LOST IN SPACE

With movie versions of old television programs popping up almost weekly and a resurgence in alien films, LOST IN SPACE is a perfect match of today’s technology and baby boomer nostalgia. Boasting over 750 special effects, this whiz bang popcorn movie, like many modern spectacles, is short on rich writing and logic, but grand on thrills and fun. Nevertheless, LOST IN SPACE speaks for preserving the families of the future and encourages family relationships and biblical morality.

The movie begins in the year 2058 with Major Don West, a fighter pilot getting his partner out of a space battle, in direct disobedience to a superior’s command. As punishment, he is ordered to fly the Jupiter 2 to Alpha Prime, the only other habitable planet in the galaxy. We learn that the nations of earth have stopped fighting and have joined together to colonize space. In 20 years, all of the fossil fuels will be gone and the ozone will be depleted. Earth’s inhabitants need another home. So, the Robinson family, led by Professor John Robinson (William Hurt) is commissioned to perform a recognizance mission, in order to manufacture a star gate which will shorten the current ten year trip to mere seconds.

Viewers learn that Professor Robinson only agreed to take the trip if his whole family would go. We also learn that for the past three years, the family has been so busy learning their roles as crew members, that they have neglected quality family time together. In other words, they are bickering a great deal. Robotics expert Will (Jack Johnson) doesn’t think his father listens to him, while Penny (Lacey Chabert) wants to spend her remaining hours on earth partying with her friends.

Just before launch, Dr. Zachary Smith (Gary Oldman) sneaks on board and programs the on-board robot to turn against the Robinson family. However, Dr. Smith is knocked unconscious by an electrical device and he becomes a stowaway. After launching, the family enters hibernation pods, but the robot begins his sabotage early. Dr. Smith wakes up, realizes he is on the ship and lets the Robinson family go so that he, too, will not be destroyed. The Jupiter 2 heads off course towards the sun. Major West performs a bold maneuver to let the sun fling them away deep into space. If not, they will all be burned. The sun fling maneuver works, but now the family is LOST IN SPACE. After battling space spiders and crash landing on a frozen planet, the Robinson family face further troubles with time travel where they meet foes that once were friends.

Like INDEPENDENCE DAY and MEN IN BLACK, LOST IN SPACE is carefully crafted and marketed to reach a big audience. LOST IN SPACE promises to be big, fast, fun and a real crowd pleaser. On most accounts it delivers. The special effects are special. The sounds and sights surprise. Dr. Smith performs as a classic villain, and Major West exhibits real daring-do (a surprising turn by Matt LeBlanc). The story, however, weakens near the middle and remains slightly confusing through the end as spectacle is replaced by talk and explanation of time continuums and other pseudo-science talk. Here, action fans may become a bit bored.

Moral Americans and families will be pleased at the constant theme present through the whole story: family togetherness. Despite challenges, internal strife and possible death, the Robinson family overcomes the obstacles placed before them. Though the children are jaded and a little cynical because of the uncertain times in which they live, they nevertheless love their family and are obedient. Professor Robinson repairs a strained relationship with Will. Will and Penny learn to work together instead of to fight each other, and Mrs. Robinson praises her husband for the good he does. Furthermore, Judy Robinson (Heather Graham) thwarts a suggestive, but strong sexual advance from the Major, and Dr. Smith tells Will that he shouldn’t use foul language. Concerned viewers will also delight in the tameness of the action oriented violence. No sex or nudity is depicted.

LOST IN SPACE achieves a good balance between 90’s film technology and 60’s campiness. The sets and scenes are a bit darker and more sophisticated than the TV program, but the voice of the robot is the same, and viewers can take pleasure in old fashioned family ingenuity, largely absent in today’s TV programs and films. Without a lot of objectionable content, LOST IN SPACE stands as a potential crowd pleaser for fans young and old. With a rather vague ending, this movie seems ready to demonstrate that the Robinson family can still be lost in space in the future.