Where Time Began (1977) - full transcript
Also known as "The Fabulous Journey to the Centre of the Earth" in the UK. The film is partially dubbed in English, but it has good cinematography.
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- [Narrator] Since the
earliest days of cinema,
Jules Verne has been one of
the most prominent authors
whose works have been
adapted for the screen.
It was the great Georges Melies
who produced the first of these.
In 1907, the Spaniard
Segundo de Chomon
directed the first version
of "Journey to the Center of the Earth."
The film which you are
about to see is a tribute
to these pioneers of the film
world of science fiction.
- Mom!
- If you've come to sell,
you're in the wrong shop.
We've enough stock on
hand, up to our necks.
- But these are bargains, indeed.
Wisdom-bound, a distraction
for the most jaded intellect.
All for only three groschens, the lot.
Sir.
- Hm? No, no.
They're only fit to light fires with.
Look at those dog-eared
pages and rotten bindings.
"Don Quixote," by the Spaniard
whose name is practically
impossible to pronounce.
- Cervantes, man, Cervantes.
And you're the only person
I know who can't pronounce it.
- Just look at this,
Professor Lindenbrock.
A penny dreadful called
"The Fantastic Journey
of Arne Saknussemm."
- Then two groschens. That's
hardly a loaf of bread
and a flask of wine in
these difficult times.
- Stick to your price, man.
Three's fair.
Three it shall be.
- A transaction, sir,
you will long remember.
And never forget.
- Or an act of pure charity.
That's what I should call it.
- Charity is its own reward,
for those who can read
the writing on the wall.
- And what on earth do you
suppose he meant by that?
- Hmm. What a strange story.
By a man who claims to have made a journey
to the center of the Earth.
- Humbug.
- I agree. We are
scientists, not adventurers.
The most fruitful theories about
the structure of the Earth
have come from sitting in a quiet room,
using one's brain,
not from poking about inside
some damp and evil-smelling cavern.
- You are quite right.
- Such as your own idiotic theory,
that the core of the Earth is composed
of an incandescent ball of liquid fire?
- Now, it has more validity
than your inane notion,
that the Earth's center is a solid rock
all covered with layers of
lava like the skin of an onion.
- The fact is you're both wrong.
All recent studies indicate
that the core of the
Earth can only be gaseous.
- Gentlemen, the truth is
that alt our theories
are just that, theories.
None of us has the least idea
of how the Earth was really formed
because the distance between
the Earth's crust and its core
is over 6,500 kilometers,
and no man has ever descended to a depth
of more than three 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 100 leagues.
- What's your opinion,
Professor Lindenbrock?
- Well, gentlemen, on one
point at least I agree
with Professor Kristoff.
The materials of the geologist
are not chaos, chalk, and chatter,
but the Earth itself.
Now, this little book I'm reading
describes a descent through
the mouth of a volcano,
into the very bowels of the Earth,
but with an imagination that
puts all our theories to shame.
It's only a work of fiction, of course,
but its very existence
buttresses Kristoff's argument
that we shall never know the truth
until we are able to make that journey
and see for ourselves.
- Only six more to go.
- Why am I the one who has to crawl around
after those wretched little rocks,
when you're the one that spilled them?
- They are not little rocks.
This is the collection of Otto Lindenbrock,
and the long and the short of it is
I know how to classify them and you don't.
- I heard some good news today.
They're going to let us cadets participate
in the summer maneuvers
between Prussia and Austria
in the Bavarian forest.
- How thrilling.
- It occurred to me that if
you're still going to Salzberg
on that ridiculous cave-crawling
expedition with your uncle,
perhaps we could all meet later
and take a trip down the Danube.
- That depends on when your
ridiculous maneuvers are over.
- Maneuvers are not ridiculous.
They are an essential
part of military training.
And as Bismarck said,
"A nation's army is a nation's backbone."
- Little boys who never grew up,
playing silly little war games
so they can sleep outdoors in tents.
And hide behind trees.
- [Axel] Well, it's not
as silly as climbing
in and out of caves and
collecting worthless rocks.
- You'd better get the soup
ready, Marta, he's coming.
- Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
He's at least 10 minutes early today.
- Well, what does that matter?
- You know what a fanatic Uncle Otto is
about having lunch on the table
the moment he gets in the door.
And give me the last one
before he sees that we
spilled them. Quick!
- Stupid stones.
Professor, I was just--
- Yes, yes, Axel, I understand.
If it's all rig hi with my niece
then it's perfectly all right
with me. Congratulations.
- Did you hear that?
He accepted my proposal
even before I made it.
- Yes, but I haven't.
After all, why should I
want to marry a soldier?
- Ah, and why not?
- Tell your uncle the soup
is served, Miss Glauben.
- Because if there's a war,
you might get killed.
And if there's no war,
you'll never be promoted.
All in all, I call that
a silly profession.
- That's a treasonous remark!
- Lunch is ready, Uncle Otto.
- Ah, splendid! I've a
very good appetite today.
Good heavens, what's this?
- It's in Old English.
And what looks to be a map.
- It is a map, of Iceland.
- You can examine it after lunch,
the soup is getting cold.
- Yes, yes, darling, you run along.
I'll be right there.
- We'll go ahead and start, Marta.
No, no.
- I don't see what he
can find so interesting
in an old map.
- It's not the map,
it's some kind of coded
text printed below it.
- A coded text?
- [Glauben] Yes, and he's going
crazy trying to decipher it.
- Then why didn't you tell
me that in the first place?
I could have done them for him,
and saved him from missing lunch.
- What do you know about unraveling codes?
- [Axel] Only slightly
more than Champollion.
- Who is he?
- The Frenchman who solved the mystery
of the Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Do you think the only thing they teach us
in the military academy is
how to hide behind trees?
- Oh dear, oh dear. Dear me.
Seven hours and all
we've managed to decipher
is the signature.
- If only we could establish
what language this message is written in.
- Well, since the book is
written in Old English,
if eel sure the code
must be in English, also.
- It could take us weeks to go through
every possible combination
of these letters.
- Not weeks, months, the
way you're going about it.
Champollion, look over here.
- Why didn't we think of that before?
- This doesn't work either.
- Now, wait, Glauben.
Go back to the series you had before.
Ah.
- Now it looks like Russian.
- Yes, yes, I'm afraid it's
a hopeless task.
Well, I'll be.
In the words of my
distinguished colleague Darwin,
"I'll be a monkey's uncle."
Look at this!
- It even rhymes!
- Well, I'll be dashed.
- "Mount Sneffels you will see
provides the master key.
And Scartis indicates
the entrance to the gates.
For the tale I told is true,
the rest I leave to you."
- The writing on the wall.
That strange old man was right.
- What does it all mean?
- It means, Axel, that you and I
are in the privileged position
of having made one of the
most important discoveries
in the entire history of science.
But we can't do anything
about it until next year.
- Uncle Otto, you're being obscure again.
- Oh, Glauben, my dear child,
can't you understand?
This account of Saknussemm's journey
into the center of the Earth is all true!
He actually did it, he found a way in!
- That's fantastic!
- And this coded message
provides the only information
he concealed in the whole book.
Managed in the end to reach
the Earth's inner crust,
which is Sneffels, we
now know, and the Peak,
which by a shadow cast on
a certain day of the year
indicates the actual mouth of the cave
through which we have to descend.
- Scartis Peak atop Mount Sneffels.
They really do exist.
But why wait another year
before following in
Saknussemm's footsteps?
- Follow in his footsteps?
The very thought of it is absurd.
- Ah, unfortunately, according to the book,
the only day of the year
on which the sun casts
a meaningful shadow on Scartis Peak
is June the 19th at 11:29 am.
- Oh, and today is June the 20th.
[Otto] Exactly.
- What a pity.
I can't bear to wait another whole year.
- Haven't you forgotten?
This book was written at the
time of the Julian calendar.
- What do you mean?
- But of course!
And now we're using the Gregorian calendar,
which differs from the Julian by 10 days.
- Which means it's really June the 10th.
- And we can still make it!
But only if we catch that
morning train from Birmingham.
Marta, come at once!
- I can't believe all this.
- Now, let's start collecting
everything we may need.
- You wanted to see me, Professor?
- Ah, Marta, please pack
our bags immediately.
We shall be leaving first
thing in the morning.
- Is the journey short or is it long?
I mean, how shall I know what to pack?
- Marta, we are going on a journey,
a journey to the center of the Earth.
- In that case, I won’t
need to pack your umbrella.
- I should've bought new boots.
- I forbid it, Glauben.
I absolutely forbid you
to go with your uncle
on this foolhardy trip.
The bowels of the Earth is
not a fit place for a woman.
- I'm afraid Axel is right, my dear.
A journey like this could
prove far too hazardous,
even for a girl as brave as you.
- But you can't go alone, Uncle Otto.
Who would look after you
if you fell and broke a leg?
Or something of the sort.
- I shall, of course, even though it means
I shall miss the war maneuvers.
- Oh, Axel, that's so noble of you.
Very well, if I must stay at home,
I just have to make the best of it.
- That's a most sensible
attitude, Glauben.
Thank you.
- Poor Glauben.
She looked so forlorn
waving goodbye to us there at the station.
I miss her already.
- Yes, I know exactly how
you feet my dear boy.
But you're perfectly right in
forbidding her to come along.
After all, what possible
use could a woman be
on an arduous trip like this?
- Tickets. Tickets, please.
- Give him the tickets, Axel.
- But I don't have the tickets.
You must have them.
- What? Glauben always looks
after things like that.
Didn't she give them to you?
- But I, mister, I don't
think we bought any.
- Good heavens, I think I've forgotten
to bring the money, as well.
- Never mind, I have enough for...
Well, I'll be dashed.
I left my wallet in the
pocket of my uniform.
- Oh dear, this is indeed
a complicated situation.
- No, there's nothing
complicated about it.
You either pay me now or you
get off at the next station.
- We can't do that, man,
we'll miss the boat to Reykjavik.
Glauben!
- Glauben!
- You two would forget your own two heads
if they weren't screwed on.
- Oh, my child.
- What do you call this?
- It's a gribometer,
To measure the density of certain gases.
- Do you know how to use it?
- Nobody is as familiar with
the instruments as I am.
