The Lost World

There isn't anything to add regarding most of the production values or plot summaries that hasn't been addressed earlier.What impressed me was our hero,the bold Professor George Edward Challenger- an outstanding portrayal by an outstanding character actor.The original character,as conceived by Doyle,is truly larger than life.Bold,brave,arrogant,brilliant,insightful,virile,unscrupulous when attaining his goals,humorous,and reckless,and resourceful.John Rhys-Davies epitomizes this character without a flaw.(Brian Blessed is the only other actor I can imagine pulling it off,but the portrayal would have had a gleefully sadistic element not in keeping.And Warner is a worthy foil-arch,pompous,equally arrogant and ereudite,yet possessing the same high level of scholarly integrity and brilliance.Watch this,not as great art(I don't think they ever intended it as such,but as a lot of fun.

This version of The Lost World is not as good as the 1925 or 1960 versions, but it is still quite enjoyable.

What few dinosaurs appear look rather rubbery. Give me stop-motion any day. The theme music to this movie is excellent, as is the acting with great performances from David Warner (Titanic, The Omen) and John Rhys-Davies (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade).

I rather enjoyed this movie, despite the cheap looking dinosaurs.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

John Rhys-Davies and David Warner play our dueling professors Challenger and Summerlee in this remake of The Lost World. Unlike the 1962 version that starred Claude Rains and Richard Haydn this one is set in Arthur Conan Doyle's own time of Edwardian England and not updated.

Professor Challenger says he's been to a prehistoric Lost World in East Africa and his rival Summerlee disputes him. So Summerlee goes along on this second expedition and they are accompanied by photographer Tamara Gaski and young Darren Peter Mercer just about hitting puberty. Why he was along God only knows though he proves useful getting in and out of tight places.

The dinosaurs are indeed there including some suspicious natives who worship the beasts when the carnivores aren't eating them. Native girl Nathania Stanford also proves useful in a part Dorothy Lamour would have done decades ago.

Sadly this Lost World and its sequel came along around the time of Jurassic Park and the special effects are really cheap and not so special.

Still the dialog with Rhys-Davies and Warner makes this one somewhat enjoyable.

This was a good movie but it was no Jurassic Park. Would have been better if they could have used something other then puppets for the dinosaurs. The thing that saved this was the acting. Good performances by Eric McCormack and David Warner. I give it a 6/10.

Finally Conan Doyle's masterpiece is re-made (and without the help of made-up lizards). This film starts off very promisingly indeed, is faithful to the text in the original novel. But before long things start to go downhill. Roxton is nowhere to be seen and the number of people who end up stranded in the lost world is far too large. The film seems more interested in political correctness than drama. Challenger, though well acted, is nothing like the fiery character he was envisaged as by Conan Doyle. In fact everything seems to be very cosy and twee. The dinosaurs are the biggest disappointment of all. Apart from one okay scene by a lake, the giant reptiles are rubbery and lifeless, the T-Rex seemingly rooted to the spot and only visible from the chest upwards. The creatures are also few and far between and there's no sense of awe and wonder about them.

If you want to see a decent adaptation of Conan Doyle's work then watch the silent 1925 version. Even in these days of CGI and other such effects the first adaptation remains the best.