Back in the days of my distant youth, you were either a Star Trek fan or a Lost In Space fan.
On the schoolyard, there wasn’t much room for compromise. It was either the continuing adventures of Kirk and company, or the Robinson family were appointment television. Both aired in syndication, you see, at the same time on competing channels in my hood; and this being the dark days of entertainment long before streaming and/or home video recorders choices had to be made. For a time, you just couldn’t watch both, even if you wanted, even if that’s what your heart told you was the only lasting solution. As some might guess, I chose Trek … well … except on those days when, fortunately, they were airing an episode I’d already seen, in which case young Will Robinson, the Robot, and Dr. Smith were the next best thing.
For those of you who didn’t grow up with such circumstances and missed the action, Lost In Space really should’ve been more appropriately titled ‘The Will, Robot, And Dr. Smith Adventure Hour’ because – let’s face it – that’s really eighty to ninety percent of what it was. And why not? Here’s this young, bright kid with one of the spiffiest automatons in entertainment history; and they’d spend the better part of every adventure trying to work their way around Dr. Smith’s groveling and sniveling antics. Why, one might even suggest that’s akin to being ‘Shakespeare For Children,’ what with the classic storytelling structure, obvious forces of good and evil, and a bit of monstrous prosthetics, make-up, and reasonably primitive special effects to fill the time.
Even though the franchise was always second fiddle to me, I was definitely interested in seeing how it could translate onto the silver screen back in 1998’s Lost In Space. Believe it or not, I knew the name of screenwriter Akiva Goldsman – largely because of his heavy participation in the Batman Cinematic Universe of its day – so I cautiously hoped for big things. (His 1997 Batman & Robin script pretty much had me sorrowed on his skills, but that’s an argument for another day.) With names like William Hurt, Gary Oldman, Mimi Rogers, and Heather Graham attached, my confidence in the translation was buoyed a bit; and New Line Cinema – as a studio – had a solid track record in genre projects, so much so that one may’ve thought nothing could possibly go wrong.
Well …
On the schoolyard, there wasn’t much room for compromise. It was either the continuing adventures of Kirk and company, or the Robinson family were appointment television. Both aired in syndication, you see, at the same time on competing channels in my hood; and this being the dark days of entertainment long before streaming and/or home video recorders choices had to be made. For a time, you just couldn’t watch both, even if you wanted, even if that’s what your heart told you was the only lasting solution. As some might guess, I chose Trek … well … except on those days when, fortunately, they were airing an episode I’d already seen, in which case young Will Robinson, the Robot, and Dr. Smith were the next best thing.
For those of you who didn’t grow up with such circumstances and missed the action, Lost In Space really should’ve been more appropriately titled ‘The Will, Robot, And Dr. Smith Adventure Hour’ because – let’s face it – that’s really eighty to ninety percent of what it was. And why not? Here’s this young, bright kid with one of the spiffiest automatons in entertainment history; and they’d spend the better part of every adventure trying to work their way around Dr. Smith’s groveling and sniveling antics. Why, one might even suggest that’s akin to being ‘Shakespeare For Children,’ what with the classic storytelling structure, obvious forces of good and evil, and a bit of monstrous prosthetics, make-up, and reasonably primitive special effects to fill the time.
Even though the franchise was always second fiddle to me, I was definitely interested in seeing how it could translate onto the silver screen back in 1998’s Lost In Space. Believe it or not, I knew the name of screenwriter Akiva Goldsman – largely because of his heavy participation in the Batman Cinematic Universe of its day – so I cautiously hoped for big things. (His 1997 Batman & Robin script pretty much had me sorrowed on his skills, but that’s an argument for another day.) With names like William Hurt, Gary Oldman, Mimi Rogers, and Heather Graham attached, my confidence in the translation was buoyed a bit; and New Line Cinema – as a studio – had a solid track record in genre projects, so much so that one may’ve thought nothing could possibly go wrong.
