The ubiquitous Harry Alan Towers was a man devoted to turning a profit on ultra-low budget B-movies and THE LOST WORLD is his attempt at the classic Conan Doyle novel. Incredibly, it's a film which seems even more dated than the first adaptation, a silent, black and white movie made in 1925. My guess is that plastic looking toy dinosaurs just don't age very well on film.
The first half an hour is actually pretty good. The recreation of Victorian London is passable and Towers managed to get a couple of decent character actors in the cast. First up is John Rhys-Davies as Professor Challenger; along with Brian Blessed and Bob Hoskins, he's one of the few actors who you can actually see on the written page playing the role. He turns out to be delightful and one of the highlights this production has to offer. Opposite him is the reliable David Warner as Professor Summerlee, a nemesis who becomes a friend during the course of the movie. Aside from Rhys-Davies and Warner, the cast is adequate at best. The square-jawed Eric McCormack seems bland as reporter Malone, turned American here. There are women and cute kids along for the ride. The only interesting actor is Innocent Choda, a genuinely hulking black actor stuck in a bit part as a native guide.
Once the action moves to Africa, nothing much develops. There's some nonsense about an evil skeleton-painted tribe and a few dodgy dinosaurs lurking in the bushes, but that's all the content we get. Eventually the characters head home, where the ill-advised toy plastic dinosaur makes an appearance. Other than the silly models, there are a few 'flying dinosaur' effects, but the less said about them the better. The script, by Towers himself, offers no sense of excitement or danger, we're instead stuck in a pedestrian zone of family adventure, safe all the while. A sequel, RETURN TO THE LOST WORLD, was shot back-to-back with this. It remains to be seen whether it's any better.
The first half an hour is actually pretty good. The recreation of Victorian London is passable and Towers managed to get a couple of decent character actors in the cast. First up is John Rhys-Davies as Professor Challenger; along with Brian Blessed and Bob Hoskins, he's one of the few actors who you can actually see on the written page playing the role. He turns out to be delightful and one of the highlights this production has to offer. Opposite him is the reliable David Warner as Professor Summerlee, a nemesis who becomes a friend during the course of the movie. Aside from Rhys-Davies and Warner, the cast is adequate at best. The square-jawed Eric McCormack seems bland as reporter Malone, turned American here. There are women and cute kids along for the ride. The only interesting actor is Innocent Choda, a genuinely hulking black actor stuck in a bit part as a native guide.
Once the action moves to Africa, nothing much develops. There's some nonsense about an evil skeleton-painted tribe and a few dodgy dinosaurs lurking in the bushes, but that's all the content we get. Eventually the characters head home, where the ill-advised toy plastic dinosaur makes an appearance. Other than the silly models, there are a few 'flying dinosaur' effects, but the less said about them the better. The script, by Towers himself, offers no sense of excitement or danger, we're instead stuck in a pedestrian zone of family adventure, safe all the while. A sequel, RETURN TO THE LOST WORLD, was shot back-to-back with this. It remains to be seen whether it's any better.