ssjakira1's Full Review: Lost - The Complete First Season
Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.
Warning: I do a lot of explaining of characters and who they are, so if you dont want to know anything beforehand, be wary of this review, as it covers a lot.
I have a very strong tendency to resist all fads. Facebook.com. Designer jeans. Dying ones hair platinum blonde. If Im already doing something and it happens to become a fad, then thats different. When Lost came on the air a few years back, everyone went nuts over it. Sure, if I hear something is good Im inclined to check it out. But when I hear, Omigod! You have to watch it! Nothing makes sense! Its so weird! Thats not a good way to get me interested.
Nevertheless, my sister thought Lost was all that and a bag of chips and insisted I watch it. Well, I agreed for two reasons. 1.) I figured Id indulge her to get her to relax about it and 2.) I like Dominic Monaghan. Hes adorable. So over Christmas, when we went to Arkansas to see our grandparents and basically had nothing to do all day, she brought seasons 1 and 2 along for the ride.
The complete first season of Lost consists of 6 discs that contain all 24 episodes, each disc offering 4 episodes as well as options for captions, other languages, etc. as most DVDs do these days. There is also a 7th disc that contains bonus features any Lost junkie can indulge in. Well get to those near the end of the review.
The Story
When Oceanic Flight 815 from Australia to Los Angeles crashes on a remote island, there are 48 survivors of the crash. At first it seems like any typical stranded on an island scheme but thats just a ruse. You see, theres something no one knows about the island. In fact, there are a lot of things no one knows about the island. Something huge and frightening crashes around in the jungle, knocking over trees. Mysterious transceiver signals that have been playing for over a decade. Why so many of them have survived with minor scratches and bruises. What links them all together besides their flight on the plane. The story takes a focus on fourteen of these people, and how they all have to work together if they hope to get off the island alive.
Lost is an iceberg, and this is only the tip of that iceberg. Each episode introduces you to a new character, giving you insights into their personality as well as flashbacks into their past. The going is a little slow, but life is intriguing, so I cant say youll be bored. Each character has secrets they carry, things they need to let go of, and obstacles they need to overcome. A doctor. A convict. A heroine junkie. A millionaire. A strange version of sibling rivalry. A miracle. The difficulties of having children. The barriers of language and culture. Everything you could possibly get is thrown into a hodgepodge group of people stuck on a beach. And thats almost nothing compared to the strange things on the island. Monsters. Cords disappearing into the ocean. The others. *cue creepy music* (frankly I think it should be The Others)
Music, Setting, Effects
Speaking of the music, thats one thing I really have to give the series credit for. The music is very well done. Ultimately creepy in every place it needs to be. Others its sweet or sad. But its always exactly what it needs to be to the perfect degree. I made a point to find out who did the music - Michael Giacchino in order to give him his due credit. I am, after all, a soundtrack junkie. Cheers Mike.
The setting is actually all done in Hawaii, so everyone really is running around in a jungle and sandy beach. Its much better when things are shot on location because it adds so much to the realism of the show/movie. The set for the plane crash was very good as well. Frighteningly realistic. The noise of the engine still trying to go sends shivers down my spine. Ugh. I hate flying, so this gave me the willies.
Special effects are so-so. Sometimes theyre good, such as the poor guy sucked into the engine intake. Ew. Other times they seem a little lame. Be it computer generated images or mechanics or puppeteers, Im just not impressed. Maybe the series just needs a little more budgeting (and Im sure they got it after season 1). I didnt mind much of anything up until the wild boar started showing up. The boars were just never any good. Just not believable as real (that excludes the actual real one used in a certain episode). I can give it a little leeway though, because I watch Stargate SG-1 and their effects in the beginning were kind of not-so-hot as well. Lost is off the hook until seasons 2.
Otherwise, makeup and costuming are all very good. Boone is scary looking with all that blood (and rightly so), everyone always looks semi-appropriate for their position. Except Shannons hair is always fine and dandy and shes always got makeup on and never looks dirty at all. Look, Ive been out camping before, showers and brush and soap in tow, and trust me, unless you have some electrical outlets to help straighten your hair or blow dry it to a perfect sheen, its not going to look that good. Reality issues aside, not bad.
Characters
The characters themselves are all very interesting. They are well developed, as the series is sort of a mix between both character study and plotline, and you grow attached to them and their issues. At the beginning it can be hard to keep straight who is who and I know sometimes people want to check up on things beforehand, so Ive decided to offer you a list of the following people the series focuses on, as well as the actors that play them and a bit of their info:
Jack (Matthew Fox, We Are Marshall) A doctor with a lot on his plate. A lot.
Kate (Evangeline Lilly, Kingdom Hospital) A pretty girl with a secretive past probably more secretive than anyone wants to know.
Charlie (Dominic Monaghan, Lord of the Rings) Heroine junkie and flash in the pan rock star. Totally cute (Im a sucker for English guys) and always wants to help even if he cant.
Sawyer (Josh Holloway, several various episodes in different television series) Sneaky con-man who always has a sharp one-liner to sting anyone who asks for it or doesnt. Maybe they can get his heart in the right place...
Locke (Terry OQuinn, a long list of credits for both movies and television; Alias) Youd never guess where he came from or how he ended up on the plane, but lucky for everyone else he did.
Michael (Harold Perrineau, The Matrix Revolutions) A dad whos only desire is to keep his kid safe.
Walt (Malcolm David Kelley, random small spots; Antwone Fisher) A kid whos only desire is to find his dog and has a tendency to disobey his dad.
