Lost in Space

Plot synopsis:
In the year 2058, Earth will soon be uninhabitable after the irreversible effects of pollution. The United Global Space Force serves as the planetary government. Professor John Robinson (William Hurt), lead scientist of the Jupiter Mission, will lead his family, wife Maureen Robinson (Mimi Rogers), daughters Dr. Judy Robinson (Heather Graham) and Penny (Lacey Chabert) and son Will (Jack Johnson) to the habitable planet Alpha Prime to prepare it for colonization by building a hypergate in orbit. The Jupiter 2 is equipped with a hyperdrive that allows faster-than-light travel, which will eventually be employed to evacuate the citizens of Earth. However hypergates must be constructed on Earth and Alpha Prime to provide stable points of departure and arrival. The project is accelerated after Global Sedition terrorist forces send two armed fighters to destroy the hypergate under construction and kill Jupiter 2's pilot, Captain Daniels. Major Don West (Matt LeBlanc), a fighter pilot from the hypergate defense force, manages to destroy the enemy fighters, but his risky stunt in saving a fellow pilot gets him in trouble with his superiors. When he defends himself by putting his friend's life over that of his craft, John Robinson thinks he's the perfect man for the job. Major West is the new pilot of the Jupiter 2, despite his protests.Dr. Zachary Smith (Gary Oldman), the mission's medical expert, is bribed by the Global Sedition to sabotage the mission and reprogram the robot to destroy the Jupiter 2 and the Robinsons. Betrayed by his employers, he is left as an unwilling stowaway as the ship blasts off. The sabotage by the robot altered program causes the ship to veer towards the sun. Realizing that it would be impossible to escape the sun's pull at such close range, Major West and Professor Robinson decide to fly through the sun, using the ship's hyperdrive. Unfortunately, without a hypergate to warp to, the ship and its crew end up in a random (and apparently uncharted) part of the galaxy.The crew discovers a "hole in space", which they presume is a hole to the future. Soon afterwards, they encounter the Proteus, an Earth ship from the future. The fact that it was a UGSF ship of unknown design piloted by Don's friend, who looked much older and been promoted to Major, seemed to confirm that theory. However, the ship had been infested with carnivorous and cannibalistic silicon-based spider-like lifeforms, one of which scratches Dr. Smith as they try to escape. They lose the robot, which Will had reprogrammed to follow his commands, and Major West overloads the Proteus' engines, destroying the ship and annihilating the spiders, over Professor Robinson's objections. The shock wave from the explosion damages the Jupiter 2, and they crash-land on a nearby planet.John and Major West confront each other over what happened, but Maureen threatens to relieve both of them of command if they don't stop. On the mysterious planet, she locates a fuel source with which to refuel the damaged engines of the Jupiter 2. However, it lies in the center of a strange, growing bubble of mysterious origin. While the ladies repair the ship and Will tries to rebuild the robot, Professor Robinson and Major West explore the bubble and discover it is actually an area of time distortion where alternate future versions of Dr. Smith and Will (Jared Harris) have constructed a time machine, powered by their Jupiter 2's power core. Will wants to use it to go back to the day they left Earth and stop the launch, since in his future his father left and never returned, and the women were killed by the spiders on the Proteus. The younger Will and Dr. Smith go after them, only Dr. Smith betrays Will and attempts to reprogram the future robot to take over the time machine. They are all betrayed by the future Smith, who is revealed to have transformed into a giant space spider/human hybrid as a result of the wound he received on the Proteus. He was the one to kill the women and kept Will alive long enough to build the time machine. He then reveals his plan to go back in time to Earth before the Jupiter 2 lifts off, destroy the ship, and conquer the planet to spread his spider race across the Earth. John tells Major West to take Will back to the ship and escape while Robinson battles Spider Smith. With the help of a dagger the younger Will made for him, John battles Spider Smith, wounding him and cutting open the egg sac with his young spiders in it. As the spiders eat their own wounded, they crawl out and consume Spider Smith, giving John the chance to send Spider Smith into the time machine's force field, killing him.The family attempts to escape, but the time bubble has made the planet unstable, and it is violently breaking apart. In addition, without the core material the ship still does not have enough power to reach escape velocity. The stranded John Robinson watches as the Jupiter 2 is hit by debris and explodes in the sky. Future Will realizes his father does indeed love his family, choosing to save him rather than taking the core material from the time machine and escaping. Future Will reprograms the time machine and sends John through it, taking him back to the ship several hours before. Rather than attempt to escape into the atmosphere, John commands West to pilot the ship through the planet's core as it is breaking up, enabling them to use the planet's gravity to propel the ship through the other side. His idea works and they escape, but the collapsed planet forms a small black hole that begins to suck in the Jupiter 2. Once again the Robinsons must activate the hyperdrive to escape. They set course for Alpha Prime, having downloaded the detailed star charts from the Proteus, and launch themselves into hyperspace.

