SNAPSHOT
Lost in Space is a Netflix Original dramatic and modern reimagining of the classic 1960’s science fiction series. Set 30 years in the future, colonization in space is now a reality, and the Robinson family is among those tested and selected to make a new life for themselves in a better world. But when the new colonists find themselves abruptly torn off course en route to their new home they must forge new alliances and work together to survive in a dangerous alien environment, light-years from their original destination.Stranded along with the Robinsons are two outsiders who find themselves thrown together by circumstance and a mutual knack for deception. The unsettlingly charismatic Dr. Smith (Parker Posey) is a master manipulator with an inscrutable end game. And the roguish, but inadvertently charming Don West (Ignacio Serricchio) is a highly-skilled, blue collar contractor, who had no intention of joining the colony, let alone crash landing on a lost planet. (synopsis via Coming Soon)
One of the great constants of my life has been a willingness to eschew the mire of unthinking nostalgia and to be open to someone taking a property I grew up with and reimagining and reinventing it.
Sometimes this creatively adventuresome attitude pays substantial dividends – think Battlestar Galactica, the DC Comics take on classic Hanna-Barbera characters – and sometimes it most spectacularly does not – begone from my presence forever CHiPs and Bewitched films – but on balance it’s fun to see where modern sensibilities and storytelling nous can take something.
Lost in Space is the next up for some clever reinterpretation, and while this isn’t the first time someone has attempted this (1998’s movie is not as bad as some say but it’s not brilliant either), it’s the first time it’s been attempted on TV which is, of course, where Irwin Allen’s spacefaring creation got its start.
Premiering 13 April, the new Lost in Space retains the same characters, and if you watch the trailer right to the end, at least one of the same catchphrases (though very creepily interpreted) but looks to have its narrative gaze quite precisely on the current catastrophic dangers facing the planet, dangers that in the future could force us, should we survive that long, to launch into the stars seeking long-term salvation.
The teaser trailer is crisp, taut and pretty damn terrific and augurs well for the series to come.
A series, it must be said, that needs to invest in a damn good GPS tracking system (or not, I guess, if they want that whole lost premise thing to stick) …
Lost in Space goes way off course on Netflix on 13 April.
UPDATE – 7 March 2018
There’s a new longer and altogether more beguiling trailer and I am now officially super-excited! (source: Decider)
I had no idea this was being remade. I remember watching the original, and can’t wait to see this new interpretation. Thanks for sharing!
I loved the original, cheesy though it was. This does look good and I am very hopeful 🙂