Les Aventuriers du monde perdu

What else can i say? This show RULES! excellent, delightfully campy (in the best way) has the powerful, nostalgic sense of some good old (and underrated) series like the "Tales of Golden Monkey", "Adventure Island"... films like "The Man of Bronze" or these Kevin Connor's camp adventure classics like "Warlords of Atlantis" (all of them as "the missing link" between the old Republic Serials and "Raiders of the Lost Ark"). I've been wondering myself why these TV guys have forgotten how to do a good, enjoyable TV show á la old fashion style and the answer came to me as this wonderful piece of fantasy.

All on this show works with the accuracy of a clock, the main characters, the story, the locations. Even each time, over and over again, when i see the powerful main titles it turns me on like the most childish kid (the images... the amazing and far over the average "heroic" score). The following has all which anyone could ask for: lots of adventure, beautiful and wild babes, really bad guys and terrible monsters (well, still a bit cheesy but... who cares? "Valley of Gwangi" is, even today, a hell of entertaining despite the Harryhausen's ancient models).

Beyond the fact they grabbed only the name of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's to make their very own gem, this TV show has a strong spirit as i haven't seen since much time ago, and i'm seriously considering into my all-time classics (sharing honors with Twilight Zone, Miami Vice or Airwolf). Many people could think i'm exaggerating a little, but i fell this one has something else than many other (may be much more successful), but cold and empty programs, and i'm not talking only to the people who think Simon Wincer's "The Phantom" was a misunderstood good movie.

My only wish is to know if they going to release the seasons on DVD. And my suggestion is to give the creatures a major presence on the story... the dinos still look like the "guest stars" in many chapters.

"Two Thumbs Up!"

For those of us who love living in fantasy worlds, The Lost World series is all you could ask. The show, not only has action, but a continuing story line, growing relationships between the characters, and both actors and characters that you can care about(a hard to find combination on TV or at the movies). I love "tough women", women who can hold their own and slug it out with the best. Rachel Blakely and Jennifer O'Dell prove to be that and more - You grow to love both, for their faults and blessings. Also a rarity is a show that teaches a worthwhile moral: Being willing to sacrifice self for your friends, family or loved ones is more important than gold and jewels. I only wish there were more episodes to relive the fantasy.

I have to admit when I first say this, I wasn't highly amused, however over time, and with new stories and action sequences and time, it grows on you and you start to enjoy the show and the characters. It has it's moments and then it doesn't, but isn't every show like that? But give it a chance, it's a good show with great potential.

The Lost World admittedly has diverted from the ORIGINAL book. Unlike other shows that are based on books and end up leaving the central story L.W. finds interesting and new stories to tell which I feel, after reading the original story, are true to Sir Arthur Conan Doles essence of story writing. The characters are developed nicely. Every episode reveals a slightly different part of each character. This was real evident in this past season (three I think), throughout the season we find out about Malone's past and some of Marguerite's and Roxton's and even something surprising about Challenger. The season finale reveals what really happened to Veronica's family and her true past and something surprising about the plateau.

It is easy, perhaps TOO easy, to heap abuse on this series, very loosely adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fantasy novel. Certainly, Doyle would not have recognized much of it; then again, would he have recognized a majority of the 'Sherlock Holmes' features over the years? And what would he have made of Steven Spielberg's "borrowing" his title for the second "Jurassic Park" film? Ultimately, any production's success or failure shouldn't be judged solely by the fidelity to the original work, but whether or not audiences accept it. Many marvelous adaptations, from the theatrical WAR OF THE WORLDS to television's "The Third Man" have carried over little of the original source material, but have won a place in our hearts, nonetheless.

And this New Line-produced series, filmed in Australia, even at it's most absurd, was always an enjoyable thrill ride, with a very ingratiating cast!

A spin off of a 1998 TV-movie, the series follows the adventures of an early 20th century party of explorers, stranded on a mysterious plateau in South America where multi-dimensional 'rifts' have allowed animals and cultures from past and future to co-exist. Led by brilliant Professor George Challenger (the wonderful Peter McCauley), a bearded, wild-haired scientist who thrives on facing the unknown, the party consists of handsome big game hunter Lord John Roxton (Australian actor/model Will Snow), mysterious benefactress Marguerite Krux (beautiful Australian actress Rachel Blakely), American journalist Ned Malone (Canadian actor David Orth), and elderly scientist, Professor Arthur Summerlee (Michael Sinelnikoff, whose character would 'die' by season's end). The TV-movie introduced a new character to the mix, blond 'native girl', Veronica, whose scientist parents had disappeared eleven years earlier. Portrayed by "Beverly Hills 90210" alumni Jennifer O'Dell, the voluptuous 'savage', scantily dressed, raised the level of sex appeal for the program immediately, and quickly became a fan favorite.

Working out of Veronica's huge tree house (a split-level that Tarzan would have been envious of), the characters would, each week, encounter everything from dinosaurs (created through CGI, and, while not quite 'realistic', still vastly superior to the stop-motion models, puppets, or rear-screen projected lizards of previous "Lost World" adaptations), to sophisticated cultures practicing human sacrifice, to demons and wizards, to nearly any kind of bizarre civilization one might imagine. Glimpses of each character's past allowed the cast to 'grow', and become more interesting, each season, and provided enjoyable subplots; Lord Roxton falls in love with the greedy, but lovely Marguerite, but her past includes espionage and other unsavory activities, so she only gradually accepts his advances; Veronica, drawn to Ned, must deal with his moodiness (WWI had left him emotionally fragile) and his sense of wanderlust. It is a tribute to the writers and talented cast that the subplots never sank into mini-soap operas!

Australian tax laws nearly sabotaged the series' third season; Canadian Orth and American O'Dell were forced to limit their appearances because of their being non-Australians. So Ned Malone was often away on a 'identity-crisis'-fueled quest, and Veronica, whisked away by a runaway balloon, returned later in the season with a pendant her mother had left for her with a distant tribe, and new responsibilities as 'Protector' of the plateau. A new character was introduced, a wise-cracking girl named Finn, from a hundred years in the future, who was transported back to the plateau by a Challenger invention. Portrayed by 24-year old Australian actress Lara Cox, she was a survivor of a radiation-poisoned Earth, and was quickly 'adopted' by the scientist, who made it his mission to prevent her future world from happening.

Despite very respectable ratings, "The Lost World" was canceled after the third season (with a cliffhanger ending to end ALL cliffhanger endings!), because of spiraling production costs. The cast and crew have remained loyal to the series since cancellation, however, and there is still a slight, if dwindling, hope that the show may reappear, either in series format, or as TV-movies.

"The Lost World" may never please Doyle 'purists', but it was certainly a most enjoyable 'guilty pleasure'. I join with it's many other fans in hoping it will return!