Tags: psychedelic

Review:
I don't think Lost in Space was a bad movie.
The special effects are not as good as movies from the time period such as Armageddon or Godzilla.
I like the early episodes of the original series (particulary the first six), when the show had a more serious tone (and before Jonathan Harris sabotaged it by turning up the comic antics as Dr. Smith) and it's nice to see the film stay closer to that serious tone and not emulate the more campy aspects of the series from its later episodes.
The cast is good for the most part and I love the visual FX.However, once the Jupiter 2 crashes on the planet and we get caught up in the time travel older Will Robinson bit, that's when the movie falls apart completely.
Even with the newer designs, they incorporated older aspects - the planet REALLY looked like a better version of one of their old sets.Furthermore, Oldman managed to peg Dr. Smith perfectly, taking in all the old camp elements and putting them to very good use - even using some old catch phrases in different ways.As diversionary, light sci-fi adventure goes, I thought this was great and I'm usually very picky about this kind of thing.
And as for not getting Bill Mumy to play future Will Robinson - as far as I'm concerned, that singlehandedly reduced this flick from a great movie merely a good one.
I would invite you to go back and watch the very early episodes of the series, before it became a camped-up disaster (admit it!), and see how similar the two are.The 1998 film is often a straight remake of the original, only, frankly, much better.The idea of a film about a single family trying to survive and function by itself when they are all alone in outer space is loaded with potential, and I think this film did as much as could be expected in what was planned to be a three-movie series.There's a lot to like in this movie--first of all, it's a science fiction movie that the whole family can actually enjoy, not just the twenty-year-old son living in the basement.
The Lost In Space television series was one of my favorites when I was growing up so when I found out that it was the basis for a new movie, trepidation is the word that best described my reaction.
Unlike this year's other movie based on a cultural icon, namely Godzilla, the producers of Lost In Space have a great deal of respect for the original tv series and this shows in the finished product.
The acting well done, the writing & direction good and the visual effects rank amongst some of the best ever committed to celluloid.Definitely one of my favorites and quite possibly one of the best science fiction films of all times.
Not the actors, most of whom have trouble delivering their idiotic lines (even the brilliant Gary Oldman seems at a loss); certainly not the "creative" personnel, who left the sets, costumes, and film editing as much a hastily cobbled mess as the script; and, sadly, not the special effects engineers.
Two actual good actors, Gary Oldman and William Hurt, are trapped in this atrociously written, badly directed waste of $80 million.
Hurt, playing a respected scientist with no time for his kids, says at a press conference "there's a lot of space out there to get lost in" (ugh!).
Still, it kept my interest and I enjoyed the story very much.Too bad the casting couldn't have been better because this was actually a very good movie and could have had the possibility for sequels.
Rating: * out of ****Based off the old 60's television series, Lost in Space certainly had the opportunity to be a suspenseful and imaginative sci-fi adventure, but it ends up feeling like little more than an overlong pilot episode for a failed television series.
The cast is thoroughly unconvincing (even William Hurt and Gary Oldman), a good portion of the special effects are second-rate, and the subplot involving time rips and time "bubbles" feels tacked-on and pointless.
I was not a fan of the original series and I just enjoyed the movie for what it was: a good action flick.
Professor John Robinson (William Hurt), his wife Maureen (Mimi Rogers) , their children Judy (Heather Graham) , Penny (Lacey Chabert) and Will (Jack Johnson) and Major Don West (Matt LeBlanc , Sean Patrick Flanery was originally cast and was also previously offered to Matthew Perry) are selected to go to the third planet in the Alpha Centauri star system to establish a colony so that other Earth people can settle there.
Now they are fighting to live long enough to find a way home .Familiar Sci-Fi dealing with Robinson family was going into space to fight for a chance for humanity , it is plenty of special effects , thrills , action though regularly developed .
Sounds weird, a movie that has both good and bad special effects in it.
At times the movie is impressive to watch and at other moments it's just laughable bad to look at.
But perhaps worst thing about the entire character is that it's a totally, completely unnecessary one that doesn't add anything to the story at all.The movie has a solid cast.
John Hurt certainly adds some believability to the silly moments in the movie and he deliverers some of the bad dialog good and even credible.
Gary Oldman is of course also a great actor but he plays a bit of an uninteresting villain in this movie that doesn't get enough opportunity to shine.
