Imagine if they’d gotten Lost in Space right in the way Marvel Studios got The Guardians of the Galaxy, right? Matt LeBlanc having a Chris Pratt trajectory to super stardom? William Hurt finally gets the box office legitimacy after a mercurial career more known for the acclaim than success. New Line gets its mega box office success sooner than The Lord of the Rings (does The Lord of the Rings even happen?). As it stands now, Stephen Hopkins’ film is a late ‘90s big-budget sci-fi adventure oddity. One that gets things right as much as it gets things wrong.
Sixty years in the future (from 1998) finds the humans finally ready to save themselves as the Earth is dying. Dr. Robinson (Hurt) and his family of geniuses have prepared a ship for traveling across the universe to find a habitable planet. Of course, this mission goes awry because of the terrorist Dr. Smith (Gary Oldman). Now lost in space, Robinson, his family, Major Don West (LeBlanc), and Smith have to figure out where and when they are.
Lost in Space is the kind of crass beginning to a film series with all the trappings of that kind of film entry. Yes, it does tell a single story, but it also managed to leave space for sequels. Rather than focusing on what made the show so great – the relationship between Smith and Will – the film gets lost in a big-budget action adventure with “action heroes” doing “action hero type things”. None of that works. It all feels so disingenuous and contrary to what Lost in Spacewas that it’s all meaningless. LeBlanc and Hurt seem to be vying for action hero supremacy with their respective types of leading men. LeBlanc is doing the hero thing. Hurt doing the brooding man of science thing. Neither really works because both seem to be so bent on being the most serious version of it, they forget they’re in a big-budget space adventure.
Adding to the frustration, Mimi Rodgers, Heather Graham, and Lacey Chabert, all of whom show a glimpse of charm and star power, are stranded doing literally nothing in the minimal screentime they’re given. Rodgers has one scene where she has to yell and the boys. Graham is hampered by a script that thinks her pushing away West’s advances is charming. Chabert is saddled with an awkward proto social media account and fawning over LeBlanc with a little crush. They do the best they can, but they’re all better than the material and screentime given.
To make matters worse, the Smith and Will story, once it gets going in the late third act, really does work. Oldman is delightful as the mischievous Dr. Smith and pushes Jack Johnson (not the New Girl actor or the singer/songwriter), the young Will Robinson’s performance better than the stilted one it is in the rest of the film. In fact, everyone besides Oldman is wooden and stifled in a plot-heavy script that doesn’t give anyone a sense of adventure or fun. It is all so serious to the point of ridiculous. Part of the fun of the TV series Lost in Space is the clever play on The Swiss Family Robinson story it was telling week to week. That fun and sense of adventure, and family are gone.
To make matters worse, the world-building and VFX work is as mixed a bag as the story itself. Anything CG-based looks like it needs a few more months of rendering time. It looks half-baked even for 1998. Though when the film decides to use miniature and traditional optical FX, it looks amazing. Just compare the opening and closing set pieces. The opening, which is all CG, looks like a cut scene from a PS3 game. The ending escape from the planet that uses multiple techniques with a heavy dose of miniatures looks refined and timeless in a way the rest of the film does not.
Lost in Space may have been a relic of 1960s TV pop culture, but it always found a way to be fun and imbue each episode with a sense of adventure and play that just isn’t here, no matter how big the budget is. Also, that EDM version of the Theme Song at the end and the EDM credit sequence is wow very ‘90s in a way that I’m not sure I like.
The Transfer
The all-new 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative by Arrow Films, approved by director Stephen Hopkins, presented in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible), is a flawless representation of the film’s 35mm origins. Having projected this film numerous times during its initial theatrical run, I can say that the film in home video iterations never lived up to how wonderful it looked projected on a 70-foot screen. I can honestly say with the release of the 4K UHD that we have a home video release that rivals the theatrical exhibition of the film. The film looks stunning in Dolby Vision, with the opening action scene popping off the screen. The only problem is that the transfer is so sharp and the colors so good that it points out some of the more lackluster CG shots. Arrow and Hopkins have done a marvelous job of bringing Lost in Space to 4K.
