Journey To The Center Of The Earth (1977) aka Where Time Began coming from Severin

[whiteberry]

The triumphant return of Severin Kids...

TIMELESS FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
…FROM THE DIRECTOR OF PIECES.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH:

Continuing an illustrious tradition that began in the earliest days of cinema, Juan Piquer Simón – the writer/director of PIECES and EXTRA TERRESTRIAL VISITORS – and Severin Kids now bring one of Jules Verne’s greatest works to Blu-ray: Kenneth More (of A NIGHT TO REMEMBER and SCROOGE fame) stars as the leader of a 19th - century expedition to the Earth’s core that will reveal primordial wonders, prehistoric monsters and a subterranean civilization that may convey the greatest discovery of all. Frank Braña (SLUGS) and Jack Taylor (Jess Franco’s COUNT DRACULA) co-star in this “enchanting film that provides genuine entertainment” (Cinema Retro) – also known as WHERE TIME BEGAN – scanned in 4K from the original negative for the first time ever.

Special Features:

• Movies Were His Life – Interview With Isabel Piquer, Juan Piquer Simón's Daughter
• Reckless And Fearless – Interview With Star Ivonne Sentis
• A Tale Of Fabulous Fantasy – Interview With Co-Writer Carlos Puerto
• Trailer
• Reversible Wrap

Disc Specs:

• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Audio: English Mono
• Closed Captions
• Region Free
• Run time: 90 mins

https://www.facebook.com/severinfilm...1825963614513/

Spanish Poster:


US Poster:


US Trailer:

Where Time Began (1977) - Theatrical Trailer - YouTube

[WaverBoy]

Timeless fun for the whole family…from the director of PIECES. And SLUGS too! Love it.

[RFK]

Kenneth More adds a little class to the casting and it's always nice to see Jack Taylor. The cheesy effects look just great on the Code Red DVD called "The fabulous journey to the center of the earth". I'll stick with my DVD for this one!

[hasslein]

Will definitely upgrade. Of course, I just bought the dvd.

[Dragon78]

I have vague memory of this version.

[Gosszilla]

This looks pretty bonkers! Makes me long for at least a Blu Ray release of "Warlords of Atlantis" (1978)!

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Gosszilla

This looks pretty bonkers! Makes me long for at least a Blu Ray release of "Warlords of Atlantis" (1978)!

Yeah, that's a good one. I had to buy the UK DVD of that a few years ago. I don't like it quite as much as At the Earth's Core or People that Time Forgot but it's definitely close.

I watched that Spanish documentary on Simon that's on the Extraterrestrial Visitors bluray, and it had a ton of talking heads discussing this movie as if it was some huge classic of sci-fi filmmaking, an adaptation of Verne on par with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and totally groundbreaking etc. Caused a lot of cognitive dissonance when I looked it up and it had a 4.8 on IMDB and middling reviews from both users and critics!! THe footage they showed of the ape made it look like The Mighty Gorga or something too.

[StingingVelvet]

Definite buy, cool stuff.

[TheParkinPlaces]

Seems fun, the remake did nothing for me, I will have to add this to my list

[russweiss1]

Journey To The Center Of The Earth (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review

https://rockshockpop.com/articles/mo...blu-ray-review

[Dragon78]

How many movie versions of this book have we gotten?

[Henry R. Kujawa]

Awhile back, I ran across an extremely long-winded blog article about the various film adaptations of JOURNEY. There's far more than I was aware of, most of them I still have to add to my own personal index. But what surprised me was the view of the writer than the 1977 version was actually the "most authentic" to the novel, despite still having some major changes.

I first saw it on TV as "WHERE TIME BEGAN". I knew it was low-budget, but something about it just seemed quite charming. Over many years I watched it several times, and despite itself, it became my favorite film version of the story.

A few years back, while doing a "sci fi marathon", it was one of several films I decided to upgrade to DVD. I got the "Saturn Productions" disc (date unknown), where it was paired with "ENCOUNTER WITH THE UNKNOWN", a wretched unsold tv anthology pilot. The packaging was AWFUL, the onscreen menu annoying as hell... but the film was STUNNING. It was the Euro version-- uncut, widescreen, crystal-clear picture & sound, NONE of the massive tampering the US print had suffered. I loved it!! -- except for that packaging problem.

A couple years later, I got the 2016 Sprocket Vault DVD, which had nice packaging. BUT! The color was too intense, too much of it too DARK, the sound was louder & slightly harsh. This was a really inferior copy. I'm really getting tired of "new" discs that are TOO DARK to see things in some scenes. AVOID!!

I then did some research, and got the 2008 Code Red DVD. This was MUCH more like it. Crystal-clear picture & sound, but maybe just slightly darker than Saturn Prod. version.

I don't usually do this, but when I heard about the 2023 Severin Blu-Ray, a "4K scan from the original negative", I just had to spring for it, especially as it was SO CHEAP. I'm giving it a look tonight. I'm so hoping this is as good OR BETTER than the Saturn Productions disc.


You know, I like the characters & the story so much, I just tend to ignore that the dinosaurs look like hand puppets (HEH). Also, while the novel is straight-forward, this particular movie genuinely captures the style of COMEDY that Jules Verne used in some of his OTHER novels, like FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON and THE PURCHASE OF THE NORTH POLE. So, yes, parts of it are funny... in a very charming, old-fashioned sort of way.

[Henry R. Kujawa]

I just watched both the 2023 Severin Blu-Ray and the (date unknown) Saturn Prod. DVD for comaprison. The Severin BR is near-PERFECT. I saw a few speckles on the image, but other than that, the entire film is INCREDIBLY SHARP, and even in the darkest scenes, I could see EVERY DETAIL. There is no doubt, this is a MASSIVE upgrade from what had been the BEST DVD version. I've already bought a 2nd copy to send to my best friend.

Tonight, suddenly, the Saturn DVD looked inferior BY COMPARISON. The entire film seemed slightly fuzzy by comparison, and was darker than I remembered it being. The sound also seemed fuzzier than on the new BR, and there were a few moments where it looked like the image fluttered. Is this purely comparing 2 discs, or is my playing it on a different player than last time making that much of a difference? Either way, both discs this weekend were on the SAME machine, so there IS a very noticable difference. I also noticed far more minor damage to the print, and during the volcanic eruption scene, I was reminded there were several loud KSSSH! sounds, that are definitely not only any of the other 4 versions of the film I have.

THIS is how you do an "upgrade"!

[Henry R. Kujawa]

Originally Posted by Dragon78

How many movie versions of this book have we gotten?

FOUND it!!!

http://www.najvs.org/articles/JCErev.shtml

[WaverBoy]

The book is one of my all-time faves, and I’ve loved the 1959 version with James Mason since I was a kid. I’m watching this version streaming on the Roku Midnight Pulp channel right now and it’s absolutely charming and goofy in all the best ways. Quite impressively mounted too, considering the tiny budget they must have had. You can tell they wrung out every last penny and got them up on the screen. And at least Kenneth More got to dub his own voice. I think I might hafta pick this one up!