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
Hamilton is working furiously
hanks for the fine review on Peter F. Hamilton's The Neutronium Alchemist. I await part three as pantingly as anyone; Mr. Hamilton promises he is writing away furiously!
Betsy Mitchell
Editor, Aspect
betsy_mitchell@time-inc.com
Disagrees with LiS review
y whole family went to see Lost in Space this weekend. I wholeheartedly disagree with your rating. By making the Robinsons a family of the '90s, [they] made it modern. The special effects were great. As for Blawp the creature, my kids adored it. I recommend it as a film you can bring the family to as an introduction to science fiction. I give it a B+, good for all ages (only one curse word, no sex, no skin).
Kate Werner
ktwerner@ptd.net
LiS was a serious disappointment
egarding Jeff Berkwits review of the new and improved (?) Lost in Space. I feel he was actually kinder than the movie deserves. The first of the 1998 mega-buck movies lifted off with a resounding thud (is this a carry over from the summer of 1997?). The direction of this movie was a mess from the beginning. Dysfunctional is a mild word when describing the antics of the Robinsons--there is no way the family would have lasted together this long in real life. The acting was below par. I know creative casting can produce some surprises, but William Hurt as a fatherly figure! Too much angst there. The only bright spot was the usually brilliant Gary Oldman. Unfortunately, he simply did not have enough to do improve this mess.
The special effects were uneven at best. The lift-off of the Jupiter 2 was indeed spectacular, but the funny little creature produced some of the cheapest computer animation since The Last Starfighter (which was a better movie by the way). All in all a serious disappointment even for someone who may have liked the original show. Let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come for I don't think we as movie-goers can put up with another summer of 1997!
Brad LaForme
ai035@hwcn.org
Learning from LiS
n a world where Brannon Braga tries to emulate Irwin Allen every week on Voyager, I felt the Lost in Space movie displayed whimsy and action in a way none of the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine or Voyager have been able to accomplish. The LiS movie was fun, put the brain on hold, sit back and enjoy the ride fun. Great literature or great science fiction it was not, but it was fun. The effects (with the exception of the chimp thing) were great and the cameos were an obvious pander to the fans, but we loved it. Brannon Braga could learn a thing or two from the LiS folks about the importance of long term fans.
I couldn't disagree with you more about the Will character being like Wesley Crusher. I think it's the other way around--Roddenberry ripped Wesley from the original Will Robinson. Even though I had trouble believing in a seven-year-old quantum physicist, I loved this little guy--I never liked Wesley.
And even though I myself am doing it, it is very unfair to compare LiS to the Star Trek franchises. I would never compare Star Wars to Trek and LiS to Star Wars, nor would I compare LiS to Babylon 5. They're different products with different goals and themes.
J. Anthony Miller
jamiller@dbtech.net
LiS: A perfect mix
thought the mixture of a serious plot and occasionally campy lines was
perfect! As a huge fan of the series, I cannot understand why all the critics seem to miss this point entirely. Lost in Space is a simple story about family, love, and the adventures of a boy with his robot. I own every episode and have seen the movie. It may not be perfect, but it does have heart! The film is a tribute to Irwin and all the LiS fans around the world.
Randall Valentin
wyoming@airmail.net
They're beating on LiS
here's only one reason for my sending you this letter, Siskel & Ebert. Maybe it's just me, but they seem to treat sci-fi movies unfairly, and as if giving Star Trek: First Contact and Mars Attacks! a bad review wasn't bad enough, now they're beating on Lost in Space. It seems that they have no sense of imagination and are very obviously becoming a nuisance to many sci-fi fans, and I'm sure I'm not alone! Something that I still don't grasp is their constant bad reviews for topnotch, first rate movies, a good example was The Jackal, which isn't sci-fi, but was also another good example of a good movie given a bad review, and I'm betting that they're going to give The X-Files a bad review, which for me would be the last straw. On more thing I want to add: I for one am glad that Lost in Space sunk Titanic!
Carlos
Mulder7759@aol.com
LiS was a smash!
he movie Lost in Space is a very exciting sci-fi film. I have been reading reviews all over the Net about this movie. In my mind, everybody is entitled to their own opinion.
The individuals who criticize the movie comment about the similarities between this movie and other movies that use hyperdrive technology. Then, they slash the movie for trying to steal some of Star Wars and Blade Runner's fire.
Hello, where do you think these other great sci-fi movies obtain some of their ideas from? That's right, from older science fiction movies.
The bottom line is this. Lost in Space is a movie just like any other sci-fi movie. It is in a class all by itself. I do not try and base the movie on whether it is similar to any other sci-fi movie ever shown.
The Lost in Space movie has a great theme, and it has a great plot. This movie also illustrates a great morality value and killer special effects. It sports a great cast of characters too.
