Stuck for something to watch and not wanting anything too angst-driven, my sister and I decided to throw on 1997's Lost In Space. Given I worked at a cinema when it was released, I'd estimate this was probably my tenth viewing of the film, at least.
It holds up really well. I liked it when it first came out - enough to get the laserdisc and later upgrade that to DVD - and it's still a good watch. I do remember watching the original series on Channel 4 as a youngster, but not all that much about it. The movie has an epic scope, and several very dark moments for what is ostensibly a family film (discovering the graves of the three women in the future, and the Spider Smith). Most of the effects have held up well - the Spider Smith face was pushing animation at the time and is just about okay, and a lot of the Blawp shots always looked unfinished at the time, but the space and ship scenes still look fantastic.
William Hurt looks like he doesn't quite know how he got into the film, but still imbues Pa Robinson with his typical sincerity, giving weight to the obvious father-son stuff. He manages a couple of great "get your hands off my daughter" looks to Matt LeBlanc's Don West as well. Everyone was surprised at LeBlanc's solid work in a non-comedy role at the time, and it's a shame he never did follow it up properly - he plays the hero well. Mimi Rogers is perhaps the cast member least served by the script, only really getting a chance to express concern for everything. Heather Graham reminds you why she got so in demand so fast, and then makes you sad it all fell away so quickly (I do have a theory about people guest-starring on "Scrubs" and their careers nose-diving if anyone wants to hear it).
Lacey Chabert - despite her voice being in that period where it was trying to shatter glass in the surrounding area - makes a spiky Penny Robinson (and had the most hard, disturbing song on the soundtrack dedicated to her by Dirty Vegas) until the script grounds her with mothering Blawp for the duration. Jack Johnson is a fine, non-cloying Will who genuinely makes you believe in his IQ, and is matched by Jared Harris in his advanced age. Gary Oldman, though blatantly just there to pick up funding for Nil By Mouth (see also One, Air Force), seems to relish his ridiculous lines and role. On the laserdisc, the uncut crew gag reel delightfully shows him screwing up lines and swearing in front of Johnson in almost every scene, and also in his mo-cap for Spider Smith ("Stick that in ya fackin' computer and play with it!")
The story seems simple until all the time bubbles start popping, when you actually have to start doing calculations in your head to keep it straight. At one point, there was another bubble, in which they encountered a massive, aging Blawp and elongated the running time by 20 minutes but unsurprisingly that went in post. For what's supposed to be a easy, summer blockbuster, they took a few chances on the story.
The designs and look of the film are still great, and there's also a terrific score by Bruce Broughton, but despite the cast and all the US money behind it, with all those UK effects companies working on it, and the healthy dose of our own techno and pop mixed on the end credits (Fatboy Slim! Propellerheads! Space!) it bizarrely feels more like a British film, and all the more fun for it.
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