This is by no stretch of the imagination a good movie. It is incredibly low-budget, and that leaves the OK(ish) acting badly exposed. That said, I thoroughly loved it!
To enjoy this movie you really have to be able to overlook the low budget. The 'effects' are bad. Really bad. The alien dimension is an exact replica of Earth. The sets could come straight from a spaghetti western (perhaps they did). The 'monsters' are people in mild fancy dress. The fight scenes are amateurish, and made more 'exciting' by running the film faster. A three year old child could spot it without even trying. However, if you can accept the shortfalls for what they are – the result of an extremely low budget and an overreaching ambition – and allow yourself to ride with the tide, you will enjoy this film.
The saving graces come in the form of a fun script and Kay Lenz.
The script is not magnificently written, but the dialogue is fun and counterpoints many amusing incidents in the storyline. I won't highlight any incidents as I want this post to remain spoiler-free. However, if you relax into this movie and roll with it you will discover them for yourself when you find yourself laughing out loud – and you will perhaps be surprised that you are laughing with the movie, not at it.
Kay Lenz is also fun. If you like your heroines good looking and feminine but sparky, you will love her character. Having a female lead character in a film who looks like this, and is possessed of intelligence and verve, will always add a certain frisson for many male viewers.
I always find that one of the marks of a movie that has been particularly enjoyable is that at the ending I am surprised that so much time has passed whilst I was watching. This film met that criterion. It is refreshing to find this in a low-budget movie after sitting through some Hollywood blockbuster or other wondering how much longer it will be before the interminable film ends.
If you want to watch a fun bubblegum movie, and you are willing and able to overlook a budget so low that it hits you in the face thirty times per minute of running time, take a look at this film. You will have fun.

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I've now watched this movie twice. The first time I stumbled across it in one of those packs of DVDs that has 50 obscure movies you've never heard of. I went in fully intending to mock it throughout. I was pretty happy early on watching the main characters all come together. Then as the movie progressed, I realized there was a real plot, and some well thought out ideas. There are colorful characters, and some pretty interesting ideas in this thing. I also have an appreciation for the strong female lead in this movie. It's very welcome.
When you absorb it all, you have to allow for low budget, sometimes odd dialogue, and occasionally slow pacing. If you look at the variety of characters, follow their travels and enjoy the campiness that is built in, you should have a good time. This is an earnest movie throughout, and I love it for that. I have no doubt I'll watch it again in the future.
The story involves (although you may have read this already) a scientist, a reporter, and a guy who just happened to be in the neighborhood. Through a series of events, they all wind up in another dimension. The goal is simple. Find out if there is a way to get home, and if so, go for it. This movie is the tale of their adventures. Aside from some language, it's definitely family friendly. The violence is modest by todays standards and mostly consists of swordplay. Pop in that DVD and enjoy. You'll be glad you did!

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Ostensible shades of a Hawk The Slayer reunion are evidenced here with two of that films main protagonists (Peter O'Farrell and Ray Charleson) present here in very similar roles to that which they portrayed in the aforementioned movie. In fact the film reviewed here bears more than a passing resemblance to the said glorious classic in many ways (a compliment indeed!)
The plot concerns a revolutionary scientist who develops an amazing device which can transport matter to another dimension. Predictably matters take a turn for the worse when himself, a female TV presenter and a handy man/kendo champion(!) accidentally fall into the device and inevitably end up stranded in an unforgiving parallel world ruled by a sadistic despot named Kleel (the always excellent John Saxon)
It turns out to be a highly enjoyable ride throughout boasting some great action set pieces including some very well staged battles wherein our hero, played by Richard 'Apollo' Hatch, demonstrates some highly nifty sword work!
Great fun from start to finish and can be enjoyed by all. It's just such a shame that films like this are so rarely made nowadays.

