Journey to the Center of the Earth Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Journey to the Center of the Earth Blu-ray Movie Review

Fans of “retro” science fiction culled from the works of two of the most august names in the genre are having quite a field day with two new releases from Twilight Time. H.G. Wells’ First Men in the Moon of course blasts off into outer space, while Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth goes in the opposite (?) direction, exploring subterranean climes here on our home planet (sticklers will of course insist that the unlikely astronauts in Wells’ tale also do a bit of sublunar exploring, hence the film’s odd “in” preposition, but I digress). Journey to the Center of the Earth received a previous Blu-ray release by Twilight Time, one that some viewers found problematic, though not enough to keep that first issue from selling out. Now perhaps a bit unexpectedly, though in what is certainly a welcome development, 20th Century Fox licensed a new transfer of the film, reportedly from a 4K scan of the original camera negative.

Journey to the Center of the Earth Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: I have attempted to more or less duplicate several of the screenshots in our original Journey to the Center of the Earth Blu-ray review, so that readers can have simultaneous windows open to toggle back and forth for easy comparison. I've also included a representative sampling of screenshots from other sections of the film in this review as well.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. To simply cut to the chase and provide a quick summation of the difference between this release and the previous one: wow! In virtually all areas we typically cover in our reviews, this new version trumps the first, though I should add that I was nowhere near as troubled by the first release as some viewers evidently were (and I of course took brickbats for what some saw as a too generous 4.0 score on that release's video quality). While there's a perhaps incremental improvement in overall color temperature here (though again I didn't find much to fault in the earlier release), the uptick in clarity and detail in this new release is more material and quite noticeable. Elements like duck down or tufted fabrics have a new immediacy in this version, with greater precision of fine detail one of the most marked improvements. The grain field is perhaps incrementally finer now, though still very organic looking. There are still "baked in" issues that result from the film's ubiquitous use of opticals and/or process photography, as can be seen in some of the screenshots accompanying this review. Shadow detail can be a bit iffy in some of the darkest sequences, again source related. A couple of interesting things stood out to me personally in comparing these two releases. First, though it really didn't rise to the level of consciousness (mine, anyway) at the time, it's obvious now that the first release was just ever so slightly anamorphically stretched (even though the first release's aspect ratio was marginally "narrower" at 2.34:1). You can perhaps see the difference most easily by looking at things like the width of faces on midrange or close-up shots. The new release provides incrementally more information at the borders of the image. Second, and perhaps more important to those with an eye toward film preservation and indeed even physical media like Blu-ray, is the fact that fans should "never say never," or at least never assume that "never" is the watchword with regard to upgrades. When the first Blu-ray came out, it was reported that the negative was unusable, and that therefore the first release (with any perceived flaws) was going to be "as good as it gets." Either those reports at the time were incorrect or some intervening "miracle" in technology has rendered them moot, for this new release is a commendably rich, organic experience that rather beautifully recreates the look and feel of what is now almost a 60 year old film.

Journey to the Center of the Earth Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This new release slightly repurposes the original 4 track stereo mix (which was offered as a DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 track on the first Blu-ray) as a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. To my ears, there's not a whale of a lot of difference in actual surround activity, but there is a noticeable uptick in the track's low end now, something that makes things like Bernard Herrmann's almost overwhelming organ cues pop with even more immediacy than they did on the first release. Otherwise, things sound stable and extremely vivid throughout this presentation, with dialogue, effects and score offered very cleanly and with great prioritization. Fidelity is top notch and dynamic range is extremely wide. For the record, this release also offers an alternate DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix, but stick with the 5.1 track to get the most bang for your sonic buck.

Journey to the Center of the Earth Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This new release retains the original English language trailer and Isolated Score Track from the previous release, while adding a new commentary track and deleting the Spanish language trailer.

• Audio Commentary features actress Diane Baker, Bernard Herrmann biographer Steven C. Smith and Twilight Time's Nick Redman. Baker has a tendency to wander at times, making this less about the film than some other commentaries, but it's an overall enjoyable listen.


• Isolated Score Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. I refer you to my previous comments in our first Journey to the Center of the Earth Blu-ray review.


• Original Theatrical Trailer (480i; 3:20)

Journey to the Center of the Earth Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Wonderfully inventive and often viscerally exciting, if also admittedly a bit on the hokey side at times, Journey to the Center of the Earth is grand fun in a way the movies seem to have lost track of in the intervening years. This new release tops the first Blu-ray's video, while also maintaining high standards for a slightly repurposed audio option. Sticklers may wonder why one lone supplement didn't make it to this release, but even here things are augmented by the addition of a commentary track. Highly recommended.