Does Land of the Lost look made of 100% Suck or is it just me?

[QuasarVM]

Thanks for the caution against bringing kids. I appreciate that!

My kids have been watching the marathons on SciFi and are even watching them on Chiller channel right now. Too bad they botched the movie.

They truly did.

Granted, it's a film based on a Saturday morning TV show, but serious science fiction writers wrote episodes -- there were episodes from Larry Niven, Theodore Sturgeon (I believe), David Gerrold, DC Fontana and even Walter Koenig.

If one views the old episodes as "animatronics" for a serious film or TV series then it can be put into perspective how I would have brought it back. I would have dropped some of the sillier aspects such as "Dopey", but otherwise it was a solid concept and could have made a great family film!

But there is some truly vile sexual innuendo in this film that is NOT for kids. I won't go further with the description than that. Fortunately, Holly was NOT Rick Marshall's daughter in this film (and Will was not his son)...but they even reduced the character of Rick Marshall to a complete idiot and there's even an implied gay/beastiality (?) scene between him and Chaka.

Vile.

The character of Chaka was used to large extent as a tool for sexual innuendo and gags.

Yes, you read this correctly.

Anyway, I won't get into details but the sexual humor was vile.

I did laugh at parts of the film, but stay away....stay away...if you are a true Land of the Lost fan.

The positive things I can say about it is, I did like the Sleestaks, Enik and Zarn (although in this film Zarn was a Sleestak; whereas in the series he was not...he was an alien). It was good to see they kept the Pylons and the crystals in the film. The special effects were good. It had some funny moments, but surprisingly -- not because of Will Farrell. Rather, due to the co-star who played Will.

But, I really can't recommend it unless you just want to go to see how they made a complete mockery of one of the best and first attempts to bring science fiction/fantasy adventure to Saturday morning TV.

Again, I am astonished the Kroffts were involved in this.

They should be ashamed of the content in this film.

Oh, and Gertsch...love your signature!!! :-)

 

[Trekker4747]

Everyone save themselves the pain in just watch the 1991 remake.

 

[Harvey]

I was surprised Nimoy has a voice cameo in this. I thought he was semi-retired from acting, but then he shows up to deliver a few lines. Weird.

Anyway, it treats the original with all the respect it deserves--basically, none. But it fails to strike a consistent comedic tone, and has some silly leaps in logic (like suddenly being able to communicate with Cha-Ka) that don't work, even in the context of the film. Speaking of which, I think Ebert hits the nail on the head when describing the effects. Like everything else that works in the film, they're deliberately campy. That's why they don't hold a candle to Jurassic Park, etc. They're not meant to. But that doesn't make this film a success.

And, to reiterate another's point, this is definitely not for kids. It definitely pushes the boundaries of a PG-13 rating.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I was surprised Nimoy has a voice cameo in this. I thought he was semi-retired from acting, but then he shows up to deliver a few lines. Weird.

He's had a pretty active year with Star Trek, appearing on Fringe, and doing the voice acting here.

 

[Harvey]

I was surprised Nimoy has a voice cameo in this. I thought he was semi-retired from acting, but then he shows up to deliver a few lines. Weird.

He's had a pretty active year with Star Trek, appearing on Fringe, and doing the voice acting here.

That's true--a pretty active summer for any actor. But in all the interviews with Orci, Kurtzman, and Abrams, they talk about getting Nimoy in the Trek film to be a major challenge, and getting Nimoy on Fringe to be nothing short of a television coup. So when he showed up here, and I had heard nothing about it beforehand, it just struck me as weird.

 

[Amaris]

I was surprised Nimoy has a voice cameo in this. I thought he was semi-retired from acting, but then he shows up to deliver a few lines. Weird.

He's had a pretty active year with Star Trek, appearing on Fringe, and doing the voice acting here.

That's true--a pretty active summer for any actor. But in all the interviews with Orci, Kurtzman, and Abrams, they talk about getting Nimoy in the Trek film to be a major challenge, and getting Nimoy on Fringe to be nothing short of a television coup. So when he showed up here, and I had heard nothing about it beforehand, it just struck me as weird.

Well, voice lines can be quick, and if you offer someone enough money to do a few voice lines, then there would be no real conflict.

