Where Time Began (1977)

Also known as 'The Fabulous Journey to the Centre of the Earth'. Partially dubbed to english, but good cinematography.

Director:

Juan Piquer Simón (as J. Piquer Simon)

Writers:

Carlos Puerto (screenplay), Juan Piquer Simón (screenplay) (as Juan Piquer)

Stars:

Kenneth More, Pep Munné, Ivonne Sentis

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kenneth More	...	Prof. Otto Lindenbrock
Pep Munné	...	Axel (as Pep Munne)
Ivonne Sentis	...	Glauben
Frank Braña	...	Hans Belker
Jack Taylor	...	Olsen
José María Caffarel	...	Professor Fridleson (as Jose Mª Caffarel)
Emiliano Redondo	...	Prof. Kristoff
Lone Fleming	...	Martha
Ricardo Palacios	...	Train ticket collector
George Rigaud	...	Professor (as Jorge Rigaud)
Fabián Conde	...	(as Fabian Cone)
Ana del Arco
Manuel Pereiro
Barta Barri	...	Professor
Ángel Álvarez	...	Professor (as Angel Alvarez)

Storyline

Like in the novel of Jules Verne four persons try to get to the centre of the world by entering into a world of caves by a volcano. On their way they discover among other things also prehistoric animals like some dinosaurs.

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Plot Keywords:

kaiju | volcano | dinosaur | cave | quicksand | 

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Taglines:

Incredible adventures in a fantastic world!

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

November 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Where Time Began

Filming Locations:

Cueva de Valporquero, León, Castilla y León, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Almena Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Never shown in British cinemas, this was first shown on ITV at Christmas 1978.

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Goofs

At around 00:04:56 in the dubbed English version Professor Kristoff uses different measurement units in three consecutive sentences: "Because the distance between the Earth's crust and it's core is over 6500 KILOMETRES. And no man has ever descended to a depth of more than 3 MILES. So it's obvious we'll never have a glimmer of true knowledge until we are able to reach a depth of at least a 100 LEAGUES."

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Quotes

Prof. Otto Lindenbrock: Supposing I pay you one sheep a week, with a bonus of two rams on our safe return?
Hans Belker: When do we leave?

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Connections

Version of Journey to the Center of the Earth (1988)

User Reviews

Where Time Began: Weak adaptation

The 2nd feature adaptation of the Jules Verne classic is oddly a Spanish effort, and is worse than the 1959 version (Which was only bad because of one scene).

I'm sure I don't need to recite the plot of such a classic novel but needless to say that it doesn't entirely follow the source material.

Our heroes must contend with giant lizards, giant turtles, a giant gorrilla and more in their journey and though it looks okay for it's time it manages to be a combination of baffling and entirely un-engaging.

I can't quite put my finger on why but at no point did I find myself even remotely engrossed into this. The cast are passable, the sfx are ahead of their time and the material for the most part is okay. Sadly it just isn't strung together very well and makes for less than enjoyable viewing.

I'm binge watching the adaptations and can only assume someone does the novel justice.

The Good:

Looks okay for its time

The Bad:

Same nonsensical tale

Some silly additions to the story

A few of the logistics are painfully stupid