Lost in Space

1998 Sci Fi

This $90 million science fiction adventure is adapted from the television series, created by Irwin Allen, which originally ran on CBS from 1965 to 1968. The original series employed a Swiss Family Robinson in outer space premise; sent to colonize a planet in the Alpha Centauri system, the Robinson family was thrown off course by a stowaway and was left wandering from planet to planet (and changing along the way from a black-and-white series to a color series). The 1998 remake is set in the year 2058, when the United Global Space Force sends Professor John Robinson (William Hurt) and family -- wife Maureen (Mimi Rogers), daughter Judy (Heather Graham), teen Penny (Lacey Chabert), and 10-year-old Will (Jack Johnson) -- on a promotional space jaunt to herald the "offshore" future for the human race (now saddled with eco problems on Earth). Major Don West (Matt LeBlanc), more accustomed to fighting menacing Global Sedition forces, is reluctant to sign on as the Jupiter II pilot but quickly changes his mind after he gets a good look at Judy in her fetish-fashioned space togs. Space spy Dr. Smith (Gary Oldman), hired to sabotage the mission, programs in problems but winds up aboard the craft unconscious. Once awake, he summons the Robinsons from suspended animation, and they save the ship just in time, passing through hyperspace to arrive near an Earth ship where they encounter space-pet Blawp and hordes of teethy spiders. A spider bite makes the villainous Smith mutate, one of some 750 special effects, from animatronics (Jim Henson Creature Shop) to CGI, and other adventures await throughout the galaxy. Cameos include actors from the original series, including June Lockhart and Robot Voice Dick Tufeld. In a curious coincidence, the TV series took place in the future of 1997, the year this movie was produced. more..

Director: Stephen Hopkins

Starring: William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc,Gary Oldman, Mimi Rogers, Heather Graham

Reviews

  • A wild ride through nonstop visual effects yet a warm wallow in the cinema of the dumbed-down.

    Peter Stack - The San Francisco Chronicle

    26 April 2013

  • Is any of this, you know, fun? Just barely. But I'm sure I would have loved it at 6.

    Owen Gleiberman - Entertainment Weekly

    26 April 2013

  • Though there's an obvious, admirable effort to supply character development and plot twists, the set-work and special effects - both stylish and stunning - tend to dominate.

    - Empire

    26 April 2013

  • The filmmakers can't decide what sort of picture they're trying to cook up, so they keep oscillating among shallow psychological drama, high-tech action sequences, and comedy scenes that are themselves an uneasy mixture of sitcom-style dialogue and self-mocking campiness.

    David Sterritt - Christian Science Monitor

    26 April 2013

  • The whole thing is fun for 11-year-olds of all ages.

    Maitland McDonagh - TV Guide

    26 April 2013

Awards

  • Top Box Office Films

    ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards (1999)

  • Best Costumes

    Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (1999)

     
  • Best Sound Editing - Foreign Feature

    Motion Picture Sound Editors (1999)

     
  • Worst Remake or Sequel

    Razzie Awards (1999)

     
  • Best Family Feature - Drama

    Young Artist Awards (1999)