Stranded in Style, but Without the Soul

Read Time:7 Minute, 12 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Lost In Space [Limited Edition]
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Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Adventure
Year Released: 1998, Arrow Video 4K 2025
Runtime: 2h 10m
Director(s): Stephen Hopkins
Writer(s): Akiva Goldsman (screenplay), Irwin Allen (TV series)
Cast: Gary Oldman, William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc, Mimi Rogers, Heather Graham, Lacey Chabert, Jack Johnson, Jared Harris, Lennie James, June Lockhart, Angela Cartwright, Marta Kristen
Where to Watch: available September 2, 2025, pre-order your copy here: www.arrowvideo.com, www.mvdshop.com, or www.amazon.com

RAVING REVIEW: In the late 1990s, Hollywood was eager to mine television nostalgia, repackaging classic titles with blockbuster budgets. LOST IN SPACE arrived in 1998 as part of that wave, promising an epic rebirth of the campy 1960s series into a sleek, effects-driven spectacle. With a cast including Gary Oldman, William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc, and Heather Graham, it looked poised to be both a crowd-pleaser and a new franchise starter. Yet, despite moments of genuine entertainment and now with an Arrow Video 4K restoration that reminds us of its visual ambition, the film never quite found its footing. Instead, it became a curious artifact: half-genuine family space adventure, half-awkward reminder of the perils of big-budget remakes.

The premise sticks close to the original DNA. Earth is on the verge of collapse, so the Robinson family is tasked with colonizing a distant planet aboard the Jupiter II. Their mission is sabotaged by the scheming Dr. Smith (Oldman), sending them spiraling into uncharted space. Along the way, they encounter time anomalies, hostile alien environments, and a constant struggle to maintain their family unit. It’s a story ripe with potential, combining survival drama with intergalactic scale. Unfortunately, the narrative feels overloaded with competing threads, resulting in a film that appears expensive but lacks depth. It feels like a franchise's worth of ideas condensed into one movie.

What keeps LOST IN SPACE from total collapse is its visual design. The sets, crafted with a blend of practical and digital effects, remain striking even by today’s standards. The Jupiter II is an impressively realized spacecraft, and several sequences — particularly those involving treacherous alien landscapes — showcase the production’s ambition. Arrow’s restoration highlights just how much care went into the technical side, from cinematographer Peter Levy’s work to the sound design that layers the mechanical with orchestral drama.

But visuals alone don’t build a compelling story. The performances vary, with Oldman standing tall as the film’s saving grace. His Dr. Smith is slippery, sinister, and occasionally dark, the kind of villain that thrives even in weaker material. Oldman knows exactly how much theatricality to bring, and his presence adds an edge that the rest of the film lacks. By contrast, Hurt feels disengaged as John Robinson, his stoicism coming across more as boredom than gravitas. Mimi Rogers is underserved, while Graham and LeBlanc are saddled with underwritten romantic tension that never feels legitimate. Lacey Chabert and Jack Johnson, as the younger Robinsons, have more to do but often get lost in the noise. The irony is that the film’s most endearing character is the Robot, which conveys more emotion than half the cast.

Part of the problem lies in tone. The original series balanced a first-season seriousness with later campy adventure, and that elasticity gave it charm. The film, however, leans heavily into seriousness, stripping away the playful quirks and warmth that made the Robinsons relatable. The attempt to craft a darker, more "adult" take on the material results in a muddled middle ground: too brooding for children, too cartoonish for adults. This confusion becomes most evident in the final act, which drifts into a time-warp subplot complete with mutations that feel more grotesque than inspired. The infamous CGI character Blarp, designed by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, was meant as comic relief but has since become emblematic of the film’s misfires. This creature looks out of place in an already uneven narrative.

Critics at the time were divided, with many offering harsh assessments. Roger Ebert called it a “dim-witted shoot-’em-up,” and others pointed to the clunky script by Akiva Goldsman as the main culprit. Audience responses were mixed as well. Some appreciated the slickness and sense of scale, while others dismissed it as soulless and derivative. Financially, it recouped its budget with a global haul of $136 million. Still, it wasn’t enough to spark the franchise New Line had hoped for, and by the time STAR WARS returned to dominate sci-fi a year later with THE PHANTOM MENACE, LOST IN SPACE had already been relegated to a curiosity.

The film isn’t without defenders. Some fans appreciate its sheer weirdness — spider mutations, time paradoxes, and all. In retrospect, its excess makes it an interesting time capsule of late-’90s blockbuster culture. Hopkins’ film feels like an artifact from an era when spectacle was trusted to carry the day, even when the story struggles to hold its own. And in a way, that makes it worth revisiting, especially in Arrow’s edition that contextualizes its production with interviews, commentaries, and essays. As a visual experience, it remains enjoyable to watch. As a story, it leaves something to be desired.

LOST IN SPACE is the definition of middling: ambitious but hollow, entertaining in bursts but flat overall. It represents both the allure and the downfall of late-’90s Hollywood sci-fi, where style outpaced substance. For all its flaws, though, the film remains oddly fascinating. It’s not great, not awful, just stranded in between — much like the Robinsons themselves.

Bonus Materials:
4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative by Arrow Films, approved by director Stephen Hopkins
4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio and lossless stereo audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Archive audio commentary with director Stephen Hopkins and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman
Archive audio commentary with visual effects supervisors Angus Bickerton and Lauren Ritchie, director of photography Peter Levy, editor Ray Lovejoy, and producer Carla Fry
A Space Odyssey, a newly filmed interview with director Stephen Hopkins
Lights in the Sky, a newly filmed interview with the director of photography, Peter Levy
A Journey Through Time, a newly filmed interview with producer and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman
Art of Space, a newly filmed interview with supervising art director Keith Pain
Crafting Reality, a newly filmed interview with Kenny Wilson, former mould shop supervisor at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop
Sound of Space, a newly filmed interview with sound mixer Simon Kaye and re-recording mixer Robin O’Donohue
Lost But Not Forgotten in Space, a new video essay by film critic Matt Donato
Deleted scenes
Building the Special Effects, an archival featurette with visual effects supervisor Angus Bickerton and animatics supervisor Mac Wilson
The Future of Space Travel, an archival featurette exploring the film's vision of the future
TV Years: A Q&A with the original cast of the TV series
Bloopers
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Pye Parr
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by critic Neil Sinyard, articles from American Cinematographer, and an excerpt from the original production notes

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[photo courtesy of ARROW VIDEO, MVD ENTERTAINMENT]

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