Every generation or two, the pitched rivalry between cinema and video erupts into full-fledged war. At times wary allies, the movie house and the home entertainment system engage in a tug of war for the audience’s time and attention. Movies may be making more money than they did last year, but the aesthetic advantage likely lies with DVD and high-definition formats such as Blu-Ray. Why pay spiraling prices for a crummy theatrical experience when you can wait about four months and buy the DVD for only twice the cost of a ticket?

For decades, filmmakers and exhibitors have competed against the lower prices and at-home convenience of TV and video with a weapon your rec room system can’t match: sheer spectacle. High-tech formats and newfangled versions of vintage gimmicks enhance the audience’s movie-going experience, and this weekend offers a showcase for both new and old-fashioned flavors of eye candy.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is billed as the first live-action, non-documentary film shot in digital 3-D– a full-color process that still requires special glasses. The story proves rather tame, as Brendan Fraser, his spunky nephew and a hot Icelandic guide discover that Jules Verne’s novel Journey to the Center of the Earth is actually a guide to a subterranean realm full of prehistoric flora and fauna.

With a family-adventure tone comparable to the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids movies, Journey provides a couple of cool moments, such as the heroes fending off fishy monsters while navigating an underground sea. Director Eric Brevig emphasizes the kind of corny 3-D effects that amount to shoving stuff conspicuously at the camera– most memorably a sink’s-eye view of Fraser spitting water at the audience.

The technically advanced 3-D effects look surprisingly conventional, and not that much better than my memories of Friday the 13th Part 3 from 25 years ago. (Plus, Journey lacks such indelible images as an eyeball shooting from a skull.) Brevig relies on silliness such as a high-speed, mine-car ride that comes off as a second-rate version of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’s chase scene. It seems aimed at audiences whose “staycation” budget prevents them from visiting an actual amusement park, and never achieves the intensity and ingenuity of last year’s 3-D animated film Beowulf.

Increasingly, studios are re-mastering mainstream films in IMAX format, which features huge screens, kick-ass sound systems and sharp resolution. Warner Brothers is particularly bullish on the form, and next week’s release of The Dark Knight includes four scenes shot in IMAX 3-D.

I know many people who’ve been unimpressed by new releases re-mastered for IMAX, but I never saw one until I took my daughter to see Kung Fu Panda: The IMAX Experience. During the pre-show sound-system demo featuring rain-forest noises and bombastic music, my five-year-old said, “It sounds like God is rising from the dead.”

The IMAX Kung Fu Panda was practically a different movie than the 2-D one I saw a month ago. The high-resolution film presented a strikingly crisp image. I was hypnotized by the weave in Master Shifu’s robes and the rhino prison guards’ pebbled hides. Computer animation has now become sophisticated enough to live up to both IMAX’s huge scope and fine details, which may explain why so many CGI and performance-capture animated films are being tailored to the format.

The only 3-D version of Journey to the Center of the Earth in Monterey County will play at Salinas’ Maya Cinemas.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH ( 2 ) Directed by Eric Brevig. • Starring Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson and Anita Briem. • PG, 92 min. • At Century Cinemas Del Monte Center, Lighthouse Cinemas, Maya Cinemas, Northridge Cinemas.