Land of the Lost

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Ferrell's reboot of '70s show is rife with gross-out laughs.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this big-screen version of the cult-classic 1970s TV show has lots of vulgar language, as well as an extended sequence in which some of the main characters are clearly stoned on a natural narcotic/hallucinogenic substance. There's also a high degree of body-function humor: At one point, a character douses himself in dinosaur urine to mask his scent, an egg is removed from a huge pile of dinosaur feces, and a character is swallowed whole and later excreted by a dinosaur.

  • There's a hint of a lesson about standing by your friends and your beliefs, but it's mostly drowned out by slapstick and jokes. There's a high degree of body-function humor: Acharacter douses himself in dinosaur urine to mask his scent, an egg isremoved from a huge pile of dinosaur feces, a character is swallowedwhole and excreted by a dinosaur, etc. Discussion of enjoying show tunes being considered "a bit gay."
  • Ferrell's character is an arrogant airhead, but he's not to be taken very seriously. Holly stands up for him when no one believes his theories.
  • A man is torn to bits by hungry dinosaurs, and viewers see his severed limbs. Mostly comedic violence involving lizard-men or dinosaurs; some peril, but mostly limited to comedic rampages of destruction and mild scuffling. Some blood as part of a gag involving an exotic blood-sucking insect.
  • Some kissing; mild lascivious language (for example, a river guide says to a young woman "You may get wet" as a fairly obvious double-entendre). Scantily clad women, as well as underwear-clad men, but the latter is primarily for comedic effect. A touchy-feely hominid primitive puts his hand on the breast of a young woman; a slightly more evolved human emulates that behavior.
  • Extensive (yet genial) profane and rude language, including (but not limited to) "goddammit," "boobs," "damn," "bitchslap," "gay," "ass-ton," "pissed," "oh my God," "bastard," "s--tty," "p---y," a barely vocalized non-sexual use of t"f--k," "dong," "asshole," "crapballs," "dick," "Jesus,"  "tap that ass," "son-of-a-bitch," and many more.
  • Extensive mention of brands and TV shows, including Amazon, Cialis, M&Ms, Arby's, Popeye's Chicken, Subway, Florsheim, iPod, Sandals resorts, A Chorus Line, Iron Chef, the Latin Grammys, The Today Show (including a cameo by host Matt Lauer), Mama's Family, and many more.
  • A pipe is displayed but not smoked; characters drink beer and wine. Characters also appear high from the effects of the nectar of an exotic plant. A character says of a tropical jungle "I bet there's weed in there."

What's the story?

After his bizarre theories about time-travel and inter-dimensional wormholes earn him the scorn of the scientific community, Dr. Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell) is exiled to working as a tour guide at the La Brea tar pits. Holly Cantrell (Anna Friel), the one person who believes his theories, finds him, encourages him to build his dimension-spanning equipment, and then leads him to a souvenir stand in the desert run by Will (Danny McBride) that just happens to be at a weak spot between worlds. Soon, the three are transported to a strange primitive world full of dinosaurs, friendly primates, and scary lizard men.


Is it any good?

 

What saves LAND OF THE LOST from being annoying or overblown is the naked transparency of its low ambitions; this isn't a serious-minded reinvention of the series or an attempt to make a work of art out of '70s TV. Instead, it's a chance for Ferrell and McBride -- two talented comedic improvisers -- to do their thing in a world of dinosaurs and dangers, peril and parody.

Director Brad Silberling, working from a script by two ex-Saturday Night Live writers, knows this, so he goes easy on spectacle and heavy on slapstick. Land of the Lost is hardly the most original comedy -- Ferrell's playing another of his arrogant airheads, McBride another of his roughneck buffoons -- and yet something about the sci-fi setting makes what could have been tired moments fresh, as if a familiar restaurant redecorated while still serving old favorite recipes. A broad, foolish comedy, Land of the Lost has more than a few laughs, even if it is somehow both expensive and disposable.


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What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about the phenomenon of '70s TV shows coming to the big screen. Does this represent the fact that these shows have wormed their way into the public consciousness because they were worthwhile -- or is it just about making money? 

  • Families can also talk about Will Ferrell -- what do all of his characters seem to have in common? What's behind his comedic appeal?


