A&E ORIGINAL MOVIE: THE LOST WORLD {PART 1 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
Part one of a two-part television film version of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel of the same name, about an expedition into an unknown rain forest inhabited by dinosaurs. Somewhere on the Amazon River in 1911, Professor George Challenger is forced ashore when the two canoes comprising his expedition capsize in a section of rapids. Back in London, young newspaper reporter Edward Malone is sent to cover a lecture about dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum held by Professor Leo Summerlee. He meets his girlfriend Gladys there, and she notices that Lord John Roxton is in attendance, having just returned from a hunting expedition in Africa. Professor Challenger arrives and noisily interrupts the lecture and takes his seat in the audience, periodically mocking Professor Summerlee’s assertions about dinosaur physiology. At one point he stands up in front of the audience and unveils his possession: a bone from a pterosaur which Professor Summerlee remarks is extremely well-preserved. Professor Challenger claims that the bone is from a creature he shot and killed only two months ago, but the assembled scientists scoff at this. He further claims that dinosaurs are living on a plateau in the Amazon rainforest, and tries to propose an expedition to locate this plateau. Everyone laughs except for Lord Roxton, who offers to accompany him and help fund the expedition. Edward also decides to volunteer, and claims that the owner of his newspaper will also supply funding in order to entice Professor Challenger to accept. Professor Challenger also convinces Professor Summerlee, an old colleague of his, to join the expedition as well. The expedition party boards a ship bound for Brazil, and its passengers bid farewell to their loved ones. Edward once again broaches the subject of marriage to Gladys, but she indicates that she does not think of Edward that way, desiring more of a “heroic type” of man. Once the ship departs, Professor Challenger gathers Professor Summerlee, Lord Roxton, and Edward together to reveal their intended destination, as recorded by the sole survivor of a Portuguese expedition to the area in the mid-17th Century. Professor Challenger plans to locate the plateau where dinosaurs supposedly live by way of a mission deep in the rain forest headed by a Reverend Theo Kerr, and then ascending the plateau via an extensive cave system. After seven weeks, the expedition party makes its way via steamboat up the Amazon River and arrives at Reverend Kerr’s mission. They are greeted by Agnes Cluny, Reverend Kerr ward, and she helps convince the natives they wish to hire as bearers to accompany them despite their superstitions about the region which they are to traverse. Agnes explains that she was born at the mission and her parents, both botanists, died in an accident when she was a child and she has been cared for by Reverend Kerr, a friend of the family, ever since. Reverend Kerr returns and Professor Challenger explains the purpose of their expedition to him and Agnes; Reverend Kerr is skeptical about the existence of living dinosaurs, and is committed to Biblical ideas about the age of the earth. He argues with Professor Summerlee before going to sleep, and Professor Challenger recounts his own early experiences with both faith and science. Lord Roxton flirts with Agnes, and Edward pulls him aside to try to dissuade him from doing so. Agnes eavesdrops as Lord Roxton tells Edward to mind his own business and departs. The next day as the expedition prepares to leave Agnes asks to accompany them and they discuss the matter; Lord Roxton and Reverend Kerr are unwilling to allow her to go but Professor Challenger believes her expertise with the local flora and fauna could be quite useful. She manages to convince Reverend Kerr to allow her to go. They set off upstream, and travel along the river for six days. At one point they enter into a narrow pass, monitored by a local tribe of cannibals. They go ashore, hide their canoes, and continue the expedition on foot; the natives accompanying the expedition grow restless about the presence of “evil spirits.” Edward accidentally sets off a trap meant to frighten intruders with a dead creature of some sort, and the natives flee into the jungle when they catch sight of it. Professor Challenger decides to press on the following morning despite the loss of their bearers. Reverend Kerr arrives unexpectedly, explaining that he wanted to accompany