Cheese. Seventies TV was full of it. Of course it all looked pretty sophisticated at the time; but if you look back at an episode of say, Doctor Who from that era, it’s difficult to see how a man wrapped in aluminium foil with a colander on his head could have been that scary.

At the same time in the US, brothers Sid and Marty Krofft were producing entertaining and fantastically titled children’s shows, including Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, The Lost Saucer, Far Out Space Nuts, and Land of the Lost. All of them included groovy-looking, colourful characters – who were obviously people in suits, who could have easily just returned from being an extra in a Sesame Street sketch.

This big screen outing then pays its respects to the TV show with a widescreen serving of cheese.

Oh my god, that's hideous! At least we can always go back the way we came...

With not only his career, but more importantly his reputation in tatters, Dr Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell) finds himself teaching kids in a local museum. Even he has given up on his theory of time warp travel, which was ridiculed by his peers. He’s spurred on to continue his work however, after meeting research assistant Holly (Anna Friel), who presents him with a fossil with a unique imprint – of his very own lighter.

After completing the tachyon amplifier, the scientific duo head off to the Devil’s Cave, where the fossil was found. There they meet tour guide Will (Danny McBride), who agrees to accompany them through the underground caverns. Deep inside, Rick activates the amplifier, causing an earthquake that sends them travelling through time to a parallel universe, where monsters roam looking for their next meal. And as they’ve lost the amplifier, they find themselves a long way from home, with no obvious way of getting back.

They soon meet with one of the local creatures Enik, who claims that with their help, he can get them back the amplifier. But not everything is quite what it first appears, even in this lost land.

On its theatrical release, it’s fair to say that Land of the Lost hardly set box office numbers alight. Despite its obvious love for its source material, audiences and critics alike were left unimpressed. Which is a shame, as there’s no doubt that the film has a great sense of fun about it.

First off, fans of Ferrell will not be disappointed. Although he has a very obvious style of comedy, it’s difficult not to be won over by his child-like charm. Yes it’s a simple, silly and broad approach, but it doesn’t stop him from being watchable. His Marshall has a touch of The Nutty Professor about him, bumbling away as he does, but that’s no bad thing.

He’s also ably supported by our very own Anna Friel, who despite the somewhat schizophrenic accent, gets to play an English character in a big budget Hollywood film.

Completing the trio is friend of Ferrell McBride; not only did Ferrell appear in McBride’s quirky HBO show Eastbound & Down, he produced the show as well. Their obvious chemistry on the small screen works just as well on the big one...and back to the small one again for this DVD release. McBride is often the perfect comedy foil to Ferrell’s silly shtick.

The budget may well be bigger than every show the Krofft brothers were ever involved in combined, but the film certainly pays fond homage with not-so realistic monsters and effects. Obviously if you’re not aware of the TV show – and if you live in the UK you probably won’t be as it never aired here – they may seem somewhat lacklustre. But it all just adds to its cheesy charms.

Land of the Lost in no way takes itself seriously, and if you do the same, you may well find yourself not only pleasantly surprised, but also ever-so-slightly entertained at the same time.