I'm pissed off....

[TransitJohn]

...that they're finally gonna make a Land of the Lost movie. See, I was hoping for a serious tone as in the original. Nope. It's tabbed as a adventure/comedy starring Will Farrell.

[phantom power]

1. Can a movie with Sleestacks in 2007 be serious?

[YankeyMCC]

2. LoL

you know I was trying to figure out how to make that point in a polite way.

[salvorhardin]

4. I disagree

There were a lot of serious scifi concepts in the original Land of the Lost. Plus I must say that as a kid it frightened me witless a few times. The pylons fascinated me to now end and perhaps the creepiest scene, certainly the one that sticks in my mind to this day, is the one where the Marshall family found copies of themselves half embedded in the wall of a cave(?).

To say that because parts of LotL were campy and thus not serious scifi you have to denigrate much of TV scifi including The Twilight Zone, Star Trek and Doctor Who. Besides, what's so campy about a race of lizard people? Ken Macleod did this really well in his Engines of Light series. No... I think with a good script Land of the Lost could be a great serious scifi film.

[YankeyMCC]

5. Well perhaps I don't remember it clearly enough

I certainly agree that just because there is some campy aspects to a show or story it can't also have serious qualities. My memories of the show was just that it was not a serious attempt at all right from the start, poor characters, poorly supported premise and LOTS of camp. There is a line to be drawn at some point I think, I mean even the campiest 50's SciFi horror movies have their points and even provide quality entertainment but at some point it becomes a matter of diminishing returns. My memory of LotL says that show falls over that line, but hey I've done some bad things to my memory so I'll keep an open mind should they decide to go with a more serious treatment.

However, was LotL so seriously done that it's somehow above being used as a bases for a comedy? That seems a little unfair.

BTW: I'm a big fan of the Engines of Light series, fun stuff, AND Serious story telling, and Mr MacLeod certainly did a good job with the 'blizzard people'

[salvorhardin]

6. Well, it was certainly campy

And it was definitely a children's show. I'm pretty sure we can't leave out the obviously drug inspired psychedelic influences of Sid & Marty Krofft (although for some reason this show looks positively innocent compared to The Bugaloos or Lidsville).

I guess I was thinking more along the lines of reclaiming some of the central ideas and turning it into serious scifi. OTOH I don't see a comedic treatment as sacrilegious or anything like that.

[salvorhardin]

7. I forgot to mention... Sleestak are scary

It seems I'm compelled by some kind of implanted microchip to post a link to one of my favorite tunes whenever discussing Land of the Lost.

Sleestak Are Scary (MP3 here: http://personal.linkline.com/enik1138/html/sleesong.html)
Tastes Like Chicken
Kentucky Fried Crap (1996)
http://tasteslikemusic.com

Big green guys with jewel-like eyes
come to get me in the middle of night
they're gonna skin me, then eat me alive
I'm lost, I'm lost
find me

When I look all around
I can't believe the things that I've found
Marshall, Will, and Holly can't help me now
I'm living in the land of the lost

Enik is a good Sleestak
he can help me find my way back
maybe not
'cuz he can't keep his anger in check
Sleestak are scary
Sleestak are scary
Sleestak are scary

Dinosaurs are everywhere
the Lost City can be found over there
someday Uncle Jack will fall from the air
with the help of a parachute

Hanging out with a monkey-man
Pakuni know the lay of this land
over here's a swamp right there quick sand
and
Sleestak are scary
Sleestak are scary
Sleestak are scary

I want to go home
far from this land unknown
I really don't like
these things that I've been shown
maybe this pylon holds the key

Freak storms and endless streams
triceratops and poison weeds
weird mushrooms
that I've been forced to eat
seem to do strange things to me

Suspended from the roof of a cave
down below is surely my grave
the Sleestak God is calling my name
if I fall down
I'll be his lunch

Chak-kah can't talk very clear
I've gotta get myself outta here
surrounded by my childhood fears
Sleestak are scary
Sleestak are scary
Sleestak are scary

[Orrex]

3. I can see it now

"What's your name, again? Eunuch?"

"Enoch."

"Right, right. Is that a Pylon in your loincloth or are you just happy to see me? I mean, it's obvious that you're horny."


nyuk nyuk nyuk

[rickrok66]

8. Good sci fi for Saturday mornings

Land of the Lost was probably the best series to come from the crazy minds of Sid and Marty Krofft. These are the guys who made HR Puff'n Stuff and Lidsville. The plot lines involving Enoch and the fate of the Sleestacks was written by Walter Koenig (Ensign Chekhov from Star Trek).

[shenmue]

9. They should have made it like the show

That's why I would want to see it. I'm tired of all the Will Farrell movies and the "let's make everything the same" nonsense. Why do they have to change the entire subject?