The Extras
They include the following;
Archive audio commentary with director Stephen Hopkins and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman
Archive audio commentary with visual effects supervisors Angus Bickerton and Lauren Ritchie, director of photography Peter Levy, editor Ray Lovejoy, and producer Carla Fry
A Space Odyssey Stephen Hopkins on Lost in Space
Lights in the Sky Peter Levy on Lost in Space
A Journey Through Time Akiva Goldsman on Lost in Space
Art of Space
Crafting Reality An Interview with Kenny Wilson former Mould Shop Supervisor at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop
Sound of Space, a newly filmed interview with sound mixer Simon Kaye and re-recording mixer Robin O’Donohue
Lost But Not Forgotten in Space
Deleted scenes
Building the Special Effects
The Future of Space Travel
TV Years, a Q&A with the original cast of the TV series
Bloopers
Theatrical Trailer
Image Galleries
The first of two audio commentaries is an archival track with director Stephen Hopkins and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman. The 1998 track opens with the duo discussing how they each got involved with the project. Some of the details include Hopkins discussing how he felt the need to make the movie darker in tone than the original TV series he had an affection for; his visual inspirations that they took from Syd Mead, Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko; how Goldsman structured the film in his screenplay; the cameo of the original cast of the TV series; the work done for casting of Will Robinson; the various changes made from script to screen and the reasons why they were made; the building and design of the updated versions Robbie of the Robot; the challenge of the costumes and the design; the design of the Jupiter 1/Jupiter 2 – and a discussion of the design of the launch sequence; a larger discussion of the various deleted or unused moments from the script; a larger discussion of the various VFX work done and how it was accomplished; a larger discussion of the practical challenges of directing a big-budget sci-fi event film; and much more.
The second of two audio commentaries is an archival track with visual effects supervisors Angus Bickerton and Lauren Ritchie, director of photography Peter Levy, editor Ray Lovejoy, and producer Carla Fry, all recorded separately. Some of the details include Bickerton discussing the total number of shots that were created for the film and the challenges that were presented; Levy’s discussion about visual consistency shooting in a film, and the technical aspects that come into play when this is a big-budget science fiction film; the various designs and discussions about how they accomplished them and the theories behind their new designs for things like the suits, the Jupiter 1, and Robbie the Robot; a discussion of 2nd unit photography that was at night and why this was done; a larger discussion of the visual style and challenges posed for Levy as director of photography; the work that editor Ray Lovejoy did that extends beyond just cutting the picture; a larger discussion of the various set pieces and how they were accomplished and the various techniques they used to accomplish them; and much more.
A Space Odyssey Stephen Hopkins on Lost in Space (20:58) – is an all-new interview with director Stephen Hopkins that opens with how he heard about the project and the difficulties in adapting the original TV Series. Hopkins goes on to discuss how they approached the design of the film and the difficulties in figuring out the change from TV to Big Screen; their discussions with NASA about the future tech and what they took from that; the difficulties filming with the robot, which leads to a discussion of just how complex a shoot this was with upwards of five units; the work done with the Dr. Smith spider and Gary Oldman’s work to accomplish this; the lengthy prep work done and how similar sci-fi films and period film; and much more.
Lights in the Sky Peter Levy on Lost in Space (17:27) – is an all-new interview with the director of photography Peter Levy, that opens with his forty-year relationship with director Stephen Hopkins. The director of photography goes on to discuss the challenges of the early days of CG FX work – including a great story from his work on Cutthroat Island; the challenge of things like interactive lighting in the days before previz; the camera and lens packages he used from Panavision, and how he and Hopkins went about choosing what they used; working with Gary Oldman post-directing Nil By Mouth; working with William Hurt who was very different than Oldman at the time; and much more.
A Journey Through Time Akiva Goldsman on Lost in Space (17:56) – an all-new interview with producer and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman begins with how he got involved in screenwriting. The Producer/Screenwriter goes on to discuss how he became involved with the project and his love for the original TV series; a discussion of Irwin Allen and his love for the TV Series rather than the Films and why; his love of sci-fi and what he loves about the genre as whole; the fact this was his first credit as producer; Goldman and Hopkins firing the line producer and how this became a huge issue – and the trial by fire that ensued; the different approaches that Goldmans and Hopkins had to the material; the test screening process; and much more.
Art of Space (32:17) – is an all-new interview with supervising art director Keith Pain, which begins with his collaboration with production designer Norman Garwood, who got the job for Lost in Space. The art director goes on to discuss that he had not seen the original TV series; Garwood’s dictum about not referencing the original designs; how they designed the robot, and how they got it to move so fluidly; working with the various actors during the production and who was difficult and who was easy to work with; the challenges of the production which was a very difficult shoot; and much more.