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This stereotypical, low-grade fantasy lacks both the budget and the directorial imagination to be really exciting. The only epic thing about it is the music score. The film is too cheesy for most adults, but it also has some unpleasant scenes that are unsuitable for kids - making you wonder what audience exactly they had in mind. What kept me watching it is Kay Lenz: she's both endearing and feisty, and she looks particularly sexy when she's angry. Her face has a great 'bone structure' - she looks a bit like Kim Basinger (trivia note: they were born the same year, 1953), only more beautiful. And she can even keep a straight face through lines like 'But....he's green!' (when the male lead suggests that they should follow a man). Take Lenz out of the movie and you don't have a movie - just a midget, a giant, an evil John Saxon, and other stereotypes. (*1/2)

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This film is very different sci-fi/fantasy film that has good action scenes and some very unique but original characters. Kay Lenz is so good looking! She looked great in this movie and she acted good too! John Saxon put on powerful performance. I really liked his character. Richard Hatch was good as well. If you can find this different film some where pick it up and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

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Prisoners of the Lost Universe: Science transports a mad scientist, a handyman, and a go get um TV reporter to 'The Lost Universe' which turns out to be South African renaissance festival run by John Saxon.
On the plus side, this is no Frankenstein Island. There is some decent acting with actually appealing actors. Richard Hatch was always underutilized but certainly is appealing here. John Saxon is in full John Saxon mode and plays his evil character halfway between Donald Pleasance and Kurtwood Smith. As others certainly have pointed out the real find is Kay Lenz. Well find is a bit of a stretch. She played a hippy chick intertwined with William Holden in the Clint Eastwood lensed Breezy. Having recently watched that film for the first time it is well worth the look and she is fantastic in it. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance (Best New Actress nominee). Kay Lenz is fantastic in her role with great chemistry with Richard Hatch and a sense of spunky fun.
The movie also has some decent ideas wrapped up with some on the spot dialogue. So why am I watching this movie with a Rifftrax soundtrack and comparing it to Frankenstein Island? Well…. Did I mentioned it was filmed in South Africa… in the early Eighties… and they used their entire budget for top name stars like Richard Hatch? Yes, this one had potential but everything else is a pure train wreck. You can't make Lord of the Rings on a 100k budget. It is a combination of LARPers gone wrong and some of the worst, yet strangely creative costumes and makeup ever seen. You have giants, midgets, green people… and sets that would make 60's Star Trek blush.
It's all in good fun and the stars mentioned above make most of this more palatable than it should be. For those times even the charms of Richard Hatch or John Saxon cannot win one over I had the soothing jokes of Rifftrax to see me through. An okay time but don't be surprised if you are confused after fifteen minutes and asleep after forty-five.

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Wow! What's this? A fun-packed kiddie fantasy, that's what. I saw this one at a car boot sale and the lack of text on the box intrigued me - as well as the green man, of course. It's low budget and lacks anything in the way of artificial monsters, as all of the creatures in this film are strictly of the 'man wearing rubber suit/makeup' variety. It's still very entertaining, too, if not exactly profound. The market audience is obviously children, so there are no morals, no depth to the story - it just takes the typical, clichéd plot of having the good guys getting captured, escaping, getting captured and escaping again, and fighting loads of different enemies off.
The thing which makes this film really cheesy is the quality of the special effects. They're early computer animation, which takes the form of glowing green and red lights. Sometimes these can be effective (the mask-wearing natives with red flashing eyes actually worked!), sometimes atrocious (this has to be the most poorly-animated teleporter I've ever seen). But the target audience is kids, so who cares, right? Kids aren't discriminating! The actors and actresses are pretty bad - just as to be expected. There's a wooden male lead, a wooden female lead, a wooden supporting actor and...John Saxon! Yes, Saxon appears in this rubbish as a megalomaniac warlord who enjoys whipping and shooting his slaves - and he looks like he's having a ball. Kay Lonz is the forceful blonde chosen for the glamour content, while the very wooden (yet oddly charismatic) male lead is none other than Richard Hatch, fresh from his stint in BATTLESTAR GALACTICA! Elsewhere we have a gurning dwarf who is the spit of the Irish guy in DAY OF THE DEAD, and an associated group of mutants/Neanderthals/weirdos making up the rest of the good guys. The band of good guys in these films is always made up of assorted species - which I think it goes back to LORD OF THE RINGS.
There's a guy who's completely blue; an annoying Irish dwarf, and a hulking beast-man who wields a papier-mache club. You like cheesy fight scenes? We've got plenty here. Our heroes encounter all manner of danger, from the aforementioned natives with flashing red eyes to giant, indestructible naked muscular men; underwater rubbery monster-men; a drunken tribe of criminals; rotted zombies who jump up from under the ground; plus the terror of a huge cardboard boulder. This has to be the cheapest-looking alien landscape I've ever seen either. Stuck for an alien sky? Simply stick a purple filter over the lens. Want an alien plant? Shove some plastic saucers over the branches of a tree, that'll do it. Events eventually culminate (not before time, either), in a finale which goes for the blow-it-all-up routine, and then an abrupt ending which leaves you thinking 'what?!'. I'm being harsh. As kiddie flicks go, this one isn't bad, and undemanding fantasy fans should enjoy it. Others, like me, might just get laughs from the whole cheapness and shoddiness of the thing. In any case, it passes the time, and at least has a great title!

