dir. Stephen Hopkins
In some ways, Lost in Space was doomed to fail. The ’60s TV show it was based on was kitschy and overblown, so the attempt to make a serious sci-fi epic perhaps utilised the wrong source material. Casting Matt LeBlanc as a fighter pilot was possibly the final nail in the coffin. He accompanies the Robinson family on their perilous space adventures, and is extremely hard to take seriously – probably because in 1998, Joey Tribbiani mode was still LeBlanc’s only mode. But perhaps he’d have a better chance if the villain, played with almost too much gusto by Gary Oldman, wasn’t such a joke. Dr Smith prances about and practically winks at the camera while he does all but tell everyone about how evil he is. Then he turns into a massive spider. Lost in Space is not the home of nuance.
