User reviews

.Adventure tale full of colorful scenarios and pretty fierce monsters . Amusing and lighthearted romp for kids and teenagers based upon the Jules Verne novel . A scientist (Kenneth Moore), his niece (Ivonne Sentis) and boyfriend (Pep Munne) undergo a hazardous voyage to the center of earth , along the way they face numerous dangers and risks. During the trip , the scientific and his niece hire a wealthy scout (Frank Braña) for an expedition to the centre of the world . As four persons attempt to get to center of the earth by entering into an environment of caves by a volcano located in Iceland. The trio descend into deep caverns and discover a tunnel system leading to the planet's center. On their way they find among other things also prehistoric animals like some dinosaurs. They have to deal with lightning storms, endure torrential floods, volcanic eruptions, turtles, a big gorilla, and discover a forest of giant mushrooms, but not the lost city of Atlantis as happens in the classic novel.

This average adaptation is a special version of the Jules Verne adventure yarn . There're rip-roaring action, spirit of adventure, derring-do, thrills and results to be pretty entertaining . It's a brief fun with average special effects by Emilio Ruiz Del Rio and Francisco Prosper, passable set decoration , functional art direction and none use of computer generator. Fantastic adventures full of monsters in a lost continent on the center of earth . The rubber monsters are the real stars of this production , however being middling made . The fable is silly and laughable , and the effects and action are regularly made . Among the most spectacular of its visuals there are some deeply shrouded caverns , several monsters roaring menacingly towards the camera , a little tableau comprising attack and fighting two giant monsters and the colorful backgrounds of the lost land . Some monsters are clumsily but the movie has some good moments here and there . Some illogical parts in the argument are more than compensated for the excitement provided by the monsters, though sometimes are a little bit cheesy. It's a great fun with naive special effects , passable set decoration and functional art direction without use of computer generator. Highlights of the voyage includes a roller-coaster trip, strong storms, magnetic rocks, a terrifying odyssey in sailing, prehistoric reptile, a Tiranosaurius Rex, and many others. The motion picture is professionally realized by Juan Piquer Simon. Piquer who recently passed away was a craftsman expert on all kind of genres as Terror ( Slugs,Piezes, Cthulhu) and Sci-fi (The rift , The new Extraterrestres, Supersonic man) .Other renditions about this know story are the following : Classic version (1959) by Henry Levin with James Mason as Lindenbrook, Pat Boone,Diane Baker and Arlene Dahl; and TV adaptation by George Miller with Treat Williams, Jeremy London and Bryan Brown.

Until very recently, this remake of the famous Jules Verne story had completely passed me by. Though not a patch on the James Mason version (1959), it's not a complete write-off. Kenneth More takes on the role of the explorer "Prof. Lindenbrock" - this time an eminent German rather than Scottish scholar (there were some Deutsche Marks involved in the production here) and he and his small team set off down an Icelandic volcano on the adventure of any lifetime. The rest of the cast are completely unremarkable - a truly international mix of C-list collaborators, with Jack Taylor's young "Olsen" reminding me (audibly) a lot of Roddy McDowall. Anyway, it is a good, strong story and even the most mediocre of directors can't really screw that up too badly. The special effects - especially the prehistoric creatures - are the stuff of a school project (even then) but it is intercut with some fine volcanic actuality and it's paced well enough for More to just about have sufficient gravitas to carry it off. Memorable? No. Good? No. I still quite enjoyed it, though.

Oh, it's okay. I guess. Maybe. As has already been stated, it is very much a recast version of the 1950s version with James Mason. There are some

unusual twists, mostly toward the end. The special effects are on par with Kevin Connor's assorted 1970s monster flicks (e.g. The Land That Time Forgot,

People that Time Forgot, At the Earth's Core, Warlords of Atlantis). While many find those films to be entertaining and campy cheese, this film lacks their humor and spark. Nevertheless, it is a decent enough time killer, but is probably not worth recommending to the vast majority of viewers. For what it's worth,

Kenneth More is a credible Lindenbrock. The rest of the cast is at least okay save for Pep Munne who plays Axel. During an extensive rafting trip, I was

really hoping to see Axel slip overboard for the duration.