Well …
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“The Robinson family was going into space to fight for a chance for humanity. Now they are fighting to live long enough to find a way home.”
While entertaining in much the same way candy whets one’s appetite instead of sitting down to eat a healthy meal, Lost In Space rockets into the Final Frontier at warp speed but arguably – like its title suggests – never quite goes anywhere. Some of this is understandably tied to the franchise’s core premise – they are ‘lost,’ notwithstanding – but considering storytellers had a few decades with which to come up with something better or something to give it new life the flick feels decidedly flat in all the wrong ways. Great pyrotechnics, excellent production details, and a talented cast and crew can take any property only so far: at some point, stories rule the day, and this is where Lost remained truly lost, likely even for newbies showing up at the cineplex wondering what all of the original fuss could’ve, would’ve, and should’ve been about.
Sadly, Lost just has no formative soul.
Some of its general listlessness is likely owed to the fact that Goldman’s script constantly shifts direction.
Naturally, when one is reinventing a franchise, there will be some introductions; and – on that count – Lost knows clearly what it’s doing. Set in the near future of 2058, Goldsman introduces that our world is dying from pollution, global warming, and probably a plethora of other screenwriters’ and/or Hollywood favorites. (Capitalism gone bad? Republicans with too many guns?) The necessity of saving our species from the inevitable extinction finally pushes mankind out into the stars, and the Robinsons are selected to rocket to the planet Alpha Prime. Once there, Professor John Robinson (played by William Hurt) will somehow singlehandedly set up a ‘Hyper-Gate’ – there’s literally no mention of anyone else serving in this role that I caught – and this will allow faster-than-light transportation from Earth to there to commence immediately.
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“The Robinson family was going into space to fight for a chance for humanity. Now they are fighting to live long enough to find a way home.”
While entertaining in much the same way candy whets one’s appetite instead of sitting down to eat a healthy meal, Lost In Space rockets into the Final Frontier at warp speed but arguably – like its title suggests – never quite goes anywhere. Some of this is understandably tied to the franchise’s core premise – they are ‘lost,’ notwithstanding – but considering storytellers had a few decades with which to come up with something better or something to give it new life the flick feels decidedly flat in all the wrong ways. Great pyrotechnics, excellent production details, and a talented cast and crew can take any property only so far: at some point, stories rule the day, and this is where Lost remained truly lost, likely even for newbies showing up at the cineplex wondering what all of the original fuss could’ve, would’ve, and should’ve been about.
Sadly, Lost just has no formative soul.
Some of its general listlessness is likely owed to the fact that Goldman’s script constantly shifts direction.
Naturally, when one is reinventing a franchise, there will be some introductions; and – on that count – Lost knows clearly what it’s doing. Set in the near future of 2058, Goldsman introduces that our world is dying from pollution, global warming, and probably a plethora of other screenwriters’ and/or Hollywood favorites. (Capitalism gone bad? Republicans with too many guns?) The necessity of saving our species from the inevitable extinction finally pushes mankind out into the stars, and the Robinsons are selected to rocket to the planet Alpha Prime. Once there, Professor John Robinson (played by William Hurt) will somehow singlehandedly set up a ‘Hyper-Gate’ – there’s literally no mention of anyone else serving in this role that I caught – and this will allow faster-than-light transportation from Earth to there to commence immediately.
Yet, because this is Earth we’re talking about, there has to be some kind of nefarious and shadowy subset of humanity who secretly wants to see us annihilated (as if that would really solve the problem). To their credit, these seditionists have recruited a globalist insider – Dr. Zachary Smith (Gary Oldman) – mostly since that’s what terrorists do (as opposed to doing their own dirty work). They’ve tasked the good doctor with destroying both the Jupiter 2 as well as the entire Robinson family, that way being assured the mission to save mankind will be doomed irrefutably. Once these ne’er-do-wells are convinced that their inside man has set their plans in motion, they double-cross Smith by zapping his communicator from afar, a development that leaves him unconscious before he can escape the launch vehicle.
