Customer Reviews

The Lost World

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you didn't see this wonderful Lost World minseries A&E did, buy the DVD or video. Or do like I did-buy it after having seen it on A&E. It was spectacular, by far the best film adaptation I have seen of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel. No, it doesn't stay true to the novel (face it, few films ever stay true to the novels they are based on), but the differences actually make the story enjoyable and interesting in its own right separate from the novel.

The changes from the novel include the following:

1) Professor Challenger-in the book, he is not at all a likeable character, and is not meant to be, but in the film, they made him more amenable, yet still kept much of his stubborness and self-righteousness. It was a good compromise for the purpose of viewer accetability of a main character.

2) Agnes Clooney-the female member of the team in the film was not in the novel, but is still a welcomed addition. She is a more liberated woman in some ways, but it isn't done over the top so she is beating up savages and shooting up things (she isn't Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, and that type of character wouldn't have fit in this story). Rather, Agnes as a character does fit a woman living in her circumstances in that time.

4) The Demented Reverend-He wasn't in the book either, but I actually think he wasn't a very good addition. I'm kind of sick and tired of this cliched evil missionary character who kills in the name of the lord. Its been done to death. Thought, admittedly, Peter Faulk played this character very well, and did instill in him more soul and complexity than most of these evil missionary stereotypical characters get in most films.

One thing I really liked about this film was how it was an action/adventure story, but it also made you think about what was going on in the story. It had some really good things to say about man's interaction with nature, and preservation of the environment against exploitation. Challenger, towards the end of the film, makes a comment about science often not being accessible to the public at large without it being dressed up a bit as entertainment. This is exactly what this film does in some ways. It presents and entertaining, engrossing adventure, but also presents interesting scientific thoughts about ecology. Just what can happen when man starts mucking about and disturbing the balance of nature?

And the answer to that question wasn't entirely clear in one circumstance. The dispute between Challenger's point of view versus Lord Roxton's view on what to do with the Ape Men in the film. They were both right and both wrong from my view. This really points to the difficult balance between how much we should interfere in nature and how much we should just leave things alone.

I recommend this film very highly to anyone who loves the original novel, or action/adventure stories in general. This film continues A&E's record of excellence in creating film adaptations of classic stories.

Note: This DVD release is not in a widescreen format as advertised, regardless of what the packaging or Amazon.com listing indicates. A&E have released this film ONLY in a full-screen (4:3) version!

The recent BBC/A&E(2001 UK & 2002 US) co-production of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic dinosaur tale The Lost World is something of a mixed bag in this DVD release. While the adaptation is interesting in its own right, it is not a particularly faithful version of the classic text. Instead of being the "Boys Own" adventure tale of yesteryear it has become something of a special effects laden morality play that touches on the madness of religious zeal and makes an effort to have science triumph over sheer belief. This moral quandary is demonstrated by the inclusion of Peter Falk's character - the Rev. Theo Kerr. Not only does Kerr become a catalyst for catastrophy in this teleplay, but he also changes the tone of the entire production with his religious zealotry and stance against evolution. While the character does give the viewer the benefit of a villain to jeer, the subplot does drag down the pace of the original storyline. The inclusion of the Agnes Cluny character is less of an imposition than one would expect, particularly surprising when one considers that her inclusion is only to make the whole thing more PC for the 21st century by including a woman into the storyline.

Bob Hoskins, while a talented and highly watchable actor, just isn't the robust and bombastic George Edward Challenger of the novel. Where were the outbursts of temper? The physical ejection of Malone from Challennger's home? In fact, where were any of the touches that make Challenger the specific character he is rather than just another nutty professor? A pity that Brian Blessed had not been cast in the part, for he was born to play Challenger.

Strangely, top marks in the characterization field go to James Fox for his portrayal of Challenger's academic nemesis - Prof. Leo Summerlee. Fox brought both a stuffy resistance and skepticism to the earlier scenes but grew into an integral part of the team as the story progressed.

So, what about the dinosaurs? In short, they are truly splendid. While not quite the slick work of Spielberg's Jurassic Park series, the viewer will see these creature effects as palpable, living and breathing dinosaurs. Beautifully executed at every turn.

The Special Edition DVD is as mixed a bag as the prodcution itself. While the box packaging states "Exclusive Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1)" it is no such thing. A&E screwed up, as this presentation is in the broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1. I gather that stickers will be issued to retailers indicating the packaging error/correction. This is unfortunate as the film was clearly shot in a widescreen format which makes the most of the scenic vistas to be found in the New Zealand locations. The audio on this DVD is in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo which is fairly robust, but the dense jungle settings could have been favorably enhanced by a full 5.1 Surround track. Still, not at all bad for a "Made for TV" production.