You, Axel, a more important task.
You are going to keep a
diary of our daily events.
- You can rely on me for that, professor.
- The first problem is
where to find a porter.
We don't know anybody in Iceland.
- Oh, yes, we do. My old friend Fridleson.
We studied together 30 years ago.
I haven't seen him since, but
I'm quite sure he'll help us.
- But where on Earth
are we going to find him
after all these years?
- Oh, that's easy. He haunts museums
the way ghosts haunt houses.
Unless he's changed his ways,
he'll be at the Museum of Natural History.
- [Axel] While the two colleagues
were recalling old times
and discussing subjects
of mutual interest,
Glauben and I passed a
very instructive morning
going through the exhibits.
- Is anything wrong, sir?
- He's lost his monocle.
Could you please help us?
- But of course. That's what I'm here for.
- Display cases are magnificently mounted.
Everything is.
- My God, what's he doing on the floor?
- He lost his monocle.
- Ah, monocle?
And here you see the crown
jewel of our collection.
- Tridophilon Elizabenosis.
A delight to the eye, my dear Fridleson.
- But surely you haven't come
all the way from Germany
just to inspect our museum.
- No, actually we've come
to explore Mount Sneffels.
There's no better example
of a dormant volcano
in the northern hemisphere.
- A capital idea.
If it weren't for this blasted count,
I'd make the climb with you.
- Now, friend, I must ask a favor.
The address of a good store
that can outfit us for
climbing and the like,
and the name of a good porter
who can guide us up the mountain.
- The first is easy enough,
but the second is next to
impossible, I am afraid.
- Impossible?
- It's herring season, you know,
and every able-bodied man in Iceland
is either out in the boat
or home mending the net.
Can't you wait for a couple of weeks?
- No, it must be without
fail no later than tomorrow.
- Oh.
- [Otto] Well, we've no
use for tents anyway
so it doesn't matter.
- Where do you want it?
- Over there.
- Over here.
- Make up your minds, this weighs a ton.
- Here.
- Now, let me see. We shall want
some cases for our instruments.
- Boo!
- Glauben, please.
- Oh, what's that?
- A gas mask. You can breathe through it
under almost any circumstances.
- I see. It might very well come in handy.
We'll take four.
Now, what can you show
me in the way of lamps?
The more portable the better.
- I have just the thing.
Hmm, now, where'd I put it?
Ah, yes. Hans, would you
move that barrel away?
Ah, if it's lamps you're
after, it was sheer good luck
that brought you into
the only shop in town
with a complete line of high quality
imported merchandise,
and the finest native--
- [Woman] Just shut up
and show him the lamps.
- Here, this is the Blumdorf lantern.
- Blumkopf.
- Ah, yes, yes, that shall do very well.
We'll take four of those also. Axel?
That man over there, does he work for you?
- Hans? Oh, no, he's my cousin.
He comes down here once
a month to help me out.
But he refuses to take
a steady job in town
or on the boats.
- And once a month isn't much.
- He's a mountaineer, a shepherd.
And they are very proud.
- Then why isn't he out tending his flock?
- Now, that's a sad thing, sir.
Last winter, his entire flock
was struck by lightning in a thunderstorm,
and he's been sitting around ever since,
doing little else but Whittle
and play his mouth organ.
- Hans, my friends and I
are making an expedition
to Mount Sneffels.
If I pay you a fair price,
are you prepared to
come along and help us?
- I don't use money.
- What's a sheep worth in this country?
- Uh. Three rigsdalers.
- Supposing I pay you one sheep per week,
with a bonus of two
rams on our safe return?
Hen do we leave?
- At dawn, as soon as
we pack our equipment.
- Isn't that wonderful?
We finally found work for Hans.
- Imbecile.
- My word, Mount Sneffels.
Look at that view.
- It's a lovely sight.
This view alone makes
our journey worthwhile.
- See those white vapors
rising from the floor of the crater?
If an eruption were imminent,
they'd be twice that size.
- How long, professor,
do we stay down there?
- Hans, I was going to
tell you this later.
Fact is we're going much deeper
than the floor of the crater.
We are going to descend into
the very bowels of the Earth.
Now, you can come with us
or you can go home.
But I must warn you,
we may be down there
some considerable time.
- Days or weeks?
- Mm, more like weeks.
- Weeks means sheep. I'll come.
- Thank you.
Down you go.
- It's deeper than I thought.
- Then don't look down.
- [Axel] As soon as we
had located Scartis Peak
in the bottom of the crater,
Hans began the descent,
followed by the professor and Glauben.
I brought up the rear, in case
anyone might need assistance.
- Here it is.
Hans, bring the baggage!
The line of the shadow, perfect.
- Look, "A.S."
Arne Saknussemm. This proves
he's telling the truth.
- Hm, I never had the
slightest doubt, dear boy.
Never the slightest doubt.
Hans, the ladder, here.
Just here, fine.
Check your lamp, Axel, check it.
Slowly, Hans, slowly.
Right, Axel You descend first, Hans.
- [Axel] For the first time,
I'm beginning to think
that Arne Saknussemm's
story could be true.
And that what had seemed
to be in principal
only a routine excursion
has now turned into an exciting adventure.
Although a bit risky, especially for those
who have not had the good fortune
to receive adequate physical
and mental preparation.
- All right, professor!
- It's deeper than it looks.
When your turn comes, you must
be very careful, Glauben.
Right, stand by, darting.
Right, come on down.
Easy does it now, easy.
Right.
Your turn, Axel!
- Professor!
Are you absolutely certain
that there's no possibility
of Sneffels erupting
in the near future?
- [Otto] A stupid question!
- [Axel] Well, "once more unto
the breach, dear friends."
Thanks to the careful
selection and packing
of the most essential equipment,
we had been able to reduce our load
to the minimum necessary.
We have on hand
instruments, tools, weapons,
ropes, provisions for 60 days,
and drinking water for 10.
The quantity of water
seems to me insufficient,
although, according to the professor,
we will find what we need
once we have gone down
deep enough into the Earth.
- [Glauben] Axel!
- Hans, you lead the way.
- Professor, there are
three possibilities here.
How do we know which one to take?
- All of them look endless.
- Nothing could be simpler.
We'll let Saknussemm be our guide, then.
Once again.
This is where he mentions it.
"Cave descending 10 the left."
Now, lead on, Hans.
Come.
- Careful!
Now we've lost the water!
- That's bad luck.
Still, I'd rather it be the
water than the instruments.
I feel sure we'll find
some good water later on.
All right, my dear?
- Yes, uncle.
- Good gin.
Come on, then. Hans, lead on.
- How much do we have left in our canteen?
- Only enough for the rest of the day.
I was going to fill them this evening.
I should think it must be sundown by now.
- No wonder I'm so tired.
- [Axel] No wonder I'm so hungry.
- It's bad.
- Ah, well,
don't be too downhearted.
We'll find good water
soon, I feel sure of it.
Now then, Glauben, some readings, please.
Temperature, barometric pressure.
- Humidity, 95%.
The thermometer reading,
seven degrees centigrade.
- No wonder I feel chilly.
- What does the compass indicate, Axel?
Saknussemm says here we should be heading
in a westerly direction.
- Dead west.
- Good old Saknussemm.
- Right, let's lead on.
Hans, come.
- If only he'd tell us
when we're going to find
some drinkable water.
If this keeps up, we'll never get through!
- Saknussemm has a word to say about this.
Let me see.
The book, we've lost the book!
Get your masks on.
- [Glauben] This way!
- Are you all right?
- I will be when I can get my hair washed.
You look as though you might
have been struck by lightning.
- I know what you're thinking, Axel.
We're out of water,
we've lost our guide book.
The only sensible thing
would be to turn back
while we can still find a way out.
- I must admit the thought had
crossed my mind, professor.
- You'd be a fool if it hadn't.
Bear in mind
that just ahead of us
lie millions of years
of unrecorded history.
Are we going to ignore that and turn back,
or do we go on?
- I propose that we take a vote.
- All right, Glauben, you start.
Do we go forward like
civilized creatures,
or do we turn back like cowards?
- You know I wouldn't ruin
your picnic, Uncle Otto!
I say forwards.
- Thank you. Axel?
- A man who wears the
uniform of Imperial Prussia
can have but one answer, unfortunately.
I say forward, too.
- Hans?
- Forward means sheep,
backwards means nothing.
I say sheep.
- That settles it, then. Thank you.
We go on. Lead the way, Hans.
- Uncle Otto, suppose the
votes had gone against you?
- I should have
ignored them, my dear.
What possible progress could there be
if science were a slave
to democracy? Come on.
- How lovely.
Uncle Otto, is that you?
Ho's the
re?
Ho's the
re?
Uncle Otto?
Axel?
Hans?
Who is that?
Ho's the
re?
Axel?
Axel!
Help!
- Professor, what's that?
- Help! Axel!
- Glauben!
- Uncle Otto!
- Glauben, where- are you?
Glauben!
- Here I am, in here!
- What's happened to you?
- I lagged behind to
look at those icicles,
and then stumbled into this muck.
- That much I can see.
- Then the most incredible thing happened.
Just as I was about to go under,
someone appeared and pulled me out.
- That's absurd. There's
nobody here but us.
- [Glauben] l tell you,
I felt a human hand
pull me out of there.
- Fantasy, my dear child,
some sort of tactile illusion.
You saved yourself by
clinging to that rock,
which has the rough shape of a human hand.
- And the figure I saw
hiding behind a rock?
I suppose you'll tell me
that's an illusion, also.
- Undoubtedly.
With the disorientation,
the lack of water,
all of us are under considerable strain.
- Uncle Otto, I tell you I saw someone.
- A common illusion, known
to geologists the world over.
From now on, you must stick close to us.
- [Axel] I told you not
to come on this trip,
didn't I, didn't I?
- [Glauben] Oh, do shut up.
Which way now?
- We're confronted with another choice.
- Yes, now what?
- Frankly, my dear Glauben, at this point,
your guess is as good as mine.
- Frankly, I'm getting sleepy.
- That's partly because
it's been growing warmer
in the past couple of hours.
- The trouble is, if we stop to rest now,
before we find water,
when we wake we may be
too weak to continue.
