“It’s painful to recall how excited we were by the Star Wars prequels”
This period also boasted our first Anthony Head interview, for Sliders. Little did we realise he’d rarely not feature in one sci- fi franchise or another over the next 20 years…
This was also the dawn of the CG age. Features on special effects rapidly morphed from pictures of men by models to pictures of men by wireframes on computer screens ( hello, Jumanji…). Toy Story became the first ever movie entirely created by pixels.
The word “Spoilers” entered the zeitgeist, spurring the magazine to create The Spoiler Zone. At first it was a sealed section, which was a bit of a gimmick, to be honest, but soon it became a cause of bragging rights among readers who refused to open it.
By the end of SFX phase one Hollywood started making half- way decent SF films with 12 Monkeys and Men In Black. Then Alien Resurrection came along and halted that trend.
And, laying part of the foundations of SFX Phase 2, George Lucas announced the Star Wars prequels. It’s painful to recall how excited we were. Dave Golder