The Lost Future

The story opens with a band of Stone Age hunters trekking through the forest in search of prey. At one point, the eldest of the hunters calls for a halt, stating they have reached the edge of their territory. Savan insists on going further. The band comes upon a giant sloth, which they kill. While celebrating their success, one of their number stumbles among them with a nasty bite to his arm. In moments, his appearance changes and he begs his comrades to kill him.

On the way back to the village, they are watched by an archer (Sean Bean). As they enter the village, the archer pulls out a pair of binoculars! Yes, it turns out that this is the Post-Apocalypse and a plague has turned much of humanity into zombie-like creatures. The town elders are furious that the hunters went beyond the normal boundaries and are soon proven correct. Insane mutant humans descend upon the village. Many escape to hide in a barricaded cave. Savan, Dorel, and Kaleb escape into the woods.

Savan is a brash youth, in line to be a chief, and the default leader of the trio. He is the slowest to accept new things, like boats, bows, or venturing beyond the homeland. However, he is brave, daring, and ready to sacrifice himself for the good of others. Dorel is his mate, a gorgeous blonde in a leather bikini. Kaleb is the outcast, son of a crazy man who had ventured into the wilds many times before finally vanishing for good. Kaleb is also the last literate person. The trio soon meet Amal, the archer who has been watching. Amal knew Kaleb’s father and tells a tale of the downfall of civilization centuries ago. Amal further explains that Kaleb’s father had found a cure for the plague but Gagen stole it for himself and his tribe. With no hope of rescuing those stuck in the cave without help, the little band set out to recruit those who aided Kaleb’s father and take back the cure that Gagen stole.

The movie is often clunky and very uneven. That Kaleb is literate – thanks to his father – but none of his father’s former associates is literate doesn’t make sense. However, it makes Kaleb indispensable for deciphering his father’s work and perhaps making more of the cure. Right, so when the plague was ravaging the world, the best medical labs couldn’t develop a cure but, in the Stone Age technology long afterward, one man was able to concoct something that is both a cure and a vaccine against future infection? Call me a skeptic. Also, why didn’t his father introduce the bow to his tribe while he was teaching his son to read?

When Amal signals for reinforcements, half a dozen men arrive on horseback, a band of horse archers. So, Gagen stole the cure from these guys? Fine. Meanwhile, Savan, Dorel, and Kaleb go to Gagen’s island and manage to abscond with the cure. These three mostly clueless kids accomplished what Amal and his allies could not? When Gagen chases after the cure, the most precious thing he owns, he takes three men with him. On foot, no less! That’s it? That’s all you are willing to commit to recovering the cure? How did he steal it again? Imagine if Gagen and his party stumbled on Amal and the horse archers; he’d be toast.

In the climactic battle where Amal and his band are slaughtering the mutant humans who are loitering around Kaleb’s village, Gagen arrives. He is alone. His crossbow has one shot. He shoots at Kaleb, the only person with any hope of recreating the cure. Genius!

The idea of the movie was interesting, kind of like I Am Legend, only a couple centuries later. The execution was lacking. However, the most interesting thing about the movie is that Sean Bean does not die (check out this video that shows why his survival is worth mentioning). Though it looked like he might be done a couple of times, he pulled through to the finish. Way to go, Sean!

 

Not worth watching unless, like me, you are a Sean Bean fan.  I've been a fan since I first saw him in Sharpe's Rifles and all the Sharpe's movies that followed.  To me, that is his signature role though Boromir comes in as a close second.

The Lost Future on YouTube.