Journey To The Center Of The Earth (2008/Blu-ray + DVD-Video/3-D & 2-D
versions/Warner Home Video)
Picture:
B/C+/C Sound: B/B- Extras: C- Film: C-
Some
classics are better left alone and Jules Verne’s Journey To The Center Of The Earth is one of them. So tired is the idea of retreading it that
even rip-offs are tired and the 2008 Brendan Frazer version wastes the talented
actor again (hope he got a decent paycheck) in Eric Brevig’s shockingly boring
recycling. The addition of 3-D is not a
plus, rarely works, makes this a curio with little to deliver and the effects
are used so little that it is as if the 3-D was a mid-production afterthought.
Frazer is
an expert (whatever) on the subject of the past (that Mummy/Indiana Jones connection is weak and tenuous) who brings his
nephew and another young expert on his trip, which turns out to be a life &
death adventure, except for all the bad jokes and predictability. This goes on and on for 92 rather condescending
minutes until it is finally over. In
2-D, you could give this our lowest grade, but this is just a stunt and joke
more than a film and your better off seeing the 1959 Pat Boone version in
CinemaScope, because that had a better script and more money in it!
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 in 2-D is loaded with motion blur, something the 3-D version can hide
a bit, but its color and effects inconsistencies are disappointing, if not as
outright annoying as the lame, overrated Hannah
Montana 3-D Blu-ray. The DVD’s
anamorphically enhanced 3-D version works well enough, but is hardly better
than the 2-D and the 2-D only full-screen option (why is this here?) is a
disaster. Both formats offer only Dolby
Digital 5.1 sound and are not that impressive in either case, while the Blu-ray
has the slightest edge with more room for the antiquated codec. Extras besides the 3-D are a game, three
featurettes and a flat audio commentary by Frazer and Brevig. Both format copies also offered a paperboard
slipcase with a 3-D lenticular cover image.
- Nicholas Sheffo
