Thomas_Veil The wait continues for those who love those early episodes of "Lost in Space" from 1965 and want more.First we watched the original series slowly degenerate into camp. Then we got the 1998 theatrical film which started promisingly and then, like the series, got silly. And now this pilot, in which the first half consists of whining characters we never really learn to care about, and the second half is a formulaic alien invasion story.Where is the sense of wonder here that permeated the original series? Douglas Petrie's script, in attempt to add character depth to what many people consider a ridiculous show, just falls flat. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't send a family who can't get their you-know-what together on a major space mission. And John Woo's direction, especially in the action-packed second half of the show, proceeds at breakneck speed with no sense of pacing. Like too many films these days, it's fastfastfast and never pauses to take a breath.The antagonists in this pilot were a particularly poor choice. Unlike Dr. Smith, who was interesting because you always wanted to know what was going on in that scheming mind of his, these villains have absolutely no sense of subtlety. When the show demands a crafty J. R. Ewing-type, we get instead marauding critters out of a 1950s horror film.And did you notice -- so much of the focus in this pilot is on the kids! Gee, what went wrong with the original series? Oh yeah, that's right!Kevin Burns, whose "Time Tunnel" pilot was much better but still resembled the original in little besides nomenclature, really needs to turn over the duties of reviving Irwin Allen TV series to someone who understands them better. "Lost in Space" could be a great show again, and it deserves better than this.

tracy_hannon As someone who grew up watching the series, I was very anxious to watch this. After doing so, I have to say, I hated to see that it was over! I always wondered as a child, how Don came into the picture. This was explained in this version. And although I never knew there was a David, I hated to see him left behind. I think that Mr Smith would be missed though. His character made for many a great episode in the past. No one will ever forget that whining man, lol. All said and done, I was very entertained. Would definitely tune in next week...to see what happens next. I cant believe it was never picked up! Maybe someone will try this again in the future?

wwgrayii Third time around for the Robinsons. This time, John Robinson is a retired space marine colonel/war hero who insists on taking his family wife Maureen,teens David and Judy, ten year-old Will, Will's robot and baby Penny) to another planet to become peaceful farmers and live off the land. After some by-the-book family melodrama (none of them, it seems, want to go on this trip), the Robinsons are on their way. Their mother ship (the "Jupiter") is soon under (unexplained) attack by clichéd aliens. David appears to be killed and the rest of them (along with hot young pilot Don West) are forced flee through a black hole in their landing craft (the "Jupiter 2"), ending up, well, you know...Overall, typical action pilot. There's a lot of exposition to pack into 40-some minutes, and too much of that time is wasted on setting up the Robinson's dysfunctional dynamics, so it's hard to tell where this is all supposed to lead. It's a fair bet, however, that since it was made for the WB, had this been picked up, we would have seen a lot of Judy and Don.John Woo's American career had pretty much derailed by 2003 and he was reduced to making this pilot for the WB. Actually he does an OK job, even managing to work in his trademark doves and slow motion.As for the cast, about the only ones who impress are Ryan Malagrini as Will Robinson and Adrianne Palicki as Judy.As is usual for unsold pilots these days, there are no credits (other than a crudely animated main title) and several visual effects (e.g. wire removal)were never finished.As a side note, the sets were bought by the producers of "Battlestar Galactica" and after some modifications, were used as the interiors of the Battlestar Pegasus.

Mandemus I guess most people who have seen this unaired TV pilot at this point either worked on the show or saw one of the bootleg versions that pop up on the internet occasionally. I am in the latter group.The Robinsons: Lost in Space was interesting to me mostly for the curiosity factor. The special effects were as good or better than most TV SF in the 1990s or early 2000s. The actors were good. Even the young actors were very professional. There was no low-budget feel to this effort at all, and it would have been great to see where this series might have gone.My main disappointment was the paucity of science fiction present in this science fiction show. The original series (1965-1968), although sometimes silly and childish (it was aimed at children, after all), did indeed focus on some element of science fiction each week. In The Robinsons, the science was mostly in passing. For example, Will's robot experiment was a quick scene. The worm hole was used as a quick device to get them lost, but that's about all.Still, for the Lost in Space completist, or SF fan seeking something that was well made and hard to find, this is well worth a look.