Will Ferrell and director Brad Silberling fail to turn "Land of the Lost," the '70s children's television series and cult favorite, into a winning summer extravaganza. The film's tone, best described as inconsistent, if not schizophrenic, is problematic. The retro adventure and science fiction elements, including dinosaurs and time warps, clash with the mainstream (low-brow) humor and standard Will Ferrell persona. This crude concoction will alienate most of the audience. Ferrell fans will be confused and/or repulsed by the camp, while admirers of the Sid and Marty Krofft-created program will resent Ferrell's antics sharing the screen with their beloved fictional dimension.

The film does have a handful of exciting, well-shot action sequences, I will give it this. However, so much of the running time is spent on tired, miles-from-amusing comedy (Ferrell seems lost, no pun intended, and uninspired) and a so-called plot and cast of characters it's impossible to invest in -- this bug-eyed green alien is evil, wait, no, it's the other bug-eyed alien who's evil, where's the tachyon-blah-blah device, etc., etc. It's a major snore.

Meh.

C-/D+

They should've just gone full on adult comedy with this. Big fat R rating would've improved things considerably. It's already close. This isn't a kids movie at all. Danny McBride alone makes sure of that. Danny is the greatest. Him and Chaka steal the movie. Ferrell is hit and miss. Anna Friel doesn't get any jokes unfortunately, but I admit to being mesmerized by her wonderful legs in a few scenes. Overall I liked it, even though it could've been way better. B+

If you liked You Don't Mess With The Zohan then this is a movie I'd recommend.

Somehow, I feel my brother will end up loving this movie

I give this a C. I almost puked when I heard Ferrell was going to be the star of this
movie. They should have gone one of two ways with it. Hard R, scary gory
yada yada, or family adventure. What we get is something in between that
and it fails at both. The character Inik is handled all wrong, as are the sleestaks
really. I hated the Chaka parts. Marshall's method of blending in so that the
predator don't find them is hilarious, and keeps this from a failing grade. The
effects are pretty good.

This movie could have been so much better

C

Well wouldn't you know it - there were two great comedies released last weekend! It was a rough week for Land of the Lost, which was largely overshadowed by The Hangover (talk about horrid scheduling!) and stunted by misleading marketing. Contrary to all expectations, this is a surprisingly raunchy endeavor, and Will Ferrell's funniest comedy in quite some time. The production design is terrific, and Michael Giacchino provides his third great score in a month! In at least those areas, this is a much more faithful adaptation of a decades old sci-fi show than last month's Star Trek. What's more, this is one of those rare instances when comedy and a tremendous number of special effects work in harmony. Director Brad Siberling gives individual scenes plenty of time for some inspired riffs by Ferrell and McBride, who show Brendan Fraser how to sucessfully act like they're interacting with the CGI creatures. Speaking of said beasties, Grumpy the T-Rex was a pleasant surprise. He manages to convey a variety of reactions without ever becoming cartoonish, and is much more threatening than the ads may have you believe. Indeed, this Land of the Lost is not aimed at the PG set, but rather those who are old enough to at least remember the '91 remake.

All that said, I really suggest anyone whose brave enough to give this a try smoke a fat blunt beforehand. It will help.

And also with the comedy, but you're right on the money.

It turns out that the marketing wasn't the film's downfall. How can you market a movie when the movie has no idea what it wants to be? It wants to be a kids film, a Will Ferrell comedy, and a campy tribute to the TV show. When you try to mix those together you get scenes such as Rick, Will and Chaka under hallucinogens. That's five minutes of my life that I'm never going to get back. It's quite possibly the most embarrassing thing Will Ferrell has done on film and that's saying something when he's been in the likes of The Ladies Man and Superstar.

If this had gone the Elf route in terms of tone this could've been decent. Instead we're left with a mildly funny film (until the last act, which also fell flat in trying to generate some excitement) that has an identity crisis.

**

Anna Friel is quite easy on the eyes though.

Hey now! The Ladies Man is quite the hilarious movie. Even Will Ferrell is pretty funny in his small role.

And a "pro-homo" (ugh) website has, what, exactly to do with opinions on weed? I'm not even sure what you're talking about since most people on here are rather liberal...I personally don't have problems with people smoking pot if they want to. I'm not sure why I've responded, though, since the terms "BKB" and "making sense" don't typically go hand-in-hand.

I would like to think KJ is not "pro-homo" but, you know, "pro-accepting people as they are." But concepts like that usually escape bigots like yourself.

I still don't understand what any of that has to do with opinions on smoking pot, though. I'm genuinely confused. Do you think gay people don't ever smoke weed or something?

See, what impressed me about Land of the Lost is how totally NOT a kid's film it is. When Danny McBride called a firework "the Mexican vasectomy," I was glad I hadn't brought my younger siblings. Still, the dinosaurs and campy (yet excellent) production values may fool people into thinking this is broader humor than it really is. A $100 million creature feature with a Far Side sense of humor may make those who view a film's marketing potential as related to it's quality balk, and it will just not appeal to some folks, but I loved it. If Ferrell, McBride and Chaka eating giant crab legs with a giant lemon wedge doesn't sound the least bit amusing, this is not the film for you.

Where's Bradley when I need him?!

Ugh.

