Les Aventuriers de l'univers perdu

Prisoners of the Lost Universe: Science transports a mad scientist, a handyman, and a go get um TV reporter to "The Lost Universe" which turns out to be South African renaissance festival run by John Saxon.

On the plus side, this is no Frankenstein Island. There is some decent acting with actually appealing actors. Richard Hatch was always underutilized but certainly is appealing here. John Saxon is in full John Saxon mode and plays his evil character halfway between Donald Pleasance and Kurtwood Smith. As others certainly have pointed out the real find is Kay Lenz. Well find is a bit of a stretch. She played a hippy chick intertwined with William Holden in the Clint Eastwood lensed Breezy. Having recently watched that film for the first time it is well worth the look and she is fantastic in it. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance (Best New Actress nominee). Kay Lenz is fantastic in her role with great chemistry with Richard Hatch and a sense of spunky fun.

The movie also has some decent ideas wrapped up with some on the spot dialogue. So why am I watching this movie with a Rifftrax soundtrack and comparing it to Frankenstein Island? Well…. Did I mentioned it was filmed in South Africa… in the early Eighties… and they used their entire budget for top name stars like Richard Hatch? Yes, this one had potential but everything else is a pure train wreck. You can't make Lord of the Rings on a 100k budget. It is a combination of LARPers gone wrong and some of the worst, yet strangely creative costumes and makeup ever seen. You have giants, midgets, green people… and sets that would make 60's Star Trek blush.

It's all in good fun and the stars mentioned above make most of this more palatable than it should be. For those times even the charms of Richard Hatch or John Saxon cannot win one over I had the soothing jokes of Rifftrax to see me through. An okay time but don't be surprised if you are confused after fifteen minutes and asleep after forty-five.

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.

Ostensible shades of a Hawk The Slayer reunion are evidenced here with two of that films main protagonists (Peter O'Farrell and Ray Charleson) present here in very similar roles to that which they portrayed in the aforementioned movie. In fact the film reviewed here bears more than a passing resemblance to the said glorious classic in many ways (a compliment indeed!)

The plot concerns a revolutionary scientist who develops an amazing device which can transport matter to another dimension. Predictably matters take a turn for the worse when himself, a female TV presenter and a handy man/kendo champion(!) accidentally fall into the device and inevitably end up stranded in an unforgiving parallel world ruled by a sadistic despot named Kleel (the always excellent John Saxon)

It turns out to be a highly enjoyable ride throughout boasting some great action set pieces including some very well staged battles wherein our hero, played by Richard 'Apollo' Hatch, demonstrates some highly nifty sword work!

Great fun from start to finish and can be enjoyed by all. It's just such a shame that films like this are so rarely made nowadays.

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

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)