Lost In Space «
PG-13, 130m. 1998
Cast & Credits: William Hurt (Professor John Robinson), Matt LeBlanc (Major Don West), Gary Oldman (Dr. Zachary Smith/Spider), Mimi Rogers (Maureen Robinson), Heather Graham (Judy Robinson), Lacey Chabert (Penny Robinson), Jack Johnson (Will Robinson), Dick Tuffeld (Voice of the Robot). Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman. Directed by Stephen Hopkins.
PG-13, 130m. 1998
Cast & Credits: William Hurt (Professor John Robinson), Matt LeBlanc (Major Don West), Gary Oldman (Dr. Zachary Smith/Spider), Mimi Rogers (Maureen Robinson), Heather Graham (Judy Robinson), Lacey Chabert (Penny Robinson), Jack Johnson (Will Robinson), Dick Tuffeld (Voice of the Robot). Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman. Directed by Stephen Hopkins.
The key to enjoying "Lost in Space" depends on the movie theater you see it at. If the cineplex is equipped with the THX Sony Digital Surround Sound system, there is a good chance you will be distracted or even amazed, for that matter, by the dazzling array of special effects. I know I was.
The film is based on the late 1960’s cult science fiction series created by producer Irwin Allen, who later made a lot of the star-studded disaster movies of the 1970s. The "Lost in Space" TV show told the story of the Robinson family and their never-ending quest to get back to Earth. I was a big fan of the series back when it aired in syndication during the summer in the early 1980s and never missed an episode.
My favorite character was the cowardly, selfish, troublemaker Dr. Zachary Smith, played by Jonathan Harris, who provided many of the show’s humorous moments. Smith sabotaged the Robinson’s ship, the Jupiter 2, in the premiere episode, and caused them to be thrown off course. His only friends were young Will (Bill Mumy) and his garrulous talking Robot; whose trademark was whenever it sensed their lives were in peril, the machine would wave its mechanical arms in a frenzy yelling, “Warning! Danger, Will Robinson. Danger!”
True, the special effects and the costumes had an amateurish, unimaginative look to them. I remember one episode where the Robinson family was being held captive by a Carrot Man. Looking at the alien I could tell this was just an actor inside a large orange suit equipped with a long green leaf on his head and a round hole for his face to fit in. This was network television, however, and viewers rarely saw anything that looked incredibly expensive to do.
This updated version is advanced technologically. The ships and sets are impressive to look at and the characters sport black spandex, skin-tight, space suits similar to the ones the Dynamic Duo wore in the Batman movies minus the leather nipples and codpieces.
The movie even presented an idea of how surgical operations could one day be performed in the 21st century. Instead of using X-rays, a medical computer displays a hologram of the body’s inner parts and circulatory system above the patient pinpointing what is wrong with them.
When I saw the film last spring, I could feel the floors inside the theater shake as the Jupiter 2 launched from Earth the way NASA’s rocket ships and space shuttles do today in one of the movie’s memorably, clever sequences. I loved hearing the ticking sounds, emanating from the auditorium’s speakers, of long-legged, metal-chomping, alien spiders with sharp, pointy-toothed mouths, as they prepared to attack the Robinson family.
What the "Lost in Space" movie lacks are the series’ emotional human frailties. This new Robinson family is a dysfunctional, unhappy bunch where Professor John Robinson (William Hurt) and his wife, Maureen (Mimi Rogers), argue about how he doesn’t spend enough time with her and the kids.
The professor’s son, Will (Jack Johnson), is always in trouble at school for turning his holographic principal into anything from a chimpanzee to Rambo; his reason for doing so is to get dear old dad’s attention. The scientist/explorer is just too busy preparing for the family’s heroic journey into space aboard the Jupiter 2, piloted by Major Don West (Matt LeBlanc).
The family’s two daughters are another story. There is Penny (Lacey Chabert), who seems to live in a world of her own chronicling her adventures on computer. Her only friend is an annoying alien monkey whose bulging eyes and ears are a cross between Mickey Mouse and Dumbo.
The other is Judy (Heather Graham), the good looking blond supposedly responsible for putting the Jupiter project together and who, from what I can tell watching the film, seems to be the smartest of them all.
The movie has almost the same premise as the show’s pilot. Their mission is to journey to Alpha Prime and finish building a hypergate which will enable the people of Earth to live in another part of the galaxy. Earth’s pollution levels; we are told, are so high in the year 2058 that in a couple decades, the planet will not be able to sustain life.
Their rescue operation is thwarted when the evil manipulative Dr. Smith (Gary Oldman, whose characteristics are a complete opposite of Harris’ TV rendition) attempts to destroy the ship only to be accidentally left aboard the moment they launch.
