Well finally here are some test screening looks at Lost In Space. The first one went well, the second hates the film. Do take this to heart though, the effects are not finished, the sound ain't done and it doesn't have a final score. I'm dying to see this flick and it seems like the 'negative' review person wasn't in a very good mood when they saw the film. So take a look, there are SPOILERS, if you choose to want to remain 'innocent' then don't read the reviews... just know that the score is 1 to 1. I'm hoping to hear more about the Lost In Space screenings, that way we can see if it rocks or not. This is for sure, there sure is a lot of cool looking design work in the film, and the trailers kick some serious ass. I sure do want this film to kick some booty. Read if ya want, if not, hang cool for about a month and a half and learn for yourself. The first spy is named Prince Ali...
Don't know if you've already received any reviews yet on "Lost In Space", so here's mine. We saw it at the new Century 25 Promenade (2-4-98) theaters in good ol' Anaheim, CA . We were a test audience for the unfinished film and they gave us a questionnaire at the end of the movie. (If I sound like I think I was the only person ever chosen for a test audience, you'll have to excuse me, it was my first)
Anyway, down to it! Having never seen the original series, I really went into this not knowing what to expect. The Robot was probably the coolest. The Robot finds his original form half way through the film (I may not have watched the original series but everyone knows the robot right?) when he is destroyed but rebuilt by Will Robinson. Unfortunately that's one of the things that irked me. I am a little tired of the "genius kid" role who knows everything ( ala honey, I shrunk the kids..) The movie on the whole seemed like it was aimed at families and kids. Not too much suspense, it was enjoyable though. Friend's Matt LeBlanc was ok, playing the high testosterone Major Don West. His macho-ism initially turns off Judy the doctor but in the end, the two are locking lips. The rest of the characters do a descent enough job, Gary Oldman of course plays a perfect villain. His final form towards the end of the movie, after he gets infected by the spider aliens, looked pretty cool but hard to tell since the movie wasn't quite finished yet. The little alien/monkey/dog creature named Blarp was pretty bad. Just a little bit too "cutesy" for me I guess. It changes colors like a chameleon, has big blinking eyes, and kinda purrs for a noise.
Basically, they head out on their journey, Gary Oldman tries to sabotage the mission by rewiring the robot to kill the Robinson family. They thwart its' efforts but only after it does damage enough to send the ship towards the sun. Only way out is to use the hyper drive. The problem being that if they use it, it would send them anywhere in the universe. They do and it does. Alien spiders, ghost ships, and time bubbles fill the journey. I liked the ending though, just as they find their way home, a planet that they just drove though the middle of, explodes creating a black hole that threatens to suck them in. Their only escape is to "hyper drive" it out of there . So they do and this is how the movie ends, with them "L.I.S." again.
This was a very rough cut of the movie. All the space battle scenes were very apparent computer images. The alien monkey creature was sometimes a doll, sometimes a cartoon, sometimes computer generated. It needed alot of work still, so maybe alot of things might change. If this review pretty much sucked, I'm sorry 'twas my first.
Then here is the review by Lamont Cranston, he hates a movie he doesn't like, and he ain't afraid to show it. This is a scathing review. I liked the script for Lost In Space, but that doesn't mean it was lost in translation. I hope I disagree with Lamont here, but his opinion needs to be heard....
I saw Lost in Space a few weeks ago in a Camarillo screening, and the movie was awful. Complete lack in script and developed characters, a big surprise since I like most of the cast members. William Hurt and Gary Oldman, usually hit just the right note for their characters, but with Lost In Space they seem to be just interested in cashing paychecks. Heather Graham the usually luminous star of Drugstore Cowboy and Rollergirl in Boogie Nights, tries to spark scenes between her and Matt LeBlanc but the attempts are to no prevail, because LeBlanc's acting is monotonous. He hits the same acting note in angry scenes as charming ones, this film is slightly better than Ed.
The plot consists of a sabotage (not setup) many action scenes (most are done better in Star Trek episodes) and a time paradox that flat-out doesn't work. Time paradoxes can be problems in movies like 12 Monkeys and the Terminator series, and you will forgive those films. Lost In Space doesn't even seem to be trying to be intelligent, in fact it seems to be working hard at maintaining a high level of stupidity. I was insulted that this film stole approx. 2hrs of my time, the only way I could remain a positive demeanor was to make fun of the film (a la MST3K) for the running time. This is the film that everyone who knocked the superb special effects movie Starship Troopers should be forced to see. Ebert if you thought Troopers was repetitive and wasteful of talent
