Le monde perdu de Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: La découverte

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.

This movie was bad, and I was disappointed, because I enjoyed reading stories like this when I was a kid. The special effects were not good. True, there were no rubber models, but they were certainly not up to the standard set by "Jurassic Park." Watching a 4-ton T-rex leaping over a huge log at 20 mph without breaking both its legs will make anyone who has even read the current literature about dinosaurs blanch. And the current explanation of the fossil record holds that large sauropods (Brontosaurs, Brachiosaurs, eg) did not drag their tails. The Apemen were poorly done, to the point of being silly. I haven't seen such bad costumes/makeup since the old Saturday morning "Land of the Lost" series. Now to the characters. The story is a typical late Victorian adventure plot of adventurers wandering into an as-yet uncharted region of the world, where creatures from several different geological eras coexist. At the time it was written, it was cutting-edge adventure literature. But today, somehow, these stories all seem like "Land that Time Forgot" with Doug McClure. The actors were competent, even if their characters border on caricatures at times. The only thing that kept me watching was the actress playing Veronica, a young woman the explorers find living in the Lost World, in a setup that would make the Professor from "Gilligan's Island" drool. Of course, her parents were proper Victorian naturalists who took her along as a child but have since disappeared. She maintains their home as a research station, until they return. Why the daughter of British scientists had a modern California accent is not explained, but she displayed her obvious assets proudly throughout the movie. Hardly worth watching, except for laughs.

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.

So far THE LOST WORLD is into its third season and awaiting a fourth. The characters have grown and so much has been developed by the wonderful actors involved it'll be tough when we eventually DO have to say goodbye.

Particularly interesting is the relationship between Lord John Roxton (Snow) and Marguerite Krux (Blakely) which started out rather rocky; a sort of steamy love-hate relationship into something very tender and sweeping. We know these two belong together even if they don't see it!

We've also seen depth develop in the other characters, pretty Veronica (O'Dell) the jungle-girl who eventually learned what happened to her parents, Ned Malone (Devry-Orth), the journalist who became more of a doer than a watcher and Professor Challenger (McCauley), who has learned by experience that science is not always the answer to all the questions in THE LOST WORLD.

Sadly, Professor Summerlee disappeared after the first season but his memory is kept alive in the show and if the watcher keeps close attention we get the idea that we may see him again some day. We also have a new character called Finn from the twenty first century. She's cute and perky but the jury is still out on her. She has to serve a purpose but what that is we just don't know yet.

All and all, a terrific show!!

Good show. The idea of a lost world is common theme in story telling. What I like most about this show are the women. Of course they are good looking, but they are strong and fearless. The sense of team is also a positive. The questions about Marguerite Krux's background and the growing sexual tension are interesting, but the attitude of "we all go or no one goes" is positive. I prefer that to shows where the point is bickering.