Though some may think that this alone sounds like a great deal of plot, it’s surprisingly accomplished in only about twenty-five minutes of screen time! All of the major players are fully introduced – even with some hints at backstories and a healthy bit of allusion to what’s to come – and the general framework are given ample opportunity to create a favorable impression. It’s an accomplishment that arguably boded well for director Hopkins if for no other reason that it showed this Lost In Space was mirroring its era’s increasing social concerns about what we as a species were doing to our planet. Whereas the original series’ theme was the product of the 1960’s Space Race and its stories always rallied around the idea of adventurous exploration, these Robinsons were contemporary altruists heading into the stars to save themselves and us along with them.
The serious problems begin after the conclusion of this first rewarding act, wherein the family, Major Don West (Matt LeBlanc), Smith, and the indefatigable Robot are left to jump from one situation to another in what suffices as the film’s forward progress. There’s a bit of action involving the Robot – which had been reprogrammed to kill them until young Will (Jack Johnson) hijacks its CPU – which ends with Smith’s imprisonment in the medical bay. Then, the Jupiter 2 encounters a new sector of space wherein an Earth ship from the future (it’ll make sense later) presents another obstacle that must be tackled for them to find safety. West’s solution – basically spectacularly blowing everything to bits – has the plot turning on a dime and has their ship crashing to the surface of a nearby planet. At this point, our intrepid travelers discover the world is aging precariously from a wall of time they must breach in order to obtain the radioactive materials required for their ship to be spaceworthy again.
Still following along?
Though some may think that this alone sounds like a great deal of plot, it’s surprisingly accomplished in only about twenty-five minutes of screen time! All of the major players are fully introduced – even with some hints at backstories and a healthy bit of allusion to what’s to come – and the general framework are given ample opportunity to create a favorable impression. It’s an accomplishment that arguably boded well for director Hopkins if for no other reason that it showed this Lost In Space was mirroring its era’s increasing social concerns about what we as a species were doing to our planet. Whereas the original series’ theme was the product of the 1960’s Space Race and its stories always rallied around the idea of adventurous exploration, these Robinsons were contemporary altruists heading into the stars to save themselves and us along with them.
The serious problems begin after the conclusion of this first rewarding act, wherein the family, Major Don West (Matt LeBlanc), Smith, and the indefatigable Robot are left to jump from one situation to another in what suffices as the film’s forward progress. There’s a bit of action involving the Robot – which had been reprogrammed to kill them until young Will (Jack Johnson) hijacks its CPU – which ends with Smith’s imprisonment in the medical bay. Then, the Jupiter 2 encounters a new sector of space wherein an Earth ship from the future (it’ll make sense later) presents another obstacle that must be tackled for them to find safety. West’s solution – basically spectacularly blowing everything to bits – has the plot turning on a dime and has their ship crashing to the surface of a nearby planet. At this point, our intrepid travelers discover the world is aging precariously from a wall of time they must breach in order to obtain the radioactive materials required for their ship to be spaceworthy again.
Still following along?
If you haven’t detected it by now, then let me spell it out perfectly: Lost In Space shutters to a narrative halt each and every time Goldsman introduces a new plotline. Everything unfolds like a domino falling which tips over another and another and another and so forth. But in here viewers might hear the actual thud of each tipping black monolith as the plot shifts yet again into another gear. While these sequences are strung together loosely by the faces participating in them, there’s still a lack of cohesion, almost as if all of this were originally conceived as, say, separate episodes too expensive to shoot for television airing that were hacked down and reassembled into one two-hour-plus movie. Very clearly, there exists three separate acts to the scenario, but unlike traditional three-act structure they don’t flow seamlessly much less rely on one another. They just happen to showcase the same talent … with most of them named Robinson.