J.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I didn't think it was 100 percent sucky but pretty darn close...and very predictable. You pretty much saw the entire movie in the trailers and almost all the funny jokes were included in the trailers as well. Formulaic but with minimal funny moments. It was nice to hear Leonard Nimoy show up...and Will Farrel attempting to play the theme song on the banjo (I assume the lyrics are from the theme song because they sounded familar) Anna Friel was hot and I saw it mostly due to her. Danny McBride was funnier in Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express.

 

[T'Baio]

Here's a review from Devin over at CHUD.com, a reviewer who, I trust and I think is trustworthy.

He was actually pleasantly surprised by the film, when he was expecting to totally despise it like all of you;

http://chud.com/articles/articles/19756/1/REVIEW-LAND-OF-THE-LOST/Page1.html

 

[The Evil Dead]

^
I saw Devin's review the other day so now I'll probably end up watching the film on DVD because of it.

 

[Mr Light]

I just saw the movie and I LOVED it. I can't believe it tanked like this. It was a light fun fantasy action romp with great dinosaur and monster action sequences. It was very colorful and visually interesting. And it was HILARIOUS! There were many laugh-out-loud moments. Will Ferrell and Danny McBride were both very funny in it, and it was cool to see Anna Friel in a movie (and doing her native accent!). Grumpy the T-Rex was the best part of the flick. I went into this expecting a lame kiddie adventure movie but it was actually very adult in humor and there was plenty of cursing and sexual ribaldry. The best surprise of the summer! BTW I haven't seen the original and knew nothing of it.

 

[Captain Craig]

I was surprised Nimoy has a voice cameo in this. I thought he was semi-retired from acting, but then he shows up to deliver a few lines. Weird.

He's had a pretty active year with Star Trek, appearing on Fringe, and doing the voice acting here.

That's true--a pretty active summer for any actor. But in all the interviews with Orci, Kurtzman, and Abrams, they talk about getting Nimoy in the Trek film to be a major challenge, and getting Nimoy on Fringe to be nothing short of a television coup. So when he showed up here, and I had heard nothing about it beforehand, it just struck me as weird.

It has been quite the comeback year for Nimoy who had all but retired from acting...or so we had been lead to think.

I recall the rumor, I stress that but now seeing him so public I think it might've had credibility, that he was on the short list to voice the Fallen in this summer Transformers 2. His ties go back to Galvatron in the '86 Animated movie. Personally I was rooting for this to happen but alas it didn't.

 

[the_wildcard]

For once, I cannot back the ever funny Will Farrell up on this movie. IT looks absolutely horrible from the previews.

 

[nx1701g]

Well it looks like America agrees that LOTL was made of suck looking at the ratings...

 

[Trekker4747]

Well, I've decided that I can't very well insult and pan this movie without having seen it. So.... I will take in a matinee tomorrow and view it.

At the very least, Anna Friel will make it worth it.

 

[bigdaddy]

A Will Farrell movie that is 100% suck?!

SHOCKING NEWS!

 

[Amaris]

Well, I caught the matinee.
Blech.

This movie is utter garbage, and I'm glad I got to see it free thanks to a friend.
Oh, what a terrible movie. To me it felt like Old School + Talladega Nights + Ron Burgundy + Elf + Semi Pro, and I didn't like it one bit. I guess I'm just tired of his schtick. The plot was non-existent, the writing was sophomoric and lacking in any kind of wit, and the acting was, well, par for the course in a Will Ferrell movie. Terrible movie. 1 out of 4 stars.

J.

 

[Daneel]

Well, I've decided that I can't very well insult and pan this movie without having seen it.

Sure you can! You'd still fit in with more than half the people on this board.

So.... I will take in a matinee tomorrow and view it.

You're a braver man than I.

 

[Amaris]

Oh, it's definitely not worth the ticket price.


J.

 

[Brent]

I saw a mother walk her child out of the movie when i went, they didn't come back. i almost walked out myself.

 

[Amaris]

My friend was there so I was very gracious and thanked him and that I appreciated him bringing me along. I didn't like the movie at all, and several times I did want to leave, but out of respect for my friend I stayed.

J.