How do you feel about it, Axel?
- I could go on for miles.
- [Hans] Professor.
- What is it, Hans?
- Letters, like the other ones.
- Ah.
Old Saknussemm coming
to our aid once again.
Come on all you, cheer up.
He must have had the same
problem with water as we have.
- But maybe he didn't spill his.
- Listen, did you hear that?
- It sounds like voices, human voices.
- What could it be?
- I've no idea.
- It must be voices.
- Nonsense.
- Isn't it at least
possible that somebody else
might have found a path into the Earth?
The way we did.
- It's a possibility, of course,
but an extremely remote one.
- I suppose that's known to
geologists the world over
as an acoustical illusion.
- Perhaps they're animals of some sort.
They could even be dangerous.
- Quiet, all of you.
Try not to make any noise. Hans, you lead.
Glauben, here. Shh.
Quiet. You hear anything now?
- So it wasn't animals
after all, it was us.
- We must be squarely in the center
of an acoustical field.
- [Glauben] All right,
that'll do do do do.
Let's get out of here.
- No wait, Glauben.
- All right, all right, all right.
We should be safe enough here.
- I'm thirstier than ever,
and I can't go on
another step, Uncle Otto.
- Well, there's nothing else for it.
We have to rest here,
try to get some sleep.
All right, all right, all right.
- I still say I saw a
real face back there,
and not an illusion.
- Shh, little one, try to get some sleep.
- Hans, where are you?
Hans, what are you doing?
- Listen, water.
- Water?
- Shh.
- I'll get the others.
Wake up, we found water!
- What?
- Water!
- Where?
- Just ahead. Hans has
discovered an underground stream.
- Thank God.
Come on, Axel, let's go and see about it.
- Here, right here.
- Yes, no doubt about it, there's water.
Right here, I think.
- No, over here.
- No, no, no, this is where I
can here the noise best, Hans.
Give me the pick.
- Professor, I know
mountains and I know caves.
Here is a good place, that's a bad place.
- Hans, as a professor of geology,
I also know about caves and mountains,
and how 10 break through them
when necessary to find water.
Stand back.
- [Axel] Careful professor.
- Have you lost your mind?
Another inch to your right,
this entire cavern
would have collapsed on our heads.
This simple mountain man
showed more common sense
than you with all your
diplomas, Professor Lindenbrock.
- Who are you?
- How do you know my uncle's name?
- Because I have read his books,
and also because I've had to listen
to your incessant chatter
during the past to miles
of this tedious decent.
- You followed us into the Earth?
- Hardly, since I began
my descent two months ago.
- Through Sneffels?
- I preferred to find my own way in,
just as I expect to find
my own way out again.
- Why, you've burned your hand.
- A mere trifle, young lady.
Quench your thirst.
- You're doing scientific
research, Mister-Q
- Olsen. Simply call me Olsen.
Like any civilized man, I
include the natural sciences
among my hobbies.
But naturally, I also refuse to let
their so-called laws limit my outlook.
- Well, now that our paths have crossed,
it would be sensible to travel together.
- You are welcome to the
benefit of my experience.
- I think it should be
made perfectly clear
that this expedition is ted
by Professor Otto Lindenbrock
and none other.
- My dear boy, my own interest lies
in the acquisition of knowledge itself,
and not the accumulation
of dusty academic honors.
- Did you ever hear such insolence?
How I'd love to have him for just one day
in my drill platoon.
- Don't be pompous, Axel.
Now at least we have
something to drink, at last.
- Why don't you wait until it
gets cool?
- Apart from the fact of
calling himself Olsen
and that he obviously
belongs to the human race,
we have learnt very little else concerning
this particular individual.
All that we really have determined
is that his only equipment
consists of a mysterious metal box.
His strange and startling materialization
was largely forgotten, however,
in the general delight resulting
from the discovery of water,
which from this moment on,
we encountered in great quantity.
Glauben appears to be
the one most affected
by the annoying presence of this Olsen.
I'm afraid we've taken a wrong
tum and lost the others.
- How tedious.
- At least we're alone for a change.
- If you're referring to
the absence of Mr. Olsen,
I must say I find that no great comfort.
- Well, I think he's boring,
conceited, and rude.
- Yes, but who cares, anyway?
Who cares what he's like, when
he has such interesting eyes?
- Well, if that's all you can say...
Whoa!
Axel!
Axel!
- What happened?
- It's all right, my dear boy.
The worst is over.
- Glauben?
- Not a scratch on her.
In fact, she's out there
having a swim. Come on.
- I must be having hallucinations.
- My boy.
- It looks like an ocean!
- One of nature's apologies, my dear boy.
An ocean below the surface of the sea.
Fresh water, too.
- I can hardly believe my eyes.
- The enclosure you see above
us is nearly a mile high.
Steady, now, steady.
Never in my whole life,
not even above the Earth,
have I seen a mineral
formation that could retain
and protect so much light.
It's incredible.
- It's breathtaking.
- Axel, come on in!
Axel, come on, the water's beautiful.
- Go on in the water.
Go on, it'll do you good.
Do you know you’ve been
unconscious for nearly two days?
Mind your head.
- No wonder I feel groggy.
- How's the raft coming along, Hans?
- Soon be finished.
- I hope that fossilized
wood floats all right.
- It'll float.
- Well, if it doesn't, I scarcely
know what course lo take.
- Here I come!
- You do look silly. Come on in, Axel!
- Coming to get you!
- It's cold in here.
- It's not that cold. Come on,
I'm gonna get you.
Look out, now. Here I come, here I come.
- May I have my clothes back?
- Sorry.
- Olsen, who are you, really?
Where do you come from?
Your hand!
- What about my hand?
- Why, it's completely healed!
How is that possible in so short a time?
- But it is possible, you see.
- It was your hand that put led
me out of there, wasn't it?
- I don't know what you're
talking about, Glauben.
- Do you really think it's
going to be safe enough
to sail in?
- Hans assures me that it will float.
I simply can't get over
this strange light.
It's uncanny.
Fantastic.
- Yes, but no more so
than the Aurora Borealis,
and caused by the same
sort of simple ionization.
- Look what I found. What a pretty shell.
- Oh, my dear child,
treat that very gently.
- Oh, it turned to sand.
- All these things you see are fossils,
not shells, Glauben.
- Does that mean there are stilt
living creatures out there?
- I should be very surprised
to learn the contrary, Axel.
- Where are you going, Hans?
- I need a rudder.
- Well, you carry on working.
We'll go and look for something.
- [Glauben] Good heavens.
- They look just like giant mushrooms.
They look like wooden mushrooms.
- They are mushrooms.
Millions of years ago,
they flourished above the earth, as well.
Now, you stay here while I investigate.
These could be dangerous.
- Extraordinary.
- [Glauben] As perfectly
preserved as in a greenhouse.
- [Axel] I wonder how many of
these you get to the pound.
Where could your uncle have got to?
- Uncle Otto?
- Professor!
- Uncle Otto!
- All right, Axel, Glauben,
you can join me now.
But take great care.
I'll explain presently.
Come on.
Walk gently.
- Why?
It looks innocuous enough.
- Innocuous, it is not.
That pollen can be fatal.
If it falls on you, it can
cause histoplasmosis.
You see that sort of red
dust on the top of them?
- H's dangerous?
- Huh, as I've already
said, it can be fatal
Now, we must get away from here
in case a breeze springs
up and loosens it.
Now, whatever you do, don't
touch the mushrooms. Ready?
Run for your lives!
- Get out of here!
Hurry!
- What was that?
- It's an explosion.
- A second earlier,
we'd have been underneath
that poison dust.
- Olsen. Come on.
Good Lord.
Are you out of your mind, man?
You of all people who criticized me
for knocking a small
hole in the cave wall!
The vibrations you're causing
could bring this whole
structure down on our heads!
- I have my experiments to perform
just as you have yours, professor.
- Your so-called experiments
are putting all our lives in jeopardy.
- Our lives?
Do you really think the
sort of work you're doing
is going to make any difference
to anyone’s life on this planet?
- Gah!
- There, there, Uncle Otto,
none of this is worth arguing about.
- Who does he think he is?
Putting all our lives in danger
with his ridiculous games.
- Let's go and see how
the raft is coming along.
Hello, Hans.
- I found a rudder.
- Well done, Hans. How soon
do you think
you'll be ready to launch her?
- Soon enough.
- Splendid. You work very well.
- I'll get our gear together.
- I'll go with you.
How do you feel?
- Oh, much better now.
- What are you doing?
It's incredible.
- What?
- Yesterday, you had a deep
gash on your forehead.
Wounds apparently heal much faster here.
- Ah, then what a fine battleground
it would make.
- Idiot!
- [Axel] From the moment
of its launching,
the raft had proved that
it could sail beautifully,
to the great satisfaction of everyone.
We are maintaining a steady
southeasterly course
of one-four-five degrees,
and according to the
calculations of the professor,
we should be sailing directly
underneath the British Isles.
The only noticeable inconvenience
has been a discomfort
produced in those persons
not trained to rise above
every type of difficulty.
Today, we received a welcome surprise.
You think its alive?
- I've got it, I've got it!
- Axel!
- [Axel] Give it to me. Give it to me!
- Good girl.
- It's a shark. Watch it doesn't bite you.
What a strange looking fish.
- Do you think it's edible?
- I don't see why not.
- We'll cook it.
- [Glauben] I'm so hungry.
- [Axel] Come on, Hans, come on.
- Be careful it's hot.
- What about Olsen?
- If he wants some, let
him come here and get it.
- How does it taste, Glauben?
- Like a dream.
- Thank you, Hans.
- I'd say more like sturgeon.
- [Glauben] Mm, delicious.
I still think we should invite Olsen.
- [Axel] He gets more
nourishment from his books.
- Be quiet, he'll hear you.
It's growing warmer here.
- Mm.
32 degrees.
- Well, that's not excessive considering
we're 100 miles beneath the surface.
- It's excessive enough for me.
I'm going for a swim. Don't anybody look.
- You'll get indigestion!
- Axel, the water's wonderful.
Come on in!
- Glauben!
Don't get too far from the raft.
- Axel, come on in. It's wonderful.
- I've work to do!
- Take down this sounding, Axel.
