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-- Brooks Peck, Editor
Pitch Black Deserves High Marks
am in very close agreement with Tamara Hladik on her A rating for Pitch
Black. As I mull over the film in my mind, there are times I think the movie
actually
transcends itself. But I also realize that there are parts of the film that
would fall
apart under closer scrutiny. So overall, I have to give it the same rating.
My major disappointment that I can divulge is that once the gore began, I
became
desensitized to it. (It is rated R for a reason or two.) I was more jumpy
when the
death scenes were tastefully done with strobe light cimenatics.
In truth, it seemed the more the plot wound up to a conclusion, the more
the creative
camera work went to the wayside for computer generated effects. Thankfully, the acting
and
character development more than made up for the slack.
It's easy to understand the trap that CGI special effects can create. Why
work as
much on plot or actual cinematography when computer animation can do
anything to
wow an audience.
Serious thought seems to have gone into the creation of the alien life
forms in Pitch Black besides just "they only come out at night." The characters' guesses
at the
physiology of the critters was sprinkled in and avoided the usual scientific
exposition. In fact, the audience has to do some guess work themselves.
Hours
later I found myself trying to rationalize their ecology--not tear it
down--a good
sign for me.
I don't know if the movie will induce a cult following or a whole series of
dreaded
sequels, but I do know I agree with Ms. Hladik's final words on the review. People and film makers need to know that this is the sort of B-grade
movie that
should be the standard, not the exception.
Chris Negelein
Negelein@hotmail.com
Pitch Black Rips Off Alien
'm writing in response to the glowing review of "Pitch Black" by Tamara Hladik. An "A"? Give me a break. The film was unoriginal, simplistic, juvenile, and sophomoric. Its plot was so obviously derived from Alien it was embarrassing, any differences being of a minor or superficial nature. Oh yes, instead of self-reliant Ripley we find a pouting, whining girl who "doesn't want to be captain," but rises to the occasion eventually; instead of monsters bursting out of tummies, we have monsters (who look as if they'd been stolen from the Alien special effects locker) emerging from underground. And let's not forget the obligatory criminal with a heart of gold just waiting for the chance to emerge and strut his stuff. How original! What a twist! What subtle use of character development!
Terry Matheson
mathsnt@duke.usask.ca
Pitch Black Is Good, Not Great
itch Black was pretty good. I would not have been disappointed if I hadn't first read the extravagantly favorable review you ran in Issue No. 147. I expected to have my socks blown off, and they weren't. The feel of the movie was sort of like a cross between Alien and Aliens. Very good casting, acting, and directing. The story line was better and more interesting than the usual SF horror movie, and clearer than, for instance, Wing Commander. In fact, I wouldn't call it SF horror; in my opinion, horror is when the people are helpless against the (usually supernatural) creature. Here the creatures were not supernatural, they were decidedly natural, with inbuilt weaknesses, and the people were not helpless victims, they fought back and strove to solve their problem. That makes it real SF.
All in all, ok or better than ok, but not great.
And if you saw "Into Pitch Black" on the SCI FI Channel, don't be misled; the movie isn't nearly as cheap and sleazy as this attempt to capitalize on it. In an attempt to show the aftermath, it does the actual movie a disservice.
Steve Block
ironhand@stlnet.com
Canadian Drama Gets Gritty
am surprised at the controversy generated by Lexx. The atmosphere of the program, including the sexual overtones, is not
unusual on Canadian stations. Our programs tend to be like that, whether
they are science fiction, detective, or whatever. Some of our stations
also tend to show films virtually uncut in comparison to what we see on
the U.S. stations. Yet in life, Canadians do tend to be a little
conservative, so I'm not sure why our drama gets so gritty.
Any criticisms I have against Lexx would have less to do with its ethics
and morality, and more about its occasional silliness. In this aspect it
reminds me of Kafka's less interesting novel, "AMERIKA".
David Zakss
d.zakss@utoronto.ca
Spidey Must Be An Unknown
've seen a lot of comments lately about who should or shouldn't don Spider-Man's webs for the upcoming movie, and frankly I think they all miss the point. There are legions of fans out here who have spent the better part of our lives being alternately cheered and saddened as we shared the twists and turns of Peter Parker's life. He and his surrounding cast of characters are real flesh and blood people to us; people that we feel we know intimately and deeply care about. No matter who ultimately dons the webs, the performance will fail as long as he is a name actor or someone we know through some other vehicle. We who have shared our lives with Peter Parker over the years want to see someone who we can accept as Peter, not just someone we already know pretending to be Peter.
