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.
-- Brooks Peck, Editor
Wheel Is Fantasy By Numbers
am in agreement with those who do not want to see the Wheel of Time made into a miniseries. My reason is essentially artistic: why waste the tremendous time and money on such a huge project when the books themselves were essentially poor retellings of J.R.R. Tolkien? I read the first book of the series and was disgusted at the rank imitation that Jordan engaged in. It's not as bad as
Terry Brooks's Shannara books, but still, can't we let the Dark Lord theme
die? There are so many stories in the world that can be told. Not every
one of them has to involve 1) a Dark Lord, Ultimate Evildoer, call it what you
will, 2) an unsuspecting, naive hero, 3) a wizard (or wizardress), 4) wars on
the scale of World War II with magic in place of technology, 5) a company of
heroes who gather around our unsuspecting, naive hero, and 6) a quest to
some far dangerous place. We've seen these six elements ad nauseum in fantasy
literature. I'll say a big "Hallelujah!" when fantasy writers as a group
swear off this stuff.
Craig Shoemake
SShoemake@aol.com
Wheel Merely Rips Off Tolkien
Wheel of Time miniseries? Please don't bother!
Why even have a movie of this thinly disguised rip-off of J.R.R. Tolkien's work?
Jordan changes a few names (i.e., trollocs for orcs), adds a few thousand more words so he can sell more books and slaps his name on it!
Brian Hunt
hoopyfrood2001@hotmail.com
Story Counts Most In Film
fter all the bad reviews and shlocky, over the top, this is significant advertising for Mission to Mars, I'll wait it out and rent the DVD. I know that Hollywood producers want to reach the widest audience possible and true SF fans are usually disappointed by the result, but it is possible to have it both ways. Witness Contact, or for that matter October Sky. Hollywood has yet to get the point that a good story rather than special effects is the true heart of great SF or science literature and the same is true for film.
Charles M. Himes
tamper@netcom.com
M2M's Music Ruined It
just saw Mission to Mars. On the plus side, the film was visually stunning, the science was excellent and the cast was very good. On the downside, much of the dialogue was weak and elementary, while the ultimate point of the film was an amalgam of ideas from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Fatal flaws? Not by a long shot. But what really, really drove me up the wall, and as a result colored my overall reaction to the film, was the hideously bad, hysterically melodramatic, monotonous and syrupy-to-the-point-of-diabetes musical score smeared over the imagery on the screen by none other than Ennio Morricone. You may recall that Morricone scored half the hideous spaghetti westerns of the late 1960s. Even Leonard Rosenman, the one-note composer who scored Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, would have been an improvement. Where are Horner, Goldsmith, Williams or Silvestri when you really need them? With a $100 million budget, De Palma could have done a helluva lot better. I am hoping that when Mission to Mars is ultimately released on DVD one of the bonus features will be the ability to watch the film without Morricone's score convulsing in the background.
Mark Stephenson
mmsteph@mc.net
Nice To Escape From Demonic Aliens
, too, went against all the critics, friends and relatives and saw Mission to Mars. I was very impressed. I would also compare it to 2001: A Space Odyssey (but not as abstractly philosophical) or Contact. The story seemed a bit slow in the beginning, but it picked up nicely. I especially enjoyed the break from demonic aliens. The special effects were great. I would definitely add this movie to my library.
Bruce Ofcarcik
BJOfcarcik@aol.com
M2M Piled On The Clichés
ission to Mars has to be one of the most unimaginative SF film efforts that I have had the disappointment to view. The plot was nothing more than an composite of almost every innovative and successful idea previously used in other films and television shows. I recognized The Abyss, Lost in Space, 2001: A Space Odyssey and its sequel 2010, Star Trek, Space: Above and Beyond, and countless others. The fact is that in the theater where I viewed the film, members of the audience were either calling out the actors' lines prior to them being said, or correctly predicting the scene's outcome. Mission to Mars is nothing more than an SF cliché. Renting the original films which were shamelessly adapted would have been a more rewarding viewing experience.
Alex Ladnyk
treuknight@aol.com
Got A Bone To Pick With E:FC
've been watching Earth: Final Conflict for some time now and I have a few bones to pick with the writers. Please get on with it! The first season was a nice setup with the idea of a resistance movement fighting back against the ambiguous program of the mysterious Taelons. Okay, we now know they need us to fight the Jaridians whom we have not heard from in awhile. Jonathan Doors is one dimensional and should be focusing on defenses to counter the coming Jaridian invasion.
The actor who plays Liam [Robert Leeshock] is wooden. Jayne Heitmeyer appears to be smarter than Kincaid and is a much better actor. There is no chemistry there and it appears they don't even like each other seeing as Liam won't even look her in the eye.
Also the rivalry between Da'an and Za'or is getting tiresome. Their constant squabbling, the envy, jealousy, etc. shows that they are about as dysfunctional as any human family. Hardly the stuff of a higher order life form.
Sandoval's secret program needs to be fleshed out immediately. The producers are dead wrong if they are going to make each episode as stand alones. Continuity of storyline is important to this series. Just get on with it!
