As Stevenson once said "to travel is a better thing than to arrive". Unfortunately, this TV movie doesn't offer neither travel nor destination worthwhile. The travel through the Earth is dull and rushed: expect no thrill and no wonderment. And when they arrive in the center of the Earth, all looks exactly the same than the surface, with a sepia tone. The last part adds to the Verne's novel a very forgettable story about Indians and a lost husband that will make us want to run away from this place as soon as possible... and to condemn the entrance of the cave to prevent from returning by mistake.

Veteran television director T.J. Scott's made-for-cable spin on Jules Verne's venerable crackpot classic "Journey to the Center of the Earth" qualifies as lackluster juvenile nonsense. Apart from the use of Verne's name, the title of his novel, its 19th century setting, and some isolated incidents from the text, including an encounter with dinosaurs, this movie shares little in common with Verne's text. This version relocates the action to Alaska in the 1870s so that it initially looks like a hybrid western. No, The protagonist, a financially strapped San Francisco-based archaeologist Jonathan Brock (Ricky Schroder of "N.Y.P.D. Blue"), proves he is no armchair academician. The first time we lay eyes on Brock, he is slugging it out with an opponent in a bare-knuckles boxing match. As it turns out, this is how Brock raises money to fund his expeditions. Whenever actor Ricky Schroder gets near a boxing ring, you cannot help but remember one of his early and most memorable roles as a kid who hung out with a championship boxer in "The Champ." Jules Verne's protagonist, German-b0rn Professor Liedenbrock, was nothing like Brock. Liedenbrock was a professor of, as Verne wrote, "chemistry, geology, mineralogy, and many other ologies." Once he triumphs over his knuckle-headed adversary, Brock and his young nephew, Abel (Steven Grayhm) who dreams of life as a journalist, return home. A wealthy, blonde, heiress Martha Dennison (Victoria Pratt) approaches Brock about a proposition. She has been trying to locate her missing husband, Edward Dennison (Peter Fonda of "Easy Rider"), who vanished about four years ago searching for a passage to the center of the earth. Actually, Dennison discovered a passage through an abandoned mine, though Brock believes that no such mine exists. In any case, in Verne's tale, no woman like Martha approaches Liedenbrock about a rescue mission to the center of the Earth. Martha offers to fund his expedition to East Indies if he will help her find her husband because the two men think alike. "I'm no detective," Brock point out. "I'm a scientist." Martha retorts, "I'm looking for a man who can put himself in Edward's place, an adventurer who can think, strategize, and execute a plan as he would. A man who can discover and follow the trail he would have taken." Our heroes travel by ship to Alaska, ride like hell over rugged terrain, climb a lot of ropes, and waggle their jawbones. Eventually, they reach a point where they have to calculate how to enter the Earth's crust to access the interior world. Scott and writers Thomas "The Manhattan Project" Baum and William "Prom Night" Gray stage a scene where our heroes arrive at their destination punctually in ten days time to determine where the sun's rays penetrate the Earth so that they can locate the hidden mine shaft. This serves as their point of departure for the center of the earth. They emerge near a lake at the base of a volcano. Martha goes skinny dipping while the three guys are away, and she gets the crap scared out of her when something underwater touches her. Jonathan, Abel, and their guide—a Czarist refugee Russian called Sergei Petkov (Michael Dopud of "The Pathfinder") who had earlier saved Brock's life— fabricate a raft out of timber left-over from Dennison's expedition. The best part of this lowbrow thriller occurs on the lake when a prehistoric serpent appears in several shots and some of the worse looking prehistoric birds are there, too. There is a good shot of the serpent from the bottom of the lake looking up at the raft that our heroes are sailing. Unfortunately, unlike Verne's tale, the producers couldn't afford a second prehistoric creature so that they could replicate the fight in Chapter 30 of Verne's novel.Essentially, Dennison's story resembles Rudyard Kipling's tale "The Man Who Would Be King" where two Englishmen enthroned themselves as monarchs until one bled and the villagers executed him and exiled the second. Dennison rules a tribe of Native American Indian types that rely on bows and arrows. These people have migrated to the center of the Earth. The finale with our heroes fleeing from fierce Native American-like primitives is ho-hum. It seems that Dennison rigged up a trolley system of ropes in the trees, and our heroes and heroine slide down these ropes ahead of the pursuing redskins on hand-clinched trolleys. Scott never conjures up any suspense because you know that Brock, Martha, Abel, and Sergei are going to survive the myriad perils. The most surprisingly scene occurs when Dennison shoots a warrior in the head in the manner of an execution. A furious Martha strikes Edward for killing the warrior in cold blood and the sight of blood turns Edward's people against him and forces our heroes to flee for their lives. Earlier, Dennison's wife Martha and Brock squabble about a variety of things, while Abel—maintaining a journal of their experiences—hints at the romance burgeoning between them. At one point, Martha explains that she was been married to Edward for a year. Edward has little use for her when they reunite at the center of the earth. Once they escape from the center of the Earth, Martha—Liedenbrock's housekeeper in Verne's novel had the same name—wants to accompany him on further adventures.Scott's version of "Journey to the Center of the Earth" is strictly disposable. Peter Fonda isn't worth the wait and his character—like the rest of the characters—are far from memorable. The Canadian scenery lends some splendor to our heroes' shenanigans, but the shoe-string budget often undermines the film's epic quality. Lenser Philip Linzy's cinematography is the best thing about this execrable adventure.

I found it hard at first to imagine Rick Schroeder (the former Ricky Schroeder) as a 30's something uncle. But here he really makes us believe that he is that age, and he is from that time. His Victorian approach to conversation and the opposite sex is very believable and, may I say, refreshing. He seems a stable personality with strong ethics and a lust for adventure. Peter Fonda was a pleasant surprise. The supporting cast is very believable, the sets are well thought out, and the special effects are effective.A worthy interpretation of the original material. I believe that Jules Verne (my favorite science fiction writer) would have been proud.

Despite its name, the movie has a very low sci-fi feel to it. I felt I was watching something more akin to a western travel adventure than anything else. Outside of that, it was pretty innocent and mild - like a low-budget family movie. Nothing great here.Basically, this is a story about a wealthy lady who enlists the help of an anthropologist to help find her missing husband. He was on a quest to find a passage into the earth - but hasn't been heard from in 4 years. With the help of two other men, they try to retrace her husband's path.Although there is no suspense, thrill or anything like that, the movie has a pleasant tone to it that almost makes it an "OK" way to pass 2 hours. However, unless you're looking for something to watch while you fall asleep, pass on this.