Dir: Eric Bredvig Cert: PG
Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem
With 3D cinema fast coming back into vogue, and 3D TV not quite in the mainstream, a compromise is required for current home media. Sure, you could just release a film in 2D and say "tough luck" to those who don't frequent their theatres, but with HD available, that's an even bigger waste.
Whether on DVD or Blu-Ray, Journey to the Center of the Earth (yep, they kept the US spelling for the R2 release), presents either the 2D version of the film, or the full, meaty 3D edition, complete with Stereoscopic glasses to watch it with. Only two pairs, mind you, which will be a tad disappointing to families that want to watch it together - it is only a PG flick, after all.
Rather than simply tell the story of the Jules Verne book, Journey tells of a struggling Professor, Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser), and his nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson). Many years ago, Sean's father Max, Trevor's brother, went missing, and with conditions starting to mirror those at the time of his disappearance, the Uncle and Nephew team go to Iceland to investigate.
Here, they meet Hannah Ásgeirsson (Anita Briem), who reveals that both Max and her late father were "Vernians", people who believed that the works of Jules Verne were fact rather than fiction, and that there truly is a portal to the centre of the Earth located nearby. In investigating this, Trevor, Sean and Hannah find themselves trapped underground, and their attempts to escape lead to some rather shocking discoveries.