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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!”

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