Tom Schultz
tmschultz@stlnet.com
Boycott Episode I On VHS
eorge Lucas' explanation of his steadfast refusal to release The Phantom Menace on DVD due to Episode II time commitments simply rings hollow to me. He should hire a few more creative people and let them loose to design and create the content for a DVD.
The simple fact is that I don't buy movies on VHS any more, and I don't plan to buy The Phantom Menace when it's released. Call it a boycott, if you want to. He's not going to get two purchases out of me where only one is needed. I would hope that other DVD owners will be willing to not put their money where their mouth is, and refrain from buying an inferior product.
Roger Sorensen
rsorensen@csbsju.edu
Life's Too Easy On Voyager
've been interestedly reading all the recent commentary about Star Trek: Voyager, and I must say that I've been disappointed in the series, and in the willingness of many fans to accept it simply because it has the Star Trek name attached to it. I have seen some excellent episodes, but they tend to be separated by long stretches of stories which seem like rehashes of episodes from other Star Trek series. I also find annoying the constant use of the "reset" button at the end of every episode: things always go back to the way they were at the beginning of the episode, with no consequences or lasting harm to ship or crew (this was a problem with all of the other Star Trek series as well). I wanted to like Voyager, and kept watching it regularly until recently, but I have at last lost interest. I don't care what happens to the crew; most of them seem like cardboard cutouts instead of people, with most of the character development given only to Seven of Nine and the Doctor. The ship has no real enemies, and no challenges to overcome. It would be much more interesting to me if they ended up like the crew of the Equinox, who were obviously in dire straits.
One of the flaws in the Star Trek universe is that they've made everything too easy; replicators and transporters keep people out of danger, medical science can cure almost anything, everyone is peaceful and friendly. To make the show more interesting, I think they need to pull the rug out from under it, something they started to do on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but haven't carried through on in Voyager. For Voyager's final season, the ship should be limping home, barely able to survive. Otherwise their homecoming will seem like the return of a bunch of tourists, rather than long-lost explorers. And whatever happens to the Star Trek franchise in the future, it needs to have more of an edge, more suspense and tension. The Federation has just become too comfortable a place to make exciting TV viewing.
Rachel Sinclair
bluegirl@teleport.com
Trek Must Explore The Unknown
lthough intriguing, Joseph Fourier's ideas ("How About A Federation Utopia?" Issue No. 148) for a new Star Trek series based on a look at civilian life in the Federation wouldn't really be Star Trek. What made the original series fascinating was literally the trek to the stars. Although it was nice to see humans of all races integrated with aliens aboard the ship, what really made Star Trek worth watching was the whole idea expressed in the motto "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations."
For this reason, I think one of Star Trek: Voyager's best episodes has been "Blink of an Eye," where the crew encounters an anomaly never before seen, and must weigh the Prime Directive with the need to make first contact.
I think any new Star Trek effort must embrace the idea of discovery in order to make the series true to its best destiny.
Roger Harrison
rharrison@fullerton.edu
Wheel Deserves More Than A Miniseries
recently read in your news section about NBC perhaps purchasing the rights to make Robert Jordan's series The Wheel of Time into a miniseries. I think this is a big mistake, not because it's not a great series, which it is--I just believe that it is too great a series to be ruined by another bad miniseries. I believe to do this series right you need at least a series of full-length motion pictures with budgets big enough to do the special effects and locations right. And if they do as they plan, just doing the one book, they will leave out so much of the full story it might actually turn some people away who might have read and enjoyed the series had they not seen the miniseries. This is not to say that when it airs that I won't be glued to my set ready to enjoy or criticize the final end product.
Richard R. Laajala
laajala@newnorth.net
Could Puberty Make DiCaprio Vader?
eonardo DiCaprio wouldn't fit in the Star Wars universe. I agree that he is a pretty good actor, but for some reason his attitude and look just don't fit with what Darth Vader came from. Besides, can you imagine puberty taking DiCaprio's high pitched scream and turning it into the mighty voice of James Earl Jones? I know that puberty can do it, but why insult Jones? Also, DiCaprio is like Seth Green in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. He's like the Diet Coke of Evil, just one calorie, not evil enough!
Adrian Estes
shdw_wlf@hotmail.com
