Lost in Space Movie
* Summary text borrowed from Amazon.com (volunteer to craft a summary!)
Battlestar Galactica‘s Edward James Olmos wasn’t kidding when he said “the series is even better than the miniseries.” As developed by sci-fi TV veteran Ronald D. Moore, the “reimagined” BG is exactly what it claims to be: a drama for grown-ups in a science-fiction setting. The mature intelligence of the series is its greatest asset, from the tenuous respect between Galactica’s militarily principled commander Adama (Olmos) and politically astute President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) to the barely suppressed passion between ace Viper pilot “Apollo” (a.k.a. Adama’s son Lee, played by Jamie Bamber) and the brashly insubordinate Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), whose multifaceted character is just one of many first-season highlights. Picking up where the miniseries ended (it’s included here, sparing the need for separate purchase), season 1 opens with the riveting, Hugo Award-winning episode “33,” in which Galactica and the “ragtag fleet” of colonial survivors begin their quest for the legendary 13th colony planet Earth, while being pursued with clockwork regularity by the Cylons, who’ve now occupied the colonial planet of Caprica. The fleet’s hard-fought survival forms (1) the primary side of the series’ three-part structure, shared with (2) the apparent psychosis of Dr. Gaius Baltar (James Callis) whose every thought and move are monitored by various incarnations of Number Six (Tricia Helfer), the seemingly omniscient Cylon ultravixen who follows a master plan somehow connected to (3) the Caprican survival ordeal of crash-landed pilots “Helo” (Tahmoh Penikett) and “Boomer” (Grace Park), whose simultaneous presence on Galactica is further evidence that 12 multicopied models of Cylons, in human form, are gathering their forces.
With remarkably consistent quality, each of these 13 episodes deepens the dynamics of these fascinating characters and suspenseful situations. While BG relies on finely nuanced performances, solid direction, and satisfying personal and political drama to build its strong emotional foundation, the action/adventure elements are equally impressive, especially in “The Hand of God,” a pivotal episode in which the show’s dazzling visual effects get a particularly impressive showcase. Original BG series star Richard Hatch appears in two politically charged episodes (he’s a better actor now, too), and with the threat of civil war among the fleet, season 1 ends with an exceptional cliffhanger that’s totally unexpected while connecting the plot threads of all preceding episodes. To the credit of everyone involved, this is frackin’ good television.
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| Lost in Space | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| 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 | |
| Music by | Bruce Broughton |
| Cinematography | Peter Levy |
| Edited by | Ray Lovejoy |
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Production
company |
New Line Cinema
Saltire Entertainment |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
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Release date
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Running time
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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 actors from the original TV series made cameo appearances in the film.
Contents
Plot
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In 2058, Earth will be uninhabitable within twenty years due to the irreversible effects of pollution and Ozone depletion. In an effort to save humanity, the United Global Space Force (UGSF) elects to send Professor John Robinson and his family—wife Maureen, daughters Judy and Penny, and young prodigy son Will—on a mission on the spaceship Jupiter II to complete the construction of a hypergate over the planet Alpha Prime, allowing for the population of Earth to be instantly transported to and populate it as a new home. Penny is resistant to leaving, rebelling by breaking curfew, while Will's prize-winning science experiment involving time travel goes largely unnoticed by the family patriarch. Global Sedition, a terrorist group against the mission, assassinates the Jupiter II's pilot, and hotshot fighter pilot Major Don West is instead recruited to fly their ship—much to his chagrin.
Dr. Zachary Smith, the family's physician, turns out to be a spy for the Sedition, who sabotages the ship's on-board robot before launch, but he is betrayed by his cohorts, and left unconscious as an unwitting stowaway as the ship launches and the family enters cryosleep for the journey. The robot activates soon after they are asleep, and following its corrupted programming, begins to destroy the navigation and guidance systems, en route to destroying the family itself. Smith awakens the sleeping Robinsons and West, who manage to subdue the robot; yet due to the robot's actions, the ship is falling uncontrollably into the sun. Forced to use the experimental hyperdrive, which has an unpredictable trajectory without a hypergate to go through, the ship is transported through hyperspace to a planet in a remote and uncharted part of the universe, where their known star charts are useless. Going through a strange distortion in space, the crew finds two abandoned ships in orbit, the Proteus, an Earth ship, and another ship that is clearly not of human origin. They board the Proteus, with Will controlling the now-modified robot by remote control to aid them. They find navigational data that can be used to get to Alpha Prime along with a camouflaging creature whom Penny calls "Blarp", and evidence suggesting the ship is from decades in the future. They are attacked by spider-like creatures; in their escape, Smith is scratched by the leg of one, and the robot's body is damaged beyond repair, but Will saves its computerized intelligence. Pilot West ignores orders and destroys the vessel to eradicate the spiders, and, as a result, the ship crash-lands on the nearby planet, where the strange distortions from before continue. Will theorizes that they are distortions in time; in fact, they are his science experiment's predicted results. His father, however, frustrates Will by ignoring his input. His father and West head off to explore one of these time bubbles, and encounter a future version of Will, who explains that some spiders had survived and attacked after his father and West had left them, and that Maureen, Penny, and Judy were all killed. Constructing a time machine, Will intends to go back to Earth prior to the launch of Jupiter II, and prevent it from happening.
Meanwhile, young Will and Smith head out on their own to investigate the time bubble. Smith tricks Will into handing over his weapon, but he is foiled by a future version of Smith, who had been protecting Will ever since the rest of the family was killed, and was transformed by an infection from the spider injury into a kind of anthropomorphic spider creature. Will and West return to their time with an injured Smith in tow, while the future Smith reveals his true actions: He had killed the Robinsons, but kept Will alive to build the time machine, so he could go back in time to populate Earth with a race of space spiders. John remembers that the spiders eat their wounded, rips open Smith's egg sac with a trophy Will had turned into a weapon, and while Smith's own army devours him, he is thrown into the time portal, which rips him apart. The increasing instability of the planet caused by the portal forces the Jupiter II to take off, but they are unable to reach escape velocity, and are destroyed by the planet's debris. Will realizes that his father never actually abandoned them, and that he really does love him after all. Setting the time machine's controls to send John back to his family, he himself is unable to go along, with only enough power available for one person. Saying goodbye to his family, the future Will is killed by falling debris, and John reunites with his living family. Realizing that they do not have enough power to escape the planet's gravitational pull, John suggests that West follows what he did when they were falling into the sun - drive the ship down through the planet, and use the gravity well to slingshot them back into space. They are successful, but the planet turns into a black hole, which begins to pull them back in, and the Robinsons once again activate the hyperdrive to escape. Using the navigational data from the Proteus to set a potential course for Alpha Prime, the ship blasts off into hyperspace.
Cast
Main cast
- William Hurt as Professor John Robinson
- Mimi Rogers as Professor Maureen Robinson
- Heather Graham as Dr. Judy Robinson
- Lacey Chabert as Penny Robinson
- Jack Johnson as Will Robinson
- Matt LeBlanc as Major Don West
- Gary Oldman as Dr. Zachary Smith / Spider Smith
- Dick Tufeld as the voice of the Robot
- Jared Harris as Older Will Robinson
- Lennie James as Jeb Walker
- Edward Fox as Businessman
Original series cameos
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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."