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The Plot.
Through a series of coincidences, Carrie, Dan and Dr. Hartmann all fall through a teleporter device Hartmann has invented.
Transported to a what appears to be a prehistoric world in a parallel universe and unable to find the Doctor, Dan and Carrie must figure out a way to get back home.
Before they can do that, however, they must deal with tribes of savage cavemen, as well as brutal warlord named Kleel who has taken a liking to Carrie and seems to be unusually well-supplied with Earth technology.
This is not a horrible movie.
The acting is good and the directing is suitable.
It's easy to watch and you can space out here and there without losing the plot.
It's set in LA but all the cars have their steering wheels on the right side because this was filmed in South Africa where tehy drive the English way.
The movie can't be taken too seriously and frankly I think it was made more as a comedy with sci fi elements rather than in the reverse.
The special effects are horrible. It has the look of Flesh Gordon. Too bad Kay Lenz didn't do some porn in her day.
I liked the movie. It was fun and different. Nothing to write home about but good for a lazy rainy day

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First, I can't imagine this can even be found anymore. I saw it one time, in the mid 80s when I was a kid, on T.V. I think it was orginally made for cable. Anyway, my expectations were zero, and instead I enjoyed a great 'bad' movie, if you know what I mean. Fun way to spend an afternoon. Why do I even remember it? Because it is so obscure, it is one of those movies I use to test whether a film book (like Maltin) is really comprehensive. Glad to find it on imdb.com.

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There's this silly scientist (Kenneth Hendel), you see, who has managed to create a machine, a Material Transmitter, which can, well, transmit stuff into a parallel universe. And then there's this female reporter (Kay Lentz), see, who's gonna do a report of the man and then there's this ken-do fighting cable guy (Richard Hatc), who because of an accident gets hooked up in this and they all are like sent into a parallel universe. And in the parallel universe there's some green dude (Ray Charleson), a giant (Larry Taylor), an annoying little thief (Peter O'Farrell) and this, like, evil warlord (John Saxon). And guess who's gonna get napped by the warlord and who is gonna do inventions for him. And who's gonna safe the day.
Prisoners Of The Lost Universe is my first camp movie love. When I was a kid I must have watched it dozens of times, even tough it is flat out silly film, whit poor settings and obviously small effect budget. That is the reason I am a bit too generous with my score.
POTLU isn't nothing more, than a low budget action/sci-fi/fantasy flick, which, if you are into this kind of films, will make a grin on your face just because it is, what it is. And, at least in the first viewing, you can't help but to applaud for the inner logic of the story and the world. A pod gun. Black and white red eyes pygmies, hot stone worshipers and much, much more.
In a word, if you are watching this film, you most likely are into low budget camp films, and thus can appreciate this film for what it is.
Score: 4 of 10, Camp Score: 7 of 10

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I remember watching this movie when I was a child in the 80s! Recently, as a birthday present for my dad, I bought him a 100 movie pack SciFi classics (can be found on Amazon). Upon looking through the DVDs, I saw this one and remembered it from when I was little. Sure enough, I found it just as good as I remembered it then except I acknowledge how campy it is. But I still love it! Anyway, if you want this movie, it is available in the 100 movie pack/SCIFI Classics which is selling for about $39.99. NOTE: the quality is basically as if someone took the original movie and just transferred it onto DVD. There's no touch-ups or remastering. Each DVD contains about 4 movies, 2 on each side. Have fun watching! I did!!

