FIRST CONTACT YOUR LETTERS
Your views on the month’s big issue
Behold the hottest of Hot Topics: the new Ghostbusters movie!
#THE NEW GHOSTBUSTERS
Steve Edwards, email It was like watching a love letter to Ghostbusters fans. There were enough (respectful) nods to the original to keep fans happy, while still having enough new material, ideas and jokes to enable it to stand on its own feet. A nice mix of comic styles, both mirroring the style of the original’s comedy while introducing some modern, contemporary comedic elements as well.
Matt Hemsworth, Facebook Not bad, just different. A few too many nods to the classics but it took them as a starting point and ran in new directions. I liked the new characters and could happily watch more of them.
Andrew Gaskell, Facebook If they had cast the women as the daughters of the original Ghostbusters then I would have gone to see it at the cinema.
Darren Carnall, Facebook If anything it had more laughs than the original (which I still love), and the visual effects were not only spectacular and flawless, they were beautiful too. The use of colour and 3D on the ghosts was amazing – the
most inventive and effective 3D I’ve ever seen in a film. SFX Even better than the decapitated fish head floating out of the screen in Jaws 3-D, you say?
David Chapman, Facebook The people who have been abusing the cast in general and Leslie Jones in particular should be ashamed of themselves, but that doesn’t alter the fact that this is a dismal and awful retread of a classic comedy.
Gavin Dickinson, Facebook I was one of those hating on this movie having grown up with the original but after watching I found it to be really funny. A good comedy – but mediocre for a Ghostbusters reboot.
John Edwards, Facebook The cameos were a mixed bunch. Murray and Aykroyd were largely pointless. I hope Hudson and Weaver get larger roles in a sequel.
Paul Levy, email Really glad we got to hear the Ray Parker Jr theme! It’s the funkiest song in the whole world! Not too fussed about the other versions…
Eduard Korhonen, Facebook I got free tickets – I certainly had no intention of paying. Somehow it managed to be even worse than I expected, and my expectations were below rock bottom.
Tristan Heaven, Facebook I thought it was poor.
I was one of those hating on the movie but I found it really funny
The issue was not the cast – they were alright, nothing to shout about – but the script was so poor. Sack the director and the scriptwriters and hopefully the second film will be a lot better.
Bernard Kwan, Facebook Entertaining, but doesn’t reach the heights it could have achieved. I thought it banked too much on nostalgia (not that it was a totally bad thing…). David Daniels Reboot travesty. rob Perry, Facebook No, it’s not the original, but neither is it trying to be. None of the new characters are analogous to the originals and by simply taking the concept and basic shape of the original movie, but telling a different story, it didn’t feel like a pointless and inferior rehash. The cameos were mostly fine but there were perhaps a few too many “kisses to the past”. Vastly superior to the slapdash, dumbed down retread that was Ghostbusters 2. SFX Is that the sound of a troop of Ghostbusters 2 fans strapping on their proton packs in anger? Look, let’s not start another fight…
#THE FUTURE OF STAR WARS
Keith Tudor, romsey The Star Wars franchise should remain fun and energetic. There should be quality over quantity. Traditional filmmaking methods should continue to be employed. Filming in the UK should continue (the Imperial Officers mostly sounded British). Cameos from the original cast would be good (such as David Prowse, Jeremy Bulloch etc). No CGI characters. Plenty of space dogfights, ideally with the models in the style of John Dykstra. Music from John Williams. Poster art from Drew Struzan. Lightsaber duels with mixed martial arts and a swashbuckler feel. Okay, so I’m a traditionalist when it comes to Star Wars after the prequel trilogy went too CGI heavy…
Sam Hopkins, Leamington Spa Way too many callbacks with the new Star Wars movies, especially now it’s confirmed Vader’s going to be in Rogue One. The thing people loved about the original Star Wars is that everything was mindblowingly new. Let’s get back to that spirit, please!
Carl roberts, Hinckley After seeing the trailers and Celebration reel, is it just me or does Rogue One look like it could be even better than The Force Awakens?
SFX Could be, Carl. At least we won’t have to endure yet another Death Star. Oh, hold on…
Stephen Wynde, Tonbridge More plot lines involving trade federation negotiations please! Let’s get back to the good stuff! SFX Beware the power of the Ironic Side, Stephen.
#PERRY GOOD
Paul Vought, email That was an excellent article on the Perry Rhodan novels [Time Machine, SFX 275]. I remember the books being read by my father and his brothers back in the ’70s. You inspired me to seek out the Futura and Ace editions of the Third Power series secondhand and I’m enjoying the reads. Also, concerning the actor who played the narrator on the opening credits of Sapphire & Steel [Total Recall, SFX 276], I always thought it was Bernard Holley and not David Suchet. Bernard played the main Axon Man in the Doctor Who adventure “The Claws Of Axos”. Listen to the credits of Sapphire & Steel and then watch a bit of “The Claws Of Axos”. Of course, I could be wrong… SFX Any more thoughts on the identity of the oh so enigmatic voiceover man from Sapphire & Steel? Who was he? Why has he
Am I the only one not raving about Stranger Things?