Oh!
- Quick, grab him!
- Axel, Hans, help me.
- Look, teeth marks.
- Good heavens, steel
bitten right through.
- Look!
- Monster!
Glauben, come back!
- [Otto] Glauben!
- Come in, Glauben!
- Swim!
Come on, Glauben!
Another one, Hans!
- Glauben, grab on!
- Glauben, hurry! Hurry!
- [Otto] Try and get the rope, Glauben!
Come on, swim, girl!
Take my hand.
- You all right?
- I think so.
- Just look at them, two
mythical enemies face-to-face.
They existed on Earth
over a million years ago,
and here we are seeing them.
- I'll bet you two gold
mounts on the one on the left.
- You'd lose, Axel.
It'll end in a draw,
with both of them dead.
Give me the rifle, Hans.
We've gotta get out of here
before the blood attracts other monsters.
Pull the sail down, quickly.
Put the oars out. Hurry.
Come on!
Get the oars out!
- Professor, look over there!
Looks like a giant whale!
- Looks like an island of some sort.
- Shall we go and visit it?
- Indeed. Perhaps we shall find
some significant fossils there.
Hans, steer towards it.
- Axel, pass that object to someone.
Come with me, dear.
- [Glauben] Axel, help me.
- [Axel] I'm coming.
Ups-a-daisy.
- Somebody must stay
with the raft. You, Hans.
- Look at that smoke
rising out of the ground.
- Thermal heat escaping, no doubt.
- And over there, looks lifeless.
Olsen seems to take most interest
in what seems least interesting.
- I think he's quite a fascinating man.
- And I think he doesn't know half as much
as he thinks he does.
- Neither do we.
- I still haven't decided
whether he's a man of method or madness.
- Whatever his secret ts, he
keeps it in that metal box.
- What I can't figure out is
how he caused that explosion.
- That's been puzzling me, as well.
We must keep a closer
eye on him in the future.
- What strange rocks!
- [Axel] Look over here, professor!
A battalion of giant tortoises.
- What an incredible sight!
Fossils of the giant tortoise.
They must have been here
for centuries. Amazing.
- What a pity they're all dead.
- It's better they are,
They could be dangerous.
- What's that noise?
You know, I've never
seen a dangerous turtle.
- They must have been man-eating,
but they died of hunger.
They were too slow to catch their prey.
- Can you imagine what would happen
if they surrounded us to attack us?
- [Axel] Coward. After you.
Huh? It moved! I swear it did.
- Why, it seems to be alive!
Alive!
- It's astounding!
They're not fossils, they are alive!
They must sense a natural catastrophe.
Back to the others, quickly.
Come on, Glauben, quickly!
Fast, come on!
Quick as you can, come on!
Get aboard, Olsen!
Get the oars out.
Keep her steady, Hans.
- [Axel] The weather
has changed completely.
The wind is blowing harder than ever,
but the whole atmosphere is
saturated with electricity.
I feet that some
catastrophe is approaching.
Careful with the mast!
Try and keep on course.
- Axel!
Hold on to my arm!
- [Otto] Hang on!
- Careful!
- [Glauben] Hans!
- Hang on tight!
Hold on, hold on!
- Hold those fines.
- Hide your eyes. Hang on!
Get down!
- Look out!
- What's that?
- A giant wave. Here it comes!
Hans?
Glauben, my dear child.
Are you all right?
- Axel, how is Axel?
- We'll soon see.
How do you feel, lad?
- Glauben, where's Glauben?
- If the first thing you
think about is each other,
you must be all right.
- Where are we?
- Yes, where are we?
- A rough calculation
would put us somewhere
beneath the surface of
the Mediterranean Sea.
Axel if any of our instruments
have survived intact,
we'll soon know for sure, so
we'd better start looking.
- What about Olsen?
- Yes, I forgot all about him.
Have any of you seen him anywhere?
- Nowhere, but I found these.
- What?
Look at this. Ah, smashed!
- What's the matter, Uncle Otto?
- Look at this mess.
Raft all smashed to pieces,
my precious instruments broken.
We don't even know where we are!
It's enough to make any man despair.
- It's not your fault, Uncle Otto.
Under the earth, you have
to expect the unexpected.
- Yes, you're right, my dear child.
As always, you're perfectly right.
Nothing, nothing is going to prevent me
making this appointment with history.
- That's more like your
old self, Uncle Otto.
- Look, professor.
Olsen's books about the storm.
- That's peculiar, ifs in Attic Greek.
All about time and space.
- Never mind the book, let's
go look for its owner.
- Well, for heaven's sake,
don't get lost. And be careful.
- How strange. There's nothing
but bones all around us.
- We've discovered a prehistoric cemetery
for animals, apparently. What's that?
- The femur of some kind
of primate, I should think.
- Prehistoric graveyard or not,
how do we know that some of these animals
might not have a few living
descendants around here?
- Look over there! Dinosaur's teeth.
We must take samples back for Uncle Otto.
- It's a molar...
- With a cavity!
Glauben, look! What a strange forest.
- Everything we encounter now is strange.
And the fun her on we go,
the stranger it will get.
- Like a dream.
- [Glauben] Yes.
- I think we've come far enough.
- I just knew you were going to say that.
- Now look, we've come deeper
and stayed longer than
anyone else in history.
We've more than paid our dues to science.
- Axel, what do you want?
- I want to convince your uncle
that we should look for a way out of here.
- But why? It's unlikely
we'll come back, you see.
- 'Cause I-- because I want
to marry you, that's why.
- Oh, Axel.
- And a prehistoric
boneyard is no fit place
to bring up babies.
- Babies?
Oh, Axel.
- A monkey!
Get in here, ifs our only chance!
- [Glauben] Axel!
- Put us back on the roots!
Now! Give me your hand.
Quick!
- Axel, Glauben, over here!
Into the cave!
That way.
Back through here.
- Where are we going?
- Just follow me.
- What in the world is that?
- Why, Olsen! All those--
- Better not to ask, Glauben.
Certain concepts are
not yet within the range
of human comprehension.
- I simply can't believe it!
- Just a moment.
Now, look. You must make a promise
not to say a single word to your uncle
about what we've seen here,
because then he'd never want to leave.
- I promise, I promise.
- All right.
- Come along.
- Look out!
Dinosaurs!
- I can't believe my eyes!
- We'll have to return the way we came.
- Professor!
- Uncle Otto, we've got Olsen!
- Come on!
Olsen, hurry!
Come on!
- [Axel] And thus we
continued our adventure,
on the subterranean sea.
The professor does not wish to leave
one single stone unturned
in his quest for knowledge
of this strange universe.
However, I've perceived a
subtle change in him
from the moment he began
to read Olsen's book.
- Olsen!
- Yes, sir?
- This book of yours that
has washed ashore with us,
it claims that time is
relative, not absolute.
- The claim, unfortunately, is true.
I've tested the theory myself,
somewhat to my regret.
I learned that under
certain circumstances,
one can indeed move through time
as easily as one can through space.
- A year ago, I might not
have believed you,
but after the mysteries and
experiences of this voyage...
- Even in your normal
world on the surface,
there are mysteries
you've never dreamed of.
- One thing still puzzles me.
We're living in the year '98,
are we not?
- Indeed, you are.
- Yet the publication
of this book is 1914.
That's nearly 20 years
ahead in the future.
How do you account for that?
- Why, proof of the pudding, professor.
Or could it be a misprint?
- I only know I'd give my soul
to own a device like that,
with all its secrets.
- It's the only one in existence,
my dear Lindenbrock.
And you've no idea of its capabilities.
It could even transport one to the moon.
- Professor, the sea has ended.
- What is it?
Look, we can't go any further!
- Let's go.
- Looks like some sort of grotto.
- Keep us straight, Hans.
- There's no way out.
Look how dark it is.
We'll never find our way out of here.
- Then we'll have to turn back.
- Turn back? Never.
Try and secure it to that rock, Hans.
Take the lamp. Careful, Glauben.
These rocks are very slippery.
- Professor, look at this!
- Saknussemm! Once again
showing us the way forward.
Now...
We must try and force our way
through this wall of rock.
- But suppose there's nothing behind it
but another endless sea?
- Then it's our duty to find out.
We must get ahead as far as possible.
- It's useless, professor.
You're not even making a dentin it.
- Then I'll try even harder.
We must get ahead.
- Be reasonable, Uncle Otto.
The task is impossible.
- In the search for truth, my dear child,
for Uncle Otto, nothing is impossible.
Now, please stand back.
- Uncle Otto.
Uncle Otto!
Can't you stop him?
- What can I do?
- Olsen, only you can get
us out of this plight.
Do something.
- If you wish.
Professor. Professor!
Your dedication is admirable,
but this is a task that
I alone can accomplish.
Get back on the raft.
- What are you going to do?
- Keep the raft as far back
as you can from this point.
This will only take a few moments.
- Olsen, what about you?
- I told you long ago,
I found my own way in,
I'll find my own way out again.
Godspeed. Never forget.
- I'll remember you, Olsen.
- I don't see anything strange happening.
We're rising up above!
- Glauben, what's the matter?
- I'm choking.
- So am I, and it smells bad!
- Get the gas masks.
There's sulfur fumes!
Hurry, that's an earthquake warning
if ever I heard one!
- That way, professor!
- Professor!
You look like a sheep.
- Shoo, shoo, shoo.
- Hey, hey, hey, little boy.
Where are we?
He doesn't understand.
Where are we? Tell us!
- Try other languages.
- Listen! Listen, little
boy, where are we?
Answer me!
Answer!
- Somebody, somebody, somebody!
- Hans! We've lost Hans!
Hans!
Come on, Hans. We better go, the lava.
Boy!
- Hurry!
- [Axel] And thus ended
our fantastic voyage.
Hans went back to Iceland,
where his flock now
numbers more than 100 head.
He is a respected man,
and is often visited
by his loving cousins.
Glauben and I have
undertaken a new adventure...
That of matrimony.
A woman cannot do without the
support of an experienced man,
a man with foresight.
As for the professor,
he continues to visit the old book shop,
with who knows what remote
expectations in mind.
- Morning.
- Good day, professor.
Somebody left this parcel for you.
- For me? When?
I mean, who would 110...?