The extras featured on Disc 2 are fairly straightforawd, consisting mainly of a superficial A&E behind the scenes promo - "Inside the Lost World" and a complete copy of The History Channel's "Dinosaur Secret's Revealed". The former offers a fairly brief glimpse into the workings behind the making of the film (a few shots that include a look through the camera viewfinder make it clear this was shot in a widescreen format)with comments from Hoskins and crew members. The latter gives an in-depth look into the history of paleontology and the role of dinosaurs in film. Highly entertaining and informative. The biographies and bibliographies noted as extras are so poorly executed as to be hardly worth mentioning.

Overall, the double-disc special edition DVD is something of a let-down. If you've seen the television broadcast of the main film and the extras, there is nothing on this DVD set that you haven't seen before. Had this actually been a widescreen release, then it would have indeed been a "special" edition well worth the cost!

Bottom line: If you caught it on television give this DVD set a miss, but if you haven't seen it before, there are much worse ways of spending 4-5 hours.

The BBC/A&E production of "The Lost World" tunred out much better than I expected, giving us slick storytelling and solid characters with good acting.

THE STORY is 'basically' the same. Well, at first I was worried looking at the cover -- six people apparently looking at the dinosaurs. Six? Yes, the film, based on Conan Doyle's 1912 novel, added TWO extra characters to the original expedition team (misunderstood genius Prof. Challenger, natural-born cynic Prof. Summerlee, newsreporter Edward Malone, adventure-loving hunter Lord Roxton), which are about to reveal the secret of the plateau in the Amazon, and to prove that dinosaurs are still living there.

THE NEW CHARACTERS are one zealous priest and his niece, played by Peter Falk and Elaine Cassidy respectively. They join in Professor Challenger (Bob Hoskins) and his team in the jungle, only to complicate the situation -- deadly dinosaurs, the more dangerous apemen (or the Missing Link) and the "Indians" (so they say).

The addition, in fact, works for the better, getting rid of the annoying elements in the original book, like the patronizing way Doyle treated the natives in the book. And other changes done to the story are justified, but some might find the different tone in the ending (or the modernized answer to Challenger's expedition) slightly anti-climax, compared with the slient version, or Spielberg's "Lost World."

SPECIAL EFFECTS are first-rate, with the convincing images of dinosaurs walking in the jungle. The fierce fight between the humans and the allosaurs is the highlight of the film though some kids find it too horrible. (And parents should be warned that there is a suggested scene of cannibalism). The location is fantastic, showing some of the scenes (like the entrance to the plateau) almost exactly as the book tells us.

In spite of its length (more than 2hrs 30 mins), "The Lost World" keeps on rolling as smooth as "The Jurassic Park," and it makes you think a little about the way we meddle with the nature. It aspires to be more than just a dinosaur movie, and it succeeds well.

The Lost World (2001) is high quality. I spent four hours over two days watching this on tv with all the commercials in between. Of all the movies I've seen on tv in the past few years this is probably the most memorable.

This version of The Lost World reminds me of the 1960 version, obviously due to it being based on the same book, and I knew some major points of the story and seeing them redone with a contemporary style was very rewarding. I love this movie.
It is quite modest and not full of in-your-face visual effects.
The length (given by IMDB at 2 and a half hours) is well used to develop characters and all that stuff. I just watched it for interest and because Bob Hoskins is a cool actor, and all this is my review.

I have just watched this on DVD and I can say this is one of the two best adaptations of "The Lost World ever" (The other good adaptation is the TV series as I wrote in my other review(s)). So what if there was a packaging and advertisement error, I did not let the fact that it was in full screen take away from the entertainment value. I love this movie because it is a classic. The extra features on the bonus disk are worth looking at as well. Like the TV series, it is closer to the book than any of the past versions. Be warned; do not let the fact that dinosaurs are in this movie make you think that this is a kid's story. There is minor profanity, mild language, tobaco + alcohol use, handgun use, many deaths, and considerably high blood and gore levels. In fact it borders on getting an R rating. All in all, buy this movie because it will definatley be worth your time.

P.S. If they ever relaese a true widescreen version (if that truly is how it was originaly filmed.)I will buy it so that I can have both versions.

It's London in the early 1900s, and Professor George Edward Challenger (played by Bob Hoskins), a crusty zoologist, has a chip on his shoulder. He feels he is missing the academic recognition he deserves. Which is understandable, for Professor Challenger has just discovered living, breathing dinosaurs--in the Amazon rain forest! Back home, he makes his announcement to the scientific community. But the news is met with derision and disbelief. So, humiliated, he embarks on another expedition, determined, this time, to return with irrefutable evidence of his find.

