Lost in Space (film)

Lost in Space

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Stephen Hopkins
Produced by Mark W. Koch
Stephen Hopkins
Akiva Goldsman
Carla Fry
Written by Akiva Goldsman
Based on Lost in Space
by Irwin Allen
Starring Gary Oldman
William Hurt
Matt LeBlanc
Mimi Rogers
Heather Graham
Lacey Chabert
Jack Johnson
Jared Harris
Music by Bruce Broughton
Cinematography Peter Levy
Edited by Ray Lovejoy
Production
company
New Line Cinema
Saltire Entertainment
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release dates
  • April 3, 1998 (1998-04-03)
Running time
 130 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $80 million
Box office $136.2 million

Lost in Space is a 1998 American science fiction adventure film directed by Stephen Hopkins and starring William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc, and Gary Oldman. The film was shot in London and Shepperton, and produced by New Line Cinema. The plot is adapted from the 1965–1968 CBS television series Lost in Space. The film focuses on the Robinson family, who undertake a voyage to a nearby star system to begin large-scale emigration from a soon-to-be uninhabitable Earth, but are thrown off course by a saboteur and must try to find their way home.

Several of the actors from the original TV series had cameos in the film.

Plot

In the year 2058, Earth will soon be uninhabitable due to irreversible effects of pollution. The United Global Space Force prepares the first launch for the colonization of a distant planet much like our own. Meanwhile, a terrorist group called the Global Sedition wants to interrupt the colonization to be able to take over the same planet themselves. Professor John Robinson, lead scientist of the Jupiter Mission, prepares to take his wife Maureen, daughters Judy and Penny and son Will on a 10-year mission in suspended animation to the nearby planet Alpha Prime, where they will build a companion "hypergate" to the one orbiting Earth. The project is accelerated after Sedition terrorists attack Earth's hypergate, but are stopped by fighter pilots, one of whom is Major Don West. When the pilot for the Jupiter Mission is murdered, West is assigned as his replacement.

Dr. Zachary Smith, a spy employed by the Sedition, reprograms the mission's robot to destroy the ship. He is betrayed, though, by his employers and left as an unwilling stowaway when the Jupiter II blasts off. A few hours after launch, the robot activates and starts destroying vital ship and navigation controls. The Robinsons, awakened from their cryosleep by Dr. Smith, stop the robot, but not before it causes the ship to become trapped in the gravitational pull of the Sun. Their only option to escape the gravity well would be to use the hyperdrive and end up anywhere in the galaxy. Now lost, the ship eventually comes across a "hole in space" and, after entering, finds a planet with two abandoned ships in orbit; the Proteus, an Earth ship somehow from decades in the future, and another ship that is clearly not human. When they investigate the Proteus they find navigational data that can be used to get to Alpha Prime (suggesting that humanity has somehow settled on Alpha Prime without the Robinsons) and a young alien primate that they adopt as a pet. They also find the aging ship is infested with carnivorous spider-like lifeforms, with the leg of one accidentally scratching Dr. Smith during an attack. To escape the spiders' attack, Don reactivates and overloads the Proteus' engine, with the shock wave from the resulting explosion damaging the Jupiter II and forcing it to crash on the planet below.

Professor Robinson and Major West go out onto the surface in search of radioactive material to replace the burnt-out part of the ship's core. They find a strange, growing bubble of unknown origin, which they must enter. They learn that the "holes" and "bubbles" are distortions of time and space, caused by future versions of Will and Dr. Smith constructing a time machine. The future Will Robinson wants to travel back in time to prevent the Robinsons from ever taking off. Robinson and West find out the bubble is actually a small schism in time on the same planet. They are all betrayed by the future Smith, who has mutated due to the spider scratch going untreated. He plans to unleash an army of spiders on the Earth. Robinson battles with Spider Smith while Major West returns to the stranded Jupiter II to evacuate everyone. Robinson stops Spider Smith by tearing open his eggsac, freeing the baby spiders, who then attack the injured Spider Smith. John pushes the mutated Smith into the uncompleted time portal, where he is torn apart by the gravitational field.

The others attempt to escape the planet in the Jupiter II, as the time machine's warping tears everything apart. They are unable to reach escape velocity and the ship is destroyed by flying debris. Future Will finally recognizes his father's deep love for his family and allows him to travel back through the time portal to before the Jupiter II attempts to escape. Knowing that the escape velocity won't be enough, John commands West to pilot the ship through the planet's core as it breaks up, using the planet's gravity to propel the ship out the other side. They escape, but the collapsed planet forms a small black hole that begins to suck the Jupiter II back in. To escape, the Robinsons once again activate the hyperdrive, using the Alpha Prime navigational data from the Proteus to blast off again, into potentially unknown space.

Cast

Several of the actors from the TV show appeared in the film. June Lockhart (Maureen Robinson) appeared as Will's school principal "Cartwright" in a hologram. Mark Goddard (Major West) appeared as Major West's commanding officer. Angela Cartwright (Penny Robinson) and Marta Kristen (Judy Robinson) appeared as news reporters. Dick Tufeld returned to his role as the voice of the Robot. Jonathan Harris, who played Dr. Smith in the series, declined an offer to cameo as a Global Sedition representative who deals with Dr. Smith in the film, declaring "I've never played a bit part in my life and I'm not going to start now!". Billy Mumy was likewise offered a cameo, but turned it down after being told he would not be considered for the part he wanted—the role of the older Will Robinson—because he was told that would "confuse the audience."