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'A scientist has developed a matter transmitter that he is able to demonstrate for two people, when an earthquake occurs, disrupting the test and plunging the trio into a parallel universe. The trio must adjust to the strange new world, where medieval weaponry is mixed with modern technology, all the while trying to find a way to travel back home. The scientist becomes separated from the young couple and they attempt to find him, all the while a warlord is trying to stop them, so he can take the young woman for his own,' according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.
Richard Hatch (as Dan) and Kay Lenz (as Carrie) are both athletic and attractive, in this vapid and vacuous parallel universe adventure. In Terry Marcel's 'Prisoners of the Lost Universe', Mr. Hatch and Ms. Lenz get to say naughtier words than they said on episodic television; and, of course, they banter before falling in love. The strange universe looks exactly like our Earth; however, it populated with amusingly costumed and made-up actors. It looks like it should have been a lot more fun.
** Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983) Terry Marcel ~ Richard Hatch, Kay Lenz, John Saxon

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The Story: Feisty girl reporter - aren't they all? - goes to interview a 'mad scientist' who has built a matter transmitter that will enable him to send objects to another dimension. Sidestepping the normal peer review publications he has decided to announce his discovery via a cheesy popular science TV show. On the way to meet him she has a near collision with another car during an earthquake. The other car is driven by a hunky handyman Kendo champion. They instantly dislike each other in the way only people destined to be at it like bunnies by the second act can dislike each other. She continues on to her appointment and meets the scientist. We know he's a scientist because he's wearing a white lab coat - even at home. He demonstrates the matter transmitter using her powder compact and, during another earthquake, manages to transmit himself to the other dimension. The handyman arrives at the house wanting to use the phone and both he and the girl get zapped through to - who knows where.
She finds herself alone in an alien landscape - which looks like Spain but isn't Spain because there are 'alien plants' in the foreground of every shot. She rescues an incoherent giant from quicksand before being attacked by midgets with glowing eyes. The handyman appears and they flee, only to fall over a cliff and be rescued by the giant. (The giant tosses the midgets off the cliff, and as they fall past there is a cartoony falling noise plonked on the soundtrack. Just like the descending in pitch, falling noises that accompanied Coyote on all his canyon plunges in the Roadrunner cartoons. From this we get the first (and only) clue that this movie is supposed to be FUNNY). The plucky twosome get back to the top of the cliff and untie a green man who the midgets had held captive. he leads them to safety but buggers off after rescuing the girl from a 'Waterbeast' while she is skinny dipping. Boy and girl realise they are the leads in the movie and start to kiss before a fade reveals the girl lying in post-coital slumber. He's wandered off for a shave. Local warlord John Saxon arrives with his henchmen and makes off with the girl, leaving the boy for dead after shooting him.
An annoying little twerp comic relief who we loath within minutes but detest by the end of the movie tries to rob the dead body of the boy but - he's not dead after all!... The pair go to buy some horses and rescue the Green man from drunken yahoos.
Meanwhile the girl has discovered the Warlord gets his power (and his guns) from a Sorcerer who is the mad scientist from the start of the movie doing a Wizard of Oz - but with more dead bodies - as if we didn't see that coming from fifteen minutes in. Amazingly he is still wearing his lab coat which has remained incredibly white after a year in a medieval society. He is about to supply the Warlord with nitroglycerin...
After that it's all running through insanely well-lit cave systems fighting off hoards of stunt men without receiving so much as a scratch, running up and down about twenty feet of impregnable fortress corridor again and again passing the same four props endlessly rearranged, and taking it in turns to rescue each other over and over again, until all the bad guys are blown to hamburger and our motley band of heroes are safe.
At which point hero and heroine find her long lost powder compact and for some totally unexplained reason vanish leaving the scientist stranded - presumably they have come back to our own world, but who knows. Maybe they were hoping for a sequel. (Now that IS funny!)
This is hopelessly derivative low rent stuff. Not bad enough to be funny and too dull to be good. Go watch Krull.

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I was led to believe that this was a big pile of boring crap, but those folks were wrong. It's a big pile of enjoyable crap! C'mon! Early eighties dimension jumping nonsense. Sign me up! There's earthquakes in LA, and this causes a mad scientist, a TV presenter, and a handyman/kendo guy the TV presenter had a car crash with to fall into an intra-dimensional transporter and be whizzed off to some crazy other world that suspiciously looks like Earth with some cheap stuff added.
In this world, however, John Saxon is in charge! He's so macho he's wears a vest with nothing underneath. And he's shoots folks at random! And growls a lot. Plus, Mr Saxon has been involved in some of my favourite films, including Violent Naples, The Rat, The Cynic and The Fist, Tenebrae, Cannibal Apocalypse and Enter the Dragon. He's pretty much infallible like the Pope.
So in this film the scientist in order to keep himself alive has introduced dynamite and gunpowder to Saxon and therefore Saxon is all cocky about taking over the world. Pity that Kendo guy and TV presenter have teamed up with a green man, a guy who looks like Anthropophagus Beast, and an gay Irish dwarf thief to take Saxon down! I dunno how anyone thinks this film is boring because our team of heroes are going up against dwarfs with crappy glowing eye effects, fighting men painted gold around rocks that make you explode when you touch them, and cloaked zombie dudes who reminded me of the Blind Dead.
I'd say this one is a fair bet for Saxon fans and fans of folk who just like eighties films with eighties effects. I've got no complaints. It's even got a sudden abrupt ending that we all loved back then.

