Journey to the Center of the Earth is a 1989 fantasy film. It was a nominal sequel to the 1988 film Alien from L.A., both of which are (very) loosely based on the 1864 novel Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne.
| Journey to the Center of the Earth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Rusty Lemorande Albert Pyun (uncredited) |
| Written by | Debra Ricci Regina Davis Kitty Chalmers Rusty Lemorande |
| Based on | Journey to the Center of the Earth 1864 novel by Jules Verne |
| Produced by | Yoram Globus Menahem Golan |
| Starring | Emo Philips Paul Carafotes Jaclyn Bernstein Janet Du Plessis Nicola Cowper Kathy Ireland |
| Cinematography | Tom Fraser David Watkin |
| Edited by | Victor Livingston Rozanne Zingale |
| Music by | Stephane Lee Tim Stonewall |
| Distributed by | The Cannon Group |
Release date |
|
Running time | 79 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot summary
editNewly hired nanny Crystina arrives in Hawaii to discover that her charge is the dog of Nimrod, a rock star. Two brothers accidentally take the dog's basket to a local cave with their sister. The group of young people get lost in a cavern while exploring a volcano. The volcano explodes and while fleeing they discover the lost city of Atlantis, at the center of the Earth. Atlantis is inhabited, and view the arrival of the group along with a separate visitor from the surface, Wanda Saknussemm, as an invasion. This leads the Atlanteans to prepare to invade the surface.[2] The children, nanny and Saknussemm must stop the invasion and escape to the surface.
Cast
edit- Emo Philips as Nimrod
- Paul Carafotes as Richard
- Jackie Bernstein as Sara
- Kathy Ireland as Wanda Saknussemm
- Janie du Plessis as Gen. Rykov / Shank
- Nicola Cowper as Crystina
- Lochner De Kock as Professor Galba
- Ilan Mitchell-Smith as Bryan
- Albert Maritz as Mago/Kepple/Lab Assistant
- Jeff Celentano as Tola
- Simon Poland as Roderman / Hairdresser
- Jeremy Crutchley as Billy Foul
Production
editThe film marked the directorial debut of Rusty Lemorande and began shooting in June 1986 over the course of 40 days in Newport Beach, California with various underground scenes constructed within a vacant hangar at Long Beach Naval Shipyard.[3]
After screening Lemorande's rough cut, producers Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan were dissatisfied with the results particularly with the lack of a beginning which had been shot with Christmas decorations but had to be scrapped when the film abandoned its intended Holiday 1986 release date.[4] Lemorande had hoped the screening would convince Globus and Golan to allocate additional resources to finish the film, but instead they hired Albert Pyun to complete the film.[4] Pyun accepted the job saying he would finish the film for free if they allowed him to film Alien from L.A. for under $1 million which was a repurposed version of Pyun's own take on Journey to the Center of the Earth, which they agreed.[4]
Reception
editMoria noted that the film was a hodgepodge and a mess. What seems to have been an attempt to do a teen age version of the Verne book ends up with little to do with the book other than the underground setting. Creature Feature gave the movie 1 out of 5 stars, calling the film a mess and something that only vaguely resembles a feature film.[5] Common Sense Media stated that the film's "plot is absurd and at times hard to follow, the acting is bad, and the film overall looks very low-budget" but that it was appropriate for most children.[6]
References
edit- ^ '"Jounrey to the Center of the Earth (1989)". tcm.com. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
- ^ "Journey to the Center of the Earth (1988)". October 21, 2007.
- ^ Biodrowski, Steve (January 1987). "Journey to the Center of the Earth". Cinefantastique. Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
- ^ a b c Biodrowski, Steve (July 1988). "Cannon Shelves its other". Cinefantastique. Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
- ^ Stanley, J. (2000) Creature Feature: 3rd edition
- ^ "Journey to the Center of the Earth (1989) - Movie Review". www.commonsensemedia.org. September 14, 2009.
External links
edit