them all along. He offers Professor Challenger advice about how to proceed through the jungle. The party continues to make its way through the dense jungle before stopping to rest by a stream. Three days later, they continue their journey by wading through a shallow river. They have an encounter with a collection of deadly coral snakes which sends Edward into a panic, but they manage to divert the snakes and save him. Eventually they make their way up from the river and discover the plateau, much to Professor Challenger’s elation. They soon discover the cave system and make their way inside, discovering cave paintings of dinosaurs on the walls, which particularly disturb Reverend Kerr. Their progress is blocked by a cave-in which appears to have been caused by an explosive of some sort. While everyone except Professor Challenger and Reverend Kerr goes to inspect a large moth caught in their nets, a pterodactyl swoops down and snatches up a roasting pig from the party campfire. However, no one believes Professor Challenger’s claims, and Reverend Kerr does not support his testimony. The party walks around the circumference of the plateau, looking for another way up. Professor Challenger discovers another way up and the party tries to make their way to the summit. Once there, they discover that the majority of the plateau lies across a crevasse, and they chop down a tree to form a makeshift bridge, carefully making their way across one by one. Instead of coming across, Reverend Kerr attempts to dislodge the bridge and trap the rest of the party there, claiming that the plateau “belongs to the devil.” Lord Roxton attempts to stop him, but fails, managing to recover and get back on the plateau. They look on as Reverend Kerr departs, dumbfounded at this turn of events and unsure of how they will return alive. Professor Challenger and Professor Summerlee are astonished at the unusual flora growing on the plateau. Agnes is particularly shaken by Reverend Kerr’s betrayal, and Professor Challenger attempts to comfort her. While out on his own, Edward encounters a hypsilophodon, a small herbivorous dinosaur. He follows the creature and soon encounters an iguanadon, which is soon being observed by the entire party in amazement. Soon the hypsilophodon Edward befriended arrives at the campsite to accompany him. The party explores the plateau, coming across a nest of pterosaurs in a series of geothermal vents. Professor Summerlee accidentally startles the pterosaurs and they swarm through the air, knocking him down as Lord Roxton attempts to fend them off with his hunting rifle. They escape and return to their base camp, where Professor Summerlee rests and recovers from his injuries. During the night they are set upon by a vicious allosaurus, forcing them to drive it away with improvised torches. In the morning Edward climbs a tree to get a vantage point, spotting a herd of iguanadons and a large lake. He also encounters a number of ape-men which startle him, causing him to fall out of the tree. They depart and arrive at the lake to collect fresh water. They set up another camp there, but soon Edward and Agnes spot another allosaur, which chases them into the jungle. They stumble into a pit and the allosaur is impaled on a sharp log as it tries to follow. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: A&E
- DATE: October 6, 2002 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:23:32
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:73348
- GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SERIES RUN: A&E - TV, 2002
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Christian Simmons … Executive Producer
- Delia Fine … Executive Producer
- Kate Harwood … Executive Producer
- Jane Tranter … Executive Producer
- Emilio Nunez … Supervising Producer
- Christopher Hall … Producer
- Tim Haines … Co-Producer
- Lee Morris … Line Producer
- Nicola Olsen … Line Producer
- Stuart Orme … Director
- Tony Mulholland … Writer
- Adrian Hodges … Writer
- Arthur Conan Doyle … Based on the novel by
- Bob Hoskins … Cast, Professor George Challenger
- James Fox … Cast, Professor Leo Summerlee
- Tom Ward … Cast, Lord John Roxton
- Matthew Rhys … Cast, Edward Malone
- Elaine Cassidy … Cast, Agnes Cluny
- Peter Falk … Cast, Reverend Theo Kerr
- Robert Hardy … Cast, Illingworth
- Joanna Page … Cast, Gladys
- Tim Healy … Cast, McArdle
- Tessa Peake-Jones … Cast, Mrs. Summerlee
- Malcolm Shields … Cast, Lead Ape
- Paul Joseph … Cast, Ape 1
- Mason West … Cast, Ape 2
- Brian Abbott … Cast, Reporter 1
- Dominic Rowan … Cast, Reporter 2