Lost in Space (film)

Lost in Space
Film poster
Directed by	Stephen Hopkins
Produced by	Mark W. Koch Stephen Hopkins Akiva Goldsman Carla Fry
Written by	Akiva Goldsman TV Show: 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
Editing by	Ray Lovejoy
Studio	Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Distributed by	United States: New Line Cinema Canada: Alliance Communications
Release date(s)	United States: April 3, 1998
Running time	130 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$80,000,000
Box office	$136,159,423

Lost in Space is a 1998 American science fiction film starring Gary Oldman and William Hurt. 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 voyage undertaken by the Robinson family to construct a hypergate on a habitable planet in a new star system, to which the residents of the soon-to-be uninhabitable Earth will be evacuated. A terrorist attack causes the ship to go off course, and the family becomes lost in space.

Several of the actors from the TV show appeared in the film.

Plot

In the year 2058, Earth will soon be uninhabitable after the irreversible effects of pollution. The United Global Space Force serves as the planetary government. Professor John Robinson (William Hurt), lead scientist of the Jupiter Mission, will lead his family, wife Dr. Maureen Robinson (Mimi Rogers), daughters Dr. Judy Robinson (Heather Graham) and Penny (Lacey Chabert) and son Will (Jack Johnson) to the habitable planet Alpha Prime to prepare it for colonization by building a hypergate in orbit. The Jupiter 2 is equipped with a hyperdrive that allows faster-than-light travel, which will eventually be employed to evacuate the citizens of Earth. However hypergates must be constructed on Earth and Alpha Prime to provide stable points of departure and arrival. The project is accelerated after Global Sedition terrorist forces send two armed fighters to destroy the hypergate under construction. Major Don West (Matt LeBlanc), a fighter pilot from the hypergate defense force, manages to destroy the enemy fighters and is unwillingly drafted as the new pilot of the Jupiter Mission, as the previous pilot has been assassinated.

Dr. Zachary Smith (Gary Oldman) is bribed by the Global Sedition to sabotage the mission and is betrayed by his employers, left an unwilling stowaway as the ship blasts off. The sabotage by the robot altered program causes the ship to veer towards the sun. Realizing that it would be impossible to escape the sun's pull at such close range, Major West and Professor Robinson decide to fly through the sun, using the ship's hyperdrive. Unfortunately, without a hypergate to warp to, the ship and its crew end up in a random (and apparently uncharted) part of the galaxy. They then go through a "hole in space" and presumably go to the future. Soon afterwards, they encounter the Proteus, an Earth ship from the future which has been infested with carnivorous and cannibalistic silicon-based spider-like lifeforms, one of which scratches Dr. Smith. Major West destroys the Proteus, annihilating the spiders and annoying Professor Robinson, their disagreement being interrupted by Maureen. However, the shock wave from the explosion has damaged the Jupiter 2, and they crash-land on a nearby planet.

On the mysterious planet, they locate a fuel source with which to refuel the damaged engines of the Jupiter 2. However, it lies in the center of a strange, growing bubble of mysterious origin. Professor Robinson and Major West explore the bubble and discover it is actually an area of time distortion where alternate future versions of Dr. Smith and Will have constructed a time machine, powered by their Jupiter 2's power core, and are planning on returning to Earth at an earlier time to prevent the family from getting lost in the first place. They are all betrayed by the future Smith, who is revealed to have transformed into a giant space spider/human hybrid as a result of the spider scratch he received on the Proteus. He then reveals his plan to go back in time to Earth before the Jupiter 2 lifts off, destroy the ship, and conquer the planet to spread his spider race across the Earth. Robinson battles Spider Smith, while Major West returns to the other Jupiter 2, without the power source, to try to evacuate the other Robinsons. John successfully stops Spider Smith by stabbing a dagger into the eggsac on his back (causing cannibalistic baby spiders to come out and start eating Spider Smith) and tackling Spider Smith into the time machine's field while it is too small for his massive form, killing him.

The family attempts to escape, but the time bubble has made the planet unstable, and it is violently breaking apart. In addition, the ship still does not have enough power to reach escape velocity. The stranded John Robinson watches as the Jupiter 2 is hit by debris and explodes in the sky. Future Will realizes his father does indeed love his family, and lets John use the time portal and travel back in time to the Jupiter 2 just before it launched from his planet. Rather than attempt to escape into the atmosphere, John commands West to pilot the ship through the planet's core as it is breaking up, enabling them to use the planet's gravity to propel the ship through the other side. They escape, but the collapsed planet forms a small black hole that begins to suck in the Jupiter 2. Once again the Robinsons must activate the hyperdrive; however, this time they are able to target Alpha Prime using data downloaded from the Proteus' more detailed star charts. They are presumably transported to Alpha Prime but this is uncertain, as the film ends right as the Robinsons and West activate the hyperdrive.