No, "Lost in Space" certainly isn't the most original science-fiction movie ever made.The movie also lacks some good tension and action sequences.
I felt bad for such great actors like William Hurt and Gary Oldman (although maybe it is their own fault for choosing this film).
The Robot is great, William Hurt's John Robinson is 'supposed' to be bland - just like Guy Williams played him on TV!, Matt LeBlanc is EXCELLENT as Major West and captures that same 'young pilot' aura, Gary Oldman is great as always, Mimi Rogers is strong and yummy.
He acts out his character with extreme stupidity, and when he tries to look like he's thinking or doing something intellectual, he merely squints his eyes.A lot of the things that happens in the movie have no point.
It sticks around for the rest of the movie just sitting there and making dumb noises.The greatest problem was that they spent far too much time on the special effects and less time on finding good actors or good plot.
I think I've seen three complete episodes of the television series, and I'm not a sci-fi lover at all, but this movie was a dang good time.
The time traveling near the end was so convoluted that evidently even the writers got totally confused.I didn't expect a lot going into this movie, and I probably would never have bothered to watch it had it not been a freebie DVD that came with the machine.
It seems people felt that the acting was not up to par, the script was almost laughable, the FX shots were cheesy and this was just generally a bad movie.They didn't get it.I would never have considered myself a fan of the original TV series, though I do remember in my teens watching it on British TV on a Sunday afternoon when there was little else to do, often with lunch.
Given that though, the original pilot was actually pretty dark; obviously a failed attempt at a very serious TV series that was degenerated to a comedy by the public impression that Irwin Allen could not produce a serious show.And so we come to the movie.
It's a comic-book rendition of the concepts laid out in the pilot, and it shows.While the script is sometimes a little "off", the well established actors such as Mimi Rogers, Gary Oldman and William Hurt chew up the material and create a charged and enjoyable atmosphere.
but while the science may not be perfect it's at least not so glaringly and annoyingly wrong as in Armageddon for example which I can't sit and enjoy due to the stunningly bad science especially in "Act Two" of that movie (right after takeoff).I truly feel that this movie could've been the start of a reasonably enjoyable franchise, but there were too many people who were ready to pan it because it wasn't what they expected.
Sometimes I just want to be entertained without thinking too much at the movies - Lost In Space fits the bill perfectly.
One can excuse the original Star Trek or Lost In Space series on television -- but not the movie in question.
Sure, that was a problem with the TV series, but at least one didn't need to pay for a movie ticket or buy a DVD.In view of Star Wars, wouldn't we expect to see more humanity in the robot?
It still was pretty good.THE BAD - First off, the cliché characters (1) Obnoxious kids with a punk- looking teenage girl (Lacey Chabert) and (2) a know-it-all younger brother (Jack Johnson); (3) a father who has ignored his kids for too long; (4) women always having the last say in arguments with men; (5)men looking stupidly macho and uncaring.In addition: (1) Some really dumb and annoying dialog; (2) no reliance on God in any situation; (3) the usual sexual innuendos (despite this being promoted for a family film); (4) cheap shots at marriage and wholesome things, in general.THE GOOD - It features some excellent and unique special-effects; the film moves well despite the length of it (over two hours); the father does look good in the end and the family "bonds" are stronger through the ordeal, and, good triumphs over evil.
The special effects, the costumes, set design are all very well done, but the failure of the movie comes down to the bad script.
The phrases "harmless fun", "a trashy good time", or "mindless entertainment" take on an insidious new meaning when applied to movies like this.
I hadn't seen any other sci fi series or movie to compare it with.Actually if they could send this movie back in time to the late sixties-early seventies, it would get some good reviews.
The audience whose nostalgia they were counting on to make money took one look, laughed, and promptly saw something else.If there is any bad acting in Lost In Space, it is mainly on Matt LeBlanc's shoulders.
People complain about better special effects translating into poor plots, but never have I seen a better example.The Blarp, as it is called in the credits, is not the worst example of a CGI character being used where a human or puppet would achieve better results, but it is certainly not a good one.
Boffo F/X do not a good movie make, and even talented actors like Gary Oldman, William Hurt, Heather Graham, and Mimi Rogers barely phone in their performances.
Apparently there was a record number of special effects used in the making of this movie yet it looks no better than any other sci-fi spectacular.By far and away the worst inclusion in this movie was the pointless alien monkey type creature that the family take under their wing.
It was an averagely entertaining movie, good idea for a remake film, but it kind of collapsed into itself.
And this I think saved the movie, it had a good closure on it's early main theme (if you have seen the movie you know what I'm talking about).Basically the movie is about a family (the Robinsons) that is sent on a mission to create a "beacon" of sorts on another life supporting planet (it far away but still the closest on to earth) so that earth can use its hyperdrive travelling to save earths resources.
