In the Lost Lands Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

In the Lost Lands Blu-ray Movie Review

Batista bomb.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III June 26, 2025

Paul W.S. Anderson might just be one of the most accidental directors of his generation. After debuting with the low-budget 1994 British film $hopping, he was tapped for the infamous 1995 adaptation of Mortal Kombat and then pivoted to sci-fi horror with 1997's Event Horizon, a film I've seen and enjoyed countless times but still can't figure out if I like ironically or not. Yet much of his career stayed in 1995 and the world of video games; specifically, the uneven Resident Evil franchise, which he intermittently explored between 2002-2016. During that time he married its star Milla Jovovich, who has appeared in various other Anderson projects including this year's In the Lost Lands, an ambitious but visually exhausting post-apocalyptic film based on a 1982 short story by none other than George R.R. Martin.

After an up-close introduction by the intimidating Boyce (Dave Bautista, who's appeared in much better sci-fi films), we're introduced to accused witch Gray Alys (Jovovich), who's been sentenced to hanging by a religious leader named The Enforcer (Arly Jover) and her cult of followers. Alys is the real deal, though, as it's soon revealed that she has the ability to telepathically control people into doing her bidding. Using this skill on a nearby guard as her last resort, Alys is chased by The Enforcer and company and manages to make a clean escape... but with the majority of Earth now a barren, junk-filled hellscape called "The Lost Lands" ruled by The Overlord (Jacek Dzisiewicz) and, well, enforced by those zealots, the idea of a clean escape doesn't exactly guaranteed Alys' prolonged safety.

Soon after Alys' escape, Boyce is fully introduced as something of a rogue cowboy-like character, clearly skilled and aware of his surroundings as demonstrated by his violent encounter with a group of aggressive robbers. It's obvious enough that Boyce and Alys will eventually meet and combine their forces to try and defeat the evil rulers of The Lost Lands, yet a few cracks in the armor of its leadership -- including Gray Alys' unlikely meeting with The Queen (Amara Okereke), wife of The Overloard, who hates her ailing husband -- help to shift the balance of power, as does another alliance between The Enforcer and a man named Johan (Fraser James), known as The Patriarch.

In the Lost Lands sounds simple and accessible enough, but it's severely bogged down by two things. The first is its script, written for the screen by German scribe Constantin Werner, whose IMDb page reveals absolutely nothing of real merit. It's basically a bloated mess of clichés laced with a few good ideas that get buried in the stew, and a number of terrible lines are delivered straight-faced by the poor members of its cast. The second is its visual design and direction, which is a muddy mix of Resident Evil (no surprise there), 300, and Mad Max: Fury Road. The latter two films seem like decent company to be in, but the admittedly large scope of In the Lost Lands is perpetually tamped down by excessive processing and a crippling lack of color -- no joke, this film looks almost monochromatic during long stretches and, when combined with its slow-paced story, the patience of casual viewers will be tested within minutes.

That's basically a death sentence for any film, especially one that's 101 minutes but feels twice that long. There are occasional bright spots, sure, yet these rare rewards don't outweigh its sludgy pace and exhausting atmosphere. I'll give this one a point for visual ambition, but it'll only attract Anderson's most forgiving fans. Vertical Entertainment's Blu-ray edition at least serves up decent A/V merits, but the lack of extras -- which is actually kind of disappointing, given this film's attempted epic scope -- means that it's not exactly a recommended blind buy.

In the Lost Lands Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Detailed above, the ambitious but hardly original visual design of In the Lost Lands fares mostly well on Blu-ray from Vertical Entertainment, as the majority of this 1080p transfer has no real problem translating its near-monochromatic scenes and purposely boosted contrast levels. Fine detail is unsurprisingly hit-or-miss, partially due to these intentional decisions but also because of its somewhat waxy digital origins. The same goes for textures and color saturation is also up in the air, seemingly represented well under the circumstances but never given a chance to shine by design. I was actually tempted to give this Blu-ray stronger marks since it seems like a solid transfer overall and runs at a decently supportive bit rate on this single layered-disc (which is more than enough real estate for a 2.39:1 film with little color and no bonus features), but banding rears its ugly head on several occasions, even the very first scene as shown in screenshot #6. This defect isn't exactly a deal-breaker, of course, and much of the time it's partially masked by the film's intentionally skewed design, but it's well worth noting and could have been handled better.

In the Lost Lands Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio (which, like many Vertical Entertainment titles, is also available in a downmixed lossless 2.0 Stereo track for some reason), likewise pulls most of its own weight with a decently enveloping sound stage that prioritizes post-apocalyptic atmospheric elements, occasional dynamic action scenes, and the on-the-nose original score by Paul Haslinger, though dialogue is occasionally buried a bit in the mix. It's also a bit light at times with surprisingly limited use of LFE elements during what should be more substantial moments, but that's more of a personal preference and doesn't seem like an outright flaw of either track. I'll chalk this one up as a "soft win"; it's nothing groundbreaking or worth blasting at full "demo disc" volume, but more than decent enough for what it is.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are also included during the main feature, and you might need them.

In the Lost Lands Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with a matching slipcover. No extras are included.

In the Lost Lands Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Paul W.S. Anderson explores familiar territory during In the Lost Lands, a vaguely video game-like endeavor with poor writing and an atmosphere that's as devoid of life as its barren landscapes. Maybe you have to be in a particular mood for this one (or at least a bigger fan of the director), but for me it mostly fell flat. Vertical Entertainment's Blu-ray only adds a modest amount of support for prospective fans, serving up decent enough A/V merits but offering no extras to sway anyone sitting on the fence. The price might look right, but it still somehow feels like too much.