What Went Wrong: Land of the Lost
By Shalimar Sahota
August 23, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Land of the Lost appears to be a very loose remake that’s based on the 1970s Saturday morning TV series of the same name. Now I’ll have to admit that while I had heard of the TV series, I had never seen a single episode before watching the film. Having since viewed a few videos on YouTube, I gather that it told the story of a park ranger, Rick, his two children, Holly and Will, and their adventures in another dimension as they try to find a way back home.
Universal’s $100 million movie adaptation went through a few changes. Rick is not a park ranger but a paleontologist. He has no children; however, the characters Holly and Will appear as adults that join Rick. The film is also a comedy - apparently. I guess it had to be as soon as Ferrell got involved. He claims to be a fan of the original TV series.
In the film Dr. Rick Marshall (Ferrell) is a paleontologist who has ruined his career due to his theories on time warps, and for spending $50 million worth of taxpayer’s money studying about them. He now works as a teacher. He also believes that the future of survival depends on Tachyons – subatomic particles that move incredibly fast – and that these particles can be harnessed by a Tachyon amplifier, allowing the user to time warp. British student Holly Cantrell (Anna Friel) visits Rick; claiming to have been inspired by his theories she shows him a fossil with an imprint of a cigarette lighter. It’s enough to spur him on to finish making his Tachyon amplifier. They both go and test the amplifier at the Devil’s Canyon Mystery Cave, for it has strong Tachyon readings and it’s where Holly found the fossil. As they sit in a raft, their tour guide Will Stanton (Danny McBride) leads them through the cave. Rick switches on the Tachyon amplifier, triggering an earthquake that sends the three of them to another dimension, one that has dinosaurs, Sleestak creatures and ape-men known as Pakuni, one of whom, Cha-Ka (Jorma Taccone), helps them as they try to find a way back home.
Land of the Lost opened in the US on June 5, 2009. The film was on track to open to at least $30 million. It charted at #3 with a disappointing $18.8 million opening weekend. It’s worth noting that the #1 film was a new entry, The Hangover, and at #2 (in its second week) was Pixar’s Up. It didn’t get any better, for Land of the Lost’s second week had the film down to #5 with just $8.9 million. The film earned $49.4 million at the US box office. International takings did not save the film. That hardly anyone outside of the US had heard of the TV show also reduced its chances of success overseas, for it could only muster $19.3 million. The total worldwide box office was $68.7 million. The film was a flop. So what kept people away?
The film was directed by Brad Silberling, who seems to know a thing or two about family films, having previously helmed Casper and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was Ferrell who brought Silberling in, chosen because he also used to watch the original TV series and because of his knowledge on how to shoot a film of this scope.
There appeared to be mixed messages as to who exactly this film was aimed at, if anyone. Was it a children’s film? Was it one for the whole family? Maybe a film for the older generation that used to watch the original TV series? Land of the Lost earned a PG-13 rating for “crude and sexual content, and for language including a drug reference.” Not the kind of thing the original TV series was known for. The screenplay was by Chris Henchy and Dennis McNicholas (with Land of the Lost being the first feature film they wrote together). According to Silberling the majority of questionable jokes were already in the script. “We set out to make a PG-13 movie,” said Silberling, “and it was decidedly PG-13.” This wasn’t a family film at all. When interviewed about the age of whom the film was appropriate for, Ferrell responded with, “a sophisticated 11 year-old.”
Despite the rating, maybe Universal thought that the mix of ancient creatures and a funny-man would still make for a good sell (it worked for Night at the Museum). The jokes may make it appear as if Land of the Lost is more suited to teenagers, but I imagine that even they would be put off by how immature it looked. For any youngsters that were exposed to the film, some of them probably struggled to understand Rick, Will and Cha-Ka’s behaviour after drinking a narcotic which results in a hallucinogenic bond. And parents probably struggled to answer any questions that their kids raised.
Given when it was released, most parents looking for a family-friendly film would have been turned away by the PG-13 rating only to opt for Pixar’s Up instead. Also still in release was the Night at the Museum sequel, Battle of the Smithsonian, which ended up lasting a lot longer then Land of the Lost. For older teens and adults there was the funnier and well-reviewed film, The Hangover. Basically the alternatives were better.
As in most Ferrell films, his character is a typical man-child. However, my main problem with the character Dr. Rick Marshall is his reason (or lack of) for wanting to go to a parallel dimension. I don’t understand why anyone would want to time warp to another unknown dimension, but for Rick, he just seems adamant on proving that there is such a thing as time warps. He doesn’t provide any real explanation or passion as to why he wants to do this. When the film introduces Rick he says something about how time warps will solve our fossil fuel crisis, though he doesn’t elaborate on how. Throughout the film he just seems intent on proving that he’s right. It’s one of those weird inconsistencies where Rick Marshall happens to be both the smartest and stupidest character in the film. He’s smart enough to invent a Tachyon amplifier and stupid enough to douse himself in dinosaur urine twice. This senselessness is noted in the film when Will asks him, “Do you ever get tired of being wrong?” to which Rick responds, “I do. I really do!”
Represented as children in the TV series, I also can’t understand the logic of turning the characters Will and Holly into adults. According to Ferrell, having them as grown-ups meant that it would be better for the comedy, as well as having a potential love story element. Plus, he didn’t want to be “saddled with two kids.” However, I feel that if the film left them as children (or teenagers) and had them played by two decent young actors, then an audience of kids would have someone on screen that they can identify with. Alternatively, having a Land of the Lost where Rick takes his whole class of school children (or even half of them) on a ‘field trip’ to another dimension has the potential for a lot of craziness. An all-adult cast means that you’ve alienated most of the kids. Also, dropping the whole emotional family element in the film leaves Rick, Will and Holly as an unusually random group of people who, before being rushed to another dimension, barely even know each other.
Reviews were not good. Many cited how the film was devoid of humour, which I have to agree with. From the outset it didn’t look funny to me at all. When watching it, a reference to Iron Chef and a final scene involving a game Matt Lauer (playing himself) raised a mild snigger, but apart from that I can’t say I actually laughed at anything.
Its main focus appears to be on delivering numerous set pieces; some trying to be funny, some trying to be thrilling, some trying to be both. The effects, sets and production design do look very good, and with the exception of Ferrell’s $20 million fee, this is most likely where the majority of that $100 million production budget went (at one point the film took up as many as five stages on the Universal lot). Unfortunately they’re all hanging on a story that just doesn’t seem to have any purpose.
In November 2011 at the Savannah Film Festival, President of Universal Ronald Meyer addressed a number of students and members of the public about his rise through Hollywood and some of Universal’s films. With the talk turning to disappointments, he cited Land of the Lost as “just crap,” saying, “there was no excuse for it. The best intentions all went wrong…Land of the Lost didn't deserve better.” Along with Cowboys & Aliens, he described both films as “a huge loss,” saying, “We misfired. We were wrong. We did it badly, and I think we’re all guilty of it. I have to take first responsibility because I'm part of it, but we all did a mediocre job and we paid the price for it.”
Writers Henchy and McNicholas probably thought that adding naughty jokes would make Land of the Lost so much better. Either everyone working on it thought the same thing, or someone was scared to tell the truth. The thing is it’s not funny at all. The trailers were promoting something that came across as too juvenile. The initial impression was a cheap Jurassic Park imitation that’s trying too hard to be funny and failing. Audiences rightfully stayed away. Hell, I actually felt a little embarrassed when my sister walked in on me watching it.