Category: Directed by David Nutter

Lost in Space (2018) s01e10 – Danger, Will Robinson

If it weren’t for remake creators Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless getting the script credit, I would’ve thought there’d been a producer change in this season. This episode caps a maybe five-episode arc where they’re racing to get off the planet as fast as possible because it’s breaking apart, and their mothership can’t stay looking for them either. It’s one calamity after another; again, not having seen the original series—but knowing it was Irwin Allen—was it an “everything goes wrong” disaster movie too?

Also, this episode’s got David Nutter directing, presumably because he’s finally got good notices for genre projects. Unfortunately, he brings nothing to it. Every other episode of “Lost in Space” has had directorial enthusiasm. Nutter’s mechanical and competent.

Unless it was his idea to have the now evil robot walk like RoboCop. That moment was about the only personality in the direction. It was probably the effects people.

The episode opens with Maxwell Jenkins sitting in the space-camper watching his old TikToks of him and the robot. He knows dad Toby Stephens is alive, but he doesn’t know Parker Posey has resurrected the robot, turned it evil, and captured mom Molly Parker and sister Taylor Russell. Jenkins and Sundwall are just hanging out waiting for Parker to get home so they can take off and rescue Stephens. They watch the other survivors’ space-campers all taking off, establishing they were supposed to go with Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa but snuck off his ship because Robinsons stick together.

Stephens and Ignacio Serricchio are orbiting the planet on a section of their ship from a couple episodes ago. Luckily the space suits in “Lost in Space” have multiple episodes worth of oxygen. They spend the episode bonding and bickering. It’s the most they’ve had to do together, and it’s okay. Butch and Sundance, they ain’t. The show also feels the need to have Stephens specify he loves Russell even though she’s not his biological daughter, which is uncool. They’d already addressed her genetics better.

After the episode establishes they’re fine—can they go to the bathroom in the suits like Dune?—Parker and Russell get back to the space-camper. Except Posey’s along with the now evil robot. So there’s Parker and Posey fighting about whether they can go save Stephens. There’s only so much time before they can rendezvous with the mothership. Posey says they can, but most of the angst will be worrying she’s lying about it.

Jenkins tries to be friends with the robot again, only it’s bad now, so Jenkins is sad.

Things get worse, and situations change along the way, leading to some quick and detailed thinking from Parker to save the day and get the episode in a good spot for a season finale cliffhanger. While I didn’t have the finale predicted and thought they’d go effects heavier with the space-camper—they basically end it like Lost in Space: The Movie, getting everyone lost in space and ready for adventure.

It’s a jam-packed episode, but you’re basically just terrifying kids and parents over and over without much risk. I think they’ve lost two named characters this season? Not including flashbacks. If you’ve got lines, you’re safe.

The season cliffhanger also tries too hard to include a callback hook and not just let it be about the cast, who have finally settled in and found the show normal.

But it’s all right. “Battlestar Lost in Space” works.

Trancers 5: Sudden Deth (1994, David Nutter)

There are no good parts to Trancers 5: Sudden Deth. The best parts, however, are when you forget you’re watching an actual motion picture–or even a direct-to-video release on a name label–and think you’re instead watching some terrible fantasy movie shot by the staff of a renaissance fair. At one point there’s a magic map and it looks like an eight year-old’s treasure map to their Halloween candy (hidden under their bed). It’s ludicrous. Not in an endearing way, but definitely in a way slightly more amusing than anything else going on in Trancers 5. Because Trancers 5 is really, really bad.

Tim Thomerson escapes as unscathed as humanly possible. He doesn’t have a single good line in the entire movie, not a single good moment because Nutter’s direction is so lame and Peter David’s script is so weak; he never embarrasses himself further than the inherent embarrassment of being involved with such a production.

Almost every other performance is horrific. Clabe Hartley, Ty Miller, Terri Ivens. They’re all awful. Mark Arnold is awful in a different way; he tries and fails. No one else tries.

The story has Thomerson and Miller going to a haunted castle to get a time diamond to send Thomerson back home. It’s occasionally a lot like a tone-deaf, terrible Army of Darkness knock-off. The plotting is dumb. Just about halfway through, it gets a lot worse as Miller gets the first of his many “I’m an energy vampire but I’m okay” speeches. Bad writing, bad directing, bad acting. Thomerson gets credit for not rolling his eyes in the two shots during these deliveries.

