The Lost World [DVD] [2001]

This is the story of a great adventure. At the beginning of the 20th century four very different men leave London on a strange expedition: they follow the map of a long dead missionary, who thought that he had seen dragons somewhere in the middle of the Brasilian rainforest ... Professor Challenger is convinced that these dragons are dinosaurs, his dour collegue Summerlee thinks that it is a hoax, Lord Roxton likes the adventure and the reporter Edward Malone wants to impress Claire, the girl he is in love with. Somewhere in the Brasilian jungle they are joined by Alice and her uncle, a missionary - for reasons that you have to see for yourself! The expedition finds the "lost world" on a plateau deep in the rainforest. And then the real adventure begins and Tyrannosaurus Rex is not the only danger they have to face ... I loved the film, because it is not only action and special effects, but has some deeper levels as well. Darwin's theories come into it and also the idea that being human means that you have to make choices and that you are responsible for them. That makes it really, really interesting to watch. Much more than Spielberg's "Jurassic Park", which has more action, no psychological depth at all and spends not much thought on the scientific and philosophical questions of Doyle's story. And the acting is excellent! I especially like Bob Hoskins as Challenger. His enthusiasm and his awe in view of the things he sees and experiences in the "lost world" seems so genuine that you are absolutely drawn into the story and see it all with his eyes. And Matthew Rhys as the awkward Edward Malone is quite good as well. The look of dumb shock on his face, when he is faced with another catastrophe (which happens quite often ;-)) is absolutely hilarious!

It lacks the great CG that films can have but still has charm and mystery. Good acting, Strong characters. I read the book a long time ago and it "feels" faithful to the Victorian text (but is not true to the book). This is BBC filming at its best compared with the recent BBC "War of the Worlds" which was dire.

Now I am one of these who read and loved the book. It was written by Arthur Conan-Doyle the Sherlock Holmes author and is of it's time in that in those times natives were not treated in the same light as we are more fortunate today. The story is timeless and groundbreaking. Conan Doyle wanted to get right away from Sherlock Holmes so wrote an adventure book that had it all. A fabulous larger than life professor a genius but flawed- a timid Newspaper man trying to impress the love of his life who wants to marry a great heroic figure, a knowledgeable professor to counter the lead hero in scientific argument and a Great White Hunter who has bags of experience in exploring the unknown, meeting new animals and shooting them! Conan-Doyle chose the exciting discovery of the day- Dinosaurs and virtually invented the genre. (Dinosaurs at that time were not as widely understood out of the scientific field- to illustrate Doyle showed `rushes' of his film story to the magic circle of New York and some of them were convinced the dinosaur fight between the T Rex and Triceratops was genuine footage!) So it was written for the times BUT the BBC are forced to entertain so some of the story has been changed for effect and two central characters Peter Falk as the missionary Theo and his `niece' Agnes. Now some reviewers complain that this dilutes the story and makes it worse. I for one am sympathetic to their views BUT I disagree. Tony Mulholland and Adrian Hodges who have introduced the two new characters but have cleverly included the background that Falk's `Father Leo' is a Christian Fundamentalist who believes the world is a mere 6000 years old so the possible presence of the apemen- a missing link blows his beliefs out of the water. Now when the original story was published in the early 19th Century this is one of the big debates of the day when Darwin had published his theory of evolution so Mulholland and Hodges have not just included Agnes as a love interest but have cleverly intertwined a sub plot which takes this story on to a whole new level. Falk's has been included because his show Columbo's repeats was still pulling in 45 per cent viewing figures on French TV at the time so his name on the credits would help to `sell' the production to other markets. However Falk is really excellent. The simple fact that he is an excellent actor who plays a convincing good role well and matches Bob Hoskins and James Fox really well. His arguments on fossils with Fox' Summerlee is good. I for one did not thing Bob Hoskins was right for the part of Professor Challenger but I doff my cap to his performance as I viewed the film he became Challenger. You can see that as time went on he 'grew' into the part. This is well explained in the extras that films are often better shot with the openings being done towards the end of the shooting because the actor has really got into the part. Mathhew Rys and Tom Ward are competent. The special effects are good. I for one unlike some other reviewers could not see the 'joins' between puppetry and CGI. The dinosaurs are projected really well. True the movie could have easily have been twice as long and still not outstayed its welcome. Any film adaptation always changes, drops or adds stuff and what counts is that this is still a cracking story well told. My suggestion is to do exactly what I have done watch the movie then play the extras a documentary which explains the background and the story of the novels writing it's background - then watch the whole thing again with the commentary the Producer Christopher Hall and the Director Stuart Orme and you will be regally rewarded with an excellent understanding of what was changed from the original and why and you will have a wonderful knowledge of why Conan Doyle wrote his book and the influences on the story. This is what DVD extras are all about. Totally Recommended. Now buy the book and read that!

