Journey to the Center of the Earth (1989) - PG

Awful effects, bad acting, and ridiculous plot.

Rating: PG for some profanity Studio: Warner Home Video Directed By: Rusty Lemorande Cast: Debra Monk, Kathy Ireland Running Time: 80 minutes Release Date: 10/31/1989 Genre: Science Fiction

Common Sense Note

Parents should know that despite the title, JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH is, at best, only vaguely related to the Jules Verne book of the same name. Other than some implied violence in the form of war and a few instances of profanity, there is nothing inherently inappropriate about this movie. There is also not really anything to recommend this version of JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH -- the plot is absurd and at times hard to follow, the acting is bad, and the film overall looks very low-budget.

Families who do choose to watch JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH might want to talk about fascist governments, like the one in Atlantis. How did the underground government try to control the information their citizens got? Why is it important for people to have access to information?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Caroline Gates-Shannon

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH bears little resemblance to the Jules Verne book on which it's supposedly based. Instead, the film is actually a sequel to the forgettable Kathy Ireland film, Alien In LA. Poorly acted and featuring a ridiculous plot with a blink-and-you'll-miss-it conclusion, JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH might have some appeal to younger viewers, but it will certainly have their parents' eyes rolling.

The film follows Bryan, his brother Richard, and Crystina, a young British nanny they meet the same day, as they make their way underground via an opening in a Hawaiian cave. Although Richard is eventually rescued by his parents and the National Guard, Bryan and Crystina make their way to the underground city of Atlantis. The citizens of Atlantis are a miserable bunch ruled by a fascist government that controls their knowledge of the outside world. To prepare for their planned takeover of the surface world, Atlantis's government is making clones of the first surface-dweller to wander into Atlantis. Bryan meets Shank, a citizen of Atlantis who wants nothing more than to go to the surface to live. Together, they foil General Rykov's plan to take over the surface by violent means. Although the ending isn't completely clear, it seems that the leaders of Atlantis change their tactics and instead choose to cooperate with the surface dwellers.

Even at only 80 minutes long, JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH is tiresome, laughable, and confusing. Families who enjoy science fiction and adventure films would do better to rent The Goonies or the 1959 adaptation of Journey to the Center of the Earth.

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