- Strange name, sounded like Naksesum.
- Hmm.
Well, I'll be.
---
- [Narrator] Since the
earliest days of cinema,
Jules Verne has been one of
the most prominent authors
whose works have been
adapted for the screen.
It was the great Georges Melies
who produced the first of these.
In 1907, the Spaniard
Segundo de Chomon
directed the first version
of "Journey to the Center of the Earth."
The film which you are
about to see is a tribute
to these pioneers of the film
world of science fiction.
- Mom!
- If you've come to sell,
you're in the wrong shop.
We've enough stock on
hand, up to our necks.
- But these are bargains, indeed.
Wisdom-bound, a distraction
for the most jaded intellect.
All for only three groschens, the lot.
Sir.
- Hm? No, no.
They're only fit to light fires with.
Look at those dog-eared
pages and rotten bindings.
"Don Quixote," by the Spaniard
whose name is practically
impossible to pronounce.
- Cervantes, man, Cervantes.
And you're the only person
I know who can't pronounce it.
- Just look at this,
Professor Lindenbrock.
A penny dreadful called
"The Fantastic Journey
of Arne Saknussemm."
- Then two groschens. That's
hardly a loaf of bread
and a flask of wine in
these difficult times.
- Stick to your price, man.
Three's fair.
Three it shall be.
- A transaction, sir,
you will long remember.
And never forget.
- Or an act of pure charity.
That's what I should call it.
- Charity is its own reward,
for those who can read
the writing on the wall.
- And what on earth do you
suppose he meant by that?
- Hmm. What a strange story.
By a man who claims to have made a journey
to the center of the Earth.
- Humbug.
- I agree. We are
scientists, not adventurers.
The most fruitful theories about
the structure of the Earth
have come from sitting in a quiet room,
using one's brain,
not from poking about inside
some damp and evil-smelling cavern.
- You are quite right.
- Such as your own idiotic theory,
that the core of the Earth is composed
of an incandescent ball of liquid fire?
- Now, it has more validity
than your inane notion,
that the Earth's center is a solid rock
all covered with layers of
lava like the skin of an onion.
- The fact is you're both wrong.
All recent studies indicate
that the core of the
Earth can only be gaseous.
- Gentlemen, the truth is
that alt our theories
are just that, theories.
None of us has the least idea
of how the Earth was really formed
because the distance between
the Earth's crust and its core
is over 6,500 kilometers,
and no man has ever descended to a depth
of more than three 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 100 leagues.
- What's your opinion,
Professor Lindenbrock?
- Well, gentlemen, on one
point at least I agree
with Professor Kristoff.
The materials of the geologist
are not chaos, chalk, and chatter,
but the Earth itself.
Now, this little book I'm reading
describes a descent through
the mouth of a volcano,
into the very bowels of the Earth,
but with an imagination that
puts all our theories to shame.
It's only a work of fiction, of course,
but its very existence
buttresses Kristoff's argument
that we shall never know the truth
until we are able to make that journey
and see for ourselves.
- Only six more to go.
- Why am I the one who has to crawl around
after those wretched little rocks,
when you're the one that spilled them?
- They are not little rocks.
This is the collection of Otto Lindenbrock,
and the long and the short of it is
I know how to classify them and you don't.
- I heard some good news today.
They're going to let us cadets participate
in the summer maneuvers
between Prussia and Austria
in the Bavarian forest.
- How thrilling.
- It occurred to me that if
you're still going to Salzberg
on that ridiculous cave-crawling
expedition with your uncle,
perhaps we could all meet later
and take a trip down the Danube.
- That depends on when your
ridiculous maneuvers are over.
- Maneuvers are not ridiculous.
They are an essential
part of military training.
And as Bismarck said,
"A nation's army is a nation's backbone."
- Little boys who never grew up,
playing silly little war games
so they can sleep outdoors in tents.
And hide behind trees.
- [Axel] Well, it's not
as silly as climbing
in and out of caves and
collecting worthless rocks.
- You'd better get the soup
ready, Marta, he's coming.
- Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
He's at least 10 minutes early today.
- Well, what does that matter?
- You know what a fanatic Uncle Otto is
about having lunch on the table
the moment he gets in the door.
And give me the last one
before he sees that we
spilled them. Quick!
- Stupid stones.
Professor, I was just--
- Yes, yes, Axel, I understand.
If it's all rig hi with my niece
then it's perfectly all right
with me. Congratulations.
- Did you hear that?
He accepted my proposal
even before I made it.
- Yes, but I haven't.
After all, why should I
want to marry a soldier?
- Ah, and why not?
- Tell your uncle the soup
is served, Miss Glauben.
- Because if there's a war,
you might get killed.
And if there's no war,
you'll never be promoted.
All in all, I call that
a silly profession.
- That's a treasonous remark!
- Lunch is ready, Uncle Otto.
- Ah, splendid! I've a
very good appetite today.
Good heavens, what's this?
- It's in Old English.
And what looks to be a map.
- It is a map, of Iceland.
- You can examine it after lunch,
the soup is getting cold.
- Yes, yes, darling, you run along.
I'll be right there.
- We'll go ahead and start, Marta.
No, no.
- I don't see what he
can find so interesting
in an old map.
- It's not the map,
it's some kind of coded
text printed below it.
- A coded text?
- [Glauben] Yes, and he's going
crazy trying to decipher it.
- Then why didn't you tell
me that in the first place?
I could have done them for him,
and saved him from missing lunch.
- What do you know about unraveling codes?
- [Axel] Only slightly
more than Champollion.
- Who is he?
- The Frenchman who solved the mystery
of the Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Do you think the only thing they teach us
in the military academy is
how to hide behind trees?
- Oh dear, oh dear. Dear me.
Seven hours and all
we've managed to decipher
is the signature.
- If only we could establish
what language this message is written in.
- Well, since the book is
written in Old English,
if eel sure the code
must be in English, also.
- It could take us weeks to go through
every possible combination
of these letters.
- Not weeks, months, the
way you're going about it.
Champollion, look over here.
- Why didn't we think of that before?
- This doesn't work either.
- Now, wait, Glauben.
Go back to the series you had before.
Ah.
- Now it looks like Russian.
- Yes, yes, I'm afraid it's
a hopeless task.
Well, I'll be.
In the words of my
distinguished colleague Darwin,
"I'll be a monkey's uncle."
Look at this!
- It even rhymes!
- Well, I'll be dashed.
- "Mount Sneffels you will see
provides the master key.
And Scartis indicates
the entrance to the gates.
For the tale I told is true,
the rest I leave to you."
- The writing on the wall.
That strange old man was right.
- What does it all mean?
- It means, Axel, that you and I
are in the privileged position
of having made one of the
most important discoveries
in the entire history of science.
But we can't do anything
about it until next year.
- Uncle Otto, you're being obscure again.
- Oh, Glauben, my dear child,
can't you understand?
This account of Saknussemm's journey
into the center of the Earth is all true!
He actually did it, he found a way in!
- That's fantastic!
- And this coded message
provides the only information
he concealed in the whole book.
Managed in the end to reach
the Earth's inner crust,
which is Sneffels, we
now know, and the Peak,
which by a shadow cast on
a certain day of the year
indicates the actual mouth of the cave
through which we have to descend.
- Scartis Peak atop Mount Sneffels.
They really do exist.
But why wait another year
before following in
Saknussemm's footsteps?
- Follow in his footsteps?
The very thought of it is absurd.
- Ah, unfortunately, according to the book,
the only day of the year
on which the sun casts
a meaningful shadow on Scartis Peak
is June the 19th at 11:29 am.
- Oh, and today is June the 20th.
[Otto] Exactly.
- What a pity.
I can't bear to wait another whole year.
- Haven't you forgotten?
This book was written at the
time of the Julian calendar.
- What do you mean?
- But of course!
And now we're using the Gregorian calendar,
which differs from the Julian by 10 days.
- Which means it's really June the 10th.
- And we can still make it!
But only if we catch that
morning train from Birmingham.
Marta, come at once!
- I can't believe all this.
- Now, let's start collecting
everything we may need.
- You wanted to see me, Professor?
- Ah, Marta, please pack
our bags immediately.
We shall be leaving first
thing in the morning.
- Is the journey short or is it long?
I mean, how shall I know what to pack?
- Marta, we are going on a journey,
a journey to the center of the Earth.
- In that case, I won’t
need to pack your umbrella.
- I should've bought new boots.
- I forbid it, Glauben.
I absolutely forbid you
to go with your uncle
on this foolhardy trip.
The bowels of the Earth is
not a fit place for a woman.
- I'm afraid Axel is right, my dear.
A journey like this could
prove far too hazardous,
even for a girl as brave as you.
- But you can't go alone, Uncle Otto.
Who would look after you
if you fell and broke a leg?
Or something of the sort.
- I shall, of course, even though it means
I shall miss the war maneuvers.
- Oh, Axel, that's so noble of you.
Very well, if I must stay at home,
I just have to make the best of it.
- That's a most sensible
attitude, Glauben.
Thank you.
- Poor Glauben.
She looked so forlorn
waving goodbye to us there at the station.
I miss her already.
- Yes, I know exactly how
you feet my dear boy.
But you're perfectly right in
forbidding her to come along.
After all, what possible
use could a woman be
on an arduous trip like this?
- Tickets. Tickets, please.
- Give him the tickets, Axel.
- But I don't have the tickets.
You must have them.
- What? Glauben always looks
after things like that.
Didn't she give them to you?
- But I, mister, I don't
think we bought any.
- Good heavens, I think I've forgotten
to bring the money, as well.
- Never mind, I have enough for...
Well, I'll be dashed.
I left my wallet in the
pocket of my uniform.
- Oh dear, this is indeed
a complicated situation.
- No, there's nothing
complicated about it.
You either pay me now or you
get off at the next station.
- We can't do that, man,
we'll miss the boat to Reykjavik.
Glauben!
- Glauben!
- You two would forget your own two heads
if they weren't screwed on.
- Oh, my child.
- What do you call this?
- It's a gribometer,
To measure the density of certain gases.
- Do you know how to use it?
- Nobody is as familiar with
the instruments as I am.
You, Axel, a more important task.
You are going to keep a
diary of our daily events.
