Wonderful character development!

Too many fans seem to be blown away

Lack of good storyline.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Countryshacks' review should be taken with a grain of salt. This version was a made for TV version, and was not released in theaters. I don't know about countryshack, but I don't expect the same level of effects out of a made for TV movie that I expect out of a full blown Hollywood production. The budgets are no where near the same.I found the movie fairly enjoyable, the effects pretty much on par with what I'd expect. The story is a bit soap operaish as countryshack stated. I wonder if countryshack thought he was taping a prerelease of the Brendan Fraser movie by the same name that was released later that year, and would have been heavily promoted about that time.

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

Lighthearted romp for kids and teenagers based upon the Jules Verne book. An anthropologist named Jonathan Breck (Rick Schroder) and his niece (Steven Grayhm) undergo a hazardous voyage hired by Martha Dennison (Victoria Pratt) to find clues of her husband Edward (Peter Fonda) who disappeared five years earlier during an expedition to the center of the earth in Alaska (at the original novel is Iceland) recently bought to Russia. The trio along with a Russkie scout descend into deep caverns and discover a way leading to the planet's center. They have to deal with numerous risks, dangers, endure torrential floods, prehistoric animals and discover a forest with a lost tribe but not the lost city of Atlantis as happens in the classic novel.This inferior adaptation is a special version of the Jules Verne adventure yarn . There're rip-roaring action, spirit of adventure, derring-do, thrills, but results to be quite boring. It's a brief fun with average special effects , passable set decoration , functional art direction and minimum use of computer generator. Acceptable cinematography, being filmed in Columbia British , Canada and atmospheric soundtrack . Highlights of the voyage includes a roller-coaster trip, a terrifying odyssey in sailing, with appearance of prehistoric reptile such as Plesiosaurius , Pterodactilus, and many others events. The film is produced in low budget by the usual Robert Halmi Sr. and Jr. who had formerly produced another version directed by George Miller , plus financed Jules Verne's 20.000 leagues under the sea(1997) directed by Michael Anderson. The motion picture is middling directed by T. J. Scott.Other versions about this known story are the following : Classic adaptation (1959) by Henry Levin with James Mason as Lindenbrook, Pat Boone,Diane Baker and Arlene Dahl; Spanish version (1976)by Juan Piquer with Kenneth Moore , Jack Taylor, and TV adaptation by George Miller with Treat Williams, Jeremy London and Bryan Brown and another inferior television picture (2008)by David Jones with Greg Evigan and Dedee Pfeiffer. And of course, recent and successful take on filmed in 3D, produced and starred by Brendan Fraser with Anita Briem and Josh Hutcherson. Rating : Below average.

may contain some spoilers, skip if you don't want movie tidbits i expected some good adventure just like the other movies with the same title, but this version of - journey to the center of the earth was pure boredom even the scenes where excitement should of ran high with a viewer, made me just yawn and wonder why....over half the movie was pure boredom, unless u count rick shroeder chasing a thief, which looked like it was filmed in 10 minutes the decent through the earth could have been made so exciting, but in this version, it was like watching a documentary on A&E. WHERES THE ACTION, SNAKES, BUGS, CAVE-IN???? 1 little fall off a ledge, heck, I've had more dramatic falls on vacations, lol why in this age of computer wizardly cant a movie put more excitement and creativity into itself.a bear supposedly attacks horses, they show a 2 second clip of a bear roaring, thats it! horses scatter and after looking for the horses for 2 minutes they say horses are gone? i mean come on, show some mauling prehistoric birds attacking, well, what a joke. i see more action on 1970's land of the lost TV show.the only good graphic in this entire movie was a sea creature jumping up and eating a bird, a whole 10 seconds total.lets talk about the acting.....if they let rick shroeder be more exciting in this flick, it would have been more fun to watch. seems to me they held him back, with poorly written script and directing the woman, martha, did a OK job, but again, script kept her boring now, PETER FONDA! oh good lord, the only reason i think he was in the film was for his name to market this movie. fonda actually ruined this film to the point of fast-forwarding the DVD. he was so boring, so un-emotional, so... blah!! to me he seemed drunk or on medication as he filmed. i coulda found a more exciting and better actor than peter fonda at the local old folks home. and paid him 1/100th as fonda!! this version of JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH was made to make money off its jules verne title alone, cuz the only award it will win from this reviewer is = STINK-A-ROO !!! that being said, its worth a watch if your bored, but if you see another movie on at same time that has a fun sounding title, id choose it over this 2007 version of jules vernes journey to the center of the earth learn by your mistakes Hollywood....