To the producers’ credit, they did fairly well in casting the Robinson siblings. Judy (the incandescent Heather Graham) doesn’t quite shine as the budding brainiac of the family – her delivery of the science stuff is a bit flat – and yet she develops as a romantic foil to LeBlanc’s macho West. Penny (Lacey Chabert) encapsulates the perennial mild child – never quite as accomplished as the eldest but willing to trade barbs with the junior – and Goldman’s script predicts ‘tweenage’ vlogging about a decade before YouTube.com came into existence. Will was always the TV whizkid – maybe a bit more morally in this 60’s incarnation than here – and Johnson slips effortlessly into the shoes of a young’un bent on giving anything his all even if it escapes the attention of his busy father.
Though I’ve read a bit of commentary suggesting that LeBlanc was a poor choice for West, I’d heartily counter that when I saw this one theatrically back in the day his was the only performance that truly stuck out for me. It was a huge change from what he had established himself on the popular TV sitcom of the 1990’s; and maybe that’s why I liked him so much in the role. Either way, I’d question those who placed the weight of the film’s failure on his shoulders as, clearly, he embraced the hotshot military maverick with aplomb and gave his scenes the proper undercurrent.
While I’m otherwise a fan of Oldman’s work, I’ll insist that on most points he was a bit miscast here. His high-minded scheming isn’t nearly as comic as it is sinister – what a difference a generation makes – and his presence in key scenes felt a bit overplayed in some ways while incredibly undercooked in others. Goldsman script never quite achieves a balance between the character’s whimpering and menace – some of which might be owed to his embrace of pure unadulterated evil in the bug-infested third act, an element that never gets resolved or adequately addressed in the picture – and I can’t help but wonder where – if anywhere – Oldman could’ve gone with this had it expanded into sequels. Clearly, the family would’ve been better off jettisoning him into infinity; and I think only that much was without question at the film’s conclusion.
To the producers’ credit, they did fairly well in casting the Robinson siblings. Judy (the incandescent Heather Graham) doesn’t quite shine as the budding brainiac of the family – her delivery of the science stuff is a bit flat – and yet she develops as a romantic foil to LeBlanc’s macho West. Penny (Lacey Chabert) encapsulates the perennial mild child – never quite as accomplished as the eldest but willing to trade barbs with the junior – and Goldman’s script predicts ‘tweenage’ vlogging about a decade before YouTube.com came into existence. Will was always the TV whizkid – maybe a bit more morally in this 60’s incarnation than here – and Johnson slips effortlessly into the shoes of a young’un bent on giving anything his all even if it escapes the attention of his busy father.
Though I’ve read a bit of commentary suggesting that LeBlanc was a poor choice for West, I’d heartily counter that when I saw this one theatrically back in the day his was the only performance that truly stuck out for me. It was a huge change from what he had established himself on the popular TV sitcom of the 1990’s; and maybe that’s why I liked him so much in the role. Either way, I’d question those who placed the weight of the film’s failure on his shoulders as, clearly, he embraced the hotshot military maverick with aplomb and gave his scenes the proper undercurrent.
While I’m otherwise a fan of Oldman’s work, I’ll insist that on most points he was a bit miscast here. His high-minded scheming isn’t nearly as comic as it is sinister – what a difference a generation makes – and his presence in key scenes felt a bit overplayed in some ways while incredibly undercooked in others. Goldsman script never quite achieves a balance between the character’s whimpering and menace – some of which might be owed to his embrace of pure unadulterated evil in the bug-infested third act, an element that never gets resolved or adequately addressed in the picture – and I can’t help but wonder where – if anywhere – Oldman could’ve gone with this had it expanded into sequels. Clearly, the family would’ve been better off jettisoning him into infinity; and I think only that much was without question at the film’s conclusion.
