Journey to the Center of the Earth (1989)

Movie review by Caroline Gates-Shannon, Common Sense Media
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1989) Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 10+

Awful effects, bad acting, and ridiculous plot.

PG 1989 80 minutes
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Parents say

age 8+

Based on 2 reviews

Kids say

age 13+

Based on 2 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to 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.

Community Reviews

garbageknight
garbageknight Adult
July 5, 2021
age 8+

This is for young Kids maybe preteens.

The plot, at first look good, outside the nanny! what was the point of her in the movie. She could of just taken the place of the kid sister, and made it a FAMILY adventure. Then you have the bad low budget set and effects. The fact the big brother and sister get rescued. But then the mid brother and British nanny get to the center of the earth. Which by the way too them maybe less than a day to get there, is absurd. With hardly a interesting thing along the way. Also when they are camping, how did they get wood for a fire, and also set the fire, in a wet cave full of rocks. No one notices that his comic books are now all over, like they just ignore the fact, someone put his comics everywhere while they were sleeping. The dream sequence even confused my daughter who is 9. Then when the get to ATLANTIS, you think its going to be this beautiful mystery place. And it turns into what looks like a dystopic world after a massive collapse of society. It absolutely makes no sense. Then the ending...the ending was the worst, made no sense. Apparently all you need to take down a government is a old boom box with AC/DC playing. Then white screen and everything is awesome. There are many more 80s movies worth your time.. FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR, THE GOONIES, EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY, the one where the kids make a UFO and visit aliens, the one where cidy lauper and that dude are physics, WEIRD SCIENCE, WARGAME, CONAN all of them, even the newer conan which is absolute trash. 16 CANDELS, even the boring yet story driven BREAKFAST CLUB, RUDY, these are all far better movies to watch then this crud.
bigmoviefan2020
bigmoviefan2020 Adult
November 26, 2020
age 8+

Stuning film is amazing!

PG: a scary image/mild language
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 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 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 dreams of life on the outside. Together, they set out to foil General Rykov's plan to take over the surface by violent means.

Is It Any Good?

Even at only 80 minutes long, this journey is tiresome, laughable, and confusing. 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, the film might have some appeal to younger viewers, but it will certainly have their parents' eyes rolling.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can 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?

Movie Details

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