Where Are We?

For our final film this week we want to deliver something that flies way, way under the radar. Land of the Lost isn’t even close to being one of Will Ferrel’s best-known films, but we think it deserves a reevaluation!

Tom
July 07, 2023

Good morning Consumers. This is Please Consume, the newsletter that loves movies more than Harrison Ford loves crashing planes.

Land of the Lost (2009)

For our final film this week we want to deliver something that flies way, way under the radar.

Land of the Lost isn’t even close to being one of Will Ferrel’s best-known films, but we think it deserves a reevaluation!

Another Time, Another Place

The film is a reboot of a TV series of the same name from the 70s, starring Spencer Milligan, Kathy Coleman, and William Eure.

While the original series was a kids show, the movie was bumped up to a PG-13 rating to gain a wider audience. Ferrel plays scientist Rick Marshall who discovers a way to travel through space and time to a world inhabited by creatures and objects from ape-men and giant dinosaurs to viking ships and 50s motels.

Danny McBride, Anna Friel, and Jorma Taccone round out the excellent cast as two strangers who tag along and an ape-man respectively.

But even with an amazing cast, the film made back less than half of its budget. It even led the Razzies that year with seven nominations.

However, we believe this is a genuinely funny film, filled with amazing set pieces, performances, and practical effects.

Where Are We?

Part of the charm of this movie is that almost everything in it is practical.

Jorma Taccone in the Chaka ape suit is practical. The lizard-men, or Sleestaks as they’re known, or men in suits with animated mouths. Many of the sets they are on, including the motel scene from today, are on location. Mostly everything is practical!

Chris Henchy, one of the screenwriters, recalls that they wanted to have the same feel as Planet of the Apes and voices the bold opinion that the apes in the original film are scarier than the recent reboot trilogy of Apes films.

There’s a lot of odd stuff going on in the film, but that just means you’ll never be bored. There’s even some 14 year old rumored beef between Jorma Taccone and Danny McBride!

Today’s Scene

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