Well before JarJar Binks stunk up the place on behalf of writer/director George Lucas in 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Lost In Space gave their picture a shot at film history with the character of Blarp, a CGI kinda/sorta alien/monkey hybrid that joined the Robinsons in the second act. Discovered in what appears to be a massive arboreum on the ship Proteus – with absolutely no explanation as to how it could’ve survived against these spider creatures – the nervous critter tags along with the crew when they quickly abandon that ship back for the Jupiter 2. However, Goldsman’s script (again) does absolutely nothing with it, essentially ignoring its existence entirely except for when Blarp pops up for a bit of comic relief.
At least JarJar was worth the cringe.
Lost In Space (1998) was produced by New Line Cinema, Prelude Pictures, Irwin Allen Productions, and Saltire Entertainment. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Arrow Films. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure you that this 4K update looks and sounds just damn fabulous: while younger audiences might not appreciate the level of screen magic achieved with practical effects work – and some obviously fledgling CGI stuff – this kind of theatrical experience likely will always bring me great joy. Sorry, folks, but environments that look real – even with a few blemishes – are just my preference over gaudy computer graphics. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? The collection boasts a nice balance between newly produced stuff alongside archival making-of bits, so much so that it’s hard to believe anyone would be disappointed here.
(P.S. For clarity’s sake, I only receive industry copies of the disc itself, so I cannot speak to the efficacy of any inserted booklets, artwork, or other whatnot which might be included with a purchase. In those cases, I always caution ‘buyer beware.’)
Mildly Recommended.
Truth be told, Lost In Space (1998) isn’t a bad film exactly. It’s confusing. It’s plot-driven, debatably to overkill. And it never quite feels like the homecoming the Robinson family deserved despite several subplots about how families behave circling the premise. Clearly, writer Goldsman and director Hopkins were trying to fashion it as something larger-than-life, chucking together what felt like three uniquely different storylines into one still surprisingly lean picture; and, sadly, it kinda/sorta collapses under its own narrative weight. Characters are largely paper-thin, feeling more like quick and dirty recreations from what had already been established on television decades earlier with only a few creative tweaks here and there. Visually impressive, the project still felt more ‘lost’ than ‘found’ but who knows what could’ve happened if the movie gods gave it a sequel? Alas, we’ll never know.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arrow Films provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray copy of Lost In Space (1998) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
At least JarJar was worth the cringe.
Lost In Space (1998) was produced by New Line Cinema, Prelude Pictures, Irwin Allen Productions, and Saltire Entertainment. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Arrow Films. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure you that this 4K update looks and sounds just damn fabulous: while younger audiences might not appreciate the level of screen magic achieved with practical effects work – and some obviously fledgling CGI stuff – this kind of theatrical experience likely will always bring me great joy. Sorry, folks, but environments that look real – even with a few blemishes – are just my preference over gaudy computer graphics. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? The collection boasts a nice balance between newly produced stuff alongside archival making-of bits, so much so that it’s hard to believe anyone would be disappointed here.
(P.S. For clarity’s sake, I only receive industry copies of the disc itself, so I cannot speak to the efficacy of any inserted booklets, artwork, or other whatnot which might be included with a purchase. In those cases, I always caution ‘buyer beware.’)
Mildly Recommended.
Truth be told, Lost In Space (1998) isn’t a bad film exactly. It’s confusing. It’s plot-driven, debatably to overkill. And it never quite feels like the homecoming the Robinson family deserved despite several subplots about how families behave circling the premise. Clearly, writer Goldsman and director Hopkins were trying to fashion it as something larger-than-life, chucking together what felt like three uniquely different storylines into one still surprisingly lean picture; and, sadly, it kinda/sorta collapses under its own narrative weight. Characters are largely paper-thin, feeling more like quick and dirty recreations from what had already been established on television decades earlier with only a few creative tweaks here and there. Visually impressive, the project still felt more ‘lost’ than ‘found’ but who knows what could’ve happened if the movie gods gave it a sequel? Alas, we’ll never know.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arrow Films provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray copy of Lost In Space (1998) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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