Tags:
Film: Lost in Space
Year: 1998
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Writer: Akiva Goldsman
Starring: Gary Oldman, William Hurt and Matt LeBlanc
Review:
This film takes place in the year 2058. Earth and its people have used up all of the natural resources and a new planet is needed for the human race to continue on. There is a mission for a ship to go to a planet named Alpha Prime. By Earth they are making a gateway and the commander of the Jupiter 2 mission will create another one by this new planet. This is so ships can use a hyper-drive and end up exactly where they are supposed to.
We learn that there is a terrorist group that doesn’t want them to ruin another planet and wants to get there first. We get two fighter pilots that are trying to protect the hyper-gate from enemies. One is Matt LeBlanc and Lennie James. LeBlanc is the better of two, but we see that he has issues with authority. James destroys the second enemy fighter, but loses his ship. LeBlanc is told to back off and let the rescue ships save him. LeBlanc knows they won’t get there in time and violates what they tell him. He does save James.
Then we meet the Robinson family that will all go on this mission. The father is played by William Hurt. He is completely absorbed in his work and all, but ignores his family. His wife is Mimi Rogers and she is in charge of the life systems for the mission. They have a daughter that doesn’t want to go and leave her life on Earth behind; she is played by Lacey Chabert. She will be the video expert. Their youngest is played by Jack Johnson, he is the robot expert. He acts out because Hurt ignores him. He has won the science fair for a few years in a row and has plans for making a machine for time travel.
LeBlanc is called in to meet Mark Goddard, who plays the general, and Hurt. He is told the truth that the Earth is dying; the recycling efforts started too late and are failing. He is also informed that the original pilot for Jupiter 2 isn’t sick, but was murdered. LeBlanc is made the new pilot.
We then meet the one that is the spy and saboteur; he is played by Gary Oldman. He is supposed to get paid for letting the terrorist in to kill the pilot. Oldman is informed that they have found a replacement. He is then told that he needs to ensure this mission fails.
Oldman is actually helping to make the Jupiter 2 flight ready as well. He does what he is supposed to, but then sneaks in. He messes with the robot that is supposed to help the Robinson family. As he is trying to get away, the device he used to change the robot turns on. A large face tells him something and then it malfunctions. It burns his hand and then he’s knocked out.
We then meet the final member of this team; she is the medical officer and played by Heather Graham. LeBlanc immediately begins to hit on her, but then he learns that she is the eldest child of Hurt. Graham ensures that the sleeping pods are working to their top performance. The family then goes to sleep, LeBlanc sets their destination and then he goes to sleep.
Oldman wakes up. His hand has a burn on it and he realizes that he still aboard the ship. The robot then wakes up and goes about destroying the systems and trying to kill the Robinson family. He can’t stop it though. The family wakes up as well as their pilot. Hurt and LeBlanc try to stop the robot. He finally succeeds when LeBlanc can rip cords out of its neck.
Graham doesn’t wake up though. LeBlanc realizes that Oldman has caused this and he attacks him. Oldman tells him that he is the only one who can save Graham. Hurt tells him to let him do it. They have another problem; they are heading directly toward the Sun. LeBlanc uses the idea of using the hyperdrive that sends them directly through, saving them, but they are sent out into space. They are lost.
They are flying aimlessly. They go through a rip in space to find a ship. While they are looking at it, they realize that it is from Earth. Johnson has reprogrammed the robot and it is decided the ship will be investigated. The robot, controlled by Johnson, Hurt, LeBlanc, Graham and Oldman are all a part of this team. They soon learn that the ship is abandoned, or so they think. They learn that this was a rescue ship looking for them. James was piloting this mission, but something happened. They find an alien-monkey like creature. It is friendly. They then learn what happened to this ship. They are attacked by space spiders. They fight them off and get back to the ship, losing the robot in the process.
Rogers learns that the spiders are attracted to fire and heat, so LeBlanc comes up with a plan to get them from getting into their ship. He ends up blowing up the ship they have infested, against what Hurt says. The explosion sends them crashing onto a planet. They do not have enough power to clear the planet’s gravitational pull, but there is another time rift bubble right by where they have crashed. It is decided that Hurt and LeBlanc will investigate. Johnson is upset by this and has started to rebuild his robot to make himself feel better.
Will they find this power source they are looking for in the time bubble? What is causing this time bubble? Is it natural or man-made? Will they get off the planet or will they be stuck here forever?
I do have to say that this film isn’t horrible, but it is a family friendly sci-fi film. I really like Hurt and Oldman in this one. Johnson and Chabert aren’t bad, but as child/teens they are kind of annoying and nagging. Graham is good looking, but a little bit miscast in her role. The story is really interesting to me though. I love films that use time travel and the anomalies that arise from it. I also like the idea of the transformation of Oldman’s character. It really fits his character’s demeanor.
One of my issues with this is the fact that it is family friendly. The show that it is based off of was made for families and that really limits this. It is hard to knock this film for that though. I also do not like the CGI used in this one. Being from 1998, the technology was limited and you can really tell. Those are really my only issues though.
This is being included in the horror film research, because this film really has a feel of a family-friendly horror film. There are quite a few elements that are from horror. You have the menacing aliens, the saboteur who is trying to kill them, what he becomes through his transformation and there are few other parts where they ramp up the tension of things going on. It always works out for the good, as they do in a family film, but still gets the fear going even if it is on the lower end.
I would recommend this film if you liked the original series and want to enjoy a modern update that isn’t too bad. The film is for families, so do not come in for a great sci-fi adventure. I would say there is one is definitely not horrible, but there are better in the genre than this one. It does have a good story; it has some good acting mixed in with some decent acting. The use of CGI is limited, but not all that good. I would say if this sounds interesting, I would give it a chance.
My Rating: 5 out of 10