Guest Author - Kirsten Olsen-Keyser

Lost in Space ran on CBS television for three seasons and was produced by Irwin Allen, the imagination behind Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Land of the Giants. Lost in Space was based on the classic novel The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss with a few twists. It is the year 1997 and the Earth is in danger of using up all its natural resources. The brave Robinson Family has agreed to travel into the Alpha Centauri system in order to find a habitable planet for Earth to colonize. During their suspended animation process on the journey, the malevolent saboteur, Dr. Smith, attempts to destroy their ship hurling the crew into unknown space. They are presumed lost by Earth forces and the first season of the show concentrates on their survival on a hostile planet. Following seasons show the family hopping planet to planet while searching for their way home to Earth.

Ironically, filming for the Lost in Space big screen adaptation began in 1997. It included some of the brightest young stars of the late 90’s including Heather Graham as Judy, Lacey Chabert as Penny and newcomer Jack Johnson as Will. With an adult cast of Mimi Rogers, William Hurt, Gary Oldman, Matt LeBlanc, and Dick Tufold reprising his role as the Robot, this movie seemed destined to become a classic. Unfortunately, that was not to be the case.

Sticking very closely to the premise of the original TV series, The Robinsons volunteer to make the 10 year journey to Alpha Prime in order to set up a sister hyper-gate that would allow easy colonization from Earth. While the Jupiter 2 vessel has its own hyper-drive, it is useless without a gate to guide it through space; you could wind up anywhere in the galaxy. A terrorist organization known as the Global Sedition are set on colonizing Alpha Prime first and hire Dr. Smith to sabotage the flight and kill the Robinsons. He partially succeeds and they are forced to use the hyper-drive without the gate system, hurling them into an uncharted area of the galaxy.

The beginning of the movie started off very strong with some heroic action from Matt Leblanc, scenes of family woes and even some great cameos from the original TV cast members. There is fantastic chemistry between Heather Graham and LeBlanc, Chabert as Penny keeps the audience focused on the sacrifice the family is about to make and Johnson gets a few laughs for his CGI “monkey business”.

Then, just when the movie seems to be taking off, it falls flat. The plot becomes convoluted, William Hurt’s acting becomes lifeless and Johnson’s acting is non-existent spouting his lines with little joy or inflection. While Rogers is believable as Maureen Robinson, her relationship with Hurt is not. LeBlanc makes a cool Major West until he starts blurting out silly lines like “If this is all a dream, why can’t there be more girls?” While the product placement line of “throwing Tupperware parties” in the beginning of the movie is cute, the later line about needing a “can of Raid” seems ridiculous. It’s nice to know that those two products still exist in 2056? The only thing worth watching becomes Oldman’s performance as he delivers Dr. Smith’s one liners and insults in a fashion that would do the “Aeolus 14 Umbra” proud.

While there are many references to the TV show i.e.: the chariot, space pod and Blawp (Debbie the Bloop), Lost in Space lacks the humor, fun and acting necessary to make it a sci-fi classic.

Director: Stephen Hopkins

Writers: Akiva Goldsman

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some intense action

Trivia: Lost in Space was the first movie to kick Titanic from its #1 spot at the box office.