The Letters to the Editor department is intended to be a forum for our readers to express their own opinions and ideas. While we appreciate the many complimentary letters we receive each day, you won't find them on this page. Instead, you will find letters that go beyond or even contradict what we have written, letters that offer a different perspective and provide a different view of science fiction. If you would like to submit a letter, please use our feedback form or send a message to scifiweekly@scifi.com.
-- Craig E. Engler, Editor
See Star Wars Like A Child
fter reading about the "mixed reviews" about The Phantom Menace, I'm wondering if the audiences are suffering not only from "Over Hype Letdown" but also from what I believe will keep me from enjoying the movie for what it is--nostalgia. Star Wars is surrounded and entangled in so much nostalgia that it's become more than the some of its parts--a legend! I just watched Star Wars again last night, and it's targeted toward kids, too. Of course I was five years old when I saw it, so thank goodness it was geared toward kids or I wouldn't have been allowed to see it!
So I for one am going to do my best to view Phantom Menace with the childlike wonder with which I viewed Star Wars. And I encourage others to do the same. And be thankful that other five-year-olds can have the same opportunity to see a film like this that could have the same lasting effect that Star Wars had on so many of us.
Andy Brown
Galactor@hotmail.com
Star Wars Is For Kids
read in your news that some of the early fan viewers of The Phantom Menace were disappointed in the film because it seemed to be aimed at children rather than adults. I could not help but laugh...So were the first three! These same fans were probably kids when they saw the first ones and bought all the action figures! If they thing they are going to recapture their youth, they are approaching the whole think very foolishly! The Star Wars films, while entertaining, are just comic books for kids...don't try to make them out more than that. It won't keep me from going to see them! I am a 50-year-old kid, but at least I realize it
Duke Whedbee
dukew@sprintmail.com
Who Said Star Wars Is For Adults?
he Phantom Menace has received so much hype before its release that nothing George Lucas puts on the screen can live up to the expectations of the media and fans. Also, who said these were movies for adults?
Graham D. Stewart
graham@expressmicro.net
'Cartoony' Doesn't Mean Bad
n reviews I've read over the last two days, I've seen both The Phantom Menace and The Mummy being slammed for being cartoony. The critics, apparently, think cartoons are something bad.
Any serious (or just intelligent) film critic should know that "cartoon" is not a derogatory term. Cartoons include such prestigious work as Looney Tunes, Silly Symphonies and Batman: The Animated Series. Any one of these surpasses the quality of most live-action programming on television.
When a critic says a film is cartoony, he is inadvertently paying the movie the highest of compliments. The shame is that they don't know what they're doing.
Scott Casper
scvolstagg@netscape.net
The Mummy Was Horrible
t's a rarity when I agree fully with some reviewers, but The Mummy got the right review. I applaud your reviewer, Patrick Lee. The movie, in my opinion, was horrible because the creators tried to stick in comedy. The story also went too quickly.
I've been taking a gothic literature class, and we've been learning all the ways to make a scary story. The main key is the build-up of suspense, like not showing the monster right away but maybe showing glimpses of it. Although my teacher said he liked the movie, he said he knew the movie was getting lame when they had the plane sinking into the quicksand.
By no means am I saying the special effects aren't good, but what good are they if the plot is messed up? The special effects, and the cute girl of the film, are the only things that were good about it.
I really wish some originality would get into theaters. It seems directors can only fall back into making remakes. (Like the upcoming Inspector Gadget. I use to watch that show as a kid. A live-action film looks like blasphemy toward the original show.) I get the feeling, years in the future, when people look at the movies we produced, they'll call us the Remake Generation.
Erik Hollender
erik@hollender.com
Review More Books
really enjoy Science Fiction Weekly, especially your book reviews. I read them every week--it's the best way to find out about new books, and I have purchased at least 15 books based on your recommendation over the past year. But it seems odd that your book reviews only cover science fiction releases, when you include other genres in your media coverage. Like most SF fans, I read horror and fantasy as well. It would be great to be able to read reviews of books in all three genres. And really, are two reviews a week enough? There must be at least 30 new titles a month in bookstores. Please consider expanding your book review section.
Kelly Robson
krobson@essa.com
eXistenZ Made Gattaca Look Good
ast week my friend and I went to see David Cronenberg's eXistenZ for two reasons: it was billed as SF (a cyberspace theme), and it's a home-grown product, written and directed by a Canadian, and filmed in our hometown, Toronto (a.k.a. Hollywood North).
