Very Cool!!!

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Blistering performances.

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.

"Prisoners of the Lost Universe" was one of the first made for pay TV movies to be made (though it was released to theaters overseas), but it's not only been essentially forgotten, it has drifted into the public domain. Seeing it, it becomes evident why it hasn't been championed since its initial release. It looks really cheap, like it was made by one of the big three television networks of the time. Maybe the filmmakers realized how tacky it looked, because there is often a jokey tone, like they are inviting viewers to laugh at it. But the campy spirit actually makes things worse; you get a feeling of contempt for the material instead of a feeling of fun. Actually, the feeling that most viewers will feel is strongest is of boredom - there's very little excitement or action, and what there is is utterly feeble in execution. It won't take long while watching this movie for your attention to drift to some other activity in your home's viewing space.

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!