- You can rely on me for that, professor.
- The first problem is
where to find a porter.
We don't know anybody in Iceland.
- Oh, yes, we do. My old friend Fridleson.
We studied together 30 years ago.
I haven't seen him since, but
I'm quite sure he'll help us.
- But where on Earth
are we going to find him
after all these years?
- Oh, that's easy. He haunts museums
the way ghosts haunt houses.
Unless he's changed his ways,
he'll be at the Museum of Natural History.
- [Axel] While the two colleagues
were recalling old times
and discussing subjects
of mutual interest,
Glauben and I passed a
very instructive morning
going through the exhibits.
- Is anything wrong, sir?
- He's lost his monocle.
Could you please help us?
- But of course. That's what I'm here for.
- Display cases are magnificently mounted.
Everything is.
- My God, what's he doing on the floor?
- He lost his monocle.
- Ah, monocle?
And here you see the crown
jewel of our collection.
- Tridophilon Elizabenosis.
A delight to the eye, my dear Fridleson.
- But surely you haven't come
all the way from Germany
just to inspect our museum.
- No, actually we've come
to explore Mount Sneffels.
There's no better example
of a dormant volcano
in the northern hemisphere.
- A capital idea.
If it weren't for this blasted count,
I'd make the climb with you.
- Now, friend, I must ask a favor.
The address of a good store
that can outfit us for
climbing and the like,
and the name of a good porter
who can guide us up the mountain.
- The first is easy enough,
but the second is next to
impossible, I am afraid.
- Impossible?
- It's herring season, you know,
and every able-bodied man in Iceland
is either out in the boat
or home mending the net.
Can't you wait for a couple of weeks?
- No, it must be without
fail no later than tomorrow.
- Oh.
- [Otto] Well, we've no
use for tents anyway
so it doesn't matter.
- Where do you want it?
- Over there.
- Over here.
- Make up your minds, this weighs a ton.
- Here.
- Now, let me see. We shall want
some cases for our instruments.
- Boo!
- Glauben, please.
- Oh, what's that?
- A gas mask. You can breathe through it
under almost any circumstances.
- I see. It might very well come in handy.
We'll take four.
Now, what can you show
me in the way of lamps?
The more portable the better.
- I have just the thing.
Hmm, now, where'd I put it?
Ah, yes. Hans, would you
move that barrel away?
Ah, if it's lamps you're
after, it was sheer good luck
that brought you into
the only shop in town
with a complete line of high quality
imported merchandise,
and the finest native--
- [Woman] Just shut up
and show him the lamps.
- Here, this is the Blumdorf lantern.
- Blumkopf.
- Ah, yes, yes, that shall do very well.
We'll take four of those also. Axel?
That man over there, does he work for you?
- Hans? Oh, no, he's my cousin.
He comes down here once
a month to help me out.
But he refuses to take
a steady job in town
or on the boats.
- And once a month isn't much.
- He's a mountaineer, a shepherd.
And they are very proud.
- Then why isn't he out tending his flock?
- Now, that's a sad thing, sir.
Last winter, his entire flock
was struck by lightning in a thunderstorm,
and he's been sitting around ever since,
doing little else but Whittle
and play his mouth organ.
- Hans, my friends and I
are making an expedition
to Mount Sneffels.
If I pay you a fair price,
are you prepared to
come along and help us?
- I don't use money.
- What's a sheep worth in this country?
- Uh. Three rigsdalers.
- Supposing I pay you one sheep per week,
with a bonus of two
rams on our safe return?
Hen do we leave?
- At dawn, as soon as
we pack our equipment.
- Isn't that wonderful?
We finally found work for Hans.
- Imbecile.
- My word, Mount Sneffels.
Look at that view.
- It's a lovely sight.
This view alone makes
our journey worthwhile.
- See those white vapors
rising from the floor of the crater?
If an eruption were imminent,
they'd be twice that size.
- How long, professor,
do we stay down there?
- Hans, I was going to
tell you this later.
Fact is we're going much deeper
than the floor of the crater.
We are going to descend into
the very bowels of the Earth.
Now, you can come with us
or you can go home.
But I must warn you,
we may be down there
some considerable time.
- Days or weeks?
- Mm, more like weeks.
- Weeks means sheep. I'll come.
- Thank you.
Down you go.
- It's deeper than I thought.
- Then don't look down.
- [Axel] As soon as we
had located Scartis Peak
in the bottom of the crater,
Hans began the descent,
followed by the professor and Glauben.
I brought up the rear, in case
anyone might need assistance.
- Here it is.
Hans, bring the baggage!
The line of the shadow, perfect.
- Look, "A.S."
Arne Saknussemm. This proves
he's telling the truth.
- Hm, I never had the
slightest doubt, dear boy.
Never the slightest doubt.
Hans, the ladder, here.
Just here, fine.
Check your lamp, Axel, check it.
Slowly, Hans, slowly.
Right, Axel You descend first, Hans.
- [Axel] For the first time,
I'm beginning to think
that Arne Saknussemm's
story could be true.
And that what had seemed
to be in principal
only a routine excursion
has now turned into an exciting adventure.
Although a bit risky, especially for those
who have not had the good fortune
to receive adequate physical
and mental preparation.
- All right, professor!
- It's deeper than it looks.
When your turn comes, you must
be very careful, Glauben.
Right, stand by, darting.
Right, come on down.
Easy does it now, easy.
Right.
Your turn, Axel!
- Professor!
Are you absolutely certain
that there's no possibility
of Sneffels erupting
in the near future?
- [Otto] A stupid question!
- [Axel] Well, "once more unto
the breach, dear friends."
Thanks to the careful
selection and packing
of the most essential equipment,
we had been able to reduce our load
to the minimum necessary.
We have on hand
instruments, tools, weapons,
ropes, provisions for 60 days,
and drinking water for 10.
The quantity of water
seems to me insufficient,
although, according to the professor,
we will find what we need
once we have gone down
deep enough into the Earth.
- [Glauben] Axel!
- Hans, you lead the way.
- Professor, there are
three possibilities here.
How do we know which one to take?
- All of them look endless.
- Nothing could be simpler.
We'll let Saknussemm be our guide, then.
Once again.
This is where he mentions it.
"Cave descending 10 the left."
Now, lead on, Hans.
Come.
- Careful!
Now we've lost the water!
- That's bad luck.
Still, I'd rather it be the
water than the instruments.
I feel sure we'll find
some good water later on.
All right, my dear?
- Yes, uncle.
- Good gin.
Come on, then. Hans, lead on.
- How much do we have left in our canteen?
- Only enough for the rest of the day.
I was going to fill them this evening.
I should think it must be sundown by now.
- No wonder I'm so tired.
- [Axel] No wonder I'm so hungry.
- It's bad.
- Ah, well,
don't be too downhearted.
We'll find good water
soon, I feel sure of it.
Now then, Glauben, some readings, please.
Temperature, barometric pressure.
- Humidity, 95%.
The thermometer reading,
seven degrees centigrade.
- No wonder I feel chilly.
- What does the compass indicate, Axel?
Saknussemm says here we should be heading
in a westerly direction.
- Dead west.
- Good old Saknussemm.
- Right, let's lead on.
Hans, come.
- If only he'd tell us
when we're going to find
some drinkable water.
If this keeps up, we'll never get through!
- Saknussemm has a word to say about this.
Let me see.
The book, we've lost the book!
Get your masks on.
- [Glauben] This way!
- Are you all right?
- I will be when I can get my hair washed.
You look as though you might
have been struck by lightning.
- I know what you're thinking, Axel.
We're out of water,
we've lost our guide book.
The only sensible thing
would be to turn back
while we can still find a way out.
- I must admit the thought had
crossed my mind, professor.
- You'd be a fool if it hadn't.
Bear in mind
that just ahead of us
lie millions of years
of unrecorded history.
Are we going to ignore that and turn back,
or do we go on?
- I propose that we take a vote.
- All right, Glauben, you start.
Do we go forward like
civilized creatures,
or do we turn back like cowards?
- You know I wouldn't ruin
your picnic, Uncle Otto!
I say forwards.
- Thank you. Axel?
- A man who wears the
uniform of Imperial Prussia
can have but one answer, unfortunately.
I say forward, too.
- Hans?
- Forward means sheep,
backwards means nothing.
I say sheep.
- That settles it, then. Thank you.
We go on. Lead the way, Hans.
- Uncle Otto, suppose the
votes had gone against you?
- I should have
ignored them, my dear.
What possible progress could there be
if science were a slave
to democracy? Come on.
- How lovely.
Uncle Otto, is that you?
Ho's the
re?
Ho's the
re?
Uncle Otto?
Axel?
Hans?
Who is that?
Ho's the
re?
Axel?
Axel!
Help!
- Professor, what's that?
- Help! Axel!
- Glauben!
- Uncle Otto!
- Glauben, where- are you?
Glauben!
- Here I am, in here!
- What's happened to you?
- I lagged behind to
look at those icicles,
and then stumbled into this muck.
- That much I can see.
- Then the most incredible thing happened.
Just as I was about to go under,
someone appeared and pulled me out.
- That's absurd. There's
nobody here but us.
- [Glauben] l tell you,
I felt a human hand
pull me out of there.
- Fantasy, my dear child,
some sort of tactile illusion.
You saved yourself by
clinging to that rock,
which has the rough shape of a human hand.
- And the figure I saw
hiding behind a rock?
I suppose you'll tell me
that's an illusion, also.
- Undoubtedly.
With the disorientation,
the lack of water,
all of us are under considerable strain.
- Uncle Otto, I tell you I saw someone.
- A common illusion, known
to geologists the world over.
From now on, you must stick close to us.
- [Axel] I told you not
to come on this trip,
didn't I, didn't I?
- [Glauben] Oh, do shut up.
Which way now?
- We're confronted with another choice.
- Yes, now what?
- Frankly, my dear Glauben, at this point,
your guess is as good as mine.
- Frankly, I'm getting sleepy.
- That's partly because
it's been growing warmer
in the past couple of hours.
- The trouble is, if we stop to rest now,
before we find water,
when we wake we may be
too weak to continue.
How do you feel about it, Axel?
- I could go on for miles.
- [Hans] Professor.
