Perdus dans l'espace

Dr. John Robinson (William Hurt) is taking his family into deep space to find a life-supporting planet for the human race. Things on earth are deteriorating, to say the least. Going along with him are his scientist wife Maureen (Mimi Rogers), his brilliant daughter, Judy (Heather Graham) and his equally intelligent children Penny and Will. Needing a good pilot, Dr. Robinson nabs hotshot airman Mark West (Matt LaBlanc) to fly their spaceship. Evil Doctor Smith (Gary Oldman) tries to sabotage the vessel but ends up getting caught on board. Amid the ensuing chaos, the ship goes off course and gets lost. Between battling spider-like creatures and their own killer robot, the Robinsons still hope to reach their destination. Will they? This movie starts off with a bang and ends with a whimper. The problem? Well, it is not the terrific cast. Hurt, Rogers and Oldman are wonderful in their respective roles, while Graham and LaBlanc delight the audience with their wit and charm as the couple who provide the movie's romantic elements. All other cast members are quite fine as well. The production looks nice, too, with great costumes, sets, and special effects. So, that leaves the uneven script. It starts off well, with a quick look at the Robinsons' quest and the plotting of Dr. Smith. There are even some great lines, such as the one Maureen hurls at John and Mark, as they are sparring. "If you guys are done hosing down the deck with testosterone..." had me laughing heartily. But, it all just fizzles somewhere in the middle and ends up being utter nonsense, a plot without a cause. What a shame. Those of us who loved the sixties television series deserved better. If you are partial to any of the cast members, from Hurt to Graham to Oldman, do make time for this film, someday. They are the reason to see this movie, for they are a joy to watch, even in a film as lame as this one.

I watched Lost In Space recently after not having seen it in a while, and felt the desire to post a quick review of this movie.

When it came out, it seemed that everyone wanted to jump on the bandwagon of panning this movie. It seems people felt that the acting was not up to par, the script was almost laughable, the FX shots were cheesy and this was just generally a bad movie.

They didn't get it.

I would never have considered myself a fan of the original TV series, though I do remember in my teens watching it on British TV on a Sunday afternoon when there was little else to do, often with lunch. Let's be honest here; it was hokey, campy and its relationship to "science fiction" as a genre started and stopped at the spacecraft and the robot. The rest was filler. Given that though, the original pilot was actually pretty dark; obviously a failed attempt at a very serious TV series that was degenerated to a comedy by the public impression that Irwin Allen could not produce a serious show.

And so we come to the movie. If you go into this expecting a campy sci-fi series bought up to date you'll be disappointed. Similarly if you go in expecting a serious movie more along the lines of the original pilot you'll also be disappointed. However, if all you want is to be entertained for two hours and not think too hard about the science, this is about as good as a typical summer blockbuster gets. It's a comic-book rendition of the concepts laid out in the pilot, and it shows.

While the script is sometimes a little "off", the well established actors such as Mimi Rogers, Gary Oldman and William Hurt chew up the material and create a charged and enjoyable atmosphere. Gary Oldman especially whips out yet another character who's intelligent, thoughtful and utterly evil. A comic-book stereotype if ever there was one and I can't think of anyone else who could've pulled it off quite so well.

Although the pacing trips a couple of times throughout the movie, the story generally moves along at a rapid and enjoyable clip. Don't expect good science from this; there isn't much here for the real science geek... but while the science may not be perfect it's at least not so glaringly and annoyingly wrong as in Armageddon for example which I can't sit and enjoy due to the stunningly bad science especially in "Act Two" of that movie (right after takeoff).

I truly feel that this movie could've been the start of a reasonably enjoyable franchise, but there were too many people who were ready to pan it because it wasn't what they expected. Granted, the trailers probably had much to do with that since they either made the movie out to be a campy takeoff of the TV show, or a serious Sci-Fi movie. This is neither, but put in perspective of being a comic book in and of itself, this is actually a highly enjoyable movie for anyone who just enjoys the pleasure of being told an engaging and enjoyable story.

I doubt there will ever be a sequel to this movie for all the reasons I detailed above; for a start the actors are getting older and are no longer the people as portrayed in this movie, the children especially. However, if there were ever a sequel then I know I would be first in line at the theatre to see it. Yes, I enjoyed it that much.

On that note, I usually find children in movies distracting and detracting from the rest of the movie. However, Lacey Chabert and and Jack Johnson do a wonderful job of being both fun to watch and a believable pair of siblings who mask their true affection for each other in barbs and insults... I know, I have younger siblings as well!

Take a chance; sit down with some popcorn and someone you love... if you have kids then there's nothing here that will really negatively affect them either. Let the world melt away and just enjoy this movie as it was meant to be enjoyed; as a comic-book bought to life. You might find it better than many other movies that tried the same formula.

Now, I don't think it was IMDb Top 250 material, not by far but it still should have been up in the "6"s. First let's look at the basic for the movie. Lost in Space was a television show from 1965 that was very low budget. I. Allen had to work from a shoestring and it showed. The show was a "kiddies" show, something that the kids enjoyed while Mom and Dad was able to snicker at the goofiness of it, (but not too loudly or the kids might get mad). Then the show progress into one that centered around three characters, that of Will Robinson, Dr. Smith, and the Robot. Mr. And Mrs. Robinson, Major West, and the girls were just so much window dressing and fodder. This is what the director of the movie, Lost In Space, had to work with. Either he kept as close to the original show as he could or he struck out in a totally different direction, such as what happen when they made Wanted Dead Or Alive for the big screen. It's not high drama, but then neither was the original show. Comparing it to the TV show, I believe that the director keep to the same spirit and I say it's not a bad rendering.

I liked the movie, but I fear it suffered from the same disease that Star Trek The Motion Picture suffered from - too grandiose a concept, too grand an undertaking, too big an effects budget and enough plot for several movies. Lets see, we have the dysfunctional family becomes functional plot, we have the evil traitor in the med lab plot, the time travel plot, the metallic spider plot, the sexual tension between Dr. Judy and Major Don plot. This puppy had more subplots than a season of X-Files.

It was great to see Mark Goddard in a role with some meat on it. However Angela Cartwright and Marta Kristen were given extremely short shrift. And Bill Mumy and Jonathan Harris should have been involved. I know Jonathan Harris doesn't do cameos, but dammit, find him a role! And as for not getting Bill Mumy to play future Will Robinson - as far as I'm concerned, that singlehandedly reduced this flick from a great movie merely a good one. If they had enough money for the hideous yellow excuse for merchandising (how blatant can you get?), they sure had enough to hire the full original cast.

Rating: * out of ****

Based off the old 60's television series, Lost in Space certainly had the opportunity to be a suspenseful and imaginative sci-fi adventure, but it ends up feeling like little more than an overlong pilot episode for a failed television series. What the movie does have going for it are some occasionally nifty special effects and a fairly tense scene set on board an abandoned spacecraft packed full of hungry giant spiders.

What the movie has going against it is generally everything else. The cast is thoroughly unconvincing (even William Hurt and Gary Oldman), a good portion of the special effects are second-rate, and the subplot involving time rips and time "bubbles" feels tacked-on and pointless. This is a silly adventure film that lacks tension and fun, or even competent film-making and writing. I'm certain kids will probably enjoy the movie, but most everyone else will probably feel mentally adrift by the time the end credits roll.