'Space' DVD loses its interest

William Hurt is off the mark as the distant and removed John Robinson. As an actor, Hurt doesn't fit well in the role and he overdoes it while trying to get across the tension between John and his son Will.

One of the biggest negatives of the movie is the performance of perennial villain Gary Oldman. Once again, Oldman is playing evil as the sniveling Dr. Smith. The character sneaks on board the Robinsons' spacecraft to sabotage the voyage, but ends up getting stuck with them on the damaged ship. Smith is too passive to put any type of fear in the audience, which is especially disappointing considering Oldman's ferocious turns in films such as "The Professional" and "Air Force One."

The sharp conversations between Judy Robinson (Heather Graham) and Don West (Matt LeBlanc) provide the film's most enjoyable sequences. Graham is delightful as she keeps West at an arm's length throughout the story before giving him the obligatory peck at the film's end.

The DVD, like the film, is loaded with flashy extras. It has two commentary tracks, one features the writer and director, and the other contains the producer, editor, and a few other important behind the scenes players.

The writer and director commentary is very laid back and contains little interesting information. Stories about life on the set or the actors are few and far between, as the commentary focuses on problems with special effects and how they changed the movie. Two things of note included are that Sean Patrick Flanery was originally cast as Don West, and that the man behind the mask in the spider shoot-out scene isn't always Matt LeBlanc. (The actor was shooting "Friends" in America and the mask allowed the production to use a stand-in.)

The second commentary delves deeper into the special effects, and at several points gets very technical about the shots. While this information is probably of great interest to fans of the special effects process, it is a little hard for the average viewer to follow.

The disc also contains interviews with several members of the television show's cast, many of whom made cameos in the film, and a video on the future of space travel. It also has features including the original screenplay that can only be accessed when the DVD is viewed on a computer.

The DVD has plenty of interesting extras, but probably isn't worth the purchase.

Courtesy of New Line Cinema Top: Mimi Rogers is Maureen Robinson in the sci-fi adventure "Lost In Space." The film is now out on DVD.

Bottom: William Hurt gets technical in "Lost In Space."

10-14-98