I read the reviews before watching this and was intrigued by how polarised they are.
I'm somewhere in the middle - I was entertained by the movie and thought it was well cast and acted. The standards of production are good for a made-for-TV movie, and the effects are not exactly Avatar, but OK for 1999.
The lack of faithfulness to Verne is irrelevant - they have to acknowledge him for the idea and theme, but there's no obligation or expectation to act out the book in every detail.
The main weakness for me was the childish humour and the usual prudery in bathing scenes etc, It's funny what convention allows audiences to see and hear, or not.
In summary, not a waste of time if you like this sort of thing, but pitched mainly at kids; it would have been more fun with a harder dramatic edge.
I'm somewhere in the middle - I was entertained by the movie and thought it was well cast and acted. The standards of production are good for a made-for-TV movie, and the effects are not exactly Avatar, but OK for 1999.
The lack of faithfulness to Verne is irrelevant - they have to acknowledge him for the idea and theme, but there's no obligation or expectation to act out the book in every detail.
The main weakness for me was the childish humour and the usual prudery in bathing scenes etc, It's funny what convention allows audiences to see and hear, or not.
In summary, not a waste of time if you like this sort of thing, but pitched mainly at kids; it would have been more fun with a harder dramatic edge.