Sayid (Naveen Andrews, The English Patient) An ex-Iraqi torture expert gone to the good side of life.
Jin (Daniel Dae Kim, plenty of TV; Crash) Keeps himself estranged from the others with his wife easy to do since he doesnt speak English.
Sun (Yunjin Kim, a lot of things most of us arent going to be familiar with; Iron Palm) Remains with her husband despite their rockiness and the secret she never wants him to know.
Hurley (Jorge Garcia, Deck the Halls) A large guy who has some surprises of his own. Hes still a lot of fun and the only one saying Dude on the island.
Boone (Ian Somerhalder, Pulse) Has issues with his sister.
Shannon (Maggie Grace, boy a lot of these people have been in CSI; The Fog) Has issues with her brother.
Claire (Emilie De Ravin, The Hills Have Eyes) Pregnant and a plane crash survivor. Someone give this girl a medal.
The characters themselves, while most of them do have certain things about them that annoy me; Claires inability to accept anyones help (thats just stupid), Kates dumb issue with a case she gave up to Sawyer and then decided she wanted back (why did you give it up in the first place if you want it that bad, duh?), Shannons near-uselessness, and Sayid being this great guy with that sort of past (dont buy it). Despite these things, I do like most of the characters. My favorites are Charlie, Locke and Sawyer. The actors and actresses all pull off who they are to a T. The thing is you never know who is going to disappear, die, or otherwise freak out. These people are the main reason one can get sucked into Lost.
The Plot and Reality
Now, my biggest tug-o-war in my head is the deal with the writers. Are they making this nonsense up as they go? Or have they planned it all out from start to finish and just add details as necessary? There is The Genesis of Lost on the 7th DVD, so I absolutely had to watch that and find out. From that Im fairly certain they know everything from start to near finish and add details as necessary. I have to let that go in order to appreciate Lost, because even though Im still not hooked on the series like so many others (as in its the best thing since sliced bread), I can appreciate the innovation to what would normally be a bland storyline and the detail involved to connect the characters, among other things. Creativity: A. The show is effectively creepy by the way I announced this after the second episode.
The reality is a little different. If youve ever watched a single show of Survivor, know anything about wilderness survival, or are familiar with airline policies at all, there are plenty of questions youd have to ask. Locke and his knives. The ax everyone uses. How is it these items were on the plane? Fire everyone and their grandma makes fire like its a piece of cake. I know there are some matches, but other times I doubt people are carrying any, and if they are, theyre not the waterproof kind so they wouldnt work after the person is drenched in a deluge. I wont bring up the question of Hurleys weight because I know they solved that later on, but I think thats one of those details added to the big picture. However, even if it takes Hurley a long time to show weight loss it wouldnt for all the other characters. Theyd be lean and mean yet theyre not. Im not biting. Ill suspend my disbelief only so far.
Of course, we still dont know where these people are. Theories abound on the internet take your pick. My sisters theory is that theyre in purgatory. I hope to all that is good and green that isnt the case. If it were, that would be the cheapest, most lame cop out ever, not to mention horribly unfulfilling and completely cliché. It would make Lost the biggest letdown since well I cant think of anything to compare it to. It would just be a big letdown. But were still only in the first season, so youll be busy putting puzzle pieces together and having a good time when you start getting larger chunks of it here and there.
The 7th DVD and Bonus Materials
Each DVD, episodes aside, contains a few various bonus materials. The majority of these are commentaries for select episodes. So if youre into commentaries, by all means enjoy.
The final DVD contains some interesting matierals. How Lost came into existence, extra flashbacks (not impressive there were only two), the making of The Pilot episode (freaky episode I might add), various audio commentaries, interviews, audition tapes (weird seeing Dominic Monaghan read lines for Sawyer), deleted scenes, and of course, bloopers. I havent looked at everything, as the majority of bonus features on any DVD never really interest me. It was cool seeing the audition tapes (Josh Holloway had Sawyer in the bag I tell you), and the story of how the show was conceived answered questions for me. And naturally, I cant go anywhere without looking at the bloopers. A lot of people falling down in the jungle
A decent extra disc. Sometimes theyre not worth bothering with, but this one has some nice tidbits on it.
All That and a Bag of Chips?
Everyone now wants to know since I liked the music, characters, am intrigued by the plot, did I change my mind about Lost?
No. Its good, I give it that hands down, but Im not sucked in. If I never saw anything beyond this season I honestly couldnt care. Im not easily sucked into this series, mostly because I know its going to take a lot of seasons to get any answers and I just dont have the patience for that. My curiosity isnt that piqued. This coming from the girl who starts everything she finishes. I have the second season sitting right here, and yes, I am going to watch it, but Im not going to block out time every night to see the subsequent season on TV, nor am I going to go out and buy these like my sis. Now thats not to say that you wont get into it. A lot of people have, so hey, you very well could too. Just because Im not all psycho over it doesnt mean its bad or that its not interesting. Even I find myself caught up in the moment of the episode and character trials. By all means, do what you feel you want to do.
One thing though. No matter how far I was to get in the series, Dominic Monaghan is one of my main motivations for watching this, hence if Charlie were to die, I would stop watching it right then and there.
NT
P.S. My sister says Josh Holloway would make a great Gambit and I totally agree.
Note on the Recommendation: If a friend were to ask me about it, yes, I would say it was good. However, no, I would not actively go out and urge people to watch it.
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