Prisoners of the Lost Universe

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)

This is by no stretch of the imagination a good movie. It is incredibly low-budget, and that leaves the OK(ish) acting badly exposed. That said, I thoroughly loved it!

To enjoy this movie you really have to be able to overlook the low budget. The "effects" are bad. Really bad. The alien dimension is an exact replica of Earth. The sets could come straight from a spaghetti western (perhaps they did). The "monsters" are people in mild fancy dress. The fight scenes are amateurish, and made more "exciting" by running the film faster. A three year old child could spot it without even trying. However, if you can accept the shortfalls for what they are – the result of an extremely low budget and an overreaching ambition – and allow yourself to ride with the tide, you will enjoy this film.

The saving graces come in the form of a fun script and Kay Lenz.

The script is not magnificently written, but the dialogue is fun and counterpoints many amusing incidents in the storyline. I won't highlight any incidents as I want this post to remain spoiler-free. However, if you relax into this movie and roll with it you will discover them for yourself when you find yourself laughing out loud – and you will perhaps be surprised that you are laughing with the movie, not at it.

Kay Lenz is also fun. If you like your heroines good looking and feminine but sparky, you will love her character. Having a female lead character in a film who looks like this, and is possessed of intelligence and verve, will always add a certain frisson for many male viewers.

I always find that one of the marks of a movie that has been particularly enjoyable is that at the ending I am surprised that so much time has passed whilst I was watching. This film met that criterion. It is refreshing to find this in a low-budget movie after sitting through some Hollywood blockbuster or other wondering how much longer it will be before the interminable film ends.

If you want to watch a fun bubblegum movie, and you are willing and able to overlook a budget so low that it hits you in the face thirty times per minute of running time, take a look at this film. You will have fun.

First, I can't imagine this can even be found anymore. I saw it one time, in the mid 80s when I was a kid, on T.V. I think it was orginally made for cable. Anyway, my expectations were zero, and instead I enjoyed a great "bad" movie, if you know what I mean. Fun way to spend an afternoon. Why do I even remember it? Because it is so obscure, it is one of those movies I use to test whether a film book (like Maltin) is really comprehensive. Glad to find it on imdb.com.

I can accept that the main characters in this movie are lost and that they become prisoners, but whether this is a separate universe is barely pertinent. Same trees, same animals, same language. Just insert a Hyperborian culture and the necessary mystical villain and you have a reason for Richard Hatch to swing a sword.

Two big things lacking in the budget - props and a director of photography. The sword the hero swings looks like a scrap of chrome, cut to form. The shots throughout reminded me of a soap opera. Probably, these fight scenes are just like the fight scenes from every big-budget blockbuster, with the difference being, the scenes in this movie are from one angle, motionless, and not edited for any effect. Somewhere between properly-staged cinema and poorly-staged theater, you find movies like this, which in addition to lack of funding for any of the special stuff that movies rely on, has no pacing, no urgency, and mostly, no universe.

The action themes were nice, but the silly parts of the score like when bad guys are thrown from a cliff really missed the comedic mark. I mean, really, were those pennywhistles and kazoos?

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