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The year is 1983. Battlestar Galactica has finished and Richard Hatch is out of work...
'I'll take anything', says Richard, running nervous fingers through his famously luxuriant dark hair, trying to remain in control of his emotions but exuding more than the merest whiff of desperation from his once proud figure. His agent smiles apologetically before stammering his way through the sentence which will ultimately cost him his job. 'I, er... have this for you, Richard'. He stops for a moment to dab at his forehead with a handkerchief already damp from nervous sweat. 'It's called 'Prisoners of the Last, sorry... Lost Universe'. What do you think'? The haggard looking former TV star looks sorrowfully at the script, remembering the good old days of brown uniforms, Dirk Benedict, kissing Jane Seymour, and evading Cylon Centurions blasting him with lasers. Then, after recollecting the state of his dwindling finances, he swallows, closes his eyes and says, 'I'll do it. God help me, I'll do it'.
And that is how Prisoners of the Lost Universe came to pass (with John Saxon having virtually the same conversation with his soon-to-be- fired agent as well). Probably.
Hatch and cheap Farrah Fawcett-alike Kay Lenz disappear through a mad scientist's inter-dimensional gate into a parallel universe (which isn't all that parallel really) inhabited by mute giants, a green native American (sorry, native Vanyan) a cheery Irish/Scottish/English (depending on whichever line he's speaking at the time) thief, giant gold warriors, megalomaniacal overlords who laugh evilly at everything, and some small, but very angry, stripy pygmies wearing owl masks with flashing red eyes.
Bad actors act badly, bad lines are spoken badly, bad visual effects are used badly (and have not aged at all well), comedy sound effects are employed with completely non-hilarious results and awful bad guys get their painfully convoluted come-uppances. The music score demands special attention, being part Superman, part Shaft. Quite the combination, I can tell you.
A truly terrible film with only one question hanging over it. Why, if it was so utterly awful, did I want to watch it all over again the moment it ended?
If there was a way to vote 0/10 & 10/10 at the same time, I'd do that. Instead, I'll split the difference and give it 5.

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This is a great movie! There are so few movies out there dealing with the fantasy genre that are even half-way believable, especially with swordplay. This has the be the best fantasy movie I have ever seen. The acting is top notch and the plot, once you get past the original premise, is quite credible. The music is excellent, also, along with the visuals for its time. This is one of the true underrated gems of all time. I think it would have been one of the top grossing fantasy movies of all time (I think the live action Lord of the Ring series wasn't that good - I like the Rankin animated version much better, with he books being the best, of course), if it had been released in theaters instead of just Showtime. A must see for any fantasy fan.

