![]() Anyone who's ever donned a pair of red/blue 3-D glasses knows that high-def's razor-sharpness isn't to be expected from the 3D image here: more to the point is the 3-D effect itself. When I was watching the 3-D version in theatres, I figured that the home video release would be a big letdown, robbed of its gimmick, but Blu-ray viewers can choose between a sharp high-def 2-D transfer and a high-def anaglyph (red/blue) 3-D version of the film. Of course, Journey is as much Sean's training for manhood (he even tries to call "dibs" on the fetching Hannah) consequently, the young lads in your family will thank you for taking them, but I'm not sure about anyone else.Īspect ratios: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreenįrom New Line comes a 3-D presentation of Journey to the Center of the Earth on Blu-ray and DVD. ![]() The action and the moony emotion are best summed up by Fraser's character, who says, "That was a lot of male bonding packed into very little time." The adventure is partly Trevor's invitation to learn some grown-male responsbility (of Sean's visit, the boy's mother tells Trevor, "It'll be good for him.who knows? Maybe it'll be good for you too"). If the impression ultimately is one of a collection of special-effects demo sequences spackled together with sentiment, there's a pleasing throwback vibe to the innocent '50s-ness of it all. The technology has certainly improved since the era Meyers around a la with a protuberant tape measure. So too does the added frisson of new-wave 3D, which gets that ViewMaster effect with compositions emphasizing foreground and background-wisps of mist in the frame's fore often help the illusion of depth (Brevig gives a cheeky cameo to a stereopticon). ![]() One of the most heavily promoted sequences, involving toothy flying fish, features the film's least acceptable effects, but he use of Icelandic locations goes a long way to making the film palatable. The dialogue is no great shakes (Trevor: "Doesn't it just blow your mind?" Hannah: "My mind is blown, yes."), but at least the story extols the virtues of scientific field work (while overstating its thrills).īrevig, who supervised effects on such Spielberg productions as Hook and Men in Black, crafts a mine-car roller-coaster ride that's a straight rip from the family-action maestro (as for the rampaging T-rex, Steve's been there and done that too). Once the trio falls into a seemingly bottomless pit, it's a nonstop tour of fantastic sights (giant dandelions and mushrooms), bizarre phenomena (a floating field of magnetic rocks), and threatening creatures (carnivorous plants). As for plot development, it's one thing after another. The story is simple: following the trail of "Vernians" who took dear old Jules literally, tectonic-physics professor Trevor Anderson (Fraser), his 13-year-old nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson of Bridge to Terabithia), and mountain guide Hannah Ásgeirsson (Anita Briem) travel thousands of miles into the Earth to "a world within the world" in a scientific pursuit that almost claims their lives. Of course, the other gimmick of the film is right there in the title, a 3D treatment that will take you back to the days you spent with your ViewMaster, or perhaps rep house screenings of cheesefests like House of Wax. ![]() The special effects are often painterly and decidedly fantastical, the science is exalted but junky, and the leading man is Brendan Fraser. Though one of the gimmicks of Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D is that Jules Verne's 1864 novel was a non-fiction account, the film by longtime effects whiz/first-time director Eric Brevig has a winking, kid-friendly sense of unreality.
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