"Where Time Began" is an adaptation of Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth", with some variations to make it more salable (such as a love interest). It seems to have been aimed at a juvenile audience and is in the same vein as the Kevin Connors/Amicus Studios adaptations of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Like many genre films, "Where Time Began" has very hokey characters and dialogue. The ineptitude with which the journey to the center of the earth is conducted is quite startling, in fact. The stupidity of their dialogue (especially the exchanges between Glauben and her idiotic fiancee Axel) gives the film a strong tone of campiness and unintentional humor. When Olsen shows up to rescue them midway through and complains that he's had to listen to their stupid chatter for the past ten miles, the viewer can commiserate. However, given the fact that it is a low budget film, the sets, photography and giant creature special effects are actually pretty good, and they manage to maintain some atmosphere throughout the production. Once the characters arrive in the pseudo-prehistoric world at the center of the earth, the film especially picks up, and the revelation of the origin of Olsen provides an interesting twist. For this reason, "Where Time Began" is a reasonable entry in the journey-to-a-lost-world genre.

Very nearly qualifying for 'so bad, it's good' status, Spanish director Juan Piquer Simon's take on Jules Verne's classic tale is poorly acted, has some truly awful effects, and features the most inept bunch of explorers ever to be committed to celluloid. With a touch more manky monster action, and its tongue a bit further in cheek, this one could have rivalled 70s favourite At the Earth's Core for schlock value; as it stands, it is a fairly entertaining low budget adventure flick that is just about enough fun for it to warrant a viewing.

Kenneth More plays Prof. Otto Lindenbrock, a geologist who sets out on an expedition after discovering a secret route to the centre of the Earth. Together with his niece Glauben (Ivonne Sentis), a Prussian soldier, Axel (Pep Munné), and a shepherd named Hans (Frank Braña), Otto braves dangerous cave-ins, poisonous mushrooms, a perilous sea journey and prehistoric creatures.

Unlike James Mason's more than capable Oliver Lindenbrook (in the far superior 1959 movie Journey to the Center of the Earth), More's character is something of a bumbling fool. He is totally unprepared for the trip he undertakes and doesn't seem at all fazed by any setbacks (he loses his guidebook and water supply along the way, but continues regardless). His companions, who all seem quite happy to tag along, are equally irresponsible; they frequently wander off on their own with absolutely no regard for their own safety.

On discovering a huge underground ocean, the travellers build a raft, bump into some sea monsters (rubber glove puppets filmed in a bath), visit an island full of man-eating tortoises (the world's slowest predators) and get attacked by a giant ape (played by a man in a fancy-dress monkey suit). They eventually emerge from an erupting Stromboli, none the worse for wear.

All of this, believe it or not, is fairly faithful to Verne's novel, but Juan Piquer Simon, apparently not content with its level of silliness, ramps up the ridiculousness even further. Halfway through their journey, our intrepid gang meet a mysterious stranger called Olsen, who eventually turns out to be a time-travelling scientist! Fans of bad monster movies and silly 70s sci-fi cinema will probably want to check this film out; everyone else would be better off giving it a miss.

The 2nd feature adaptation of the Jules Verne classic is oddly a Spanish effort, and is worse than the 1959 version (Which was only bad because of one scene).

I'm sure I don't need to recite the plot of such a classic novel but needless to say that it doesn't entirely follow the source material.

Our heroes must contend with giant lizards, giant turtles, a giant gorrilla and more in their journey and though it looks okay for it's time it manages to be a combination of baffling and entirely un-engaging.

I can't quite put my finger on why but at no point did I find myself even remotely engrossed into this. The cast are passable, the sfx are ahead of their time and the material for the most part is okay. Sadly it just isn't strung together very well and makes for less than enjoyable viewing.

I'm binge watching the adaptations and can only assume someone does the novel justice.

The Good:

Looks okay for its time

The Bad:

Same nonsensical tale

Some silly additions to the story

A few of the logistics are painfully stupid

Based on the popular novel by Jules Verne originally called "Journey To The Center Of The Earth", and filmed previously under that title by 20th Century Fox in 1959, this version stars Kenneth More as a scientist who has discovered a way to enter the center of the Earth through Iceland. He takes with him his niece and her fiancée, along with a helper called Hans. Once there, they encounter the usual menaces one can expect, like dinosaurs on the land and sea, as well as a mysterious human named Olsen who will play an important part later... Mediocre film isn't bad but is pretty forgettable; saw this on DVD as a double feature paired with the superior "Encounter With The Unknown".