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Simply labeling 'Prisoners of the Lost Universe' as a fun bad movie just doesn't cover it. This is another one of these rare discoveries where you can laugh non-stop, from start until finish, with all the ineptitude in the script as well as the lousy special effects and flamboyant characters. Last time I had so much fun watching a bad B- movie was with either 'Wizards of the Lost Kingdom' or 'The Puma Man'; both of them obscure and righteously long-forgotten early 80's Sci-Fi fantasy amalgamations as well. All these movies were desperately trying to cash in on all the numerous contemporary popular movie franchises and TV-shows, like 'Star Wars' and 'Battlestar Gallactica' but usually ended up on the lowest shelves of raunchy video stores or straight on cable TV. Right from the 'Star Wars'-styled title sequence and complementary stolen theme music, you just know 'Prisoners of the Lost Universe' will become a real and authentic exploitation beauty!
The incompetence of the script is immediately noticeable when the characters, who are supposed to be living and working in California USA, are introduced whilst driving cars with the steering wheel at the right side! I know the movie was shot in South Africa, but writer/director Terry Marcel could at least have tried to find two authentic American or European cars with the wheel on the left side? Then, they go and meet a scientist who created a device that can teleport human DNA to other parallel dimensions. Pretty genius, of course, but stupidly enough he made his machine a little too sensitive and even the smallest earthquake – and they occur quite frequently in California – makes the thing go off. This is what happens to a babbling TV-hostess and a nagging plumber when they, following a series of banal circumstances, end up at the scientist's mansion. They arrive in an alternate dimension where every minute lasts several hours. The dimension also homes a whole assemblage of funky humanoids and eccentric monsters, either good (like the green man and the humble man-beast) or bad (like the hateful warlord Kleel). So basically, once inside the parallel dimension, 'Prisoners of the Lost Universe' actually becomes quite reminiscent to Dorothy's dreamy journey in 'The Wizard of Oz'. With his girlfriend Carrie kidnapped by Kleel, Dan teams up with three eccentric locals to go and rescue her. Their voyage is full of obstacles and dangerous ordeals, but love & friendship conquers everything … or something like that!
Most of the stuff going on in 'Prisoners of the Lost Universe' is just too ridiculous for words and/or doesn't make a lick of sense. There's something new and thoroughly stupid getting introduced every 30 seconds, like little Martian-type creatures with flashing red eyes or a gold- painted giant spontaneously combusting when he touches a fiery rock! John Saxon, who sometimes gives the impression of being embarrassed for starring in yet another lousy Z-grade movie, depicts the ultimately evil SOB. He's a greedy and power-obsessed tyrant who beats women and joyfully goes around blasting away his own henchmen with a self-made shotgun. He's easily the best thing about this whole movie, although Kay Lenz (a fairly unknown Kim Basinger look-alike) and Richard Hatch (Captain Apollo from 'Battlestar Gallactica') aren't too bad either. In spite of the really lousy sound and make-up effects, the tone and suggested violence of the film are often quite harsh and there even are a couple of bloody and grim swashbuckling fights. What else you need to know ... ? Oh yeah, movies such as this usually feature an annoying midget who provides the comic relief and a gigantic Chewbacca type of pet animal. In the case of this piece of junk it's even a kleptomaniac midget and a Man-Beast who talks almost as incomprehensibly as Chewbacca. There are zombies too and, I swear, John Saxon is at his sexiest when he plays a villainous character with whiskers! What are you waiting for? You're off to see 'Prisoners of the Lost Universe'

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I can accept that the main characters in this movie are lost and that they become prisoners, but whether this is a separate universe is barely pertinent. Same trees, same animals, same language. Just insert a Hyperborian culture and the necessary mystical villain and you have a reason for Richard Hatch to swing a sword.
Two big things lacking in the budget - props and a director of photography. The sword the hero swings looks like a scrap of chrome, cut to form. The shots throughout reminded me of a soap opera. Probably, these fight scenes are just like the fight scenes from every big-budget blockbuster, with the difference being, the scenes in this movie are from one angle, motionless, and not edited for any effect. Somewhere between properly-staged cinema and poorly-staged theater, you find movies like this, which in addition to lack of funding for any of the special stuff that movies rely on, has no pacing, no urgency, and mostly, no universe.
The action themes were nice, but the silly parts of the score like when bad guys are thrown from a cliff really missed the comedic mark. I mean, really, were those pennywhistles and kazoos?

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Prisoners of the Lost Universe is a remarkably underwhelming fantasy/adventure film that offer very little in the way of thrills or excitement. A brief plot synopsis: A couple is accidentally transmitted to an alternate reality and quickly become separated. The woman, Carrie (Kay Lenz), has been taken prisoner by a vicious warlord named Kleel (John Saxon). Her new beau, Dan (Richard Hatch), with the help of a ragtag band of misfits, sets out to free Carrie and find a way home.
I'm not sure how many South African made movies I've actually seen so I can only hope that this isn't an example of that country's film industry. Prisoners of the Lost Universe plays a bit like a cross between one of those cheap sword and sorcerer movies so popular in the 1980s and something like Romancing the Stone with a bit of cross-dimensional time-travel thrown in for good measure. None of it works, mainly because the whole plot is terribly tired and has that 'been there, done that' feel to most of it. The quirky characters that pop-up throughout the movie aren't interesting enough to care about. And the relationship between the two main characters, Carrie and Dan, is handled in such a ham-fisted and forced manner that it provides nothing in the way of a spark for the movie. The relationship between the two main characters exists only because in these kinds of movies there is always a relationship between the two main characters. The lone bright spot for me was John Saxon. His over-acting in every scene, even when doing nothing but lying on a bed, was a joy to behold. However, I could have done without the orange MC Hammer-inspired pants he wore during much of the movie. In the end, this one's a real dud. A 3/10 from me.
One last note - I knew I was in trouble right from the start when I noticed that both of the vehicles the main characters were driving had right side steering wheels. This wouldn't be so unusual, but they were supposed to be in California.

