Space-Age Soap Opera Makes A Dazzling Re-Entry

“Danger Will Robinson!”

If that particular television sound-bite is like a mantra to you, you must have been a fan of the hit ‘60s show “Lost In Space.”

Detailing the exploits of the Robinson family as they try to survive the dangers of the galaxy, and the villainy of one Dr. Zachary Smith, “Lost In Space” was called “the first soap opera of the space age,” among other things. The campy adventure show ran from 1965 to 1968, attracting fans who remain in its thrall to this day. Now, 30 years after its demise, the show returns in a big way to movie screens.

Naturally, the film’s producers needed to attract more than just die-hard fans. So, to appeal to the demanding young crowd of today’s movie market, they’ve made this “Lost In Space” a major event, packed with more than 750 special effects — from a rambunctious computer-generated space monkey to exploding planets.

The film was shot at Shepperton Studios in London, utilizing 11 sound stages and a crew of 500. Director Stephen Hopkins (“Blown Away”) and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (“Batman and Robin”) have a background in action adventures, so the tone of “Lost In Space” is mainstream.

This is family fare, amped-up enough to rattle parents’ teeth. The cast is audience-friendly too, including Oscar-winner William Hurt, indie heroine Heather Graham, versatile Hollywood vet Mimi Rogers, British thespian Gary Oldman, and young and younger TV stars Matt LeBlanc (“Friends”) and Lacey Chabert (“Party of Five”).

Even before “Lost In Space” hit theaters, producers were already talking about a sequel.

Jack Johnson plays computer whiz-kid Will Robinson. He’s is only 10, but already has six years’ worth of film and television work under his belt. Getting the role, he points out, must have been fate. “When I was little, like 7, my mom told me to watch ‘Lost In Space,”’ he recalls. “It was one of her favorite shows. So I did. And I really started liking it.”

Johnson was aware of actor Billy Mumy’s now-legendary take on Will Robinson, but says he brought his own style to the role. “I used my own personality, although I sort of took some of the old Will.” Johnson admits he wasn’t too familiar with some of his fellow cast members. He is, after all, too young to have seen Graham in “Boogie Nights.” “I knew Matt from ‘Friends,”’ Johnson says, “and I’d seen Gary in ‘Dracula,’ but I only watched parts of that. It’s pretty scary.”

“Lost In Space” is hardly horrific, though it contains a few shocks, including some nasty space spiders. But it’s probably no more violent than a popular video game. In any case, Johnson says, kids his age should go for it.

Chabert, a worldly 15, discovered that the appeal of her character Claudia from the hit Fox drama “Party of Five” went beyond U.S. borders while filming “Lost In Space” in England. “You think you’d travel half way across the world and no one would recognize you,” Chabert says, “but people were yelling, ‘Hey Lacey! Hey Claudia!”’

She took the role of Robinson daughter Penny because she thought it would provide a nice break from the weekly angst she experiences on “Party of Five.” “I wanted to do something that was so different from Claudia,” she says. “I’m the same character every Wednesday night.”

With her punked-out 21st century outfits, funky makeup and adventurous spirit, Penny is worlds away from Claudia. In fact, she’s a far more progressive Penny then the original, as played by actress Angela Cartwright. “Are people going to want the old Penny?” muses Chabert. “That’s scary. I got to meet Angela. Actually, she loved what we were doing with the movie. This is her part, though, and I hope I do it justice.”

Lost in space as they are, it’s hardly a surprise that Penny develops a mad crush on the heroic Major West, played by Matt LeBlanc. Her scenes as a smitten waif, Chabert says, weren’t much of a stretch. “Hello? Do I breathe? He is so beautiful,” she pants.

When Rogers, who was once married to Tom Cruise, is asked about her current romantic status, she deadpans, “Actually, I’m back with Tom.” The actress brings that dry wit, along with a fiery strength and a hint of sexuality, to her role as Robinson matriarch Maureen - traits that were certainly missing from the original Maureen, as portrayed on TV by June Lockhart. Rogers spent time with Lockhart, who has a cameo in the film.

“She was pleased with the direction Maureen’s role had taken,” says Rogers. “She said that, for some reason, the network or the producers (of the original) didn’t want any hint of sexuality between Maureen and (her husband) John. They never wanted him to touch her. So there was this artificial innocence they had to maintain - no hint that they might actually still be ‘doing it.”’

Rogers, who’s recently appeared in films ranging from “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery” to “The Mirror Has Two Faces,” says she’s already committed to a possible sequel. “‘Loster In Space?”’ she asks, “yeah - I think we all are. I’d look forward to that.”

Hurt, who made his feature debut in the 1980 science fiction film “Altered States,” hasn’t done much sci-fi since. He’s tried just about every genre, including comedies (“The Big Chill,” “Broadcast News,”) thrillers (“Body Heat”) and dramas (“Children of a Lesser God” and his Oscar-winning “Kiss of the Spider Woman”). Now, almost back to back, Hurt has shown up in the fantasy “Dark City,” and as Robinson patriarch John in “Space.”

“Category-busting isn’t a bad notion in general,” says Hurt, adding that he’s been a science fiction fan since he first read Isaac Asimov as a boy.

Hurt is less familiar with the original “Lost In Space.” “I didn’t see a TV until I was seven,” he explains. “My dad worked for the State Department in Guam. Then I went to boarding school. We didn’t watch a lot of TV. Seven to nine every night was study hall.”

When the studious Hurt eventually found himself a tube, he says, there wasn’t much worth watching. “So I used to turn it to the channel with all the dots,” he says. Maybe that explains the intense actor’s off-beat appeal.

Hurt says he chose this film because it was intriguing enough for him and safe enough for the youngsters who are its target audience. “How do you make a film for children that doesn’t show 50,000 people being killed every 10 minutes, spraying the air with bullets, blood and gore?” he asks. “How do you raise subjects that are life’s issues and do it so it’s not campy? They’ve done all that here. If it’d been as campy as the original, I wouldn’t have been a part of it.

.. I won’t take my kids to see ‘Body Heat’ tomorrow, but I will take them to see this.”