Journey to the Center of the Earth is a 2008 3D science fantasy action-adventure film directed by Eric Brevig and starring Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem and Seth Meyers. It is an adaptation of Jules Verne's novel of the same name, using its basic plot structure, but setting it in the modern day with a new cast.
Verne's book takes the role of Saknussemm's message, serving as the inciting document that gets the characters to journey to Iceland. The cast likewise mirrors the original, consisting of:
- A geology professor — the Bostonian volcanologist Trevor Anderson (Fraser)
- His nephew — thirteen-year-old Sean (Hutcherson)
- An Icelandic guide — Hannah Asgeirsson (Briem)
This group goes through a cave opening on the volcano Snaefells and discovers a subterranean world home to prehistoric beasts, including a sea home to pods of plesiosaurs and, past that, a forested shore home to terrestrial monsters.
The film's plot does differ from the novel in several ways, however. The characters don't deliberately seek to find a route to the center of the planet — instead, they become trapped in a cave by a rockslide and are forced deeper in to find a way out — and the prehistoric beasts include a giant predatory theropod, a creature absent in the original.
The film was followed by a 2012 sequel, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, which loosely adapts the plot of The Mysterious Island with only Hutcherson returning from the main cast.
This movie contains examples of:
- Abandoned Mine: Shortly after taking refuge in a cave on the side of an Icelandic volcano, the crew discovers a lava tube that leads to an abandoned mine shaft.
- Adaptational Badass: Unlike his book counterpart Axel, Sean was willing to go on the trip and was even able to hold his own in the harsh environment.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Sean and Trevor are noticeably nicer than their book counterparts Axel and Lidenbrock, at least as the movie progressed.
- Artistic License – Geology: Veins of pure magnesium that cause violent explosions when exposed to a flare? The volcanic tube encrusted with gigantic, flawless jewels of many different types right next to each other? And this is before they fall to the Center!
- Artistic License – Paleontology:
- The phosphorescent birds are identified as Cyanis rosopteryx, which is stated to be a Jurassic bird. Not only is this not actually a real species, but they also resemble modern-type birds, which did not arise until the Cretaceous period — Jurassic birds had long bony tails, toothy mouths instead of beaks, and visible claws on their wings, and aren't believed to have been capable of true flight.
- The Giganotosaurus, according to the special features and tie-in material, looks more like a Tyrannosaurus rex with thumbs.
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Iceland adheres to a strict rule of patronymic, or in rare cases matronymic, naming system and thus parents and children almost never share the same last name (unless their recent ancestors came from overseas). In real life, Hannah wouldn't have the full name Hannah Ásgeirsson, as stated by the credits, but rather Hannah Sigurbjörnsdóttir (derived from her father Sigurbjörn). Even if her father was named Ásgeir, as she's a woman, hers should be Ásgeirsdóttir. Although it should be pointed out that the actress, who is also Icelandic, does have an inherited surname. They're rare, but they exist, and some of them do end in "son".
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Come the end of the film, Hannah looks as fresh faced and blemish free as she does when we first meet her, despite the rough and tumble of their journey. She does has a bruise on one cheek and a smudge of dirt, however this is in comparison to a pretty cut up Trevor and Sean. Hannah's clothes are bloodied and torn, however.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Bioluminescent birds, of all things. Not to mention that they're birds which normally live in a well-lit area.
- Catapult Nightmare: The way Trevor wakes from his nightmare in the opening scene.
- Cell Phones Are Useless: Getting a signal after walking into a cave and after a landside: impossible. Traversing an ocean miles underneath the surface of the Earth, in a thunderstorm: lousy reception.
- Clothing Damage: Trevor ends up ripping one of the sleeves of his shirt. After a moment he rips the other one off himself.
- Convection, Schmonvection: Sitting in an active volcanic vent would never be a survivable adventure, especially not when you’re deep enough to see into the magma chamber.
- Disappeared Dad: Sean's father (Trevor's brother), due to becoming trapped deep beneath the Earth's surface and not living long enough to get out.
- Dream Intro: The film starts with a Pursued Protagonist intro in which the hero is being chased by a Giganotosaurus, culminating in him falling into a lava pit. A Catapult Nightmare reveals this sequence to be a bad dream.
- *Drool* Hello: The Giganotosaurus copiously drooling on Sean Anderson from above a boulder.
- Even the Dog Is Ashamed: When Sean has trouble traversing the floating rocks, his little luminous bird buddy shakes its head in despair.
- Flying Sea Food Special: We see the protagonist batting flying fish around, apparently so that the filmmakers could throw something at the audience in 3D.
- Gender Flip: Borderline example, as the events of the original book are implied to have taken place to some extent, but the book's male Icelandic guide Hans' role is played by the female Icelandic guide Hannah.
- Genre Savvy: Trevor has read the original Jules Verne novel, although he's surprised to find that it's true. Invoked by Sean (who hasn't read it) when he sees the bones of a Dinosaur.Sean: I should've read that book!
- I Fell for Hours: Lampshaded when Trevor interrupts the trio's Overly Long Scream with "We're still falling!"
- Man-Eating Plant: The cavern is filled with giant Venus flytraps that are unable to eat humans, but growl and snap at them anyway for no apparent reason. Also, their roots are attached to snake-like vines that hang people by the neck to strangle them, also for no apparent reason. It seems that even when it comes to plants, Carnivores Are Mean.
- Overly Long Scream: When the main characters fall down the hole leading to the center of the Earth. Of the "take a deep breath, then continue screaming" variety.
- Papa Wolf: Trevor fights giant piranhas, man-eating plants, a huge carnivorous dinosaur, and Mount Vesuvius to protect his nephew.
- Rollercoaster Mine: Complete set with a jump a point where the track splits into three, follows the same route, finally meeting up at the same point.
- Pursued Protagonist: The opening Dream Sequence in which Max is being chased by a Giganotosaurus.
- Soft Water: The heroes fall easily thousands of feet down a rock shaft and hit water with little more than a few gasps after they surface. They try to subvert this by using the walls as a "water slide" to slow their descent. They landed on a non-boiling geyser, spraying a lot of air and water upward to cushion their fall.
- Super Cell Reception: There is a cellphone that works at the center of the Earth. Worse yet, not only is it just a joke that's not essential to the plot, but there was a scene in the same movie where a cell phone won't work inside of a normal cave.
- A True Story in My Universe: Here all Jules Verne books were based on true accounts.
