Review of Lost in Space (1998) by Conan Michael L — 06 May 2010

(from The Watermark, 04/12/98).

The cheesy TV show from the 1960's has been reinvented as a high-tech sci-fi action extravaganza for the 1990's. Too bad the story and characters were neglected for all of the special effects. Hurt plays Professor John Robinson, the scientist who goes on a space colonization expedition and brings his family with him. In this version, though, Dad is a workaholic who has been neglecting Mom (Rogers) and their three kids for some time now. Thus, the film sets up both a space adventure, and one man's discovery of the importance of his own family. The problem, though, is the script doesn't end up delivering the goods. The story doesn't make sense, the dialogue is frequently hideous, and worst of all, Hurt's catharsis happens too late and too simply to be believable. Add to the mix dead-wood performances from Hurt and Rogers, a too-stiff Matt LeBlanc as their pilot, and the annoying Chabert as Penny, and you have a film that is all style and no substance. There is no life is this galaxy. QUEER QUOTIENT: Everybody assumes that the evil Dr. Smith, as originally played by Jonathan Harris, is gay. Oldman's new interpretation of the character seems to be just asexually evil, though he is shown at one point filing his nails. Hmmm...