Lost! (1986) User Reviews

So, this atheist and this fundamentalist were on a ship together...

[FieCrier · 7/10 · 24 June 2005]

"It is always possible for good men to do good, and for evil men to do evil. But for good men to do evil - that takes religion."

I've seen variations on that quote, and they're variously attributed to Mark Twain or Bertrand Russell. Anyway, it's an apt one to mention in conjunction with this movie.

An atheist and his wife are invited by his religious brother Jim on a sailing trip. The brother is leaving his church, because he got "the call" to do missionary work in Costa Rica. He plans to go by trimaran from Vancouver, Canada - a 2,000 mile+ trip.

On the way, the boat encounters a bad storm. They have trouble getting the radio to work, and Jim seems a little dazed. They capsize and Jim says it's his fault because his love for the boat was overwhelming his love for god, which doesn't sound likely.

The wife seems the worst off, growing delusional at times. Jim still seems a little out of it, and some of his answers to questions seem to be lies. They don't have much food or liquid to drink, and it seems to be mysteriously dwindling. Jim is convinced god will save them, or will whenever the other two accept Jesus as their savior.

It's a pretty good movie, mostly taking place on the capsized trimaran. At times it leaves them to look at what the coast guard is doing, as well as a blind amateur radio operator who got part of a call from the trimaran.

While based on a novel, which I'm curious to read, the movie and video box also indicate this was based on a true story. As with some movies of that kind, the movie ends with some text indicating what happened to some of the people.

Hidden Gem

[george-allaman · 22 November 2004]

I saw previews for this made-for-TV movie in Montreal in the 80's and as an armchair sailor was intrigued. I watched it for the swashbuckling and fell in love with it for the plot. The movie was low budget but the plot and dialog were brilliant. I was compelled to read the book, which of course was even better.

Later I spent 8 years cruising the Bahamas and Caribbean, earned my commercial captain's license, and ran charter boats for a living, but this plot still stays with me, and I recount it to people all the time as probably the most captivating sailing yarns I know.

Most maritime survival adventures focus on the strength of human will and cleverness over the elements and that's pretty much it. The better ones combine salty tales with intrigue and fascinating character development. The poorer ones simply recount a the events of a struggle against the sea. Some I have read are hopelessly boring in spite of being true stories of a life-and-death struggle.

This story has the salty intrigue in spades, but it really serves as a brilliant setting for a lengthy and gripping dialog on the paradox of faith. If you're a sailor you'll love it. If you're a theologian, or intrigued by the phenomenon of religion and faith, you'll love it.

It reminds me a bit of C. S. Lewis' "Out Of The Silent Planet", a much more masterly allegory of two characters pitted against each other on the subject of blind faith vs. pragmatic realism in a setting where lives depend on the result. "Lost!" is much simpler, but the dialogs are no less thought provoking and poignant.

In spite of the lackluster title, the writing is simple and very well thought out. The characters and dialogs are believable. In my mind it's a hidden gem because nobody I have ever known has ever heard of it, and yet it was a very formative story for me while I dreamed of cruising. I highly recommend it.

A telling and dramatic commentary on religious extremism!

[BobMason · 10/10 · 26 December 1998]

This is one of the best films I've seen that realistically describes one of the worst aspects of religious fundamentalism, that of abrogating any responsibility for one's own actions and accepting whatever "God" has to offer. The "Bob" character purposely scuttles his boat in the mid-Pacific to "prove" to his atheist brother that "God" will save them. The brother's wife dies while awaiting "salvation" and the two brothers come near to death. The result on both brothers "faith" is dramatic and can be interpreted by the viewer in one several ways..an affirmation of "God's" power or, in my case, a telling commentary on the dangers of religious extremism.

Gripping tale that deserves more recognition

[blurnieghey · 9/10 · 31 January 2020]

I almost didn't purchase this movie because I thought it might be a little too goody-goody and corny for my tastes and it sat around the house for a couple months before I even bothered to play it. How wrong I was! I find it kind of odd that the box describes it as "uplifting" because it really is kind of a grim tale more than anything else, with the ultimate end of dear brother Jim being the icing on the cake.

It's the story of an agnostic / possibly atheist guy named "Bob" who, against his better judgement, decides to follow his religious brother "Jim" on a trek through the Pacific in a small boat, along with his pregnant wife (although had he known she was pregnant he probably wouldn't have done it). Why does Jim want to embark on such a dangerous trip? His Magic Sky Daddy told him to, apparently. Unfortunately, Magic Sky Daddy didn't see fit to give him the aptitude to pass his ham radio license exam, so Jim deliberately rigged his radio up wrong so he wouldn't get in trouble for operating without a license. That was his first mistake. After the wreck takes place, brother Jim then sees fit to start throwing food and water overboard, toss out the water desalination kit, and was even reluctant to find shelter inside the capsized boat, assuming the Big Guy in the sky had everything in hand and it was all going to work out, while his agnostic bro was gonna look like a big, stupid jerk. Not quite.

Now, presumably, if Magic Sky Daddy saw fit to supply you with two arms, hands, legs, health, and a brain it wouldn't seem like too huge of a leap of faith to assume he/she/it expected you to use them to take care of yourself, and what brother Jim regarded as testing faith was probably more along the lines of testing Magic Sky Daddy's patience. I have family like Jim and the idea that you somehow need to jack with the Man Above to prove some sort of point seems very strange-one would assume if there was, in fact, some sort of entity that was looking down on our puny lives and was actively reading our thoughts, it would piss him off that someone felt a need play games to see if he/she/it was "there" or not. And so it goes in this movie, as brother Jim's nonsense cost the life of Bob's wife and unborn child and the real kicker is when Jim attempts to take his own life, right before they finally wind up getting rescued, and later dies. Now, how's that for "faith"! It certainly isn't what I would call "uplifting" in the proper sense.

While this is, indeed, a harrowing tale of survival, the conflict between the religious and un-religious brother is what makes this story a cut above your typical movie of this nature and the thought that it really happened drove this one home for me. It's a cheap movie, the acting is decent but not fantastic, it's not epic, but it's one I'll be sharing from now on, as it is still quite an engaging flick with a great script. Should be getting at least a 7 or 8, but I'm guessing some of the Magic Sky Daddy people might be knocking it down a bit!