Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983)

terrible... so disappointed.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

After a series of contrived events, an earthquake sends a scientist and a young bickering couple into another dimension when they fall into a matter transmitting device in a laboratory. They wind up on the planet Vonya and are forced to battle all manner of unusual villains.Prisoners of the Lost Universe was quite clearly an attempt to redo the sword and sorcery flick Hawk the Slayer (1980) with a sci-fi premise. After all, two actors from that movie essentially reprise their quite specific roles, with Peter O'Farrell once more playing an impressively irritating comic relief dwarf/small man and Ray Charleson is on hand again to play a mysterious elf/green being. Both movies also both possess an American b-movie stalwart in the role of the nasty chief villain – in 'Hawk' it was Jack Palance, while here we have the legend that is John Saxon. And to be perfectly honest, while this move is ostensibly a science fiction flick, it is to all intents and purposes essentially another fantasy adventure. The sci-fi is more or less the MacGuffin which is used to take two characters from Earth into another world where swords, sandals, hearty ale drinking, monstrous beings and beards are the order of the day. 'Prisoners' is certainly the lesser of the two movies but in all honesty there isn't a massive amount in it. 'Hawk' was low-budget and laughable in many respects and is certainly more of a cult item than a benchmark in fantasy film-making nowadays and 'Prisoners' is certainly from the same basic ballpark, even if it does lack the overall charm of the earlier movie.John Saxon is good value as always as the despotic leader of a band of evil-doers, while everybody else does what is necessary and not much more, with the exception of O'Farrell who again goes the extra mile in being successfully annoying. The film basically works because it throws a succession of creatures and baddies at us at such regular intervals that we never really get the chance to be bored. The production values are low but they still manage to rattle up some decent enough make-up and costuming, with the exception of the chauvinistic male 'hero' who sported a checked shirt throughout the picture which became slightly grating to look at when he was thrust into a fantasy environment I thought.At the end of the day, I think this movie deserves a bit of credit for at least trying. It is certainly entertaining and has a few memorable moments. If you have an appreciation for ropey early 80's fantasy-adventures, I would say that this is one that deserves to be added to your watch-list at the very least.

By accident a scientist by the name of "Dr. Hartman" (Kenneth Hendel), a young television reporter known as "Carrie Madison" (Kay Lenz) and a maintenance man named "Dan" (Richard Hatch) find themselves transported to "a strange and violent land" existing in another dimension. Once there they encounter a number of hostile people and creatures in a desperate struggle to survive. Anyway, so much for the plot. As far as the movie is concerned it pretty much featured one ridiculous "comic book" scenario after another filled with corny dialogue, bad acting, cheap costumes and ludicrous characters. It was pretty bad. As a matter of fact, about the only thing worth mentioning was the presence of Dawn Abraham ("Shareen") and the aforementioned Kay Lenz who at least added some nice scenery to an otherwise totally wasted effort. In summation, my strong recommendation is that you spare yourself from wasting an hour and a half on this drab and uninteresting film. You will be doing yourself a huge favor.

I've now watched this movie twice. The first time I stumbled across it in one of those packs of DVDs that has 50 obscure movies you've never heard of. I went in fully intending to mock it throughout. I was pretty happy early on watching the main characters all come together. Then as the movie progressed, I realized there was a real plot, and some well thought out ideas. There are colorful characters, and some pretty interesting ideas in this thing. I also have an appreciation for the strong female lead in this movie. It's very welcome.When you absorb it all, you have to allow for low budget, sometimes odd dialogue, and occasionally slow pacing. If you look at the variety of characters, follow their travels and enjoy the campiness that is built in, you should have a good time. This is an earnest movie throughout, and I love it for that. I have no doubt I'll watch it again in the future. The story involves (although you may have read this already) a scientist, a reporter, and a guy who just happened to be in the neighborhood. Through a series of events, they all wind up in another dimension. The goal is simple. Find out if there is a way to get home, and if so, go for it. This movie is the tale of their adventures. Aside from some language, it's definitely family friendly. The violence is modest by todays standards and mostly consists of swordplay. Pop in that DVD and enjoy. You'll be glad you did!

Simply labeling "Prisoners of the Lost Universe" as a fun bad movie just doesn't cover it. This is another one of these rare discoveries where you can laugh non-stop, from start until finish, with all the ineptitude in the script as well as the lousy special effects and flamboyant characters. Last time I had so much fun watching a bad B- movie was with either "Wizards of the Lost Kingdom" or "The Puma Man"; both of them obscure and righteously long-forgotten early 80's Sci-Fi fantasy amalgamations as well. All these movies were desperately trying to cash in on all the numerous contemporary popular movie franchises and TV-shows, like "Star Wars" and "Battlestar Gallactica" but usually ended up on the lowest shelves of raunchy video stores or straight on cable TV. Right from the "Star Wars"-styled title sequence and complementary stolen theme music, you just know "Prisoners of the Lost Universe" will become a real and authentic exploitation beauty! The incompetence of the script is immediately noticeable when the characters, who are supposed to be living and working in California USA, are introduced whilst driving cars with the steering wheel at the right side! I know the movie was shot in South Africa, but writer/director Terry Marcel could at least have tried to find two authentic American or European cars with the wheel on the left side? Then, they go and meet a scientist who created a device that can teleport human DNA to other parallel dimensions. Pretty genius, of course, but stupidly enough he made his machine a little too sensitive and even the smallest earthquake – and they occur quite frequently in California – makes the thing go off. This is what happens to a babbling TV-hostess and a nagging plumber when they, following a series of banal circumstances, end up at the scientist's mansion. They arrive in an alternate dimension where every minute lasts several hours. The dimension also homes a whole assemblage of funky humanoids and eccentric monsters, either good (like the green man and the humble man-beast) or bad (like the hateful warlord Kleel). So basically, once inside the parallel dimension, "Prisoners of the Lost Universe" actually becomes quite reminiscent to Dorothy's dreamy journey in "The Wizard of Oz". With his girlfriend Carrie kidnapped by Kleel, Dan teams up with three eccentric locals to go and rescue her. Their voyage is full of obstacles and dangerous ordeals, but love & friendship conquers everything … or something like that! Most of the stuff going on in "Prisoners of the Lost Universe" is just too ridiculous for words and/or doesn't make a lick of sense. There's something new and thoroughly stupid getting introduced every 30 seconds, like little Martian-type creatures with flashing red eyes or a gold- painted giant spontaneously combusting when he touches a fiery rock! John Saxon, who sometimes gives the impression of being embarrassed for starring in yet another lousy Z-grade movie, depicts the ultimately evil SOB. He's a greedy and power-obsessed tyrant who beats women and joyfully goes around blasting away his own henchmen with a self-made shotgun. He's easily the best thing about this whole movie, although Kay Lenz (a fairly unknown Kim Basinger look-alike) and Richard Hatch (Captain Apollo from "Battlestar Gallactica") aren't too bad either. In spite of the really lousy sound and make-up effects, the tone and suggested violence of the film are often quite harsh and there even are a couple of bloody and grim swashbuckling fights. What else you need to know ... ? Oh yeah, movies such as this usually feature an annoying midget who provides the comic relief and a gigantic Chewbacca type of pet animal. In the case of this piece of junk it's even a kleptomaniac midget and a Man-Beast who talks almost as incomprehensibly as Chewbacca. There are zombies too and, I swear, John Saxon is at his sexiest when he plays a villainous character with whiskers! What are you waiting for? You're off to see "Prisoners of the Lost Universe"