That is probably why I loved this movie as a child. The movie was called "Where time Began" when I saw it and it is based on the Jules Verne novel, but it is so absolutely different that it makes this movie almost unique. I prefer it a bit more to the 1959 version, granted I liked that one too. This one just has such curious elements that make it to me a more strange and different film. It is cheesy to be sure, but I have said many times that I enjoy cheese so I do find this film fun. The film is like any other "Journey to the Center of Earth" adaptation to start out with. However, the film has points where it goes totally crazy, I recall giant turtles or something, strange dinosaurs and a weird facility and a strange man called Olsen. Of course, that is a problem with the movie as well, there are many questions surrounding this strange individual and as a kid I did not understand what was with that character. I would love to see this one again and perhaps now that I am older, maybe I can see what the movie was trying to convey in regards to that character. This one pretty much ends on the same note though as the 1959 version. Then it has a very surreal ending involving Olsen. So while the film is not without its faults and while others may not like this one, I find this cave movie really entertaining to watch.

A piece of advice:avoid at all costs this piece of garbage and do pick

the wonderful "journey to the center of the earth" starring James Mason and featuring Bernard Hermann's impressive score (1959).

This version is abysmal :the only real actor in it is Kenneth Moore and he acts as if he does not care :he seems to be wondering why he got involved in that business;the others' playing is amateurish,particularly the young lovers .The guide keeps on counting the sheep and (innovation) he can speak with the others!The special effects are cheap :cardboard set and cardboard characters .

Probably made to capitalize on the success of "the land that time forgot" .

Jules Verne must be turning in his grave!

Essentially a recasting of the 1959 version as opposed to a remake (think a traveling version of your favorite Broadway play and you get the picture). Now that video allows us to experience the original over and over again, this film becomes less unique. The overall film is not so bad (considering the genre) if it weren't for the fact that this film was done so much better twenty years earlier. As far as casting Kenneth More in the James Mason role...what can I say? More is Less. This film was made during the time when films such as THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT, and AT THE EARTH'S CORE were successful, and this version shares much with those films regarding style. I think if I were a kid in 1977 watching this in a theater and never seeing the original I would have thought it would be great. If only the director would have introduced new themes or viewpoints to the familiar story it could be enjoyed today. The film can be recommended however for a great gimmick for it's opening credits...a montage of the original Georges Melies silent films of Jules Verne's works set to the film's theme song. I've never seen them used in any other adaptation and it was a nice tribute.

This movie is one of the worst adaptations of the Jules Verne book "Journey To the Center Of the Earth". The 1959 movie with the same title, starring James Mason, is much better. The cast of "Where Time Began" is very uninspired - especially Kenneth Moore (usually a very good actor) is very disappointing. The sets are look cheap, and one can almost smell the paint and rubber the prehistoric monsters are made of. Besides I didn't really figure out where this 'Olsen'-character came from and disappeared to. He seemed to have figured out a way to travel through time, as well as through space. Overall, this movie is a big disappointment - I wouldn't even recommend it for a rainy afternoon.

Back in the mid 70's there was a bit of a cycle of fantasy adventure b-movies. Quite a few of them were British and seemed to always star Doug McClure. One typical example being At the Earth's Core (1976) which was an adaption of sorts of the Jules Verne novel 'Journey to the Center Of the Earth'. Well, it can be of no real surprise that there were also some continental offerings in this sub-genre, and so from Spain we have The Fabulous Journey to the Centre of the Earth. While the British films were made on a fairly low budget, this Iberian equivalent is decidedly cheaper still. It was directed by Juan Piquer Simón who is probably best known for directing a couple of psychotronic 80's horror movies, namely the demented slasher Pieces (1982) and the crazy creature-feature Slugs (1988). I definitely wouldn't say that this film is up to the deliriously entertaining standards of those two but it is still a half-way decent effort.

Set in Victorian times, the story has a scientist discovering a secret entrance to the centre of the earth. He assembles a small party and they navigate down into the abyss where they encounter a mysterious stranger called Olsen (played by Jack Taylor who was the go-to American actor for a plethora of cheap Spanish productions at the time). A little later they encounter prehistoric monsters, giant turtles, a giant ape and...big mushrooms! The low budget hampers things a bit and it isn't directed with much impetus but essentially, any movie which throws in dinosaurs and various other creatures can't be all bad. And this one isn't. Its probably one on the lower side of the prehistoric fantasy sub-genre scale but it still essentially offers the goods, so fair enough.

