Tags:
Film: The Lost World
Year: 2001
Director: Stuart Orme
Writer: Adrian Hodges
Starring: Bob Hoskins, James Fox and Tom Ward
Review:
This film begins on the Amazon River in 1911. Our main character is played by Bob Hoskins. He is in a hurry and the canoes hit some rapids. They crash and bump into things.
We then shift to London. We see a newspaper report, played by Matthew Rhys, who is tired of writing obituaries and wants to report on more important things. We learn later that his dream is to be novelist. His editor sends him to lecture that is going to be given later that day.
Rhys is met by the woman he loves, played by Joanna Page. Rhys has asked her to marry him, but she continues to avoid the subject. She seems more interested when a famous hunter shows up, played by Tom Ward. The lecture is over dinosaurs and it is given by James Fox. It is interrupted though by Hoskins. He claims to have found a lost world where dinosaurs still exist. He proposes an expedition to this place in Brazil. Ward joins and states he will put up half of what it costs. Rhys knows that Page wants someone who is a hero type, so he volunteers as well. He is denied by Hoskins, until he states his paper will fund the other half of the journey. His editor is upset, but knows his boss will allow it.
Hoskins and Fox do not get along. Fox is stuck in his ways while he feels Hoskins doesn’t follow real science. They constantly bicker back and forth. Fox also agrees to come along on the expedition.
They arrive at a mission in Brazil and are met by Elanie Cassidy. Her uncle is also there, Peter Falk. Rhys is interested in her, despite his ‘love’ for Page. Cassidy has eyes for Ward who seems to be intrigued by her as well. Cassidy ends up joining their expedition after some convincing.
They begin their travels deeper into the jungle using an old map that Hoskin has. The journey is difficult, but they finally find the plateau. They find a cave, but it is blocked off. We also see that it is blocked due to someone blowing it up. It takes a week for them to find a slope. The problem is that this is a rock formation that is parallel to it, but doesn’t connect. They use rope and fallen tree to get across. Falk freaks out and traps them on the plateau, ruining their way back.
Before getting to the top, Hoskins encountered a flying dinosaur. They begin to encounter more almost immediately. Fox finds one that shatters what his beliefs are on how it moved. They also find more of the flying ones, who are not friendly as well as a Tyrannosaurs Rex. Not too mention an ape like life form as well as a Native American tribe of people.
Will they be able to get off the plateau before it is too late? Or will they all fall victim to the creatures, dinosaurs or elements? Is there another way down?
I do have say that I found this version to be quite interesting. I really like Hoskins and just wanted to lead off saying that. Cassidy and the accent she used I found to be very attractive and she was good as well. The rest of the cast was also solid around them. Now the story has been done a few times, but I think this version is a little different. This film is longer than most of the others so this one had the opportunity to add more. I liked the ape like creatures as well as having Native Americans. Many would look at this disproving evolution, but to me it reinforces my belief that even closely related species can have different tracks of evolution, just depends on the evolution of where they reside. The dinosaurs look good and there is some good interaction as well. This is being added to the horror film research due to having the large dinosaurs, interacting with the people and them being trapped on a plateau in the wild with no way down.
Now I did have some issues. I wasn’t a big fan of any of the Native American people. I felt like they were played bland and just stand there. There was very little emotion out of those actors. The technology used for the dinosaurs did look good, but I felt they look too computer to be real, especially if there was an interaction between the real person and the dinosaur. This one also felt like a television movie, which it was and that takes away a little for me as well.
Now with that said, this is actually one of the better versions of The Lost World. There is some really good acting and then some not so good acting. The story is something that has been done before, but it does go a little deeper with the longer running time. The dinosaurs look good, but a little too fake at times as well. If you want to see a film based on the story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, then I would recommend giving this a viewing. This is also the most modern take on it as well.
My Rating: 6 out of 10