Lost in Space (1998)

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Movie
German title Lost in Space
Original title Lost in Space
Country of production USA , UK
original language English
Publishing year 1998
length 125 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Stephen Hopkins
script Akiva Goldsman
production Carla Fry
Akiva Goldsman
Stephen Hopkins
Mark W. Koch
music Bruce Broughton
camera Peter Levy
cut Ray Lovejoy
occupation

Lost in Space is an American science fiction film from 1998 . It is based on the television series Lost Between Alien Worlds , which is originally called "Lost In Space". The film opened in German cinemas on September 24, 1998.

action

In the year 2058 mankind will have to look for a new home, because the earth is threatened with collapse - caused by an almost completely missing ozone layer and exhausted raw material reserves. For this reason, the United Global Space Force wants to send its chief scientist, Professor John Robinson, and his family, who also work in science, to the next inhabitable planet Alpha Prime with the research spaceship Jupiter II . They are supposed to prepare the planet for colonization and for this purpose install a hypergate, a kind of receiving station for subsequent spaceships, in its orbit . Without a hypergate, the exit point for spaceships traveling with hyperdrive is difficult to calculate and can be anywhere in space.

With global separatists attacking the hypergate under construction in orbit, the launch is being brought forward. Major Don West, one of the fighter pilots who fought off this attack, involuntarily becomes the new pilot of Jupiter II, as his predecessor was killed by the Separatists. The mission, however, is carried out by agent Dr. Zachary Smith sabotaged. He reprograms the Robinsons' work robot so that it is supposed to kill the Robinsons 16 hours after launch into space. But Dr. Smith is betrayed by his clients and remains unconscious on the spaceship when it takes off. As programmed, the robot tries to kill the family, but in doing so it also damages the navigation system. When Smith wakes up, he is forced to wake the family and West from their cold sleep , as he cannot steer the ship himself. Will can reprogram the robot, but the ship is off course and is heading for the sun. The only way to escape its pull is to use the hyperdrive. Since the flight could not be calculated beforehand and there is no hypergate, they land in a part of the universe that is unknown to them.

In the orbit of a nearby planet, they encounter a huge energy bubble, inside of which they find a ship called Proteus, which apparently originated from Earth and to which a smaller spaceship of non-terrestrial origin is docked. When exploring the deserted Proteus, it is revealed that the ship was dispatched from Earth to find Jupiter II. In a hydroponic room , they find a monkey-like animal and take it with them. All of a sudden, aggressive spiders appear, which analysis shows that they are made of silicon. When they escape, Dr. Smith injured by one of those spiders. The Jupiter II casts off, and in order to destroy the spiders, Major West destroys the Proteus by blowing up their drive. Due to the shock wave, however, the Jupiter II crashes and has to make an emergency landing on the planet.

Your ship is slightly damaged and the energy reserves are low. They locate an energy source nearby that would be suitable for propelling Jupiter II. The energy source, however, is located in the center of another, ever larger bubble, similar to the one into which you have already flown in orbit. It turns out that the bubble has characteristics of a time machine and that the bubble in orbit unintentionally moved it several years into the future.

Professor Robinson and Major West explore the bubble and find themselves in an alternate future. The Jupiter II also crashed here, and all the other members of the expedition have now died except for Will, who is now an adult and has constructed a time machine that is powered by the Jupiter II drive. Will wants to travel back in time to prevent the family from flying into space while on earth. Suddenly the future Dr. Smith, who also survived and has mutated into a spider-man due to the injury caused by the spider. He raised Will and now wants to go back to earth with his time machine to take over with the young spiders that he raises in a brood bag. Robinson and the grown-up Will try to stop the Spider-Smith while Major West goes with young Will and the original Dr. Smith flees the bubble and back to her ship. Robinson can injure the spider-smith on his brood pouch, and the little spiders attack him because this breed eats its injured conspecifics. He falls into the vortex of time that eventually kills him and the spiders because the passage is too small for him.

Meanwhile, the energy of the time machine begins to tear the planet apart. Robinson and the elder Will watch as Jupiter II takes off without her and is hit by a rock and destroyed on its flight to orbit. Since the energy of the time machine is only enough for one person, Will sends his father back on board the Jupiter II through the time portal - only a few minutes back in time. Robinson orders Major West not to try to reach orbit due to a lack of energy reserves, but to fly through the planet's core and use its gravitational pull to accelerate. As a result, Jupiter II is thrown into space and the planet bursts behind them. Back in space, the Robinsons activate the hyperdrive again, because they were able to download extensive star maps from the Proteus computer, which contained the coordinates of Alpha Prime .

background

  • The end of the film was supposed to leave open the possibility of sequels, which, however, did not exist due to a lack of success (cost: USD 80 million, worldwide box office income: approx. USD 118.6 million).
  • Except for two, all surviving participants in the old television series could take on supporting roles in the film: Mark Goddard, in the original Major Don West, played the general. June Lockhart, the original Maureen Robinson, stars as Will Robinson's headmistress. Marta Kristen and Angela Cartwright, the first Robinson girls, appeared as reporters.

media

The film was released on DVD in Germany, but was also available on VHS video cassette.

The original soundtrack was released on CD, which also contained the single released by the British band Apollo 440 Lost in Space .

When Heyne Verlag film novels published in German as paperbacks Planet Steel (The New Adventures of Robinson Family) - Lost in Space by Pat Cadigan and Lost in Space by Joan D. Vinge after the original screenplay by Akiva Goldsman .

In 1998, Dark Horse Comics published a three-part comic adaptation of Lost in Space . The draftsmen were Sordon Purell (preliminary pencil drawing) and Terry Pallot (Indian ink). Dark Horse Comics has also released a hardcover version of these three comic editions .

criticism

“A film based on the model of a 1960s television series, which presents impressive locations and numerous special effects, but has nothing more to offer in terms of content than a confused mixture of various science fiction motifs. In addition, the characters remain pale, so that the family never convinces as an organic unit and rather reveals traditional social structures. "

- Lexicon of international film

"Even the 750 special effects, villain Gary Oldman and Oscar winner William Hurt can't save this space trip from getting nowhere."

- Volker Marquardt : Cinema

Awards

  • In 1999, composer Bruce Broughton won an ASCAP Award for the film.
  • The film was nominated for the Saturn Award in six categories in 1999:
    • Best science fiction film
    • Best Special Effects (Angus Bickerton)
    • Best Costume (Vin Burnham, Robert Bell & Gilly Hebden)
    • Best Make-Up (Peter Robb-King)
    • Best Supporting Actor (Gary Oldman)
    • Best Young Actor (Jack Johnson)
  • The film received a Young Artist Award nomination in the categories Best Family Feature - Drama , Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor (Jack Johnson) and Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actress (Lacey Chabert) .
  • Lost in Space was nominated for the Golden Raspberry negative award in the worst new film or sequel category.

Web links

Commons : Lost in Space  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lost in Space. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Volker Marquardt: Lost in Space . In: Cinema . Retrieved November 22, 2016.