It was 2009. Will Ferrell was at the peak of his powers, fresh off Step Brothers and Talladega Nights. Universal Pictures dropped $100 million on a weird, psychedelic, dinosaur-filled reboot of a 1970s Saturday morning show. Then it happened. The critics sharpened their knives, the box office numbers tanked, and the land of the lost rating became a permanent scar on the resume of almost everyone involved.
But look. Ratings are rarely the whole story.
If you check Rotten Tomatoes today, you’ll see a dismal 26% from critics. That’s "rotten" by any definition. Yet, if you scroll down to the audience score, it sits at 32%—not much better, but it doesn’t reflect the rabid cult following this movie has developed on streaming platforms over the last decade. Why the massive gap between the professional hate and the late-night stoner-comedy love? It’s basically because the movie didn't know who it was for. Was it for kids who loved the Sid and Marty Krofft original? No, it had jokes about dinosaur urine and cactus juice hallucinations. Was it for adults? Sorta, but the marketing made it look like a family adventure.
The Brutal Reality of the PG-13 Label
When we talk about the land of the lost rating, we have to talk about the MPAA. The film is rated PG-13. That was arguably its first mistake. The original 1974 series was a sincere, if low-budget, sci-fi adventure for children. Director Brad Silberling and the writers decided to pivot. Hard. They turned Rick Marshall from a capable father figure into a disgraced, Chuy’s-eating paleontologist who screams at children on Today with Matt Lauer.
The PG-13 rating allowed for "crude and suggestive content, and for language including a drug reference." That's the official line. In reality, it meant Will Ferrell and Danny McBride spent a significant portion of the runtime engaging in high-concept bickering that went way over the heads of anyone under twelve.
The critics hated it. Roger Ebert gave it 1.5 stars. He called it "monotonous." Most reviewers felt the movie was caught in a "no man's land"—too gross for kids, too silly for adults. This identity crisis is exactly why the land of the lost rating on Metacritic stays stuck at a 32. It’s a movie that refuses to play by the rules of standard blockbuster filmmaking. Honestly, that’s why some of us actually like it.
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Why the IMDb Scores Don't Tell the Whole Story
If you hop over to IMDb, the movie holds a 5.4/10. On the surface, that screams "mediocre." But look at the distribution of those votes. You’ll see a massive amount of 1-star reviews from purists who felt the Krofft legacy was being urinated on—literally, given the scene where Ferrell’s character douses himself in dinosaur musk.
Then you have the 10-star reviews.
These come from a specific subset of comedy fans who view the film as an experimental, big-budget "anti-comedy." The scene where Rick Marshall sings "Believe" by Cher while being chased by a T-Rex (named Grumpy) is objectively absurd. It’s the kind of humor that doesn't translate well to a standardized land of the lost rating because comedy is subjective. One person's "painfully unfunny" is another person's "I've watched this ten times and I still cry laughing."
A Breakdown of the Technical Reception
- Visual Effects: Surprisingly good. Bill Pope, the cinematographer who worked on The Matrix, gave it a lush, high-end look.
- Tone: Total chaos. It jumps from survival horror to musical theater in seconds.
- Acting: Will Ferrell plays... Will Ferrell. Danny McBride plays the early-career version of himself that fans of Eastbound & Down adore.
- Writing: Chris Henchy and Dennis McNicholas wrote a script that feels like a $100 million Saturday Night Live sketch.
The land of the lost rating suffered because the movie was marketed as a summer tentpole. It was supposed to compete with Transformers and Harry Potter. It never stood a chance. It’s a weird, niche comedy trapped in the body of a blockbuster.
The "So Bad It's Good" Factor
Is it actually a bad movie? By traditional metrics of pacing, character arc, and narrative tension—probably. But if we judge it on "how many memorable quotes per minute," it’s a masterpiece. "I'm a cereal bowl of a man!" "Captain Kirk don't pull no shifts!" The film has an energy that most sanitized, modern comedies lack.
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The land of the lost rating on sites like Common Sense Media is also a point of contention for parents. They give it a 2/5 for "Quality" but warn heavily about the sexual humor. This is the danger zone. If you go in expecting Jurassic Park, you'll be horrified. If you go in expecting a surrealist fever dream where a man befriends a Sleestak-obsessed primate named Cha-Ka, you're in for a good time.
We have to acknowledge that the film was a massive financial disaster. It earned about $68 million worldwide against that $100 million budget. In Hollywood, financial failure often dictates the permanent "rating" of a film's legacy. It gets labeled a "flop," and people stop looking at it as art. But time has been kind to the Land of the Lost. It has found its people.
The Sleestak Problem
One of the coolest parts of the movie—and something that rarely factors into the low land of the lost rating—is the practical effects. The Sleestaks weren't just CGI blobs. They were actors in suits, paying homage to the original show's rubber-suit aesthetic but with a modern, creepy twist. The sequence in the Library of Skulls is genuinely eerie. It shows that the filmmakers actually had a deep respect for the source material's sci-fi roots, even if they smothered those roots in maple syrup and jokes about "the devil's canyon."
Most critics missed this. They were too busy being annoyed by the "juvenile" humor. But if you look at the creature design, it’s some of the best work of that era. The Enik character is a perfect bridge between the old and the new. He’s tragic, manipulative, and hilarious.
How to Actually Watch It Today
If you’re looking at the land of the lost rating and wondering if you should click play, ignore the percentages for a second. Ask yourself these three things:
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- Do you find the concept of a grown man throwing a giant crab into a boiling pit of water funny?
- Can you tolerate a plot that makes absolutely zero sense if you think about it for more than four seconds?
- Do you enjoy Danny McBride being the most confident, least capable person in the room?
If you said yes, the ratings are lying to you. This is your movie.
The legacy of this film isn't the 26% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s the fact that fifteen years later, people are still debating it. It’s a singular piece of media. It’s loud, it’s colorful, it’s gross, and it’s weirdly charming. It’s a reminder of a time when studios would give a massive budget to a director and say, "Sure, make a movie where the protagonist gets high on a giant desert fruit and thinks he’s a baby."
To get the most out of your viewing experience and see past the low land of the lost rating, watch it with a group. This is not a "solo viewing with a notepad" kind of film. It’s a "pizza and drinks on a Friday night" film. You need to be in the right headspace to appreciate the aggressive absurdity.
Check out the "making of" features if you can find them. The level of detail in the sets—like the motel in the middle of the desert—is staggering. They built these massive, practical environments just to have Will Ferrell run around them in a safari suit. It’s a level of craft that you don’t see in modern comedies that go straight to streaming.
Finally, stop worrying about what the critics said in 2009. The cultural context has shifted. We're in an era of "elevated" comedy and safe, predictable franchise films. Land of the Lost is the opposite of safe. It’s a glorious, expensive mess. And honestly? We need more of those.
Practical Next Steps for Fans and Newcomers:
- Watch the "Deleted Scenes": Many of the funniest bits were actually cut to keep the PG-13 rating. Finding the unrated or extended sequences gives a better picture of what the writers were actually aiming for.
- Compare with the 1974 Series: Watch the first episode of the original show on YouTube. It helps you catch the dozens of inside jokes and references that the movie makes, which makes the experience much richer.
- Check the "Audience Reviews" specifically: Filter reviews on Amazon or Vudu by "Most Recent." You'll find that people watching it for the first time in 2025 or 2026 are much more forgiving and enthusiastic than the critics were at the premiere.
- Look for the soundtrack: Michael Giacchino composed the score. Yes, the same guy who did Up and The Batman. It’s a legitimately great orchestral score that treats the adventure with way more respect than the characters do.