Lost World

A young reporter is out to make a name for himself and his publisher points him in the direction of Professor Challenger. After some fighting the two become friends. Challenger then challenges the Royal Zoological Society to mount an expedition to verify or disprove his claims regarding the Lost World. A team is put together and the expedition sets out.

After experiencing the treachery of a guide, the group find themselves atop a plateau inhabited by prehistoric animals and two tribes of natives. One tribe worships the plant-eating dinosaurs and the other the carnivorous ones. Unfortunately the plant-eaters are all getting sick while the carnivores are healthy. Professor Summerlee deduces that a certain plant has medicinal qualities and is necessary for the dinosaurs' health. This would explain why they still exist on the plateau. Then the tribes are united and the intrepid explorers are guided through some caves that lead off of the plateau. Just before leaving the adventurers vow to return to the Lost World.

John Rhys-Davies does an excellent job as the gruff and pompous Challenger. The rest of the cast has been changed a little from the book to appeal to a greater audience. The tribesmen on the plateau have also been changed. No longer are they the equivalent of Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon but more resemble contemporary African tribes. The dinosaur illness that was added as a thin explanation for the dinosaurs' survival was a little more in keeping with current thought than the original idea in the novel. But other than these changes the movie really does capture the spirit of Doyle's novel if not the actual plot. Dinosaur fans may find this movie a little lacking in that little was spent on the special effects. The few dinosaurs seen are limited to feet and heads. This does not detract from the movie but it is a major change from movies such as Jurassic Park.

So, all in all, this is a very enjoyable movie and one of the best movie adaptations of Professor Challenger that I have seen. There is, of course, the excellent audio portrayal from Alien Voices. So if you are looking for a bit of fun then The Lost World just might be your cup of tea.


Very nice, but can't they do a proper re-make?   April 10, 1999
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

It's unbelievable that, in this age of CGI and other such special effects and technology, th 1925 silent black-and-white version of Conan Doyle's masterpiece is still the best version. That said, this version starts off very promisingly and there is some excellent acting, though Challenger comes across as far too soft and nothing like the fearsome figure he was in the book. And whre is Roxton? Presumably a big-game hunter wouldn't be very nice. Everything in this film is 'nice'. What realy lets the film down, however, are the cheap, unconvincing dinosaurs. There's on good sequence near a lake but otherwise it's all pretty pathetic. There are hardly any dinosaurs actualy in it, the tyrannosaur only ever visible from the waist upwards and seemingly frozen on the spot. This film has its good moments, but it's really just another might-have-been. It only gets three stars because it's better than that dire 1960 version.