Jules Verne’s ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ With Brendan Fraser Stars Film’s 3-D Effects

CHICAGO – Jules Verne’s classic 1864 science-fiction novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth” has been adapted well in excess of a dozen times into films, radio and stage plays along with several made-for-TV movies and video games. It has even been adapted into two amusement-park rides.

So what new approach is taken with the Brendan Fraser 2008 remake of “Journey to the Center of Earth”? Well, 3-D glasses. Also, it isn’t so much an adaptation of the book but a very weak narrative film that uses action sequences from the book to make for cool, 3-D effects.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

Trevor (Brendan Fraser) is a volcanology professor at a college where he’s about lose his research lab. His sister-in-law drops off his nephew, Sean (Josh Hutcherson), to spend 10 days with Trevor. Sean’s mother also drops off a box of items left behind by his late father.

Read Dustin Levell’s full review of “Journey to the Center of the Earth” in our reviews section. View our full, high-resolution “Journey to the Center of the Earth” image gallery.

In it, Trevor finds a copy of Verne’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth” with notes from his brother and lab partner. Deciphering the notations, Trevor believes the correlation between the seismic readings he has found in his lab and the notes in the book mean something.

That’s why he and Sean travel to Iceland where Trevor’s brother went missing to investigate. There they meet a guide, Hannah (Anita Briem), who’s the daughter of another Verne follower and scientist.

She leads them into a cave where they begin to discover that everything Verne wrote seems to be fact. All of the personalities of these characters seem thrown together quickly and without enough depth.

Continuing reading for Dustin Levell’s full “Journey to the Center of the Earth” review.

Brendan Fraser stars as Trevor in New Line Cinema’s release of Eric Brevig’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth”.
Photo credit: Sebastian Raymond, New Line Cinema

Left to right: Anita Briem stars as Hannah, Brendan Fraser stars as Trevor and Josh Hutcherson stars as Sean in New Line Cinema’s release of Eric Brevig’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth”.
Photo credit: Sebastian Raymond, New Line Cinema

Continuing reading for Dustin Levell’s full “Journey to the Center of the Earth” review.