As it is, the sfx are astonishing, the movie was a complete snooze, and the actors were appalling -- even people like Oldman and Hurt, from whom you would expect greatness.
By the end of the film, our whole family was cheering when the Robinson's ship was blown from space.
To be fair my 10 year-old son loved it, and also to be fair the film was a little to faithful to the original TV series which was dreary time-filling rubbish (and poor me I used to watch it!!).
This is a terrific retake on the Lost in Space story - adding state-of-the-art special effects and putting a bit of an edge on to the original's plotline while keeping faithful to the underlying premise.What's really interesting about the movie is its concentration on the psychology of the characters and the personal relationships other than just those centering on Will.
Probably because no one involved in this movie has ever seen an episode of LOST IN SPACE .
This is the crux of Lost In Space, as the (swiss family) Robinson attempt to fly their pretty boring looking spaceship to the other end of the galaxy to colonise a planet called alpha prime.
Gary Oldman, a great actor in the fifth element and leon, is not exactly the most threatening of bad guys in this movie.
However, a movie like this is bound to be full of effects, and Lost In Space doesn't disappoint.
In 1965 when the TV show debuted I was 12, I was also disappointed that the show wasn't as good as the "Space Family Robinson" comic book that debuted in 1962.The 1998 film version of "Lost In Space",although it begins the same as the first few TV episodes, made me think of the comic book rather than the campy TV show.I enjoyed this film much more than the TV show and was glad the little alien was more than a chimp with extra head gear.
In the movie, they act like the normal family, except for being stranded in space.
Not trying to be original, are we?) Of course our heroes survive all that, and even gain a cute little alien friend (ET phone home and all that) but it is in the last part of the movie that the writers obviously lost it completely, and for fear of having no more to show for the money than a bog-standard space opera decided to throw in some completely incomprehensible drivel about time travel and meeting the future egos of some of the main characters.
2.  I think it would have worked better to see Billy Mumy who was the original Will Robinson, play the adult Will's role in the film.
The only thing this film got remotely right was some of the special effects.There are plenty of fresh scripts and new ideas out there, Hollywood would serve us all best by making more original and intelligent low budget movies.
The film version of the Irwin Allen's campy television is slick and good looking, but hollow and pointless.The first half hour of LOST IN SPACE is awful, really bad.
I wonder why Matt LeBlanc's film career didn't take off "like a rocket" after LOST IN SPACE...The only actor that leaves any kind of impression after the embarrassing end credits roll, is Gary Oldman.
When all is said LOST IN SPACE would appear to be too confusing and creepy to appeal to children, but fans of the series will probably like it I guess, I'm not sure.
I thought Lost In Space was just another movie like Star Wars, but when my 10 year old little brother bought it home I watched it with him.
Working from a charmless script, Hopkins delivers a loud, chaotic mess of a movie that no amount of expensive special effects can hope to save.LeBlanc plays war hero Major Don West, who is given the job of setting the Jupiter 2 spacecraft on its course to Alpha Prime, where the other crew members, the Robinson family, are to prepare the planet for colonisation.
Even with two future Oscar winners on board (Hurt and Oldman) this adventure for the passengers of the Jupiter 2 is destined to crash and burn, the muddled script resorting to hackneyed sci-fi claptrap such as time travel to try and dig itself out of a (black) hole.Perhaps the worst thing about the whole sorry affair are the lame CGI creatures: cute alien Blawp, blatantly designed to sell Lost In Space merchandising to the kids; crappy, supposedly scary space spiders that attack our heroes; and a mutant arachnoid Gary Oldman that looked really bad even when the film was first released, and which looks positively awful by today's standards.The best thing about the film is its theme music by Apollo 440: not only is it a great track, but it heralds the closing credits and an end to this farrago.3/10..
Overall I think this movie was just a total waste of time and money and should be never seen again.
Other than her, this movie resembled nothing about the Lost In Space that I know and love except for the name.
I liked the original "Lost in Space" series so I went to the movie hoping that they would at least give it a decent treatment - so to say I was disappointed is an understatement.Within a few minutes of the film's start you have Professor Robinson and Major West engaged in a "pissing match" causing Maureen Robinson to roll her eyes and to reprimand the "little boys."From there the film gets progressively worse.
The relationship between "Robot" and Will Robinson is never developed or credible.The dialog is so bad and the plot so poor that no actor could have shined through it - and none do.The original series, especially the first season, is actually very watchable science fiction and the Robinson's really seemed like a real family.
In all honesty, you'd better really love the show Lost in Space to see this movie.