Music

TVT Records released a soundtrack album on March 31, 1998, featuring eleven tracks of Bruce Broughton's original score (which makes no reference to either of the TV themes composed by John Williams) and eight tracks of techno music (most of which is heard only over the film's end credits).[2] A European version of the soundtrack album was released that omits the tracks "Spider Attack", "Jupiter Crashes", and "Spider Smith" in favor of three new songs unused in the film by Aah-Yah, Asphalt Ostrich, and Anarchy.[3] Intrada Records released a score album for the film the following year. (The track "Thru the Planet" on the TVT album is not the same as "Through the Planet" on the Intrada release, but is a shortened version of Broughton's unused end title music heard on the score album as "Lost in Space.")

TVT soundtrack album

Lost in Space: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Various
Released March 31, 1998 (1998-03-31)
Genre Big beat, film score
Length 67:59
Label TVT Records
Lost in Space: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
No. TitleArtist Length
1. "Lost in Space – Theme"  Apollo 440 3:27
2. "I'm Here... Another Planet"  Juno Reactor / The Creatures 4:21
3. "Busy Child"  The Crystal Method 7:27
4. "Bang On"  Propellerheads 5:47
5. "Everybody Needs a 303"  Fatboy Slim 5:49
6. "Will & Penny's Theme"  Apollo 440 3:22
7. "Song for Penny"  Death in Vegas 5:35
8. "Lost in Space"  Space 3:30
9. "Main Title"  Bruce Broughton 1:03
10. "Reprogram the Robot"  Bruce Broughton 2:17
11. "The Launch"  Bruce Broughton 4:14
12. "The Robot Attack"  Bruce Broughton 2:54
13. "The Proteus"  Bruce Broughton 2:26
14. "Spiders Attack"  Bruce Broughton 2:26
15. "Jupiter Crashes"  Bruce Broughton 1:17
16. "Spider Smith"  Bruce Broughton 2:42
17. "Kill the Monster"  Bruce Broughton 3:54
18. "The Portal"  Bruce Broughton 2:46
19. "Thru the Planet"  Bruce Broughton 2:42

Intrada score album

Lost in Space: Original Motion Picture Score
Soundtrack album by Bruce Broughton
Released March 23, 1999 (1999-03-23)
Genre Film score
Length 67:03
Label Intrada Records

All music composed by Bruce Broughton.

Lost in Space: Original Motion Picture Score
No. Title Length
1. "Prologue"   0:57
2. "Preparing for Space"   2:31
3. "The Launch"   6:22
4. "Robot Attack"   3:21
5. "Into the Sun"   6:21
6. "Spiders"   10:22
7. "A New World"   1:25
8. "Guiding Stars"   1:37
9. "The Time Bubbles"   2:21
10. "Smith's Plan"   1:21
11. "Will and Smith Explore"   2:00
12. "Will's Time Machine"   4:24
13. "Spider Smith"   2:39
14. "Facing the Monster"   8:46
15. "Attempted Escape"   1:26
16. "The Time Portal"   2:42
17. "Through the Planet"   2:31
18. "Back to Hyperspace"   1:38
19. "Fanfare for Will"   0:27
20. "Lost in Space"   3:24

Reception

On its opening weekend, Lost in Space grossed $20,154,919 and debuted at number one at the box office, ending Titanic's 15-week-long hold on the first-place position. It opened in 3,306 theaters and grossed an average of $6,096 per screening. Lost in Space grossed $69,117,629 in the United States, and $67,041,794 outside of America, bringing its worldwide total to $136,159,423,[4] making it a moderate box office success. Those results were deemed insufficient, however, to justify a planned sequel.

Reviews were generally negative for Lost in Space, drawing criticism for its darker tone. Rotten Tomatoes has reported that 27% of critics gave them a positive review. The site's consensus reads: "Clumsily directed and missing most of the TV series' campy charm, Lost in Space sadly lives down to its title."[5] It also holds a rating of 42% on Metacritic from 19 critics.[6]

Roger Ebert gave the film a rating of 1 and a half out of 4, calling it a "dim-witted shoot-'em-up".[7] Wade Major from Boxoffice magazine rated the film at 1 and a half out of 5, calling it "the dumbest and least imaginative adaptation of a television series yet translated to the screen."[8] James Berardinelli was slightly more favorable, giving the film a rating of 2 and a half out of 4. While praising the film's set design, he criticized its "meandering storyline and lifeless protagonists," saying that "Lost in Space features a few action sequences that generate adrenaline jolts, but this is not an edge-of-the-seat motion picture."[9]

The film was given a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Remake or Sequel, but lost against the tied The Avengers, Godzilla and Psycho.

Home video

Both a DVD and later a Blu-ray have been released for the film. Both contain deleted scenes that resolve the film's storyline and plot holes suggesting that the film was drastically cut down for cinematic release, prompting a suggestion that a director's cut must exist.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "LOST IN SPACE (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. May 12, 1998. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  2. ↑ "Filmtracks: Lost in Space (Bruce Broughton)". filmtracks.com.
  3. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Various-Lost-In-Space-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack/release/2370545
  4. ↑ "Lost in Space". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Lost in Space (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  6. ↑ "Lost in Space Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  7. ↑ Ebert Roger (April 3, 1998). "Lost in Space (PG-13)". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  8. ↑ Major, Wade (August 1, 2008). "Lost in Space". Boxoffice magazine. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  9. ↑ Berardinelli, James. "Lost in Space". Reelviews.net. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Lost In Space Blu-ray review". Den of Geek.
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