Review of Journey to the Center of the Earth

I watched Journey to the Center of the Earth with an Icelandic friend of mine, and when the Hans character began to speak what is supposedly Icelandic, she said, "what's he saying? it's just gibberish.." So that's the main memory of this movie. The best thing going for it is James Mason, as the delightfully condescending Professor Lindenbrook. Pat Boone was a teen idol at the time, so I guess they felt the need to include him in the cast. He even sings a little number in the slow-moving first hour, which can be fast-forwarded through, without losing much of the impact of the film. Some of the sets were colorful and interesting, others were pretty flimsy. The use of marine iguanas as giant reptiles was not very convincing, perhaps stop-motion could have been used. In fact, if there was ever a movie to be remade, using modern film techniques, and a good script in which REAL Icelandic is spoken, this should be it. Because it is a fascinating tale, after all. But it should NOT be remade in the same vein as some of the very bad 70's and 80's versions. Or in that recent made-for-tv silliness.