

LOST IN SPACE (1998)

Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 4.0)
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Key to rating system:
2.0 stars - Debatable
2.5 stars - Some people may like it
3.0 stars - I liked it
3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie
4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out
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A Movie Review by David Sunga

Directed by: Stephen Hopkins

Written by: Akiva Goldsman

Ingredients:
Scientific family in a spaceship, saboteur, military guy, big battle
with space spiders, futuristic cryosuits, time bubble, 750 special
effects

Starring: 
William Hurt, Jack Johnson, Matt LeBlanc, Gary Oldman, Mimi Rogers,
Lacey Chabert, Heather Graham

Synopsis:
Just when Earth has nearly expended its resources, humanity has found
another habitable planet called Alpha Prime. The trouble is, it takes
ten years by spaceship to get there. Professor John Robinson (William
Hurt) envisions a plan to build the first 'hypergate' - - a space device
that a starship flies through, which will instantaneously transport the
starship to a similar gate light years away. A hypergate is important
because attempting to fly through hyperspace without a gate means your
ship may end up at any random spot in the Universe.  Robinson plans to
take his family on a ten-year journey to Alpha Prime and construct a
hypergate there while folks on Earth build a similar gate on Earth. 

Unfortunately, when their super sleek ship (the Jupiter 2) gets
sabotaged Dr. Smith (who works for a terrorist group called the New
World Sedition) the Robinsons enter hyperspace without a hypergate, and
the hapless crew (Dad and Mom Robinson, doctor daughter Judy, rebellious
teen Penny, young whiz kid son Will, pilot Major West, and Dr. Smith)
gets LOST IN SPACE. In space the Robinsons must prevail over nasty space
spiders and an alternate grownup Will Robinson.

There are a few interesting cameos for fans of the old LOST IN SPACE TV
series on which this movie is based. Look for June Lockhart (The LOST IN
SPACE TV series mother) as a school principal, Mark Goddard (The LOST IN
SPACE TV series Major Don West) as a general, and Marta Kristen and
Angela Cartwright (the original Judy and Penny) as mission control press
conference reporters. If the robot's voice sounds familiar, it's because
it's still the voice of Dick Tufeld.

Opinion:
LOST IN SPACE is a 70 million dollar action epic based on characters
from the campy old LOST IN SPACE cult classic TV series about a father,
mother, daughter Judy, Judy's boyfriend Major Don West, rebellious
daughter Penny, young son Will, his robot, and the sneaky Dr. Zachary
Smith who are all lost in space and having adventures while trying to
get back to Earth. The original TV series was about ray guns and robots
and 50s style family cohesion. LOST IN SPACE (1998) is a more intense,
cutting edge version of the same characters that hits nostalgic buttons
but modernizes the space epic with better special effects and 1990s
family issues. The main idea is to take big effects sci-fi adventure and
meld it to a family situation framework. (Speaking of family, there's
even a scene that parodies THE WALTONS. )

Does LOST IN SPACE succeed in what it's attempting to do? 

I like the way the characters start off in the beginning. FRIENDS star
Matt LeBlanc gets a good change of pace. He plays Major Don West. West
is a military man, an aggressive, instinct and testosterone guy who is
sure to clash with cerebral scientific leader Professor Robinson. Lacey
Chabert as the rebellious Penny also seems promising as a possible
family issue subplot. Unfortunately, the movie pairs Penny off with a
cutesy space monkey and forgets about her problems in order to focus on
the less interesting character brainy Will. Similarly, Judy starts off
witty against the flirtatious Don West, but quickly is relegated to the
status of background Barbie doll, her banter quickly becoming old hat. 

On the good side, the thrill ride is good, the heroes sharper than TV,
the villains and threats more intense; danger really means danger. LOST
IN SPACE starts off with a space battle and the action keeps on going:
planets explode, robots open fire on monsters, zooming ships avoid
impossible collisions, and so on. But the pace alternates between
trigger-happy action, and slow, stilted dialogue without really getting
the balance right. Even the music can't decide whether to be orchestral
or to be modern. As a result, LOST IN SPACE more like a set of segmented
full-tilt serial adventures (with dark lighting and music to match) than
a single cohesive film. The film rushes forward on stop-and-go action,
and then on the last exciting serial adventure the movie abruptly ends.

Several plot threads are left unresolved. For example, early on the
family spots a fearful alien spacecraft, and the camera zooms in on it
ominously, but afterwards no further mention is made of the issue.
Likewise, Dr. Smith receives a nasty, venomous spider bite that has the
potential to mutate him into a monster, and the camera zooms in on
Smith's wound ominously, yet at the end of the film, we still don't know
whether Smith ever receives medical attention for the bite. 

LOST IN SPACE is a swooshy entertaining flick, relying heavily on its
stunts and 750 special effects. It falls in the Summer Blockbuster
category, even though it's only April. However, the film can be so much
more with a bit more fine tuning. Call me an optimist, but I'm sure - -
that if the two proposed sequels to this movie pay attention to things
like smooth pacing, brighter cinematography, sharp dialogue, making use
of female character issues, and producing the feel of one continuous
plot as opposed to the bump-and-go feel - - then the sequels can build
successfully upon the foundation introduced by LOST IN SPACE. 

Reviewed by David Sunga
April 3, 1998

Copyright © 1998
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