Reviewed by Victor Rebikoff.
Director: Stephens Hopkins, Roadshow Entertainment, PG 130 Minutes.
Based on the popular 1960’s TV series , ‘Lost in Space’, comes this big screen adaptation from ‘Blown Away’ director Stephens Hopkins in which scientist John Robinson (William Hurt – ‘Robin Hood’) leads his family on a space mission to a liveable planet.
The story is set in 2058 as Earth is soon to be uninhabitable and Robinson is tasked to lead a special Jupiter 2 mission to the habitable planet of Alpha Prime to colonise for all of Earth’s citizens.
Accompanying Robinson is his family including wife Maureen (Mimi Rodgers –‘The Surface’), daughters Judy (Heather Graham – ‘Bowfinger’), Penny (Lacey Chabet – ‘Mean Girls’) and son Will (Jack Johnson – ‘Love Affair’) in addition to fighter pilot Don West (Matt LeBlanc – ‘Charlie’s Angels’).
Unbeknownst to the Robinson family Dr Zachary Smith (Gary Oldman – ‘The Dark Knight’) has stowed away just as the Jupiter 2 blasts off as he proceeds to sabotage the mission forcing the spaceship into an unchartered sector of space.
Finding themselves seemingly lost they land on a mysterious planet where they encounter a series of inconceivable obstacles and confront strange space spiders, not to mention getting rid of the culpable Smith.
When the Robinsons finally manage to escape using their hyperdrive mechanism they are able to set course for Alpha Prime in order to complete their original mission.
Hopkins’ 1998 reimagining of the ‘Lost in Space’ sci-fi series is both enjoyable as it is entertaining but isn’t without its flaws having devoted unnecessary screen time to the Robinsons being lost in space contributing to its overlong duration.
But to his credit Hopkins has been able to retain the basic premise of the TV series and ensure the major characters are back, particularly the congenial speaking robot voiced again by Dick Tufeld from the TV program.
Apart from the impressive set design and special effects the star performer is Oldman as Smith who perfectly emulates the stand-out performance of Jonathan Harris in the original TV series.
Lost in Space is to be televised on 7MATE on Friday 29 January at 7.30pm.
Vic’s Verdict: 3 ½ Stars