This film does have its funny moments, don't get me wrong. I laughed and chuckled multiple times as did my friend and the audience. However, absolutely everything that is put on the screen seems to be desperately screaming (LAUGH AT THIS, LOOK IT'S FUNNY AND WEIRD, LAUGH, LAUGH!) and the desperation of the writers and director was palbable. There are actually some really cool visuals and the chance for some enticing ideas, but they are all undermined in an attempt to make mildly funny material hilarious. The attempt mostly fails.
Ferrel just comprises his typical role, he's goofy and stupid and more obnoxious than funny by now, go back to stranger than fiction will, at least that was a good movie to showcase your now repetitive gig.
The other actors are just as dull and are entirely cut short by the stupidity of the writing and the horribly cheesy character bio their given. I feel like if the director had allowed anything at all to breathe this may have been an engaging or humorous flick. But his desperation to provide laughs and inability to do anything else is incredibly tiring.

1/5 (on the fence of a 2 because there were some decent gags and entertaining moments, but overall its just BAD)

Haha, this isn't a kids film at all. I almost felt uncomfortable having my sister and little cousins all with me to see this. Ironically, they liked it better than I did.

Danny McBride saves this movie from being absolutely terrible, no question about it. It's sometimes funny, but for the most part, awkward and unfunny. I agree with Flava'd that it should have just pushed the limits instead of trying to make a PG-13 kids flick.

**

I saw this last night at the drive-in (along with YEAR ONE and DRAG ME TO HELL, this was sandwiched between the two) and it was one of the worst films I've ever seen in my life.

1/10 (F)

I now officially nominate this as one of the most boring movies I've seen. The plot and characters are so absolutely second hand to the often flat humor that its just such a DULL ride. The jokes do land from time to time and liven things up, but that lasts for less time than a cigaratte buzz, because sure enough along comes the poorly constructed characters and generic plot to take away all the fun again.

Heh, I kinda enjoyed it... It is freaking ridiculous and moronic, but it tried really hard to be just that and it shows. Ferrell's character is unbearable until they get into the land of the lost, then his attitude fits perfect and revels in the craziness. It is definitely nowhere near anything that resembles a "good" movie, but I found it to be an amusing, brainless summer ride that was poorly marketed to be a kids flick. Seriously, so much stuff was extremely inappropriate for anyone under 13 or 16 really. The saddest thing was the showing i went to was 80% composed of kids under 12. I felt really bad for the parents who didn't know what they were going to have their kids exposed to this kind of stuff. But yeah, B- for me.

I really like Ferrel, and he can take an average movie and make it much more enjoyable for me just by being in it... which is excatly what we have here. It definitely wasn't anything groundbreaking, but I was entertained for most of it. It had some nice visuals and a handful of laugh out loud moments.

I did think it fell apart at the end - the jokes like Ferrel being pooped out of the dinosaur and then riding it around fell flat - but, like I said... all in all I was entertained. I give it a B-

Come one, come ALL!!!

Step up and spin the Wheel of Witherberry®...

...will I love this movie or hate it... or worse, will I be indifferent?

What would Bradley do?

...place your bets and watch 'er spin...

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WRONG!

I loved it!!!!!

It's been a long while since they've done a proper camp sci-fi film like this. Land of the Lost is clearly the vision of it's producers... this time Sid and Marty have been given the greenlight on the big screen, big budget reboot of their crazy classic TV show. I believe they hired just the right team of actors (heh!), and the perfect director who could manage to play it perfectly straight, which the wacked out screenplay demands. It is really so rare nowadays, that a movie will have the courage of it's convictions so that it can authentically live within it's reality - - Land of the Lost is just such a beast. It's such a treat not seeing the actors wink at the camera for a change - - this postmodern self-referential comedy trend is a whirlpool that sucks it's own current dry - - and this is wherewe get to see the wizards of comic timing playing it straight with a capital "S". Will Ferrell is perfect for this - - we're so lucky to have him!

They of course got the marketing wrong, or more likely, their marketers were hobbled by the studio who didn't want to be seen as capitalizing on this rather dirty comedy shined shit! (qv: Mythbusters Ep.#130) Amazing how a vibe can miss the zeitgeist so tangentially. It really is like there's a parallel dimension beside Earth in which all the hype victims have become imprisoned. Don't let the mind criminals steal your thoughts. Thynk for yer'self citi-zen!

This is simply a future cult classic. They'll be watching this one in 2109 - - and still laughing. Hard.


out of

I'm right here by your side, Dude!

(I unfortunately couldn't read the reviews till I'd finally seen this gem on the last night of it's second full week of release, but once I saw you're rescue flare go up, I landed the Witherjet 1, 2, 3...)

You're absolutely right about this movie, and you can just ignore those who can't enjoy this brilliant comedy. Let them stew in their own volcanic fissure. Land of the Lost is great

Seriously fuck off. Thats pretty offensive.


And although you thought this movie would do well and is a success, a movie that can only be good if your stoned is by no means a success.

Its one of, if not the, biggest bombs of the year. It's a fail.

You don't need to be stoned for this to laugh, just like you don't need to be drunk during The Hangover. But it doesn't hurt.

Anyways, this was just too wonderfully eccentric for modern day audiences. Shawshank Redemption bombed when it was first released too!

Its pretty much like the inside of a person's head while they are on Acid. Might sound great but in reality people on Acid are stunted and boring. Anna Friel looked nice though.