never come forward? Will he always be a fascinating blank in TV history? Wait, what if he looks like that dude with no face from the story with the photographs…
#ID PLEASE
Charlie Hall, Basingstoke So Suicide Squad has got a 15 rating over here. Got to say I’m disappointed – to me this is just the latest sign that superhero films aren’t being made for the audience they should be, ie the kids. Zack Snyder’s got to take a lot of the blame for this, but it’s the way it’s been going since Tim Burton’s Batman back in ’89. Deadpool was another one not for under-15s. When I was a kid we had tons of superhero films we could see – admittedly sometimes not great ones! – but these days I feel sorry for the young ’uns who can’t see half of them. SFX I agree with you, Charlie. The greatest superhero movies work for everyone, irrespective of age. I get as much out of Superman The Movie now as I did when I was 11. If I’d seen Batman V Superman at that age I’d probably be in Arkham by now.
#COMIC CON?
Pete Surtis, Grimsby Loved your article on the Scream! comic in SFX 277. It brought back lots of memories. Like how even though it said “Every Monday” on the cover it never came out on a Monday! I think I used to get mine on a Thursday. Just looking at that cover I can feel the paper it used to be on, and even smell it too! Aah, comics smell, intermingled with the sweets in the newsagents... I remember the weird, hollow, disappointed feeling I got when I found out Scream! was no longer. “Why?!” I asked myself – it was great! Anyway, cheers for covering it. Now let’s have an article on horror crisps of the ’70s. SFX 2000 AD was the same. “In orbit every Monday” declared the cover – but it was always a Saturday thing, wasn’t it? Readers, can you explain this puzzling space-time anomaly?
#NOT QUITE ALIVE
Hywel, email I really wanted to love The Living And The Dead. It’s great that the BBC are giving us a supernatural show in primetime, and, fair play, it looks gorgeous: all those ravishing shots of the English countryside look amazing on a hi-def telly. But it’s just so dull, and not nearly as scary as it should be. I wanted something that felt like those wonderfully creepy old Christmas Ghost Stories but this was more like Poldark with the occasional shudder thrown in! SFX There’s one new series you all seem to love, though. Or is there...?
#BACK TO THE ’80S
Craig Dalgliesh, email I’m loving Stranger Things. I haven’t binged on a TV show like this since the early years of Supernatural! What a fantastic nostalgic trip through ’80s Spielbergian cinema. The homages to some of my fave ’80s films shine brightly. Well done, Netflix! Let’s not ruin it with a sub-standard second season though, eh?
Ben Jones, email Am I the only one on the planet not raving about Stranger Things? It’s decent enough but not that brilliant, surely? I think people are being blinded by all the blatant ’80s homages: Spielberg woods! A poster for The Thing! Dungeons & Dragons! Nothing wrong with nostalgia, of course, but the show seems to be getting praised to the skies just for pushing all the right buttons with Generation X. Is this what our culture’s come to? Good drama’s just a bunch of cool T-shirt choices now, is it? SFX I was preparing a really deep and thoughtful reply for you, Ben, and then “Africa” by Toto came on and all my critical faculties went out the window.
#NOT CONVERTED
Claire Holmes, email Am I the only one who’s finding it really hard to get into Preacher? Some episodes have been brilliant, but they’re interrupted by others in which bugger all seems to happen and the main focus seems to be “Look at our lovely cinematography!” rather than “Hey, check out the story!” I know this happens on lots of shows – Daredevil and Jessica Jones could be really slow, too – but I can’t seem to forgive Preacher for doing the same thing. The cast are great, though, and when stuff does happen, it’s brilliant. It’s just a bit... “Get a move on!” SFX Two “Am I the only one” intros in a row, folks!
#WE ALSO HEARD FROM
Declan Byrne, email Why, oh why, hasn’t The Expanse been shown in the UK? It’s superb and, for all their
slightly cheap charm, Killjoys and
Dark Matter are not in the same league. Thankfully the US Blu-ray is region free but the show’s absence from a UK channel is such a shame.
Fiona Stone, email Enjoyed your feature on Suicide Squad in SFX but it took me a whole week to realise why you’d called the interview with Captain Boomerang “The Comeback King”.
SFX Slow-release puns. Our favourite.
Becky Hicks, email Great interview with Nicolas Winding Refn in the latest issue [SFX 277]. Never thought I’d see someone giving a shout-out to Blake’s 7 and Fleshpot
On 42nd Street in the same breath! Bet he’d be a great person to have a movie marathon with…
SFX We’ll supply the pizza. You supply the sofa. Refn brings the fashion model cannibals.
Stephen McAfee, email So I’m finally catching up with Agents Of SHIELD season three, and it is bloody brilliant! No, let me rephrase that: it’s unmissable. I’m a 30-year-old man, I won’t lie, but “spy’s goodbye”, it broke me. Wayne ullyatt, Sheffield I’ve just bought a copy of The League Of Regrettable Superheroes,
recommended by Nick Setchfield in the pages of your illustrious magazine. I’m writing to let Nick and other fans know that the author has a sequel planned for publication in March 2017, imaginatively titled The League Of Regrettable Supervillains.
SFX Thanks for letting us know, Wayne, and glad my tip was useful. Personally I’m holding out for Volume 3: The League Of Regrettable Superpets.