Land of the Lost (2009)

"Land of the Lost is an enjoyable regression to Saturday mornings gone by, as junky and sweet as a strawberry Pop-Tart.  Dana Stevens, Slate
"I'm pleased to report the new Land of the Lost movie keenly understands that what was once scary is now ridiculous.  M. E. Russell, Portland Oregonian

Editor's Note This big-screen adaptation of LAND OF THE LOST stars Will Ferrell as Dr. Rick Marshall, a quantum paleontologist who has been discredited in the scientific world due to his strident belief in time travel as the cure for all of humanity's problems. After hitting an all-time low (giving a lecture to elementary-school kids), Dr. Marshall meets an ambitious young scientist named Holly (Anna Friel), who tells him she has followed all his work and believes he's a genius. Spurred on by her enthusiasm, he finishes building the device that will allow him to time travel--something he promptly does along with Holly and fireworks salesman Will (Danny McBride), who leads them into a cave that seems like a promising place to test the new machine. Ending up in a world full of dinosaurs and scary, lizard-like creatures known as Sleestaks, the trio quickly lose the machine that brought them to this alternate universe. And if they ever want to return home, they must recover it with the help of Chaka (Jorma Taccone), the monkey-like friend they make in this strange place.

	Jorma Taccone
	Will Ferrell
	Danny McBride
	Anna Friel
	Brad Silberling - Executive Producer
	Chris Henchy - Screenwriter
	Dion Beebe - Director of Photography
	Michael Giacchino - Composer
	Marty Krofft - Producer
	Daniel Lupi - Executive Producer
	Julie Wixson-Darmody - Executive Producer
	Jimmy Miller - Producer
	Sid Krofft - Producer
	Adam McKay - Executive Producer
	Dennis McNicholas - Screenwriter
	Brad Silberling - Director

Chicago Sun-Times
3 stars out of 4 -- "The film involves a gloriously preposterous premise, set in a series of cheerfully fake landscapes which change at the whim of the art director." 06/03/2009

Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
Land of the Lost is a seriously deranged movie. That's not to say it's bad, although some of its early critics consider it a hanging offense ("a pot of ersatz dinosaur piss" says Peter Keough of the Boston Phoenix). Land of the Lost inspires fervent hatred, which with the right kind of movie can be a good thing. Amid widespread disdain, I raise my voice in a bleat of lonely, if moderate, admiration...The film involves a gloriously preposterous premise, set in a series of cheerfully fake landscapes which change at the whim of the art director. How else to explain a primeval swamp within walking distance of a limitless desert? Or to explain a motel sign from another dimension that appears there, with all of the motel missing, but plenty of water still in the pool? And dinosaurs walking the earth at the same time as early man, just like in Alley Oop and The Flintstones?...There are many jokes about dinosaur manure, dinosaur urine, dinosaur intelligence, dinosaur babies, and dinosaurs' hurt feelings. Also blood-sucking insects, carnivorous trees and the soundtrack from A Chorus Line. The use of the songs is utterly wacky, of course, which is why I liked it...The movie is inspired by the 1974 TV series, and has the same producers, Sid and Marty Krofft. The show and the film will never be confused, but they share one thing in common: deliriously fake locations, props and special effects. The dinosaurs are so obviously not really there in shots where they menace humans that you could almost say their shots are about how they're not really there. Confronted with such effects, the actors make not the slightest effort to appear terrified, amazed or sometimes even mildly concerned. Some might consider that a weakness. I suspect it is more of a deliberate choice, and I say I enjoyed it. - Roger Ebert