The Robinsons: Lost in Space (TV 2004)

In the year 2082, the Earth was invaded by aliens after it was long determine that existence of extra terrestrials was long thought to be science fiction. Major cities crumbled from the ... See full summary »

Director:

John Woo

Writers:

Irwin Allen (original concept), Douglas Petrie

Stars:

Jayne Brook, Mike Erwin, Brad Johnson

Cast

Credited cast:
Jayne Brook	...	Maureen Robinson
Mike Erwin	...	Don West
Brad Johnson	...	John Robinson
Ryan Malgarini	...	Will Robinson
Gil McKinney	...	David Robinson
Carmen Moore	...	First Officer
Adrianne Palicki	...	Judy Robinson

Storyline

In the year 2082, the Earth was invaded by aliens after it was long determine that existence of extra terrestrials was long thought to be science fiction. Major cities crumbled from the destruction of the beings from beyond the stars. The invasion came to a halt when Earth's own armed forces led by Col. John Robinson fought off the invaders and thus Earth won the battle which came to be known as "Robinson's Raid". 15 years have passed by and John Robinson attends a ceremony for his retirement from his services in defending the Earth from alien threat. It was an honoring ceremony, except John's kids aren't that excited about it because John hardly spent that much time with them. After moving from several different homes due to John's line of work created a gap in between his kids and his occupation. This dis-functional family is one of the fewest families chosen to be part of the space program that is heading for a planet called Nova which will become occupied with a new farming colony...

---

Plot Keywords:

unsold tv series pilot

---

Genres:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Television Studios, Regency Television, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The head of the original Robot can be seen behind Will Robinson, when his family came to see the robot he was building.

---

Goofs

When Will and David are threatened to get sucked out into space, they seem to be suspended in mid-air, just grabbing some handle. However, Will's cables are clearly visible in two or three shots. The wires and the temporary music tracks would have been removed if this pilot had been picked up.

---

Connections

Remake of Lost in Space (1965)

---

Soundtracks

"Bloodless Freak"
Written by Thomas Newman
from the Original American Beauty Motion Picture Score
Courtesy of Uni/DreamWorks Records

User Reviews

Will I live long enough to see somebody do this show right?

The wait continues for those who love those early episodes of "Lost in Space" from 1965 and want more.

First we watched the original series slowly degenerate into camp. Then we got the 1998 theatrical film which started promisingly and then, like the series, got silly. And now this pilot, in which the first half consists of whining characters we never really learn to care about, and the second half is a formulaic alien invasion story.

Where is the sense of wonder here that permeated the original series? Douglas Petrie's script, in attempt to add character depth to what many people consider a ridiculous show, just falls flat. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't send a family who can't get their you-know-what together on a major space mission. And John Woo's direction, especially in the action-packed second half of the show, proceeds at breakneck speed with no sense of pacing. Like too many films these days, it's fastfastfast and never pauses to take a breath.

The antagonists in this pilot were a particularly poor choice. Unlike Dr. Smith, who was interesting because you always wanted to know what was going on in that scheming mind of his, these villains have absolutely no sense of subtlety. When the show demands a crafty J. R. Ewing-type, we get instead marauding critters out of a 1950s horror film.

And did you notice -- so much of the focus in this pilot is on the kids! Gee, what went wrong with the original series? Oh yeah, that's right!

Kevin Burns, whose "Time Tunnel" pilot was much better but still resembled the original in little besides nomenclature, really needs to turn over the duties of reviving Irwin Allen TV series to someone who understands them better. "Lost in Space" could be a great show again, and it deserves better than this.