Journey to the Center of the Earth is the name given to a number of films, all to some extent based on the 1864 novel Voyage au centre de la Terre by Jules Verne (1828-1905)[1].

One such film was (at least in part) filmed in South Africa in 1986, and features a number of South African performers and technical crew members.

Journey to the Center of the Earth (released 1988)

The film

Loosely based on the 1864 novel Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, it tells of young people exploring a cave in Hawaii, who fall into a hole, and wind up in the lost city of Atlantis.

Written by Judith Berg, Sandra Berg and Albert Pyun, directed by Rusty Lemorande and Albert Pyun and produced by Golan-Globus Productions.

A first verion was made in California, but rejected, so a final, revised, version was filmed in South Africa from June to September 1986

The main cast consisted of the international leading actors (Nicola Cowper, Ilan Mitchell-Smith and Paul Carafotes) supported a large cast, among them many South African performers, including Janie du Plessis, Lochner de Kock, Jeremy Crutchley, Albert Maritz, Russel Savadier, Marius Du Plooy, Liesel van den Bergh, Erika Delport, Sydney Radebe, Sonto Ndlovu, Solly Ndlovu and Emo Philips.