Blu-ray Review: Land of the Lost

Release Date: October 13th, 2009
Running Time: 102 minutes

The Film

I never followed the original Land of the Lost series, but I did find myself sucked into the 1990s remake for a while (it had a cool toy line, what can I say). So I don’t really have any ties to the original material and thus had no expectations for the Will Ferrell bid budget film adaptation. Poor marketing and an uneven tone would ultimately doom the film to box office failure. Despite being an ardent Will Ferrell fan, the critical bashing it received even kept me from theaters. After giving The Land of the Lost a fair viewing on Blu-ray, I admit that the film does have its moments but even an excellent technical presentation couldn’t keep me invested in the over-budgeted flop.

After being disgraced by Matt Lauer when trying to present his theory about time warps, paleontologist Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell) is left teaching kids who could care less about his life’s work. Rick believes that an invention called the tachyon amplifier can literally transport you to a place where the past, present, and future meet. It takes the passion of a fellow scientist and fan of his work, Holly Cantrell (Anna Friel), to give Rick the courage to finally test his machine after she presents him with a millions-year-old fossil with an imprint of Rick’s lighter!

Rick and Holly figure out that they need to activate the amplifier at a certain area, specifically a cheesy tourist attraction called the Devil’s Canyon. There they convince an amicable but odd tour guide named Will (Danny McBride) to take them on the raft ride. Once inside Rick activates the machine and the three are transported to the Land of the Lost where all time converges. The only problem is that they have lost the amplifier!

Lost with no clue how to find their amplifier and get home, the trio befriends a half-evolved ape-man creature called Chaka (Jorma Taccone). Soon enough they find themselves chased by a T-Rex who is enraged at Rick’s constant assertions that it has a brain the size of a walnut. They eventually find refuge in a cave and set up a base camp. Upon continuing to explore they come across a vibrating glass beacon and are attacked by slow but vicious reptilian creatures called Sleestaks. A doorway opens in the beacon and a creature named Enik explains that an evil being called Zarn is out to control the universe with an army of Sleestaks by using the amplifier. Thus our crew sets off to find the amplifier before Zarn does, encountering countless dangers along the way, but all may not be as it seems.

Land of the Lost isn’t quite an action movie and isn’t quite a comedy. It falls somewhere in between, and while I wasn’t rolling around with laughter, there were a few sequences that killed me. The mosquito draining Rick’s blood, Rick trying to mask himself with urine, and Rick making fun of the T-Rex were all pretty classic. However, it is Danny McBride who steals most of the scenes with his natural quips and dry wit. Anna Friel is completely underused with almost no comedic moments, a shame considering how hilarious she was on Pushing Daisies. Lastly, Chaka just annoyed me. Jorma Taccone played it fine but I was constantly annoyed with the half-evolved goofball.

The special effects in the film look phenomenal. There are some purposely shoddy things, such as the old-school rubber Sleestak suits, but the T-Rex is top-notch and made me pine for another Jurassic Park. The set design is generally interesting as well due to the mishmash of past, present, and future. So what’s the problem? Why didn’t the film make any money? First of all it is not a film for a younger crowd. The humor is more adult-based, falling between Ferrell’s PG-13 shtick and Judd Apatow’s R-rated material. A lot of the jokes and subtext will fall flat with a younger crowd. Ultimately, however, the film’s fault lies in its lack of a soul. It doesn’t have a true sense of adventure or purpose. The plot to stop the evil Sleestaks is weak and you are basically watching these characters bounce from one situation to the next as they try to get home. It’s not that the film is bad; it simply does not engage the audience enough, relying too heavily on special effects without the story and character development to back it up.

The Disc

The video is presented in a 1.85:1, 1080p High Definition transfer. Colors are immensely vibrant with a huge spectrum, especially the CGI effects. Black levels are a bit inconsistent with some shots not as deep and delineated as others. Fine detail is excellent in close-ups and the wide shots, never getting blown out in the desert scenery. The CGI is pristine as well; in fact it looks so good that it is almost out of place! With no compression artifacts or video noise, Land of the Lost is very easy on the eyes.

The audio is offered in an English DTS HD 5.1 master lossless mix as well as DVS Dolby Digital 2.0 and Spanish/French DTS 5.1 Surround Sound with English/French/Spanish subtitles. This is a thunderous track, especially for a comedy—just listen to the weight of the T-rex roar. The numerous action scenes are very lively and detailed with smooth panning effects that keep you in the middle of the chaos. Atmospheric effects are near constant as the film has a slew of different locales to bring the life, such as deserts, caves, forests, etc. The rear speakers remain rife with ambience and do an excellent job recreating natural acoustics. Dialogue is crisp and there were only a few moments where I felt the mix as a whole was too loud.

The Extras

Even though the film bombed in theaters, Universal has not skimped out on the special features which are arguably more entertaining than the feature itself.

Commentary is offered by Director Brad Silberling. As I was skimming through I found the best moments to be his reflections on the original series and fun stories from the set. Any heavy production discussion tends to be covered in the far more entertaining documentary.

“This is Not a Routine Expedition” is an exhaustive, 3-part, 83-minute documentary that covers literally every aspect of the production: the genesis of the project, the shoot, special effects, costume/set design—it’s all here along with candid interviews from the cast and crew. Even if you didn’t like the film, this documentary should shed light on exactly why you didn’t like it.

“Bradley, Sid, and Marty: A Conversation with the Kroffts” (23 minutes) is the ultimate fan service on the disc. Silberling sits down with the original creators of the TV series for an in-depth discussion about all things Land of the Lost. Again, even if you hated the film this featurette will bring back loads of nostalgia that you may have felt was missing from the film.

“Dr. Marshall’s Food Diaries” (6 minutes with optional commentary) are three diet-themed diaries that Rick kept throughout his adventure.

“A Day in the Life of a Big-Time Movie Star” is a comical, 11-minute featurette where Danny McBride takes you through a day on the set. Seeing as how he is the best part of the film, there are a few good laughs to be had in this piece.

“Devil’s Canyon Gift Shop” is a 7-minute commercial and tour of the tacky gift shop.

10 Deleted/Alternate/Extended Scenes (20 minutes) are offered with optional commentary, but with the exception of a few good quips by McBride there is nothing here of real interest.

Finally, the disc is D-Box enabled and features My Scenes Bookmarking through BD-Live.

Final Thoughts

Land of the Lost is a flawed, bloated film with intermittent moments of hilarity. Though it may not appeal to purists, new fans of the film will find a lot to like about the impressive Blu-ray release.