The boringness of Trancers 5–the relentless lameness throughout–is the worst part. It opens with too long opening titles, then a seven minute recap of the previous film (poorly narrated by Arnold). Then it’s only like an hour of actual movie and every minute of it is lame.

Also lame are Adolfo Bartoli’s photography and Gary Fry’s music.

Trancers 5 is dreadful.

0/4ⓏⒺⓇⓄ

CREDITS

Directed by David Nutter; screenplay by Peter David, based on characters created by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo; director of photography, Adolfo Bartoli; edited by Lisa Bromwell; music by Gary Fry; production designer, Mircea-Dudus Neagu; produced by Michael Catalano, Oana Paunescu and Vlad Paunescu; released by Paramount Home Video.

Starring Tim Thomerson (Jack Deth), Ty Miller (Prospero), Terri Ivens (Shaleen), Clabe Hartley (Lord Caliban), Stacie Randall (Lyra), Mark Arnold (Lucius), Jeff Moldovan (Harson) and Stephen Macht (Harris).

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Trancers 4: Jack of Swords (1994, David Nutter)

I’m not sure where to start with Trancers 4 except I don’t recommend anyone else ever watch this film. Especially not if you like Trancers or even Tim Thomerson. That definite discouragement aside, for a direct-to-video sequel shot in Romania and set in a different universe like an episode of the original “Star Trek” just so they could use castles and magic and dumb shit, Trancers 4: Jack of Swords could be worse.

It’s bad. It’s a very bad film and director Nutter completely misses the chance to give it any charm whatsoever; he’s really bad. But it could be worse. Peter David’s script is quirky in its plotting. One can only imagine who he had in mind for playing the villain. Instead of anyone good, it’s Clabe Hartley, who kind of acts like a Chippendales dancer trying out to be a magician in 1984. But I’m not even sure Hartley gives the worst performance in the film. He’s energetic. He’s bad at his job but he’s trying.

But Hartley’s still bad because Trancers 4 is bad. It’s just affably simple. Once you get past all the stupidity in the production–like rebel leader Terri Ivens having on a leather bikini top–David’s script is reliably predictable. Nutter butchers whatever pacing the script’s got and doesn’t seem to direct the actors at all.

The not always bad performances are from Stacie Randall, Ty Miller, Alan Oppenheimer and Stephen Macht. Mark Arnold for some reason gets the worst direction in the film as Hartley’s sidekick and it appears to be because Nutter doesn’t understand the script. He probably should’ve asked David to explain it to him. And Arnold, who’s lost, but occasionally seems like he thinks he’s trapped in a terrible comedy.

Lochlyn Munro is bad.

Technically, it could be worse. There are no crew standouts but it’s obvious Nutter’s bad at the whole shot composition thing so there’s only so much the cinematographer and the editor can do. Gary Fry’s music is pretty lame. And the stupid thing has three minute opening titles; they’re desperately trying to pad this thing. It’s seventy-four minutes and has some boring stretches.

Maybe the worst part is the opening with Thomerson in future L.A. was terrible but not without potential. Thomerson’s lost here. The direction’s bad, he’s sharing too much of the script with the supporting cast, it’s a bad part. Thomerson does try and he’s still Thomerson, but Tracers 4 fails him worst of all.

0/4ⓏⒺⓇⓄ

CREDITS

Directed by David Nutter; screenplay by Peter David, based on characters created by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo; director of photography, Adolfo Bartoli; edited by Lisa Bromwell; music by Gary Fry; production designer, Mircea-Dudus Neagu; produced by Michael Catalano, Oana Paunescu and Vlad Paunescu; released by Paramount Home Video.

Starring Tim Thomerson (Jack Deth), Stacie Randall (Lyra), Clabe Hartley (Caliban), Ty Miller (Prospero), Mark Arnold (Lucius), Terri Ivens (Shaleen), Lochlyn Munro (Sebastian), Alan Oppenheimer (Farr) and Stephen Macht (Harris).

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