Lost In Space Series Reboot In Works
- Thread starter Starscream2112
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I only leap upon every third opportunity to be sleazy.
The idea of a family struggling to survive on a hostile frontier planet has a lot of potential-- the first half dozen episodes or so of the original series were the best-- but I don't have much confidence in a contemporary producer being able to do it justice. The best thing you can say about the movie reboot was that it had a couple of moments of mediocrity, and the TV reimagining was awful beyond belief. I hope this turns out nice, but I have very low expectations.
As long as they don't have John "Sleepwalk" Hurt, I'm gold.
@Joel_Kirk, Time Tunnel was great when you're 10 or 11. I haven't seen it much since then, but I do know my son watched it in his late teens and enjoyed it. As for the CW pilot, nah. Like the LiS reboot pilot, it wasn't up to much. The TT one had a real '7 Days' vibe to it - only a handful of people could remember the 'real' history.
I think a LiS series could be good, if they can give it an 'Interstellar' vibe, that it's tough out there (mind you, what kind of responsible parent takes their kids out into deep space?) (Now waiting for answers revolving around "brave pioneers! Freem!" and similar).
@Joel_Kirk, Time Tunnel was great when you're 10 or 11. I haven't seen it much since then, but I do know my son watched it in his late teens and enjoyed it. As for the CW pilot, nah. Like the LiS reboot pilot, it wasn't up to much. The TT one had a real '7 Days' vibe to it - only a handful of people could remember the 'real' history.
I think a LiS series could be good, if they can give it an 'Interstellar' vibe, that it's tough out there (mind you, what kind of responsible parent takes their kids out into deep space?) (Now waiting for answers revolving around "brave pioneers! Freem!" and similar).
As much as I want to believe, RJI fear you may be correct. So much potential, but who to play Dr. Smith and what writers could combine the Camp and the Cute and the Cutthroat? Plus, my time here is limited and I want it all before I go:
Lost in Space
Foundation
Ringworld
Gateway
Time Tunnel
Land of the Giants
Sound of Music II...wait, oops, sorry, wrong list
Anyway.
Someone must be sucker for punishment, otherwise how does this keep getting re-attempted? The 1998 movie flopped, the pilot from a decade ago never got picked up and its sets ended up being acquired by BSG. I don't have high hopes this time around.
I enjoyed the movie quite a bit.
Gary Oldman. Lacey Chaubert. Even That Guy Who Played Joey.
"And...the monkey flips the switch."
I hope this one works out but I kinda doubt it. The hardware designs as classic but like the family dynamics it was created in a different era. The movie tried to hard to 'update' so things would be relatable to current audiences and created a movie similar in name only. The other reboot was interesting but also changed so much that it would have been better just to call it something different and stop pretending.
Lots of properties go through multiple remake/adaptation attempts before one of them finally works. I think there were a bunch of failed attempts to bring Lord of the Rings to the screen before Peter Jackson's version came along. As for BSG, not only were there one or two failed revival attempts before the Moore reboot, but Glen Larson had been pitching the original premise since the late '60s and didn't sell it until the late '70s. Rejection and failed attempts are a normal, routine part of the creative process. And they aren't indicative of the odds of eventual success. If anything, they can help improve the final work by showing what not do do.
They have never had John Hurt, so you should've been fine.
Perhaps you mean William?
It's one of those movies where I wish it could get a special edition version that improves upon the godawful CGI (the space monkey looks like someone vomited yellow paint) and eliminates Spider-Smith (using a reshoot of older normal human Gary Oldman instead), because it's actually got a pretty decent and enjoyable adventure at its center. It's never gonna happen of course, but it would be cool. The practical effects are actually pretty good, like when the Jupiter 2 first crashes or when it's passing through the exploding planet (which is a thrilling sequence), it's just the CGI that's terrible, even for when it came out.
3 (And I also enjoyed John Carter of Mars)
I will admit Gary Oldman caught the essence of the "early" Smith from the first 4 or 5 episode when he actually exhibited genuine menace. Suave and cunning, so I'll salute the film on that account.
When I saw those early promotional images of the Jupiter resting within its launch gantry, I thought, "Yes! they caught the classic silhouette of ship, they just made it bigger. I'm okay with that." And then they blasted away what turned out to be some kind of "launch shield" to reveal some kind of asymmetric, oblate "egg" shape. Bugger!
And ironically, the Robot looked more interesting in its original anime/manga inspired "mech" frame than it did when Will rebuilt it. At least they hired Dick Tufeld to voice the Robot.
Sincerely,
Bill
When I saw those early promotional images of the Jupiter resting within its launch gantry, I thought, "Yes! they caught the classic silhouette of ship, they just made it bigger. I'm okay with that." And then they blasted away what turned out to be some kind of "launch shield" to reveal some kind of asymmetric, oblate "egg" shape. Bugger!
And ironically, the Robot looked more interesting in its original anime/manga inspired "mech" frame than it did when Will rebuilt it. At least they hired Dick Tufeld to voice the Robot.
Sincerely,
Bill
3 (And I also enjoyed John Carter of Mars)
Four (but although I've got John Carter, I haven't watched it yet).
I thought the film was O.K. - it might have helped that I didn't like the series though...
I loved John Carter (aside from its opening minutes) and I thought Green Lantern was decent (it might've been better-received if it hadn't had the bad fortune of coming out in the same year as Thor, Captain America, and X-Men First Class), but the Lost in Space movie was pretty bad. It failed to capture the essence of the original, because it made the family stereotypically dysfunctional and totally unsympathetic. I don't think they got Smith right either. They actually had him call himself "evil," but the original Smith wasn't exactly evil even at his worst; he was an Iago-like manipulator, driven by greed and self-preservation and callous enough to arrange to kill indirectly or at a distance, but with enough of a conscience that he couldn't bring himself to kill someone he knew personally or to cause direct harm to a child. The Smith of the early episodes had contradictions and nuance that made him interesting, but the movie Smith was a one-note villain.
And it was weird for a movie called Lost in Space to focus its story on time travel instead of space travel. The only real reason they did that was because they wanted to get Bill Mumy to play the older Will, and when that didn't work out, it left the time-travel story kind of pointless.
But Lacey Chabert did totally steal every scene she was in. And no, I'm not talking about sex appeal or anything like that, I'm talking about her performance and the sheer energy and expressiveness she brought to it. Even with the squeaky voice, she was an endlessly fun presence and brought her scenes alive in a way the other actors couldn't manage.
And it was weird for a movie called Lost in Space to focus its story on time travel instead of space travel. The only real reason they did that was because they wanted to get Bill Mumy to play the older Will, and when that didn't work out, it left the time-travel story kind of pointless.
But Lacey Chabert did totally steal every scene she was in. And no, I'm not talking about sex appeal or anything like that, I'm talking about her performance and the sheer energy and expressiveness she brought to it. Even with the squeaky voice, she was an endlessly fun presence and brought her scenes alive in a way the other actors couldn't manage.
Agree. I hope that the revised production design of the Jupiter 2 etc. is treated as was the 1701 revisions from TOS to TMP. It must be recognizable both interior and exterior. That is why I loathed the 1998 film Jupiter 2.
Unnecessary.
One day, someone will understand that LiS is so much a creature of its time, that it cannot be grafted on the body of modern sensibilities for a modern audience not caring about a family adventure in space. Unlike adapting old novels, where there's no strong or culturally fixed visual association (so there's interpretive flexibility) LiS is all about the TV series' visual & character identity--from the robot, Smith, to the Jupiter 2, hard-shaped by a 60s view of the future.
Expect this to be another disaster.
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