Le monde perdu de Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: La découverte

The Lost World is by no means a breath taking, heart pounding Adventure Drama, but it is a pretty good show. It only ran three seasons and under went constant cast changes (one of he shows great flaws). I personally like the show, it's quaint, fun and the chemistry between the actors is great, especially Lord Roxton (Will Snow) and Marguerite (Rachel Blakely).

However as the show progressed the acting got better and plots got worse. In the first season the adventures spent the majority of their time trying to get off the plateau. All the while there attempts were thwarted by dinosaurs, strange tribes (most of whom speak fluent English) as well people who were completely misplaced, but some how when you watch the show enough you expect a Norse God to spring up in the South American jungles. In this season the sub-plot about the plateau being the centre of energy for the whole planet didn't really come into play. Also there wasn't a whole lot of people coming in from the outside world. The romance between Marguerite and Roxton was still shaky, as were the details about her past. Also there are a lot of personal conflicts that get sorted out before the next season. Veronica starts to come to grips with the fact that her parents are probably dead. Ned has to grow a pair and take charge (when no one more qualified is around). Challenger and Summerlee make personal attacks for the first few episodes but finally realize neither of them are perfect. Roxton has a brother that a accidentally murdered to cope with and Marguerite's just causing trouble with everyone.

Then came season two, Margeurite and Roxton start making out every chance they but never get into it because someone gets shot stabbed, attacked or falls into a pit. Also the plateau becomes the place responsible for everything weird and wild in the world. People are jumping the time barrier. Lizards are controlling people, we find the fountain of youth and also what happens to ships from the Bermuda triangle. However the show lacks the paternal warmth that Dr. Summerlee lent as we was killed off at the end of the first season. Note: All season finales are open ended because the producers never new if it would make back on the air.

And finally we hit season three, and all hell breaks loose. Ned (Canadian David Orth) and Veronica (American Jennifer O'Dell) have to be put in as guest stars due to Australian tax laws. This leaves us with the strongest characters/actors, the Aussies. Now things get weird and/or corny. Everyone seems to be involved in a Buddha style reincarnation were everybody's has some past life both on and off the plateau. They jump the time barrier and find this girl from 2033 named Finn. She's a punky little pain in the neck who comes from a war torn future, something the Adventures have to and can prevent. Ned gets jerked in and out of the Netherworld, Veronica runs off on a journey of self discovery and everybody else is left to man the fort. Finally the whole plateau goes down in flame and glory in a nuclear holocaust style energy break down that's kind of like a TV with it's wires crossed. As trees are ripped from the ground... Fade to black. I wish they'd have made a fourth season if for no other reason than to get some closure. If I were writing the script I'd of let the poor buggers off the plateau.

I love this show but I cannot seem to find out when any new ones are on or if they are still making new shows. I just adore Will Snow, he is so heart melting. I like the range of characters and I hope that soon Veronica will find out what happened to her parents it would make an interesting 3 or 4 episodes. I like the romance between Roxton and Marguerite. It is light and heavy at the same time. I am waiting patiently for more things to happen and I hope that this series keeps going. It is a nice change from what is usually in a T.V.series. Thank you for letting me be able to voice a vote for a unique and enjoyable show.

Okay, picture the scene. It's Sunday morning. I've been on a 3 day bender.

Beer cans, whiskey bottles etc... all over the floor. I somehow open my eyes around noonish or so. Presuming I'm not injured which is not always the case, I turn on the tube. My spirits rise as I see what can only be described as "THE GREATEST SHOW EVER"...

I don't care that they seem to bump into groups of English speaking people on this supposed isolated plateau every episode. I don't care that they have a tree house that is protected from a T-Rex with a thin electric wire, I don't care that they seem to have a dry cleaner on the plateau since their clothes are always fresh and pressed, I don't even care that they never run out of ammunition even though they fire their guns at least 50 times an episode.

Have you seen the chicks on this show!? They rock! The only flaw I can see in this show is that there is no way Veronica would hook up with that loser Malone. Also I think that guy "Challenger" is pretty annoying too, and what was with the old guy Sumerlee? Those are my two complaints.

Thank you Lost World for easing my pain if only for an hour each week. I feel like I am betraying a loved one, but I must say I hope you never find your way off that Plateau...viewing your trials and tribulations makes the world a better place. I love you.

Anyone born before 1980 has probably seen Doug McClure's movie which sent a modern man to a prehistoric world where above-ground dwellers were civilized and underground dwellers were ape-ish, poor-sighted creatures that preyed on the above-ground dwellers. And then there was a smattering of dinosaurs, too.

There were several different variations of this theme, such as the Saturday morning show "Land of The Lost". This movie is just as cheesy and fun to watch and the actors are much more attractive. The actress that plays the native princess reminds me of Sonia Braga, the actress who plays Dr. Cruz reminds me of a brunette Kathleen Turner from "Romancing the Stone", and the actress who plays "Veronica", a Jane-like blonde jungle girl, is particularly striking. The 4 male leads are stereotypical as well - the dapper older gentleman professor, the adventurous scientist, the big game hunter, and the dashing young balloon pilot who strikes up a romance with Veronica. And as can be expected, the plot moves along pretty quickly, not delving too deeply into the philosophical aspects of disrupting a native culture (one of the things a true scientist would avoid) or removing animal species from their natural habitat (a concept which probably didn't exist during the Victorian era, when this story was developed by the man who wrote "Sherlock Holmes").

Some blood (gunshot wounds to the Missing Link ape-like creatures who kidnap the native princess and attack the adventurers), no harsh language, no nudity, no sex, nothing risque, nothing particularly frightening.

The special effects are good enough, though some artistic license is used in the dinosaur chase scene and in the scene where the pterodactyl attacks the scientist who steals the dinosaur egg, but this can be forgiven as this movie really wasn't intended to be very realistic anyway (we all know that a bullet does a bit more damage to human tissue than just leave a spot the size of a dab of ketchup).

I would expect a sequel to be written and hopefully it will be light-hearted fun, too. Although I do wish the costumer would re-do Veronica's outfits - I prefer the outfit Maureen O'Sullivan wore in "Tarzan And His Mate" - more hip, less fabric. And the intrepid explorers were terribly overdressed for a steamy jungle climate - long pants, high boots, and long coats must be terribly uncomfortable. But, then again this is a Victorian-era tale and that's probably what proper English gentlefolk wore when traipsing through the bush.

Worth a watch if you don't mind technical inaccuracies.

There is only one reason to stare at this: JO. And the character is appealing: she is "nice". Good lesson for dreadful TV producers like Rick Berman. More good points: great sense of humour in the writing and directing. Good casting. Good production values technically. Bad points: Far too violent, and in the non self-reflective way. Our heroes slice and dice all manner of life forms and this feels very good to them, which is a very bad example to set for children from the ages of 2 to...(how old are Cheney and the Bushboy?)...99. Storylines? Apart from the aforementioned humour they are irrelevant. As I say, just get on your exercise bike/treadmill for an hour and stare at JO, who is "cheekily" photographed from every possible angle, in every possible bodily position, and often with fluids applied, like water whenever possible, bee honey, or green slime which she gently massages into her cleavage. What can you do, really?