Everything seen in this movie goes to waste the moment the characters speak. The laughably inane script was written by Akiva Goldsman who wrote the screenplays for "Batman Forever" (1995) and "Batman & Robin" (1997). Goldsman modeled those movies after the cheesy Batman TV series that also aired in the late 1960s. Although I found both installments to be silly at times, they did have a funny, comic book feel to them. This is not the case with his latest work.
The "Lost in Space" screenplay is so inept, I couldn’t believe what director Stephen Hopkins filmed was the final draft. I am no Oliver Stone or Robert Towne when it comes to dreaming up creative, convincing dialogue but I can certainly think of better lines for my characters to say then this. I’ll let the readers be the judge though.
Here are some examples of what you will hear the characters say.
During the movie’s opening moments, Professor Robinson tells a group of reporters on Earth about the dangers of traveling through hyperspace and that one small miscalculation can send someone to another part of the galaxy. “That’s a lot of space out there to get lost in,” he says.
When the Jupiter 2 is on a collision course with the sun, Major West sarcastically says, “Is that what that big ball of fire is?”
When Dr. Smith makes a comment about an abandoned starship the family is exploring, West tells him, “You really need to shut up.”
When Professor Robinson tells West he is taking too many chances with their lives, his wife scolds them and says, “If you two are through cleaning up the place with your testosterone, I think I may have found a way off this rock.”
After warding off West’s sexual advances, Judy Robinson tells the major; in what is an obvious reference to the male anatomy, he needs to “get a grip on his joystick.”
With lines like this, the film would have been better if the characters had not spoken at all just so I could enjoy the scenery.
As a result of my being entranced by the visual effects, I never realized it until I saw the film again on DVD how much it borrows from countless other science fiction films from the Star Wars trilogy to the Star Trek movies. There isn’t a shred of originality.
The scenes, for example, where the Jupiter 2 attempts time travel by going through the sun bears resemblance to the sequence in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986) where the Enterprise crew goes back in time to pick up a couple humpback whales. The only difference is their starship went around the sun and not through it the way the Jupiter 2 does.
Another scene is inspired by "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" (1984) where the Genesis Planet breaks apart. By comparison, the Jupiter 2 lands on a planet with the same catastrophic qualities.
There is even a moment where Will tries to put together the Robot from old parts. During the whole time, the Robot can’t understand what has happened to him. This similar sequence, done in "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980), where Chewbacca, the tall hairy Wookie, screws the droid C3P0’s head on backwards was funnier.
What stood out most about the television series was how much the characters cared for one another. Even for Harris’ Dr. Smith, who was the reason for the Robinson’s misfortune. Each episode I remember seeing always invoked themes of friendship and family bonding.
The "Lost in Space" movie has no emotional core at its center, no characters I care about much less root for, and is nothing more than a visual, hearing toy for the eyes and ears.
When the film was over, I was pretty much in agreement with the fast-paced theme song where various lines the cast said throughout the movie were put to music.
The line I agreed most with was the one ending the song where Penny Robinson says, “This mission sucks.”
The film is based on the late 1960’s cult science fiction series created by producer Irwin Allen, who later made a lot of the star-studded disaster movies of the 1970s. The "Lost in Space" TV show told the story of the Robinson family and their never-ending quest to get back to Earth. I was a big fan of the series back when it aired in syndication during the summer in the early 1980s and never missed an episode.
My favorite character was the cowardly, selfish, troublemaker Dr. Zachary Smith, played by Jonathan Harris, who provided many of the show’s humorous moments. Smith sabotaged the Robinson’s ship, the Jupiter 2, in the premiere episode, and caused them to be thrown off course. His only friends were young Will (Bill Mumy) and his garrulous talking Robot; whose trademark was whenever it sensed their lives were in peril, the machine would wave its mechanical arms in a frenzy yelling, “Warning! Danger, Will Robinson. Danger!”
True, the special effects and the costumes had an amateurish, unimaginative look to them. I remember one episode where the Robinson family was being held captive by a Carrot Man. Looking at the alien I could tell this was just an actor inside a large orange suit equipped with a long green leaf on his head and a round hole for his face to fit in. This was network television, however, and viewers rarely saw anything that looked incredibly expensive to do.
This updated version is advanced technologically. The ships and sets are impressive to look at and the characters sport black spandex, skin-tight, space suits similar to the ones the Dynamic Duo wore in the Batman movies minus the leather nipples and codpieces.
The movie even presented an idea of how surgical operations could one day be performed in the 21st century. Instead of using X-rays, a medical computer displays a hologram of the body’s inner parts and circulatory system above the patient pinpointing what is wrong with them.
When I saw the film last spring, I could feel the floors inside the theater shake as the Jupiter 2 launched from Earth the way NASA’s rocket ships and space shuttles do today in one of the movie’s memorably, clever sequences. I loved hearing the ticking sounds, emanating from the auditorium’s speakers, of long-legged, metal-chomping, alien spiders with sharp, pointy-toothed mouths, as they prepared to attack the Robinson family.
