Journey to the Center of the Earth |
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USA • 1993 • 90m •
   • Directed by: William Dear. • Starring: David Dundara, Farrah Forke, Kim Miyori, John Neville, Jeffrey Nordling, Tim Russ, Carel Struycken, Fabiana Udenio, Justina Vail, F. Murray Abraham, Francis Guinan, Cassie Byram, Connie Craig. • Music by: Christopher Franke, David Kurtz.      A scientific expedition to the earth's center goes awry, leaving the explorers marooned in a fantastic underground world.
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Review:
This is a failed pilot for a sort of live action cartoon in the manner of something like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993) but I'd guess aimed slightly older. It's full of simple character archetypes and comic book style ideas and action pieces, the villain is even voiced by voice actor Frank Welker using his "Dr. Claw" voice from Inspector Gadget (1983) so it's obviously not aiming to impress any high brow critics, and even though it does make a few jokes clearly aimed at Mums and Dads watching it's obviously meant for a much younger audience.
It has a lot going for it, decent model work, props, make-up and animatronics, a lot of the creatures look pretty cool, but it's let down a lot by the rather shonky video effects, but I guess they were impressive enough back then.
It's a shame it wasn't picked up as a series, as with a bit more money thrown at the effects and a few script and character tweaks it could have been a fun sci-fi for the younger generation of the time. As it stands, it's just about watchable and I'm pretty sure younger kids would enjoy it.
Review by DoctorThotcer from the Internet Movie Database.
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