This big-budget screen version of Irwin Allen's cult 1960s TV series is a charmless if flashy affair under the direction of Stephen Hopkins. The Robinson family's Earth migration experiment is sabotaged by evil Doctor Smith (Gary Oldman) and they are forced to land on a mysterious planet inhabited by mutated monster spiders. A conscious attempt to be all things to all audiences falls flat - cute stuff including a lovable space monkey will annoy adults, while the "family values" sermons will bore kids rigid. The special effects, nostalgic look, varying tone and acting (with Matt LeBlanc an honourable exception) never gel into an enjoyable whole in what is basically a cynical marketing exercise.

The prospects for continuing life on Earth in the year 2058 are grim. So the Robinsons are launched into space to colonize Alpha Prime, the only other inhabitable planet in the galaxy. But when a stowaway sabotages the mission, the Robinsons find themselves hurtling through uncharted space.