Under the Mountain

I attended the North American Premiere of "Under the Mountain" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is a love song to New Zealand's volcanoes. Jonathan King's fantasy tale is "Lord of the Rings" meets "Alien" -- it may be a bit scary for younger kids, though. Sam Neill does a star turn here as an aging wizard-like Fagan. Only he has the knowledge to help save the world from the evil Gargantua. But it's up to teenage twins Theo and Rachel (young newcomers Tom Cameron and Sophie McBride) to wield the power. The charming kids steal the show here and couldn't be more engaging. The multi-layered story more than held my interest -- there's plenty here for adults and youth alike. Production values are stellar with mind-boggling visual and special effects, and "Under the Mountain" boasts one of the best scores I've heard in a long time. The lush cinematography amounts to a New Zealand travelogue. The film is dazzling and puts many others of its ilk to shame. "Under the Mountain" should do well among family audiences.

I saw Under the Mountain at the cinema and recently purchased the DVD. My teenage sons loved the film as did I. New Zealand is on a roll lately and Under the Mountain shows what can be done with a load of kiwi talent and a cracker story.

Sam Neill is fantastic, as always, but what really stood out for me were the two leads. Gone are the days of stage acting in our movies, a perfectly pitched performance from all. I'm looking forward to seeing what Mr King makes next, he is clearly an incredibly talented man.

The visual effects are amazing, as expected from having WETA involved.

I recommend this movie to anyone who loves to be entertained, suitable for the entire family. The DVD has a great making of as well.

9 out of 10

There are only two reasons why i would waste my time writing about a movie. It is either because its brilliant or because it's a terrible waste of time! This movie falls into the latter category. Halfway into the movie, i find myself looking at the clock. Unfortunately, it didn't get any better. Wow, such great premise, how the hell did they miss the mark? The director is to blame here. It was so so lame and boring. The actors did a good job, though i would have to say that sometimes the reaction factor is kind of weak. Example, when Mr Jones was trying to heal Rachel, flames of fire came out of his hand, in reality any tom dick and harry would find this amazingly unreal and you would expect them to react in disbelief, but on the contrary, the kids are acted like they have seen this before. Wowsers! This movie gets a C from me.

I really liked this movie. It is thrilling, scary and has brilliant visual effects!

I really liked the theme of this movie. Teenage fraternal twins Theo and Rachel who seem like ordinary teenagers but they turn out to be very significant. Also Theo and Rachel have recently suffered a terrible tragedy the death of their mother, which causes a rift in the bound between the twins. So throughout the film the twins not only have to discover their true destiny, they also have to rediscover themselves.

Sam Neil is brilliant in his role as the mysterious and benevolent Mr Jones who becomes the twins mentor. Sam is brilliant in just about every role I've seen him in.

Now the main antagonists of the film the Wilberforces, they are scary in every way; slimy, grotesque and terrifyingly powerful. They are something out of your worst nightmare!

I liked the fact that this terrifying adventure takes place in the beautiful landscapes of New Zealand. It makes this movie look somewhat majestic in the scene of location.

So overall this is a great movie. I don't see many Australian or New Zealand films that are this good.

First, find a highly original story such as a book by Maurice Gee.

Second, get a named actor (Sam Neill would do and he's a pretty good sport). Some aspiring young amateurs will come cheaply -- and they'd probably like an excuse to get out of school. If the young ones are meant to be sympathetic characters, so much the better if they're good looking.

Third, leave out all the originality of the story, and replace it with your favourite Hollywood formula, particularly ones with truculent teenagers. Keep most of the character names or you might be accused of originality of your own. Keeping the location might be useful, but not necessarily. Maybe not a good idea to change the location to New York because too many people know what it looks like, and it would cost too much to film there.

Fourth, get some nifty special effects. Fire always makes a good spectacle.

Fifth, get some cheap hair-dye to make some of the main characters' hair red, but don't mention what red hair has to do with the story -- maintain a bit of mystery.

And there you have it.

Easy.