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If it weren't for the bizarre sound FX, this movie would have gotten a 9 out of 10 stars, but alas, the crazy sounds that come from things and people falling and from the picking of giant red peas will make you laugh extremely hard.
It's always fun to see Richard Hatch in movies and roles when he dodges something other than a Cylon, not that I'm knocking Classic or New BSG(Battlestar Galactica.)Hatch delivers a believable performance as the everyman caught up in a fantasy adventure with Kay Lenz. Lenz role in the film, unfortunately, reminds me of what would happen if Richard Hatch when on an adventure with his friends mother.
The two play a handyman and a reporter who are trapped in a strange parallel Earth and they must find a Dr. Hartman, no relation to Mary, in order to return to their Earth. This is a fun ride for anyone trying to escape boredom. I recommend this to anyone who needs to watch a good B-movie.

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Three people, guy, girl and scientist are transported to a parallel universe where the evil warlord, not named Ming kidnaps the girl not named Dale, who needs to be rescued by a man not named Flash and a group of diversified people.
Clearly a stolen plot, one that is somewhat 'universal' pun intended. Film was on the order of a Saturday morning movie. Nothing extraordinary.
Guide: No swearing or nudity. Implied sex. Attempted rape. Available on a 50 film multipack.

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Normally I like modestly budgeted sword movies regardless, but something bothered me about this one. I'm pretty sure it was the flannel shirt. It might even be that I think that battlestar galactica guy is a dork. There were a few really good monsters in this movie. The pygmies with light up eyes were definitely original. The fighting sequences are well planned, but the explanation of why the hero knew how to use a sword really bothered me. Come on! a rustic handyman (or whatever he is supposed to be) that practices kendo? I didn't buy it. The abrupt ending to this movie also bother me. I rated it 5 because I don't think it deserves less, but it was a tad boring.

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Is there an actor that can save any movie for you? There is one for me: John Saxon. I have sat through many a piece of absolute crap only because Saxon shows up to be the hero of the day, even if he's usually the villain.
TV reporter Carrie Madison (Kay Lenz, The Initiation of Sarah, House) is trying to meet with mad scientist Dr. Hartmann when she literally runs into Dan Roebuck's (Richard Hatch, TV's Battlestar Galactica) truck. Once they find the scientist, his machine causes them all to disappear to the parallel world of Vonya, which is populated by cavemen and the warlord Kleel (John Saxon, of course) who has plenty of Earth technology.
Director Terry Marcel also was behind the films Hawk the Slayer and Jane and the Lost City, so obviously sword, sorcery and science fiction was his bread and butter. Too bad that his bread and butter tastes so bad.
If you want to see John Saxon outact everyone around him - sadly I wish this were higher praise - and a ragtag group of aliens fight cavemen, I guess you should watch this. I can recommend several much better movies in this genre, though.

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This movie is fun. It is not Ibsen's Prisoners of the Lost Universe. It is on the other hand, a fun rollicking romp into a sideways universe.If you loved Battle Beyond the Stars you'll love Prisoners of the Lost Universe.
If your lens only focuses on high budget looks (I hated Avatar BTW) then this movie is not for you. I have watched this movie many times and I own it.
I love the sword work of Richard Hatch (especially with the candles!) and the believable kind of 'Indiana Jones' masculine but not mindlessly macho.Kay Lentz really brought just the right balance to the whole ensemble. She played great against the sinister (but also deferential) John Saxon as well as Richard Hatch's every man ala Harrison Ford (and Glenn Ford too!).Peter O'Farrell as Malachi is a wholly lovable character in this scamp of a thief.
If you enjoy a bed time story you should enjoy this.Cheers!

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You will not find this film available in any big name video store. The reason being, nobody wants to see it. The best part of the film was the end. And I don't mean the ending...I mean the film ending was the best part.
The money spent on this film could have fed a small village in Africa for months. Instead, we are faced with this disaster of a film.
Like Galactica 1980, Prisoners of the Lost Universe remain one of the worst pieces of science fiction.

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