Both my friend, who's not an SF reader, and I, a 35-year SF fan, were amazed at how bad this movie is. The editing is choppy, perhaps intentionally, the special effects aren't, and if the acting had been any more wooden, we could have collected splinters off the screen.
We rate these movies on a loose point system, and for only the third time in two and a half years we gave a movie a negative score. As we left the theater, we realized that eXistenZ made Gattaca look good and Spawn tolerable.
Simon Waldman
simplest@home.com
Forget The Power Armor And TNT
am sick of hearing people talking about Starship Troopers (the book, mind you) being "about the powered armor." Can you imagine a movie based on this? It would be like two hours of technical briefing on a non-existent piece of hardware. Enough bellyaching. Enjoy it for what it was--two hours of screaming, nightmarish, gory fun. It isn't going to win any awards--it is mindless, relentless action. Enough said.
About Crusade and TNT: Egad! This again! TNT is screwing itself out of a hugely lucrative market because they like wrestling and cowboy flicks. Let them do it! Allow Crusade and B5 to move to a more appropriate marketplace--The SCI FI Channel is perfect--or even Viacom's entry into the SF arena if SCI FI Channel is too narrow-minded to see the lucrative market of an already established program and fan-base.
Remember, however, television executives don't see things over the long haul. They are narrow-minded, short-sighted individuals who can only see this season, this episode, this "here and now." Thankfully, great, creative stories (like B5 and The X-Files) somehow manage to survive beyond the first season--enough to generate a huge following, which does catch the attention of television executives.
Evan Moore
evanmoore@aol.com
Heinlein Had A Good Point
hile I was disappointed that the film producers used their poetic license and omitted the powered armor in Starship Troopers, I did appreciate the fact that they followed the same story line presented in the novel. I first read the novel when I was 13 or so and thought that Robert Heinlein had a very good point in that we as individuals should give something back to our native land before being enfranchised to vote for the fools/folks who actually want public office. The idea that the franchise is something to be earned and not given is not a new one and is no worse than several other plans that have been tried. The only thing I might differ on is that it must be military service.
Scott Malchow
gmalchow@uswest.net
Babylon 5 Should Win Another Hugo
just had to write you in response to the letter I saw in last week's issue about Babylon 5's third Hugo nomination. If the author of that letter was truly a fan of the show then he would have to agree that "Sleeping In Light" was the very best episode of Babylon 5 ever. I have no idea how Dark City was nominated. If anything its The
Truman Show or Pleasantville that has the best chance to beat out B5. Star Trek: Insurrection was good too, but just
good does not win a Hugo. Babylon 5 has been the best SF
show of the decade by far, and "Sleeping In Light" was everything I had hoped for after the five-year journey.
I think Babylon 5 will indeed win its third Hugo in five years. I do think the letter writer was right about TV shows needing their own category, but when a single episode beats out a movie it just goes to show how powerful it is.
I have seen everything nominated for this years Hugo and I urge all SF fans to do the same, I think that they will agree that "Sleeping In Light" is simply the best one and should not be penalized simply for being on the so-called
small screen. I have seen it about 10 times now and it makes you cry each and every time. My brother, who has only saw a couple of B5 episodes, watched it and when I turned away from the saddest part--not wanting him to see me cry--I noticed that he already was. That scene with Bruce Boxleitner and Mira Furlan saying good-bye wins our vote and anyone else's I have talked to.
David Daniels
Xploreal@aol.com
SF Should Educate
have to agree, most B5 fans are pretty fed up with TNT not giving
Crusade its shot. I for one am very disappointed that only 13 episodes are going to air and then the show will go into some temporary limbo until J. Michael Straczynski gets it picked up by another network. I have also read the many letters
in the editorial section, and I agree about the concept that they are
trying to say about Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers. I think that a term of
service (whether it be military, community or international civilian
service) is what kids and teens need. Like Star Trek has Starfleet and
B5 has Earthforce, I think today's youth and young adults need something
just as inspiring. Science fiction has influenced today's thinking about
space exploration (inspiration to go to other worlds), communication
(satellite and Internet), medical breakthroughs (cloning tissues, bionic
limb replacements), so why can't it inspire kids today? Because they
don't think they have a future. People need to believe in something
better; that there are possibilities; that we can and they can achieve
great things. I would like to see SF educate as well as stimulate,
and maybe the world wouldn't be so messed-up.
Bill and Marissa Feyh
NautilusDSV@webtv.net