- What is it, Hans?
- Letters, like the other ones.
- Ah.
Old Saknussemm coming
to our aid once again.
Come on all you, cheer up.
He must have had the same
problem with water as we have.
- But maybe he didn't spill his.
- Listen, did you hear that?
- It sounds like voices, human voices.
- What could it be?
- I've no idea.
- It must be voices.
- Nonsense.
- Isn't it at least
possible that somebody else
might have found a path into the Earth?
The way we did.
- It's a possibility, of course,
but an extremely remote one.
- I suppose that's known to
geologists the world over
as an acoustical illusion.
- Perhaps they're animals of some sort.
They could even be dangerous.
- Quiet, all of you.
Try not to make any noise. Hans, you lead.
Glauben, here. Shh.
Quiet. You hear anything now?
- So it wasn't animals
after all, it was us.
- We must be squarely in the center
of an acoustical field.
- [Glauben] All right,
that'll do do do do.
Let's get out of here.
- No wait, Glauben.
- All right, all right, all right.
We should be safe enough here.
- I'm thirstier than ever,
and I can't go on
another step, Uncle Otto.
- Well, there's nothing else for it.
We have to rest here,
try to get some sleep.
All right, all right, all right.
- I still say I saw a
real face back there,
and not an illusion.
- Shh, little one, try to get some sleep.
- Hans, where are you?
Hans, what are you doing?
- Listen, water.
- Water?
- Shh.
- I'll get the others.
Wake up, we found water!
- What?
- Water!
- Where?
- Just ahead. Hans has
discovered an underground stream.
- Thank God.
Come on, Axel, let's go and see about it.
- Here, right here.
- Yes, no doubt about it, there's water.
Right here, I think.
- No, over here.
- No, no, no, this is where I
can here the noise best, Hans.
Give me the pick.
- Professor, I know
mountains and I know caves.
Here is a good place, that's a bad place.
- Hans, as a professor of geology,
I also know about caves and mountains,
and how 10 break through them
when necessary to find water.
Stand back.
- [Axel] Careful professor.
- Have you lost your mind?
Another inch to your right,
this entire cavern
would have collapsed on our heads.
This simple mountain man
showed more common sense
than you with all your
diplomas, Professor Lindenbrock.
- Who are you?
- How do you know my uncle's name?
- Because I have read his books,
and also because I've had to listen
to your incessant chatter
during the past to miles
of this tedious decent.
- You followed us into the Earth?
- Hardly, since I began
my descent two months ago.
- Through Sneffels?
- I preferred to find my own way in,
just as I expect to find
my own way out again.
- Why, you've burned your hand.
- A mere trifle, young lady.
Quench your thirst.
- You're doing scientific
research, Mister-Q
- Olsen. Simply call me Olsen.
Like any civilized man, I
include the natural sciences
among my hobbies.
But naturally, I also refuse to let
their so-called laws limit my outlook.
- Well, now that our paths have crossed,
it would be sensible to travel together.
- You are welcome to the
benefit of my experience.
- I think it should be
made perfectly clear
that this expedition is ted
by Professor Otto Lindenbrock
and none other.
- My dear boy, my own interest lies
in the acquisition of knowledge itself,
and not the accumulation
of dusty academic honors.
- Did you ever hear such insolence?
How I'd love to have him for just one day
in my drill platoon.
- Don't be pompous, Axel.
Now at least we have
something to drink, at last.
- Why don't you wait until it
gets cool?
- Apart from the fact of
calling himself Olsen
and that he obviously
belongs to the human race,
we have learnt very little else concerning
this particular individual.
All that we really have determined
is that his only equipment
consists of a mysterious metal box.
His strange and startling materialization
was largely forgotten, however,
in the general delight resulting
from the discovery of water,
which from this moment on,
we encountered in great quantity.
Glauben appears to be
the one most affected
by the annoying presence of this Olsen.
I'm afraid we've taken a wrong
tum and lost the others.
- How tedious.
- At least we're alone for a change.
- If you're referring to
the absence of Mr. Olsen,
I must say I find that no great comfort.
- Well, I think he's boring,
conceited, and rude.
- Yes, but who cares, anyway?
Who cares what he's like, when
he has such interesting eyes?
- Well, if that's all you can say...
Whoa!
Axel!
Axel!
- What happened?
- It's all right, my dear boy.
The worst is over.
- Glauben?
- Not a scratch on her.
In fact, she's out there
having a swim. Come on.
- I must be having hallucinations.
- My boy.
- It looks like an ocean!
- One of nature's apologies, my dear boy.
An ocean below the surface of the sea.
Fresh water, too.
- I can hardly believe my eyes.
- The enclosure you see above
us is nearly a mile high.
Steady, now, steady.
Never in my whole life,
not even above the Earth,
have I seen a mineral
formation that could retain
and protect so much light.
It's incredible.
- It's breathtaking.
- Axel, come on in!
Axel, come on, the water's beautiful.
- Go on in the water.
Go on, it'll do you good.
Do you know you’ve been
unconscious for nearly two days?
Mind your head.
- No wonder I feel groggy.
- How's the raft coming along, Hans?
- Soon be finished.
- I hope that fossilized
wood floats all right.
- It'll float.
- Well, if it doesn't, I scarcely
know what course lo take.
- Here I come!
- You do look silly. Come on in, Axel!
- Coming to get you!
- It's cold in here.
- It's not that cold. Come on,
I'm gonna get you.
Look out, now. Here I come, here I come.
- May I have my clothes back?
- Sorry.
- Olsen, who are you, really?
Where do you come from?
Your hand!
- What about my hand?
- Why, it's completely healed!
How is that possible in so short a time?
- But it is possible, you see.
- It was your hand that put led
me out of there, wasn't it?
- I don't know what you're
talking about, Glauben.
- Do you really think it's
going to be safe enough
to sail in?
- Hans assures me that it will float.
I simply can't get over
this strange light.
It's uncanny.
Fantastic.
- Yes, but no more so
than the Aurora Borealis,
and caused by the same
sort of simple ionization.
- Look what I found. What a pretty shell.
- Oh, my dear child,
treat that very gently.
- Oh, it turned to sand.
- All these things you see are fossils,
not shells, Glauben.
- Does that mean there are stilt
living creatures out there?
- I should be very surprised
to learn the contrary, Axel.
- Where are you going, Hans?
- I need a rudder.
- Well, you carry on working.
We'll go and look for something.
- [Glauben] Good heavens.
- They look just like giant mushrooms.
They look like wooden mushrooms.
- They are mushrooms.
Millions of years ago,
they flourished above the earth, as well.
Now, you stay here while I investigate.
These could be dangerous.
- Extraordinary.
- [Glauben] As perfectly
preserved as in a greenhouse.
- [Axel] I wonder how many of
these you get to the pound.
Where could your uncle have got to?
- Uncle Otto?
- Professor!
- Uncle Otto!
- All right, Axel, Glauben,
you can join me now.
But take great care.
I'll explain presently.
Come on.
Walk gently.
- Why?
It looks innocuous enough.
- Innocuous, it is not.
That pollen can be fatal.
If it falls on you, it can
cause histoplasmosis.
You see that sort of red
dust on the top of them?
- H's dangerous?
- Huh, as I've already
said, it can be fatal
Now, we must get away from here
in case a breeze springs
up and loosens it.
Now, whatever you do, don't
touch the mushrooms. Ready?
Run for your lives!
- Get out of here!
Hurry!
- What was that?
- It's an explosion.
- A second earlier,
we'd have been underneath
that poison dust.
- Olsen. Come on.
Good Lord.
Are you out of your mind, man?
You of all people who criticized me
for knocking a small
hole in the cave wall!
The vibrations you're causing
could bring this whole
structure down on our heads!
- I have my experiments to perform
just as you have yours, professor.
- Your so-called experiments
are putting all our lives in jeopardy.
- Our lives?
Do you really think the
sort of work you're doing
is going to make any difference
to anyone’s life on this planet?
- Gah!
- There, there, Uncle Otto,
none of this is worth arguing about.
- Who does he think he is?
Putting all our lives in danger
with his ridiculous games.
- Let's go and see how
the raft is coming along.
Hello, Hans.
- I found a rudder.
- Well done, Hans. How soon
do you think
you'll be ready to launch her?
- Soon enough.
- Splendid. You work very well.
- I'll get our gear together.
- I'll go with you.
How do you feel?
- Oh, much better now.
- What are you doing?
It's incredible.
- What?
- Yesterday, you had a deep
gash on your forehead.
Wounds apparently heal much faster here.
- Ah, then what a fine battleground
it would make.
- Idiot!
- [Axel] From the moment
of its launching,
the raft had proved that
it could sail beautifully,
to the great satisfaction of everyone.
We are maintaining a steady
southeasterly course
of one-four-five degrees,
and according to the
calculations of the professor,
we should be sailing directly
underneath the British Isles.
The only noticeable inconvenience
has been a discomfort
produced in those persons
not trained to rise above
every type of difficulty.
Today, we received a welcome surprise.
You think its alive?
- I've got it, I've got it!
- Axel!
- [Axel] Give it to me. Give it to me!
- Good girl.
- It's a shark. Watch it doesn't bite you.
What a strange looking fish.
- Do you think it's edible?
- I don't see why not.
- We'll cook it.
- [Glauben] I'm so hungry.
- [Axel] Come on, Hans, come on.
- Be careful it's hot.
- What about Olsen?
- If he wants some, let
him come here and get it.
- How does it taste, Glauben?
- Like a dream.
- Thank you, Hans.
- I'd say more like sturgeon.
- [Glauben] Mm, delicious.
I still think we should invite Olsen.
- [Axel] He gets more
nourishment from his books.
- Be quiet, he'll hear you.
It's growing warmer here.
- Mm.
32 degrees.
- Well, that's not excessive considering
we're 100 miles beneath the surface.
- It's excessive enough for me.
I'm going for a swim. Don't anybody look.
- You'll get indigestion!
- Axel, the water's wonderful.
Come on in!
- Glauben!
Don't get too far from the raft.
- Axel, come on in. It's wonderful.
- I've work to do!
- Take down this sounding, Axel.
Oh!
- Quick, grab him!
- Axel, Hans, help me.
- Look, teeth marks.
