range from bad to diabolical. The script was weak in delivery and very stilted, while the story is dull in pace, soulless in spirit and has no thrills really. The action is uninspired, either hurriedly shot, uninteresting in choreography or far too brief in length, and for anyone wondering about fidelity to the book( not always a problem with me as long as the adaptation in question maintains the spirit), forget it, only the title seems to be unscathed. The acting ranges from over-eager, Ricky Schroder tries hard but the under-par material severely eludes him, to disengaged, Peter Fonda is so dull here that a lot of the performance actually begged for a steroid shot. It doesn't help that the characters are unlikeable and in some cases underwritten and mostly made to do foolish things. Overall, awful and uninteresting, and by far the worst version to bear the name of the classic story, and the only one of the four versions I've seen so far to completely miss the point of the story. 1/10 Bethany Cox

TheUnknown837-1 Here we have yet another film adaptation of the popular Jules Verne's novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth". Here, the cast is led by Rick Schroeder as it again tells of explorers finding a passage into the core of the planet where dinosaurs, primitive people, and a whole lost world still exist. I am not that familiar with the novel or many of the movies based upon it, but this 2008 version is a poor adaptation. There were many things I had to complain about it and few to compliment about it. Performances were good, but just about everything else fell short of expectations.The best part of the movie, believe it or not, was not while the characters were in the center of the Earth. Rather, it was while they were on the surface and even then, it wasn't that entertaining. I strongly felt the cinematography was too bright and gave the movie a feeling of schlock and no authenticity. The screenplay was rather poor, unorganized, and many scenes had little or no point. Such as this part where a bear allegedly attacks the characters and scares away the horses. We see the characters shooting, hear a bear growling, and that's all. Special effects weren't that great either. For dinosaurs, we see giant birds (not pterodactyls) and a plesiosaurus. Both were achieved with rather shoddy computer graphics. The creatures took up very little of the film and created no sense of marvel or majesty about themselves, which is what one wants to see in a movie like this. A lost world should be treated with majesty and magnificence.Bottom line, the 2008 film adaptation of "Journey to the Center of the Earth" was a very bland uninteresting film that took its time at developing itself and made very little sense. I suppose it is worth looking at once, but I'm in no itching hurry to view it a second time.

Vic_max Despite its name, the movie has a very low sci-fi feel to it. I felt I was watching something more akin to a western travel adventure than anything else. Outside of that, it was pretty innocent and mild - like a low-budget family movie. Nothing great here.Basically, this is a story about a wealthy lady who enlists the help of an anthropologist to help find her missing husband. He was on a quest to find a passage into the earth - but hasn't been heard from in 4 years. With the help of two other men, they try to retrace her husband's path.Although there is no suspense, thrill or anything like that, the movie has a pleasant tone to it that almost makes it an "OK" way to pass 2 hours. However, unless you're looking for something to watch while you fall asleep, pass on this.