Sound of Space (9:20) – is an all-new interview with sound mixer Simon Kaye and re-recording mixer Robin O’Donohue, beginning with how they came to the production after working with Hopkins on Ghost and the Darkness and the challenges of the production itself and keeping the Dolby standards for sound.
Crafting Reality An Interview with Kenny Wilson, former Mould Shop Supervisor at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop (6:54) – is an all-new interview with Kenny Wilson, mould shop supervisor begins with the specific challenges that the production posed, and the constantly changing cast became an issue. Wilson goes on to discuss the various jobs and responsibilities and the challenges from the production; and more.
Lost But Not Forgotten in Space (18:32) – is an all-new video essay by film critic Matt Donato that discusses both the TV Classic and the 1998 sci-fi action update. Donato does his best to reassess this 1990s big-budget sci-fi box office failure. Talking up its finer points and also discussing the rough edges of this well-meaning, entertaining event film will have you wanting to take a kinder eye on this film. The featurette was sharply written by Donato and edited by William Allum.
Deleted scenes (11:47) – a collection of deleted scenes pulled from Stephen Hopkins’ director’s cut edit. It appears that many “last-minute” edits and changes were made to nine scenes and an entire subplot with the blawp creature.
Building the Special Effects (15:57) – in this archival featurette with visual effects supervisor Angus Bickerton and animatics supervisor Mac Wilson break down the various work that was done for the production. The featurette uses various stages of completed shots to illustrate the complexity, even for 1998, the production faced when creating these images.
The Future of Space Travel (9:47) – in this archival featurette exploring the film’s vision of the future and just how accurate even halfway to 2058 (which the film takes place) have begun to come true (e.g., consumption of natural resources) and much of what has not (wormhole travel, space travel, et. al.).
Q&A with the original cast – TV Years (7:34) – an all-too-brief look back at the Lost in Space TV series. Featuring interviews with June Lockheart, Angela Cartwright, Marta Kristen, and more.
Bloopers (2:44) – various cast members flubbing lines and breaking characters.
Theatrical Trailer (1:34)
Image Galleries – the three galleries can be accessed through the main menu.
Stills – over 468 various production stills, behind-the-scenes photos, poster art, screen captures, unfinished VFX, and more.
Lobby Cards – 12 lobby cards
Still from Todd-Jones, Puppeteer of the Robot and Spider Smith – 10 behind-the-scenes photos of the construction of the Robot.
The Final Thought
Regardless of what one thinks of the film itself, this 4K UHD edition of Lost in Space is stacked. Recommended!
The big screen adaptation of Lost in Space comes to 4K UHD thanks to Arrow Video.
The Film
Imagine if they’d gotten Lost in Space right in the way Marvel Studios got The Guardians of the Galaxy, right? Matt LeBlanc having a Chris Pratt trajectory to super stardom? William Hurt finally gets the box office legitimacy after a mercurial career more known for the acclaim than success. New Line gets its mega box office success sooner than The Lord of the Rings (does The Lord of the Rings even happen?). As it stands now, Stephen Hopkins’ film is a late ‘90s big-budget sci-fi adventure oddity. One that gets things right as much as it gets things wrong.
Sixty years in the future (from 1998) finds the humans finally ready to save themselves as the Earth is dying. Dr. Robinson (Hurt) and his family of geniuses have prepared a ship for traveling across the universe to find a habitable planet. Of course, this mission goes awry because of the terrorist Dr. Smith (Gary Oldman). Now lost in space, Robinson, his family, Major Don West (LeBlanc), and Smith have to figure out where and when they are.
Lost in Space is the kind of crass beginning to a film series with all the trappings of that kind of film entry. Yes, it does tell a single story, but it also managed to leave space for sequels. Rather than focusing on what made the show so great – the relationship between Smith and Will – the film gets lost in a big-budget action adventure with “action heroes” doing “action hero type things”. None of that works. It all feels so disingenuous and contrary to what Lost in Spacewas that it’s all meaningless. LeBlanc and Hurt seem to be vying for action hero supremacy with their respective types of leading men. LeBlanc is doing the hero thing. Hurt doing the brooding man of science thing. Neither really works because both seem to be so bent on being the most serious version of it, they forget they’re in a big-budget space adventure.
