The Robinsons: Lost in Space (2004)

Wonderful Movie

Strong and Moving!

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Third time around for the Robinsons. This time, John Robinson is a retired space marine colonel/war hero who insists on taking his family wife Maureen,teens David and Judy, ten year-old Will, Will's robot and baby Penny) to another planet to become peaceful farmers and live off the land. After some by-the-book family melodrama (none of them, it seems, want to go on this trip), the Robinsons are on their way. Their mother ship (the "Jupiter") is soon under (unexplained) attack by clichéd aliens. David appears to be killed and the rest of them (along with hot young pilot Don West) are forced flee through a black hole in their landing craft (the "Jupiter 2"), ending up, well, you know...Overall, typical action pilot. There's a lot of exposition to pack into 40-some minutes, and too much of that time is wasted on setting up the Robinson's dysfunctional dynamics, so it's hard to tell where this is all supposed to lead. It's a fair bet, however, that since it was made for the WB, had this been picked up, we would have seen a lot of Judy and Don.John Woo's American career had pretty much derailed by 2003 and he was reduced to making this pilot for the WB. Actually he does an OK job, even managing to work in his trademark doves and slow motion.As for the cast, about the only ones who impress are Ryan Malagrini as Will Robinson and Adrianne Palicki as Judy.As is usual for unsold pilots these days, there are no credits (other than a crudely animated main title) and several visual effects (e.g. wire removal)were never finished.As a side note, the sets were bought by the producers of "Battlestar Galactica" and after some modifications, were used as the interiors of the Battlestar Pegasus.

I found this while browsing, don't remember where. The quality kinda sucked (352x240 at 1150 kbps) but I was curious about it. Sadly, I wasn't overly impressed with it. It was kinda standard TV, but still almost entertaining enough.Huge goof: 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.Also kinda goofy is the use of 2003 Battlestar Galactica music (Richard Gibbs' "Are You Alive?", "Main Title" and "By Your Command") and right after that, Thomas Newman's music from American Beauty (track no. 9 Bloodless Freak").The morphing of Penny into a baby is mildy surprising, maybe they were gonna use it as an arc, like Penny gets sucked into so time-space warp and returns as a teen, preteen or fully grown adult, depending on which actress the network owes a favour to.And Jayne Brook as mom Maureen is hotter than Adrianne 'big chin' Palicki as daughter Judy, that's never a good sign. I'm not sad that it's not picked up, but i'd not have minded watching it on TV. Buying it or giving it space on my hard drive, nah.

I guess most people who have seen this unaired TV pilot at this point either worked on the show or saw one of the bootleg versions that pop up on the internet occasionally. I am in the latter group.The Robinsons: Lost in Space was interesting to me mostly for the curiosity factor. The special effects were as good or better than most TV SF in the 1990s or early 2000s. The actors were good. Even the young actors were very professional. There was no low-budget feel to this effort at all, and it would have been great to see where this series might have gone.My main disappointment was the paucity of science fiction present in this science fiction show. The original series (1965-1968), although sometimes silly and childish (it was aimed at children, after all), did indeed focus on some element of science fiction each week. In The Robinsons, the science was mostly in passing. For example, Will's robot experiment was a quick scene. The worm hole was used as a quick device to get them lost, but that's about all.Still, for the Lost in Space completist, or SF fan seeking something that was well made and hard to find, this is well worth a look.

I purchased this In-aired pilot, and after watching this, I found myself wanting to watch more!!! I cannot believe this was never picked up. The actors could not have been a better bunch for this series so once again, The Robinsons are lost in space without an ending at all!!! You need to watch this incredible version of a Sci-fi drama. I thought it had more depth than the new "Battlestar Galactica" The characters are more believable and family oriented. I really enjoyed watching this pilot. The twist at the end was very unexpected, and the second brother (David). I can see now how this could be the beginning of a whole new "Lost In Space" quest. John Woo, you are without a doubt the best!!!