Cast

• William Hurt as Professor John Robinson – A brilliant scientist placed in charge of the Jupiter Mission. He accepted the post on the condition that his family accompany him; however, his work on the mission resulted in him neglecting his family despite his deep love for them. His father was a famous general who died during his service.
• Mimi Rogers as Professor Maureen Robinson – John's wife, she is also a scientist.
• Heather Graham as Dr. Judy Robinson – The eldest daughter of the family, she followed in her father's footsteps in fulfilling the Jupiter Mission. She is in charge of the cryo-sleep system. She spent three years of her life working on the project, which resulted in her becoming a "ghost" like her father before the mission's launch.
• Lacey Chabert as Penny Robinson – The middle child. She was the most reluctant to go on the mission, as she would leave her life behind. She was arrested several times by the police and returned home. She recorded a video diary on her watch and spoke about how years of training prevented her from getting a life, and that she missed her friends.
• Jack Johnson as Will Robinson – The youngest child and a genius who won many science fairs. His father's preoccupation with the Jupiter Mission meant that Will was somewhat neglected and underestimated, much to his frustration. He formulated a rudimentary theory of time travel and hacked his school's main power grid in order to conduct his experiments.
• Matt LeBlanc as Major Don West – A military pilot in the United Global Space Command, he studied General Robinson's battle strategies and favored more militant actions which sometimes brought him into conflict with the semi-pacifistic John Robinson. Despite this, he was known to risk his life for a friend and his record made him a candidate for pilot of the Jupiter Mission.
• Gary Oldman as Dr. Zachary Smith / Spider Smith – The base physician for the Jupiter Mission, Dr. Smith was bribed by the Global Sedition to sabotage the Mission. He was betrayed by his employers and left on the Jupiter 2 to die. He tends to be philosophical, recognizing his evil acts as evil yet worthwhile for his purposes, and uses duplicity to survive.
• Dick Tufeld as the voice of Robot – The Jupiter 2's mechanical robot, built to maintain the Jupiter 2 in flight and to protect the Robinson family and the mission. Robot's original body was destroyed by Space Spiders on the Proteus, but its "mind" was downloaded by Will, eventually placed into a newer form. It was equipped with numerous weapons including pulse blasters. Robot has become well-known for the line "Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!" Dick Tufeld provided the voice of Robot in the original series.
• Jared Harris as Older Will Robinson – After years of life on an extraterrestrial planet, Will plans to use the time portal to travel back in time to the Jupiter 2.

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, having played the voice of the Robot in the original program, as well as narrating the series. However, Jonathan Harris, who played Dr. Smith in the series, declined the offer to cameo as a Global Sedition businessman who deals with Dr. Smith in the film.

Reception

On its opening weekend, Lost in Space grossed $20,154,919, and debuting at number 1 at the box office, preceded by Titanic. Having knocked Titanic off the top spot after 15 consecutive weeks, the film was nicknamed "the Iceberg." It opened in 3,306 theaters, and made an average $6,096 per screening. Lost in Space grossed $67,041,794 outside of America, and grossed $69,117,629 in America, bringing the worldwide total to $136,159,423, making it a box office success. However, box office results were insufficient to justify a planned sequel.

Reviews were generally negative for Lost in Space, with a 27% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and 42% on Metacritic.

Roger Ebert gave the film 1 and a half out of 4, calling it a "dim-witted shoot-'em-up". Wade Major from Boxoffice magazine gave the film 1 and a half out of 5, calling it "Ostensibly the dumbest and least imaginative adaptation of a television series yet translated to the screen." James Berardinelli was slightly more favorable, giving the film 2 and a half out of 4. While praising the films set design he criticized the film's "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." The film was given one Razzie Award nomination: Worst Remake or Sequel.

Soundtrack

TVT released a soundtrack album featuring a blend of techno music (most of which is only heard over the film's lengthy end credits) and Bruce Broughton's score - Broughton did not make references to either of the TV themes composed by John Williams, whereas the album begins with a newly recorded version of the season three theme. Tracks 9-19 are from Broughton's score. There was also a European version of the soundtrack available that omits Spider Attack, Jupiter Crashes, and Spider Smith in favor of three new songs unused in the film: Aah-Yah, Asphalt Ostrich, and Anarchy. Intrada later released a score album.

External links

• Lost in Space at the Internet Movie Database
• Lost in Space at AllRovi
• Lost in Space (film) at the TCM Movie Database
• Lost in Space at Box Office Mojo
• Lost in Space at Rotten Tomatoes