What the "Lost in Space" movie lacks are the series’ emotional human frailties. This new Robinson family is a dysfunctional, unhappy bunch where Professor John Robinson (William Hurt) and his wife, Maureen (Mimi Rogers), argue about how he doesn’t spend enough time with her and the kids.
The professor’s son, Will (Jack Johnson), is always in trouble at school for turning his holographic principal into anything from a chimpanzee to Rambo; his reason for doing so is to get dear old dad’s attention. The scientist/explorer is just too busy preparing for the family’s heroic journey into space aboard the Jupiter 2, piloted by Major Don West (Matt LeBlanc).
The family’s two daughters are another story. There is Penny (Lacey Chabert), who seems to live in a world of her own chronicling her adventures on computer. Her only friend is an annoying alien monkey whose bulging eyes and ears are a cross between Mickey Mouse and Dumbo.
The other is Judy (Heather Graham), the good looking blond supposedly responsible for putting the Jupiter project together and who, from what I can tell watching the film, seems to be the smartest of them all.
The movie has almost the same premise as the show’s pilot. Their mission is to journey to Alpha Prime and finish building a hypergate which will enable the people of Earth to live in another part of the galaxy. Earth’s pollution levels; we are told, are so high in the year 2058 that in a couple decades, the planet will not be able to sustain life.
Their rescue operation is thwarted when the evil manipulative Dr. Smith (Gary Oldman, whose characteristics are a complete opposite of Harris’ TV rendition) attempts to destroy the ship only to be accidentally left aboard the moment they launch.
Everything seen in this movie goes to waste the moment the characters speak. The laughably inane script was written by Akiva Goldsman who wrote the screenplays for "Batman Forever" (1995) and "Batman & Robin" (1997). Goldsman modeled those movies after the cheesy Batman TV series that also aired in the late 1960s. Although I found both installments to be silly at times, they did have a funny, comic book feel to them. This is not the case with his latest work.
The "Lost in Space" screenplay is so inept, I couldn’t believe what director Stephen Hopkins filmed was the final draft. I am no Oliver Stone or Robert Towne when it comes to dreaming up creative, convincing dialogue but I can certainly think of better lines for my characters to say then this. I’ll let the readers be the judge though.
Here are some examples of what you will hear the characters say.
During the movie’s opening moments, Professor Robinson tells a group of reporters on Earth about the dangers of traveling through hyperspace and that one small miscalculation can send someone to another part of the galaxy. “That’s a lot of space out there to get lost in,” he says.
When the Jupiter 2 is on a collision course with the sun, Major West sarcastically says, “Is that what that big ball of fire is?”
When Dr. Smith makes a comment about an abandoned starship the family is exploring, West tells him, “You really need to shut up.”
When Professor Robinson tells West he is taking too many chances with their lives, his wife scolds them and says, “If you two are through cleaning up the place with your testosterone, I think I may have found a way off this rock.”
After warding off West’s sexual advances, Judy Robinson tells the major; in what is an obvious reference to the male anatomy, he needs to “get a grip on his joystick.”
With lines like this, the film would have been better if the characters had not spoken at all just so I could enjoy the scenery.
As a result of my being entranced by the visual effects, I never realized it until I saw the film again on DVD how much it borrows from countless other science fiction films from the Star Wars trilogy to the Star Trek movies. There isn’t a shred of originality.
The scenes, for example, where the Jupiter 2 attempts time travel by going through the sun bears resemblance to the sequence in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986) where the Enterprise crew goes back in time to pick up a couple humpback whales. The only difference is their starship went around the sun and not through it the way the Jupiter 2 does.
Another scene is inspired by "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" (1984) where the Genesis Planet breaks apart. By comparison, the Jupiter 2 lands on a planet with the same catastrophic qualities.
There is even a moment where Will tries to put together the Robot from old parts. During the whole time, the Robot can’t understand what has happened to him. This similar sequence, done in "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980), where Chewbacca, the tall hairy Wookie, screws the droid C3P0’s head on backwards was funnier.
What stood out most about the television series was how much the characters cared for one another. Even for Harris’ Dr. Smith, who was the reason for the Robinson’s misfortune. Each episode I remember seeing always invoked themes of friendship and family bonding.
The "Lost in Space" movie has no emotional core at its center, no characters I care about much less root for, and is nothing more than a visual, hearing toy for the eyes and ears.
When the film was over, I was pretty much in agreement with the fast-paced theme song where various lines the cast said throughout the movie were put to music.
The line I agreed most with was the one ending the song where Penny Robinson says, “This mission sucks.”
©10/11/98
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