This review was written by James Rocchi
Adult
June 22, 2009
 
3 stars? Did you watch this movie?
We left before it ended. I was wishing I had checked this website before we went to see it, but your review doesn't do it justice. Lots of vulgar language? It was ALL vulgar. Inappropriate sexual behavior through the whole movie. The fact that this movie was made is a sad statement on the condition of society. Come on, commonsensemedia, don't water down your reviews. Tell it like it is! We trust you!

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Kid, 11 years old
September 1, 2010
 
some rude things
Good comedy but some bad things

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Kid, 11 years old
February 5, 2011
 
Good for kids 13+
It is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen! It has a lot of bad language, but it's so funny! There's a little sexual activity because there is some kissing and when they go to the fireworks store, there are inappropriate coffee mugs and lighters.

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Parent of 7 and 14 year old
July 14, 2009
 
Not appropriate for 13 year olds, and bad to boot!
I found it extremely offensive. I brought my daughter and 3 of her friends, and was angry during the movie, and apologetic to their parents afterward! Words like b*tch, a**, d*ck and p*ssy (sometimes used "straight", and sometimes as a double-entendre) were not what I considered appropriate. Also, the female character was dressed in a provocative manner for no theatrical reason, and was grouped for humor, and the subject of crude humor on a number of occasions. There were visual sexual jokes as well, and while much of this went over the kids' heads, I was very surprised that, ratings-wise, this was considered acceptable for 13 year olds. Lastly, this was just a terrible movie -- bad dialog, jokes, plot, acting, etc.

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Teen, 14 years old
December 30, 2010
 
Perfectly good Show Ruined by this Stupid Movie
My mom luved the show when she was younger and i saw a few episodes when they were on. But this movie Was NOTHING like the show.and very INNAPROPRIAT the things people say and just it was a great show RUINED by this movie. it was Made into a comedy with many sex jokes. It was so STUPID i turned it off.

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Educator and Parent
November 12, 2010
 
There was some sort of error on the earlier post. For the record, I would not recommend this movie for anyone under the age of 14. I am not a fan of inappropriate comedies for a variety of reasons, and would definitely not recommend this movie to younger viewers.

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Kid, 13 years old
October 16, 2009
 
Not okay for tweens but for older kids
have not seen it but some people say it should have been rated R

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Parent of 15, 17, and 17 year old
June 20, 2009
 
Do not take your young children to this movie!!!
This is not for the kids!! If I could give it a half a star I would have. It is awful to start with but many of the scenes had me uncomfortable. There was talk about two male characters french kissing on a dare. The furry creature is constantly grabbing the female characters breast, ok maybe once, but they seem to think this was funny for it to happen over and over. They use bad language like p***y, and others, at the end it shows a group of scantily clad women showing a little too much bottom and breast. Please do not take your children to this movie. I was somewhat offended by the constant degrading of women, i.e: breast constantly grabbed, talk hinting about women getting wet", showing a bit much bottom and breast at the end. Although not full out revealing, more showing than they should have for how this movie was promoted. Shame on them..They made every child out there think this was a great kids movie!! Really sad!!

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Parent of 11 and 14 year old
June 19, 2009
 
Stinks worse than dino dung! Not a kid's movie.
After reading the commonsense.org review I took my 12 year old to this movie and couldn't believe how many offensive moments you guys left out of the review! For example, once the guys get high on narcotic cactus juice they wake up in a 69 position lingered on by the camera long enough for everyone to get the joke ten times over...and still no one's laughing. The gross out humor you mention is delivered sledgehammer style so that even my twelve year old boy hated it. Truly tedious. I love Will Farrell, but this movie was definately marketed to kids and is NOT a kids movie. Other items you do not stress enough in the review is the unending foul language, sexual references and topless girls in the ending.

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Kid, 13 years old
November 26, 2009
 
Sort of Boring. Lost My Interest During the Film.
It's a man's comedy. It's not very funny, just sexual humor and jokes that don't really make sense. Language and sex, violence, consumerism, bad role models, mixed messages, and drug and alcohol use and we could be seeing this film again. It isn't good.

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This review was written by James Rocchi
Studio:Universal Pictures
Director:Brad Silberling
Cast:Anna Friel, Danny McBride, Will Ferrell
Genre:Action/Adventure
Run time:99 minutes
Theatrical release date:June 5, 2009
DVD release date:October 12, 2009
MPAA rating:PG-13
MPAA explanation:crude and sexual content, and for language including a drug reference

This review was written by James Rocchi
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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