T. Hannibal Gay
Hannibal@Hotmail.com
Browder Should Play Superman
irst, if you've only seen the last two episodes of Farscape, hang in there. Last season had some killer shows. I voted for Farscape as Best Sci-Fi Show in the TV Guide internet poll. I was even thinking that Ben Browder should play Superman! He could add some welcome humor to the role, I think.
Aaron Smith
cyric@angelfire.com
Madonna Hasn't Got The "Look"
ance Pitman, in his Issue No. 152 letter "Wonder Woman Isn't June Cleaver," is apparently so infatuated with Madonna that he has missed the whole point about the Wonder Woman issue. The issue is not about whether Wonder Woman is a June Cleaver or an Amazon. It is about whether Madonna is the right person for the part. Madonna is definitely not the right choice for the part (and is certainly not the "agent provocateur of the nation's sexuality"). Lynda Carter set a precedent for the "look" of Wonder Woman and that "look" needs to be filled by an actress who fits that "look." If it was up to me, I would choose fantasy queen Julie Strain.
Davey March
BosomBuddy@wowmail.com
God Will Be Missed
can't believe that NBC canceled God, the Devil, and Bob so early in its season. That show had tremendous potential; the few episodes that were aired had just the right amount of comedy and religion that made it both hysterical and not too preachy.
The relationship between God and the Devil was a very refreshing change from many of the typical stereotypes. Plus, Bob added in some crass humor to supply some laughs for those who didn't understand some of the religious humor. I especially liked the episode in which Bob helped God and the Devil to reconcile their differences about Lucifer being sent to Hell.
I understand that NBC was feeling pressure from many of its affiliates and various religious groups to cancel. I guess that religious comedies for the everyday man cause too much trouble for the big networks (anyone remember the sitcom Soul Man with Dan Ackroyd?) It's really a shame because as a viewer and someone who has only a rudimentary understanding of religion, I enjoyed both shows immensely.
I just hope that somewhere down the line one of these big networks will produce a funny religious comedy and have the guts to stick with it.
Micah Kenworthy
barracuda@the-lair.com
The Immoral Can't Teach Religion
ne reader commented that God, the Devil and Bob is reminiscent of the book of Job in the Bible and makes a direct comparison between the show and Sunday School.
While I cannot comment upon the show (having never watched it), I can only make this commentary:
Who do you want teaching your children about God? Hollywood with its plethora of "if it feels good, do it" morals? Or someone who has demonstrated to the people serving God that they have at least an understanding of the nature of the Divine?
Frankly, I'd rather Hollywood stick to what it knows: adulterous affairs, unchecked thievery, murder, mayhem and debauchery, with a good dose of selfish and meaningless pursuits. I don't need an ecumenical, unethical, immoral agency with all the spiritual strength and understanding of a clam to further misdirect, confuse and cloud my children's understanding of God.
Our television has been turned off (unplugged and disconnected) for over two months now. Frankly, I am unwilling to allow my children to be influenced by the "menagerie of mayhem" I find on today's television any longer.
Evan Moore
evanmoore@aol.com
Datlow Did Not Discover Gibson
hen I saw the headline: "Del Toro To Helm Blade 2," my not-yet-completely-caffeinated brain read it as Pel Toro, and for those who don't recognize
the name you should rush out immediately and track down his undeservedly
out of print "classic" Galaxy 666, the Plan 9 From Outer Space of books.
On the other end of the literary spectrum I would like to point out that
the estimable Ellen Datlow did not discover William Gibson; that particular
honor goes to Unearth Magazine, in their third issue--Summer 1977--with the story "Fragments of a Hologram Rose." The magazine specialized in publishing first stories. Also in that third issue were first stories by James P. Blaylock, Somtow Sucharitkul (S.P. Somtow), and Richard Bowker. That
said, she certainly was the one who got his career going.
Michael Walsh
MJW@mail.press.jhu.edu
In Search Of An Invisible Woman
here seems to be a great deal of interest in invisible men these days. Kevin Bacon will play a scientist who vanishes then promptly goes mad in The Hollow Man due out this summer. Meanwhile, the SCI FI Channel plans to do a series later this year where the unseen one is the hero. Being a longtime fan of this genre, I am looking forward to seeing and comparing both. What I’d really like to see instead however, is a well written, suspense thriller about an invisible woman. Given the popularity of action heroines like Buffy and Xena along with the great special effects available today the time seems right for a woman to get in on the disappearing act.
My ideal choice to play the invisible woman is--surprise--Thandie Newton. Thandie’s star is definitely on the rise. This summer she stars opposite of Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 2 and she just missed out on a starring role in the upcoming Charlie’s Angels. She’s not only beautiful but a superior actress who is unafraid to take on unglamorous roles. I’d love to see Thandie rendered invisible and engaging in activities similar to those of the late Claude Rains (murder and mayhem), Vincent Price (mystery and suspense) or Jon Hall (espionage). Maybe someone in Tinseltown will read this and get an idea after The Hollow Man clears the $100 million mark at the box office or am I expecting too much?
Carl Thomas
ezwryter@attglobal.net