Just watched on YouTube. Typical adventure tropes, like characters wandering off and getting into trouble, time and again. Mountaineer Hans agrees to come along if he's paid in sheep. He should have asked for more, as he carries most of the gear and does most of the physical labor. In the end though, Hans has many sheep and the company of his pretty "cousin".

The Fabulous Journey To The Centre Of The Earth (1977) -

This film was shockingly dubbed and not particularly well acted either. I tend to struggle with Kenneth Moore anyway, but the rest were pretty damned terrible too.

Pep Munné In the role of Axel was a right pillock, although none of the rest were that bright either, except I suppose Ivonne Sentis was alright as the female lead Glauben, although that may have been due to her stronger character, because it's nice to see empowered women putting men in their places in earlier films and earlier time settings.

Olsen (Jack Taylor) was a strange one though. I didn't remember him having certain "abilities" from the other versions of this story that I've seen, but I might be wrong.

Kenneth in his role of Professor Otto Lindenbrock wasn't horrendous if I'm honest and Frank Braña did what was needed as Hans, but that really is me trying to find positives about the film as a whole.

Considering the money that was obviously spent on some of the special effects, there were other bits that were really bad, including the lighting and camera work.

A lot of the cave locations were very apt however. I was glad that they didn't spend the whole time in a drop clothed studio lot/set, because the genuine rock formations did add something to the production. It was a shame that they were the best bit.

I mean, I suppose that Jules Verne's story of exploration, as the whole group find their way around and have adventures under the Earth's crust, was at least a winner to start with and that was probably how I made it all the way to the end of this film, but I've seen 'The Simpson's' (1989) episodes with more thought spent on the delivery and I've definitely seen better versions of J. V's original story.

509.88/1000.

Mom took me to see this when I was 8 or 9 - out of love because she knew I loved anything with dinosaurs. At the time I loved it. I love you Mom.

40+ years later I watched it again on YouTube - and was expecting to be sorely disappointed that it was not the movie I remembered as a kid.

And I was not disappointed at all. This was one of those rare movies that was almost exactly as I remembered it. Okay, so my 9-year-old brain didn't entirely register that most of it was dubbed or that most of the special effects weren't so special - but the things that made it memorable for me were exactly as I remembered them all those years ago.

I remembered a fight between two sea-going dinosaurs that was much more gory than anything I'd seen before. Re-watching it now - yup, those were real animal intestines and other animal parts they used when the sea dinos start eating each other. Not anything like the wimpy smears of red paint I'd always seen before in this sort of movie.

However, I also remembered that no one died in this movie, and that the characters really seemed to care about each other. I was so used to Captain Kirk losing two or three red shirts an episode in the original Star Trek, and wondering - gee, does he really even care? In contrast, no one in this movie leaves anyone behind or to fend for themselves, and there are some genuinely sweet moments. I vividly remembered how at the end when the volcano was exploding everyone went back to look for Hans - a rather minor character - and not only rescued Hans but even the baby lamb Hans himself was rescuing. If Hans had been in an episode of Star Trek - sorry but Kirk would have sent him to 'investigate' the exploding volcano and wouldn't have spent two seconds trying to save him or the baby lamb. Hans would have just been another red shirt who bit the dust.

40+ years later, just as I remembered they didn't leave Hans or the lamb behind.

Yes I'm reviewing this movie through a sentimental haze - but I'm giving it an 8.

I saw this film but it was titled The Fabulous Journey to The Centre of the Earth.

From the stilted and silly dialogue, to the cartoon like special monster effects this is a film to avoid. I found plot elements to be very lacking, with little or no setup for the different locations. The suspense was totally missing when they showed a pair of eyes watching them from black shadows several times to suggest an element of danger and mystery. The viewer has no idea what is going on regarding the identity of that person, and there is no real air of menace.

The sound effects, and accompanying musical score were uninteresting, and added nothing to the film.

I found watching through the entire film to be a entirely worthless experience.

I wholeheartedly recommend Journey to The Centre of the Earth with James Mason, and Pat Boone. The best edition being the Remastered version. In every way its a better film then this....