- Good heavens, steel
bitten right through.
- Look!
- Monster!
Glauben, come back!
- [Otto] Glauben!
- Come in, Glauben!
- Swim!
Come on, Glauben!
Another one, Hans!
- Glauben, grab on!
- Glauben, hurry! Hurry!
- [Otto] Try and get the rope, Glauben!
Come on, swim, girl!
Take my hand.
- You all right?
- I think so.
- Just look at them, two
mythical enemies face-to-face.
They existed on Earth
over a million years ago,
and here we are seeing them.
- I'll bet you two gold
mounts on the one on the left.
- You'd lose, Axel.
It'll end in a draw,
with both of them dead.
Give me the rifle, Hans.
We've gotta get out of here
before the blood attracts other monsters.
Pull the sail down, quickly.
Put the oars out. Hurry.
Come on!
Get the oars out!
- Professor, look over there!
Looks like a giant whale!
- Looks like an island of some sort.
- Shall we go and visit it?
- Indeed. Perhaps we shall find
some significant fossils there.
Hans, steer towards it.
- Axel, pass that object to someone.
Come with me, dear.
- [Glauben] Axel, help me.
- [Axel] I'm coming.
Ups-a-daisy.
- Somebody must stay
with the raft. You, Hans.
- Look at that smoke
rising out of the ground.
- Thermal heat escaping, no doubt.
- And over there, looks lifeless.
Olsen seems to take most interest
in what seems least interesting.
- I think he's quite a fascinating man.
- And I think he doesn't know half as much
as he thinks he does.
- Neither do we.
- I still haven't decided
whether he's a man of method or madness.
- Whatever his secret ts, he
keeps it in that metal box.
- What I can't figure out is
how he caused that explosion.
- That's been puzzling me, as well.
We must keep a closer
eye on him in the future.
- What strange rocks!
- [Axel] Look over here, professor!
A battalion of giant tortoises.
- What an incredible sight!
Fossils of the giant tortoise.
They must have been here
for centuries. Amazing.
- What a pity they're all dead.
- It's better they are,
They could be dangerous.
- What's that noise?
You know, I've never
seen a dangerous turtle.
- They must have been man-eating,
but they died of hunger.
They were too slow to catch their prey.
- Can you imagine what would happen
if they surrounded us to attack us?
- [Axel] Coward. After you.
Huh? It moved! I swear it did.
- Why, it seems to be alive!
Alive!
- It's astounding!
They're not fossils, they are alive!
They must sense a natural catastrophe.
Back to the others, quickly.
Come on, Glauben, quickly!
Fast, come on!
Quick as you can, come on!
Get aboard, Olsen!
Get the oars out.
Keep her steady, Hans.
- [Axel] The weather
has changed completely.
The wind is blowing harder than ever,
but the whole atmosphere is
saturated with electricity.
I feet that some
catastrophe is approaching.
Careful with the mast!
Try and keep on course.
- Axel!
Hold on to my arm!
- [Otto] Hang on!
- Careful!
- [Glauben] Hans!
- Hang on tight!
Hold on, hold on!
- Hold those fines.
- Hide your eyes. Hang on!
Get down!
- Look out!
- What's that?
- A giant wave. Here it comes!
Hans?
Glauben, my dear child.
Are you all right?
- Axel, how is Axel?
- We'll soon see.
How do you feel, lad?
- Glauben, where's Glauben?
- If the first thing you
think about is each other,
you must be all right.
- Where are we?
- Yes, where are we?
- A rough calculation
would put us somewhere
beneath the surface of
the Mediterranean Sea.
Axel if any of our instruments
have survived intact,
we'll soon know for sure, so
we'd better start looking.
- What about Olsen?
- Yes, I forgot all about him.
Have any of you seen him anywhere?
- Nowhere, but I found these.
- What?
Look at this. Ah, smashed!
- What's the matter, Uncle Otto?
- Look at this mess.
Raft all smashed to pieces,
my precious instruments broken.
We don't even know where we are!
It's enough to make any man despair.
- It's not your fault, Uncle Otto.
Under the earth, you have
to expect the unexpected.
- Yes, you're right, my dear child.
As always, you're perfectly right.
Nothing, nothing is going to prevent me
making this appointment with history.
- That's more like your
old self, Uncle Otto.
- Look, professor.
Olsen's books about the storm.
- That's peculiar, ifs in Attic Greek.
All about time and space.
- Never mind the book, let's
go look for its owner.
- Well, for heaven's sake,
don't get lost. And be careful.
- How strange. There's nothing
but bones all around us.
- We've discovered a prehistoric cemetery
for animals, apparently. What's that?
- The femur of some kind
of primate, I should think.
- Prehistoric graveyard or not,
how do we know that some of these animals
might not have a few living
descendants around here?
- Look over there! Dinosaur's teeth.
We must take samples back for Uncle Otto.
- It's a molar...
- With a cavity!
Glauben, look! What a strange forest.
- Everything we encounter now is strange.
And the fun her on we go,
the stranger it will get.
- Like a dream.
- [Glauben] Yes.
- I think we've come far enough.
- I just knew you were going to say that.
- Now look, we've come deeper
and stayed longer than
anyone else in history.
We've more than paid our dues to science.
- Axel, what do you want?
- I want to convince your uncle
that we should look for a way out of here.
- But why? It's unlikely
we'll come back, you see.
- 'Cause I-- because I want
to marry you, that's why.
- Oh, Axel.
- And a prehistoric
boneyard is no fit place
to bring up babies.
- Babies?
Oh, Axel.
- A monkey!
Get in here, ifs our only chance!
- [Glauben] Axel!
- Put us back on the roots!
Now! Give me your hand.
Quick!
- Axel, Glauben, over here!
Into the cave!
That way.
Back through here.
- Where are we going?
- Just follow me.
- What in the world is that?
- Why, Olsen! All those--
- Better not to ask, Glauben.
Certain concepts are
not yet within the range
of human comprehension.
- I simply can't believe it!
- Just a moment.
Now, look. You must make a promise
not to say a single word to your uncle
about what we've seen here,
because then he'd never want to leave.
- I promise, I promise.
- All right.
- Come along.
- Look out!
Dinosaurs!
- I can't believe my eyes!
- We'll have to return the way we came.
- Professor!
- Uncle Otto, we've got Olsen!
- Come on!
Olsen, hurry!
Come on!
- [Axel] And thus we
continued our adventure,
on the subterranean sea.
The professor does not wish to leave
one single stone unturned
in his quest for knowledge
of this strange universe.
However, I've perceived a
subtle change in him
from the moment he began
to read Olsen's book.
- Olsen!
- Yes, sir?
- This book of yours that
has washed ashore with us,
it claims that time is
relative, not absolute.
- The claim, unfortunately, is true.
I've tested the theory myself,
somewhat to my regret.
I learned that under
certain circumstances,
one can indeed move through time
as easily as one can through space.
- A year ago, I might not
have believed you,
but after the mysteries and
experiences of this voyage...
- Even in your normal
world on the surface,
there are mysteries
you've never dreamed of.
- One thing still puzzles me.
We're living in the year '98,
are we not?
- Indeed, you are.
- Yet the publication
of this book is 1914.
That's nearly 20 years
ahead in the future.
How do you account for that?
- Why, proof of the pudding, professor.
Or could it be a misprint?
- I only know I'd give my soul
to own a device like that,
with all its secrets.
- It's the only one in existence,
my dear Lindenbrock.
And you've no idea of its capabilities.
It could even transport one to the moon.
- Professor, the sea has ended.
- What is it?
Look, we can't go any further!
- Let's go.
- Looks like some sort of grotto.
- Keep us straight, Hans.
- There's no way out.
Look how dark it is.
We'll never find our way out of here.
- Then we'll have to turn back.
- Turn back? Never.
Try and secure it to that rock, Hans.
Take the lamp. Careful, Glauben.
These rocks are very slippery.
- Professor, look at this!
- Saknussemm! Once again
showing us the way forward.
Now...
We must try and force our way
through this wall of rock.
- But suppose there's nothing behind it
but another endless sea?
- Then it's our duty to find out.
We must get ahead as far as possible.
- It's useless, professor.
You're not even making a dentin it.
- Then I'll try even harder.
We must get ahead.
- Be reasonable, Uncle Otto.
The task is impossible.
- In the search for truth, my dear child,
for Uncle Otto, nothing is impossible.
Now, please stand back.
- Uncle Otto.
Uncle Otto!
Can't you stop him?
- What can I do?
- Olsen, only you can get
us out of this plight.
Do something.
- If you wish.
Professor. Professor!
Your dedication is admirable,
but this is a task that
I alone can accomplish.
Get back on the raft.
- What are you going to do?
- Keep the raft as far back
as you can from this point.
This will only take a few moments.
- Olsen, what about you?
- I told you long ago,
I found my own way in,
I'll find my own way out again.
Godspeed. Never forget.
- I'll remember you, Olsen.
- I don't see anything strange happening.
We're rising up above!
- Glauben, what's the matter?
- I'm choking.
- So am I, and it smells bad!
- Get the gas masks.
There's sulfur fumes!
Hurry, that's an earthquake warning
if ever I heard one!
- That way, professor!
- Professor!
You look like a sheep.
- Shoo, shoo, shoo.
- Hey, hey, hey, little boy.
Where are we?
He doesn't understand.
Where are we? Tell us!
- Try other languages.
- Listen! Listen, little
boy, where are we?
Answer me!
Answer!
- Somebody, somebody, somebody!
- Hans! We've lost Hans!
Hans!
Come on, Hans. We better go, the lava.
Boy!
- Hurry!
- [Axel] And thus ended
our fantastic voyage.
Hans went back to Iceland,
where his flock now
numbers more than 100 head.
He is a respected man,
and is often visited
by his loving cousins.
Glauben and I have
undertaken a new adventure...
That of matrimony.
A woman cannot do without the
support of an experienced man,
a man with foresight.
As for the professor,
he continues to visit the old book shop,
with who knows what remote
expectations in mind.
- Morning.
- Good day, professor.
Somebody left this parcel for you.
- For me? When?
I mean, who would 110...?
- Strange name, sounded like Naksesum.
- Hmm.
Well, I'll be.