Adding to the frustration, Mimi Rodgers, Heather Graham, and Lacey Chabert, all of whom show a glimpse of charm and star power, are stranded doing literally nothing in the minimal screentime they’re given. Rodgers has one scene where she has to yell and the boys. Graham is hampered by a script that thinks her pushing away West’s advances is charming. Chabert is saddled with an awkward proto social media account and fawning over LeBlanc with a little crush. They do the best they can, but they’re all better than the material and screentime given.
To make matters worse, the Smith and Will story, once it gets going in the late third act, really does work. Oldman is delightful as the mischievous Dr. Smith and pushes Jack Johnson (not the New Girl actor or the singer/songwriter), the young Will Robinson’s performance better than the stilted one it is in the rest of the film. In fact, everyone besides Oldman is wooden and stifled in a plot-heavy script that doesn’t give anyone a sense of adventure or fun. It is all so serious to the point of ridiculous. Part of the fun of the TV series Lost in Space is the clever play on The Swiss Family Robinson story it was telling week to week. That fun and sense of adventure, and family are gone.
To make matters worse, the world-building and VFX work is as mixed a bag as the story itself. Anything CG-based looks like it needs a few more months of rendering time. It looks half-baked even for 1998. Though when the film decides to use miniature and traditional optical FX, it looks amazing. Just compare the opening and closing set pieces. The opening, which is all CG, looks like a cut scene from a PS3 game. The ending escape from the planet that uses multiple techniques with a heavy dose of miniatures looks refined and timeless in a way the rest of the film does not.
Lost in Space may have been a relic of 1960s TV pop culture, but it always found a way to be fun and imbue each episode with a sense of adventure and play that just isn’t here, no matter how big the budget is. Also, that EDM version of the Theme Song at the end and the EDM credit sequence is wow very ‘90s in a way that I’m not sure I like.
The Transfer
The all-new 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative by Arrow Films, approved by director Stephen Hopkins, presented in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible), is a flawless representation of the film’s 35mm origins. Having projected this film numerous times during its initial theatrical run, I can say that the film in home video iterations never lived up to how wonderful it looked projected on a 70-foot screen. I can honestly say with the release of the 4K UHD that we have a home video release that rivals the theatrical exhibition of the film. The film looks stunning in Dolby Vision, with the opening action scene popping off the screen. The only problem is that the transfer is so sharp and the colors so good that it points out some of the more lackluster CG shots. Arrow and Hopkins have done a marvelous job of bringing Lost in Space to 4K.
The Extras
They include the following;
The first of two audio commentaries is an archival track with director Stephen Hopkins and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman. The 1998 track opens with the duo discussing how they each got involved with the project. Some of the details include Hopkins discussing how he felt the need to make the movie darker in tone than the original TV series he had an affection for; his visual inspirations that they took from Syd Mead, Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko; how Goldsman structured the film in his screenplay; the cameo of the original cast of the TV series; the work done for casting of Will Robinson; the various changes made from script to screen and the reasons why they were made; the building and design of the updated versions Robbie of the Robot; the challenge of the costumes and the design; the design of the Jupiter 1/Jupiter 2 – and a discussion of the design of the launch sequence; a larger discussion of the various deleted or unused moments from the script; a larger discussion of the various VFX work done and how it was accomplished; a larger discussion of the practical challenges of directing a big-budget sci-fi event film; and much more.
The second of two audio commentaries is an archival track with visual effects supervisors Angus Bickerton and Lauren Ritchie, director of photography Peter Levy, editor Ray Lovejoy, and producer Carla Fry, all recorded separately. Some of the details include Bickerton discussing the total number of shots that were created for the film and the challenges that were presented; Levy’s discussion about visual consistency shooting in a film, and the technical aspects that come into play when this is a big-budget science fiction film; the various designs and discussions about how they accomplished them and the theories behind their new designs for things like the suits, the Jupiter 1, and Robbie the Robot; a discussion of 2nd unit photography that was at night and why this was done; a larger discussion of the visual style and challenges posed for Levy as director of photography; the work that editor Ray Lovejoy did that extends beyond just cutting the picture; a larger discussion of the various set pieces and how they were accomplished and the various techniques they used to accomplish them; and much more.
