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.
— Scott Edelman, Editor-in-Chief
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ineteen eighty-two was a good year for science-fiction films, including Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, Blade Runner and Tron, which has always been arguably my favorite Walt Disney sci-fi epic.
Tron is out on DVD now, which I just bought for my nephew. Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) and Tron (Bruce Boxleitner) are still two of the best heroes in the Walt Disney cinema. Seeing Tron in its wide-screen format again after all these years is rewarding. Among the wonderful bonus features, I was impressed with a CGI short (featuring many wonders, including a magician juggling countless colorful shapes and a big CGI Easter egg) and with the outtakes featuring a cyber-love scene between Tron and Yori (Cindy Morgan).
My only disappointment is that David Warner is not included in the interviews. Since the acclaimed actor has been popular in sci-fi epics including Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars: Force Commander, Lois & Clark (as Jor-El), Time Bandits, The Omen and Time After Time (in which he played Jack the Ripper), one would agree that his great performance as Ed Dillinger/Sark in Tron would deserve a few words. For anyone who agrees that Walt Disney's Tron launched the cyber-universe into cinematic legend, this DVD is one that I can recommend for all ages.
Michael Anthony Basil
mike.basil(at)sympatico.ca
K, so you can now find the best sci-fi series (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Altantis) on the SCI FI Channel, but I cannot watch any of it. The reason why? It looks crappy on my 50" DLP HDTV set. I no longer watch any non-HDTV programming, with the exception of DVDs.
This is most unfortunate, because I am aching to watch season eight of Stargate and Stargate Atlantis, both of which I understand are shot in HDTV—but will instead have to wait for another channel to pick it up in HD, or for the DVDs to come out.
I would imagine the SCI FI Channel demographic to be high-tech gadget spenders, and therefore an HDTV broadcast would increase viewership. For the love of sci-fi, please embrace modern
technology. Of all channels out there, SCI FI should have been leading the pack in HDTV rollout!
Alain Avakian
a_alain(at)yahoo.com
tend to think of congratulatory letters as somewhat awkward and corny, usually written by people who have little discernment or, at least not much of a critical sense. After all, everything has a positive and a negative side to it, right? Well, try as one might, there doesn't seem to be anything about Science Fiction Weekly that could readily be considered as less than perfect. To put it more bluntly: This is a great site, in every way!
I just wanted to send you guys these words of appreciation from an old SF enthusiast who is grateful for all the wonderful things he finds here, all the first-rate material and information that this site has to offer. I've visited a number of other sites dedicated to SF, but this one is by far the best of them all. In short, what I want to say is thanks, guys, thanks very much for doing such a great job. My best wishes to all!
Luiz Nogueira
zardoz(at)uninet.com.br
was on the SCIFI.com site today (24 Aug.), and noticed this on the main page—it is another poll question: "Julian McMahon of Nip/Tuck is the latest actor supposedly vying to play James Bond. Of the other rumored contenders, who do you think best fits that tailored tuxedo?"
My question: Just what in the world does Nip/Tuck have to do with science fiction?
Why does this site do this? I can remember a while back I saw yet another poll, (Rate the Top 10 sci-fi shows), and of all shows that made the list, The Simpsons did, and at one time was rated higher than Stargate SG-1.
I fail to see where shows like Nip/Tuck and The Simpsons have a place here. I thought this site was under a sci-fi theme. Am I right or what?
I understand that sci-fi fans watch other shows, but [aren't] there other sites they can go to discuss them? It gets pretty weary wading through the non-sci-fi-related "filler" on this site sometimes.
Chris Taylor
xbravo(at)min.midco.net
SCI FI Wire journalist Patrick Lee responds:
The current poll, which actually appears on SCI FI Wire, deals with the James Bond franchise, which has always had a science-fiction element: The last installment, Die Another Day, dealt in part with technology that could morph one person's face into another's and also with a satellite-mounted death ray that focused the heat of the sun onto the
Earth. As for Nip/Tuck, this was merely used as an identifier for Julian McMahon, one of the actors rumored to be in contention for the role of 007.
In addition, I have been writing the SCI FI Wire polls for nearly five years, and we have never run anything dealing with The Simpsons. Hope that answers your questions, and thanks for reading SCI FI Wire.
Best,
Patrick
ears ago, I read three stories in sci-fi short-story collections and have been looking for them ever since. Unfortunately, I don't remember anything about them—titles, authors or sources—so can't look for them in the usual way. I recall only some of the plots. [I] wonder if any reader can point me in the right direction? Here's a synopsis of the three:
1. I think this is British. A woman is walking to or from an errand and the story is a stream-of-consciousness from her. It's revealed through her thoughts that she's either widowed or divorced, has a young daughter, and is a kind of a boring, lower middle-class, prissy type. I recall that in her musings, she thinks of her linen cupboard, equipped with new sheets "for the guests who never come." At one point, she steps off the curb and is almost hit by a truck. She proceeds to her home and finds her key doesn't work. She notices that there are subtle differences in the surroundings—they've gotten seedy—and a slatternly young woman comes to the door who says she lives there. Flipping to the end: It turns out that she actually was hit by the truck and killed, as the young woman reveals at the end. [I] love this story, for some reason; I think it was set in, and was published, in the '40s or '50s.
2. A boy is playing sandlot baseball with friends, but tells them he's moving to another town. It turns out that he's actually a grown man, but never matured physically, although he does mentally. I think he lives with his mother and only the two of them know he's going to stay exactly like a 12-year-old. This is a melancholy story, but very sweet.
3. This has a faintly similar theme, but is anything but sweet. A boy looks older and bigger—maybe he's a teenager—but wants to stay a kid. He's annoyed and frustrated when his pals want to go out with girls and, for that matter, when girls call him. Lives with his mother, who has a growing fear that he'll harm her. The story includes a lot of her worries. At the end, after the son has gone out, but didn't enjoy it, she's lying in bed and hears him in the other room flexing either some kind of weapon or—maybe this is more likely—some kind of device to strengthen his hands. Ominously, he then comes into her room and lies down next to her. She stares at the ceiling in terror and despair, listening to the clicking of the device...
Hope somebody can direct me to a source for any of these stories that have haunted me for years!
Rosemary Molloy
paem(at)worldnet.att.net
recently read a post that is a response to a criticism of Enterprise. Maybe it should be clarified that Capt. April commanded the Enterprise of the cruiser-class Constitution. Not the first ship named Enterprise: If that were the case, then he would have commanded the space shuttle Enterprise.
Victor Light
valight_8(at)hotmail.com
ne of the most profound sci-fi shows of my generation is back for a four-hour miniseries on Oct. 17 and 18. I cannot put into words the emotional and creative impact that Farscape, which ran for four seasons before it was canceled, has had on me. It is one of those unique and rare and almost flawless creations that makes "suspension of disbelief" a reality.
Farscape lives once again.
Joshua Preston
jipreston(at)ngcsu.edu
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