Accompanying him are his colleague and rival, Dr. Leo Summerlee (James Fox); a sturdy white hunter, Lord John Roxton (Tom Ward); and young Edward Malone (Matthew Rhys), a wet-behind-the-ears reporter on the Daily Gazette newspaper. (He's a bit of a milquetoast if you ask me). Soon after their arrival in the Amazon, the quartet picks up Agnes (Elaine Cassidy), the daughter of an English missionary, Theo Kerr (Peter Falk). She inevitable attracts the romantic attentions of Lord Roxton and Malone.

As one would expect, the group encounters a variety of dinosaurs: iguanadons, allosaurs, pterosaurs, and what looks like a brontosaurus. There's even a gigantic forest pig. They run into ape-men and Amazonian Indians between whom, the explorers find out to their cost, a bloody war has been raging. And, they must deal with Agnes's preacher father, whose madness threatens to jeopardise the expedition.

The special effects and animation, from the BBC series Walking With Dinosaurs, are top-rate. The ape-men, in particular, make it easy to imagine they are more than just actors in monkey suits and make-up. Very impressive.

The big-game hunter Lord Roxton is worth a special mention. He is by far my favorite character. What a rogue! Watching the swaggering, grim, mustachioed Lord Roxton on screen, it's hard not to chuckle as he flirts with the ladies, intimidates the natives with his shooting prowess, sneers at the weaklings around him, and blasts away at every living creature in sight. The scene where Lord Roxton takes his trusty elephant gun for a one-on-one with a marauding allosaur is arguably the film's high point. A classic aristocratic adventurer, Lord Roxton is the most appealing character here, possibly apart from Professor Challenger himself; he certainly turns out to be the wisest.

As a long-time fan of Kipling, Haggard, Buchan, and other imperial adventure writers, I'm giving this DVD a thumbs-up. This is a movie in the traditional mold, faithful to Conan Doyle's book, attentive to period detail, free of the ideological hang-ups that nowadays tend to mar otherwise sound films of this sort. Plus, like the recent Lord of the Rings trilogy, it was filmed in the beautiful land of New Zealand. But what more would you expect from a BBC production? A jolly good show.

The word Widescreen is used to promote this two DVD set.It's all over the packaging as an exclusive feature of this edition.Too bad they forgot to tell the people producing the DVD not to pan and scan the film. If I wanted a panned and scannned version I could have taped it off A & E when they broadcast it.This is an overpriced,falsely advertised, rip-off.

This is the Ultimate 'Lost World' Dinosaur movie experience. Had this been released in the theaters it may have been just as big, if not bigger, than the Jurassic Park Lost World. It sets around the much more believable theory, unlike Jurassic Park where the Dinosaurs we're magically recreated by a few droplets of DNA from a Mosquito, something Scientists still admit is physically not possible, And set the Dinosaurs as always living, from the time of their origin, in a remote Plateau deep in the South American Rain Forests, land where No man has lived to see, especially since it takes place in the early 1900's when Planes and Helicopters we're not exaclty accessible. All in all, one of the Best movies I've personally ever watched, and the fact that it was never in theaters makes it even more incredible. Well worth the x amount of dolalrs it costs for the DVD, no matter what format it is in.

Why I like this movie is the special effects did not
rob the story line or the great acting. This is a
3 hour movie on DVD and it is wonderful for the
whole family. The scenes are great. Character
development was will done. And I liked the ending.
I did not know this author (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
wrote something like this.

The BBC's 2001 version of Arthur Conan Doyle's oft-imitated The Lost World is better than most (not saying much considering the low budgets and abysmal special effects of most versions over the past half century) but it still takes plenty of liberties with the source material. Bob Hoskins' irritable Professor Challenger and James Fox's Professor Summerlee (played as a sly impersonation of vowel-strangling art critic Brian Sewell) are faithful enough, but once again a new female character has been written into the story for purely demographic reasons in the form of Elaine Cassidy's daughter of Peter Falk's missionary, though this does at least allow the script some contentious throwaway discussion of Creationism vs. Darwinism to help stake its claim to a higher intellectual plateau than its cheap-and-cheerful rivals. But of course, it's the dinosaurs that people are really interested in. They're mostly to be found in the second half (the show was originally broadcast in two parts over Christmas) and if you can't quite help shaking the suspicion that this version was only produced was because the BBC still had all that costly computer software left over from Walking With Dinosaurs on their hard drives it's impressive enough to leave little ground for complaints even if it's not quite Jurassic Park standard. Indeed, it's in many ways the perfect choice for a BBC adaptation: part period costume drama, part nature and science documentary, and even if the definitive version has still yet to be made, this will do well enough in the meantime.