Prisoners of the Lost Universe

TV personality Carrie Madison visits a mad scientist Dr. Hartmann who has invented a teleporter to time bending parallel universe. The Doctor, an electrician Dan Roebuck and Madison windup in a prehistoric world and must figure their out a way to get back home.

Early 80s script sensibilities, 60s Star Trek gadgets and special effects aside, Terry Marcel and Harry Robertson offer a cheap, occasionally cheerful science fiction outing. Thankfully the likeable late Richard Hatch as Dan Roebuck and the excellent Kay Lenz as Carrie Madison make this TV low budget offering watchable as they deal with tribes of savage cavemen and a brutal warlord Kleel, played by the excellent John Saxon to name a few. To Hatch and especially Lena's credit even with bland script both their performances are fitting for a better production. There are also some great deliveries from the supporting cast including Peter O'Farrell and Ray Charleson, both of Hawk the Slayer (1980) fame and Dawn Abraham of cult film Deadly Prey (1987).

After it moves from stock footage LA, to South Africa doubling for LA to the other dimension Derek V. Browne cinematography is reminiscent of earlier The Planet of the Apes TV series mixed with aforementioned Star Trek show. The brightly filmed tone is a mixed bag like it's sound and music design. There's hokey creatures, cavemen, a golden giant (a tall man with painted makeup), vivid coloured costumes, explosions, fist fights, club bashing and sword play.

There is an interesting concept hidden under the all round cheap veneer, but the performances are not enough to elevate Marcel's picture to cult status given the lack of atmosphere. It's pity given the abundance of similar Italian films around at the same time that had bucket loads of atmospherics but sometimes the opposite problem of little plot. The production values unfortunately short change the actors and the audience on what could have been a fulfilling Flash Gordon (1980), A Princess of Mars type adventure, but it falls into the realm, maybe even below 1982's The Sword and the Sorcerer or the Sorceress.

Overall, certainly worth watching for stunning Lenz and Hatch's swashbuckling moments.

This stereotypical, low-grade fantasy lacks both the budget and the directorial imagination to be really exciting. The only epic thing about it is the music score. The film is too cheesy for most adults, but it also has some unpleasant scenes that are unsuitable for kids - making you wonder what audience exactly they had in mind. What kept me watching it is Kay Lenz: she's both endearing and feisty, and she looks particularly sexy when she's angry. Her face has a great "bone structure" - she looks a bit like Kim Basinger (trivia note: they were born the same year, 1953), only more beautiful. And she can even keep a straight face through lines like "But....he's green!" (when the male lead suggests that they should follow a man). Take Lenz out of the movie and you don't have a movie - just a midget, a giant, an evil John Saxon, and other stereotypes. (*1/2)

First, I can't imagine this can even be found anymore. I saw it one time, in the mid 80s when I was a kid, on T.V. I think it was orginally made for cable. Anyway, my expectations were zero, and instead I enjoyed a great "bad" movie, if you know what I mean. Fun way to spend an afternoon. Why do I even remember it? Because it is so obscure, it is one of those movies I use to test whether a film book (like Maltin) is really comprehensive. Glad to find it on imdb.com.

I can accept that the main characters in this movie are lost and that they become prisoners, but whether this is a separate universe is barely pertinent. Same trees, same animals, same language. Just insert a Hyperborian culture and the necessary mystical villain and you have a reason for Richard Hatch to swing a sword.

Two big things lacking in the budget - props and a director of photography. The sword the hero swings looks like a scrap of chrome, cut to form. The shots throughout reminded me of a soap opera. Probably, these fight scenes are just like the fight scenes from every big-budget blockbuster, with the difference being, the scenes in this movie are from one angle, motionless, and not edited for any effect. Somewhere between properly-staged cinema and poorly-staged theater, you find movies like this, which in addition to lack of funding for any of the special stuff that movies rely on, has no pacing, no urgency, and mostly, no universe.

The action themes were nice, but the silly parts of the score like when bad guys are thrown from a cliff really missed the comedic mark. I mean, really, were those pennywhistles and kazoos?

The Plot.

Through a series of coincidences, Carrie, Dan and Dr. Hartmann all fall through a teleporter device Hartmann has invented.

Transported to a what appears to be a prehistoric world in a parallel universe and unable to find the Doctor, Dan and Carrie must figure out a way to get back home.

Before they can do that, however, they must deal with tribes of savage cavemen, as well as brutal warlord named Kleel who has taken a liking to Carrie and seems to be unusually well-supplied with Earth technology.

This is not a horrible movie.

The acting is good and the directing is suitable.

It's easy to watch and you can space out here and there without losing the plot.

It's set in LA but all the cars have their steering wheels on the right side because this was filmed in South Africa where tehy drive the English way.

The movie can't be taken too seriously and frankly I think it was made more as a comedy with sci fi elements rather than in the reverse.

The special effects are horrible. It has the look of Flesh Gordon. Too bad Kay Lenz didn't do some porn in her day.

I liked the movie. It was fun and different. Nothing to write home about but good for a lazy rainy day