Whilst the dvd arrived before schedule which was good. However when I picked the package up I could hear the dvd rattling around inside. The catch holding the dvd is inadequate for the job. The dvd was damaged but only at the beginning so didn't mar my enjoyment of the film. Beware though if it had been damaged anywhere else I would have returned it. The dvd has since been placed in a more secure dvd case.

I love this film from the history of the dinosaurs to the period it was made in and is one of my favourite films. The packaging for DVD of postage was good even though it didn't come in a plastic film but still played perfect and had no issues with the picture and sound.

A really great BBC production of the classic novel. Brilliant casting and dialogue, well acted and directed. CGI effects are top notch. I remember watching this production one Christmas on TV and thinking at the time it was excellent, and indeed it is. Can't quite fathom why this doesn't get more airings on TV - TV schedulers are a law unto themselves!! One gripe - the all too common issue (esp with BBC productions) of having the music drowning out the dialogue, argh so annoying, it's inexcusable and extremely frustrating. It's a curse of contemporary TV! I still give this film five stars though!

Loved this one when it was on telly, so when I saw it on DVD it was a a no brainer but for me.

Great film, not quite up to today's technology but for the time it was made I think it is fantastic!

Tratto dal libro di Arthur Conan Doyle è un film fatto per la TV, non è stato trasmesso al cinema, è un bel film per chi piace il genere. C'è anche il tenente Colombo che però qui veste i panni di un altro personaggio)).

Quite the adventure yarn, this version of the famous tale is a two part miniseries featuring the late Bob Hoskins as Professor Challenger and James Fox as the snide Professor Summerlee. The story involves a dare between the two professors, one wanting to prove the existence of a lost world, the other wanting to disprove it and thus humiliate a long time rival referred to as “a slapdash scientist.” Summerlee is appropriately overbearing while Challenger proves to be a menace willing to accept a certain amount of mayhem and death if it gets him what he wants. Also on the journey is the dashing Lord Roxton (Tom Ward) and the incredibly timid Malone (Matthew Rhys) who constantly runs around screaming and yet manages to still be heroic when you least expect it. Along the way they gain a woman translator (Elaine Cassidy as Agnes) and her incredibly duplicitous faux-uncle (Peter Falk as Reverend Kerr). Religion is brought in, resulting in a nasty debate between Summerlee, a devout atheist, and the dangerous zealot Reverend Kerr. “The Bible is not a text book!” Summerlee insists that “nature is progressive.” This leads the way to the dearly demented reverend stranding them on the plateau, trying to ensure they do not leave to reveal their discoveries, which he believes counters his religion; something worth killing over! Fraught with excitement and fabulously designed dinosaurs, this version of The Lost World is considerably better and a lot more violent than most of the other adaptations.

Very good version! Cinematography was beautiful .....very good effects....loved the acting....Bob Hoskins superb as usual! Will watch again soon. Nice to have the special features on disc two!

The Lost World is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; the author of the greatly popular Sherlock Holmes series. The Lost World chronicles the adventures of the eccentric Professor Challenger and a group of assorted colleagues, friends, and whoever else is willing to join him on an expedition to South America to verify his claim of living dinosaurs on a plateau. This adaptation follows the book closer than any I have seen yet, and utilizes a mix of CGI, Puppetry, and animatronics, created by the company which did the special affects for BBC's Walking With series, to create visually stunning extinct species. The acting is also great, easily on par with films released in theaters. The Lost World offers both great adventure, thrills, romance, humour and, most importantly, dinosaurs! I would highly recommend it to anyone who has read the book, loves an adventure story, loves dinosaurs, or anyone interested in films at all! Definitely worth a look!

The videos worked well. Really love this version of The Lost World. However, the DVD I received smelled very badly mildewed.