I really connected to the Robinson's son. Because, he was experiencing some of the same growing pains I experienced as a child growing up.
I enjoyed the movie because it made me laugh, it made me sad, and it kept me literally on the edge of my seat.
For example, when they flew through the planet that was breaking up, wow! How about when the Robinsons encountered the evil doctor in the future? He had transformed into this hideous half human/spider creature.
I enjoyed the movie, because it explored family values in space. It also stressed the importance of family and how critical family will
be in our technologically advanced society that ventures out into space.
I'm not saying that everybody should or will enjoy this movie. This movie has true value personally to me.
The movie is a smash!
Virgil Yancey
vgyancey@swbell.net
Look, but don't think
y advice for anyone who wants to see [Lost in Space] is: See it, but don't look too hard at it. If you start thinking about all the inconsistencies, you'll ruin it for yourself. Such as: If they couldn't do "this" because of "that"...how can they do "it" 20 minutes later without fixing "that"? (I am trying to not give anything away, here.) I know about artistic liberties, but some of this movie's liberties are big enough to shove the planet Jupiter through!
Jandl
cookies5@mindspring.com
From progressive women to housekeepers
or all its quaintness, the original pilot for Lost in Space--the pilot pitched to the network, not the one that finally aired--unusually attempted to give as much validation to the female characters as to the males. As your article mentions, mom's a scientist, too. And Penny is described as a genius with an interest in xenobiology (Debby's not just a pet, she's research!). Judy's a budding actress who's placing her career on hold for the good of the Robinson voyage. They're not just along for the ride, they're part of the mission. It's too bad Irwin Allen decided to strip out all these details for the series; he took what could have been progressive women characters, in terms of '60s television at least, and relegated them to common housekeepers and eye candy. I thought it was worth seeing the original pilot just to know that Will and John weren't the only brains in the family.
Anne
asimmons@nas.edu
The X-Files Expo was totally fun
wanted to let you know that the "Truth is Out There" and this is real
truth of the X-Files Expo event.
I went to the X-Files Expo down in Coconut Grove and it was wonderful! The cost may have been $25, but it was well worth it. Outside are men-in-black, looking super-cool and mysterious. And while you wait in line, the staff gives you a freebie "evidence bag" filled with goodies and advertisements. The entrance appeared like any other warehouse (except for the constant fog and X-Files theme music) until you passed into the hall into the expo. You are then met with a wall decor of gray cabinet drawers with dates and alphabets. A lot of people just walked around hoping they could find their drawer and see what secrets might reveal of themselves. Also was a couple of "Pentagon" safety exit doors. Do they lead to the immense warehouse filled with dark and alien secrets? And you are still surrounded by the essence of fog and red lights.
When you enter, staff in coveralls present you with a free camera computer disk. The friendly staff are willing to take your picture anywhere you want, until the disk is full (I was having so much fun, I think I only had four or five shots taken). Among the attractions was an eight- minute preview/behind-the-scenes/interview of the stars and crew of the new X-Files movie (coming out June 19). There were photo ops where you can have a photograph taken of you and then your image is digitized into Mulder's office or by the FBI's car. I picked Mulder's office. It was fun and only cost $4. There were displays of all kinds of props from the series, including alien/human/animal parts, wardrobe, armaments, I.D.'s and news clips, etc. Every time I turned around, I found I missed something the time before. There were lots of computers and virtual reality-type things, and you could surf the Net looking at moving film clips, music, stills, etc. from the series--at no charge. There were trivia contests and drawings for prizes. There was even an author, Andy Meisler, who wrote I Want to Believe: Official Guide to the X-Files, Vol. 3, which he was willing to autograph. There was a setup of the official fan club (which is new, and I joined after finding out it is new affiliated with the old one).
Of course, there was the mandatory fan activity--I got autographs from Frank Spotnitz, co-executive producer of the X-Files series and movie, Dean Haglund, who plays Ringo Langley of the Lone Gunman (who did semi-to-hilarious impromptu routines), Steven Williams, who plays "X" (he was full of energy and opinions about his character), and Nicholas Lea, who plays Agent Alex Krycek or "Ratboy" (he was charming, kind about his fellow actors, and quoted himself as the X-Files punching boy). The usual dealer's merchandise was not cheap, but not too expensive, either. I bought two funny T-shirts for a total of $25. There were monitors everywhere so you didn't miss any of the stage action or the video clips (which were wonderful, especially the "Mulderisms/Scullyisms" video). The concession stand prices were not too bad, about usual for events.
The crew and staff were pleasant, polite and very sweet to me. The prices weren't too outrageous and there was always something happening (but not too chaotic). I expected exploitation and disappointment, and I found neither. It was totally fun.
Lady in Black
xfilefan@icanect.net