A Space Odyssey Stephen Hopkins on Lost in Space (20:58) – is an all-new interview with director Stephen Hopkins that opens with how he heard about the project and the difficulties in adapting the original TV Series. Hopkins goes on to discuss how they approached the design of the film and the difficulties in figuring out the change from TV to Big Screen; their discussions with NASA about the future tech and what they took from that; the difficulties filming with the robot, which leads to a discussion of just how complex a shoot this was with upwards of five units; the work done with the Dr. Smith spider and Gary Oldman’s work to accomplish this; the lengthy prep work done and how similar sci-fi films and period film; and much more.
Lights in the Sky Peter Levy on Lost in Space (17:27) – is an all-new interview with the director of photography Peter Levy, that opens with his forty-year relationship with director Stephen Hopkins. The director of photography goes on to discuss the challenges of the early days of CG FX work – including a great story from his work on Cutthroat Island; the challenge of things like interactive lighting in the days before previz; the camera and lens packages he used from Panavision, and how he and Hopkins went about choosing what they used; working with Gary Oldman post-directing Nil By Mouth; working with William Hurt who was very different than Oldman at the time; and much more.
A Journey Through Time Akiva Goldsman on Lost in Space (17:56) – an all-new interview with producer and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman begins with how he got involved in screenwriting. The Producer/Screenwriter goes on to discuss how he became involved with the project and his love for the original TV series; a discussion of Irwin Allen and his love for the TV Series rather than the Films and why; his love of sci-fi and what he loves about the genre as whole; the fact this was his first credit as producer; Goldman and Hopkins firing the line producer and how this became a huge issue – and the trial by fire that ensued; the different approaches that Goldmans and Hopkins had to the material; the test screening process; and much more.
Art of Space (32:17) – is an all-new interview with supervising art director Keith Pain, which begins with his collaboration with production designer Norman Garwood, who got the job for Lost in Space. The art director goes on to discuss that he had not seen the original TV series; Garwood’s dictum about not referencing the original designs; how they designed the robot, and how they got it to move so fluidly; working with the various actors during the production and who was difficult and who was easy to work with; the challenges of the production which was a very difficult shoot; and much more.
Sound of Space (9:20) – is an all-new interview with sound mixer Simon Kaye and re-recording mixer Robin O’Donohue, beginning with how they came to the production after working with Hopkins on Ghost and the Darkness and the challenges of the production itself and keeping the Dolby standards for sound.
Crafting Reality An Interview with Kenny Wilson, former Mould Shop Supervisor at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop (6:54) – is an all-new interview with Kenny Wilson, mould shop supervisor begins with the specific challenges that the production posed, and the constantly changing cast became an issue. Wilson goes on to discuss the various jobs and responsibilities and the challenges from the production; and more.
Lost But Not Forgotten in Space (18:32) – is an all-new video essay by film critic Matt Donato that discusses both the TV Classic and the 1998 sci-fi action update. Donato does his best to reassess this 1990s big-budget sci-fi box office failure. Talking up its finer points and also discussing the rough edges of this well-meaning, entertaining event film will have you wanting to take a kinder eye on this film. The featurette was sharply written by Donato and edited by William Allum.
Deleted scenes (11:47) – a collection of deleted scenes pulled from Stephen Hopkins’ director’s cut edit. It appears that many “last-minute” edits and changes were made to nine scenes and an entire subplot with the blawp creature.
Building the Special Effects (15:57) – in this archival featurette with visual effects supervisor Angus Bickerton and animatics supervisor Mac Wilson break down the various work that was done for the production. The featurette uses various stages of completed shots to illustrate the complexity, even for 1998, the production faced when creating these images.
The Future of Space Travel (9:47) – in this archival featurette exploring the film’s vision of the future and just how accurate even halfway to 2058 (which the film takes place) have begun to come true (e.g., consumption of natural resources) and much of what has not (wormhole travel, space travel, et. al.).
Q&A with the original cast – TV Years (7:34) – an all-too-brief look back at the Lost in Space TV series. Featuring interviews with June Lockheart, Angela Cartwright, Marta Kristen, and more.
Bloopers (2:44) – various cast members flubbing lines and breaking characters.
Theatrical Trailer (1:34)
Image Galleries – the three galleries can be accessed through the main menu.
The Final Thought
Regardless of what one thinks of the film itself, this 4K UHD edition of Lost in Space is stacked. Recommended!
Arrow Video’s 4K UHD Edition of Lost in Space is September 2nd
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