Where Time Began

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.

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.

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".

"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.

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.