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Home , Adam Nimoy, Alien Voices, Bruce Feirstein, Captive Pursuit, Chip Johannessen, Dana Wynter

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INSIDE The Pixarteam sends Buzz & Woody off on adventure : THE FILM Questarians! That TV classic is finally a motion picture HEROES OF THE GALAXY Never surrender these pin- ups at the next Quest Con! METALLIC ATTRACTION Get to know Witlock, robot hero & Trouble Magnet ACCORDING TO He voices Buzz Lightyear & plays the Questarians' favorite commander THAT HEROIC GUY Brendan Fraser faces mum mies, monsters & monkeys QUEEN AMIDALA RULES Natalie Portman reigns against The Phantom Menace

THE NEW JEDI ORDER Fantasist R.A. Salvatore chronicles the latest Star Wars MEMORABLE CHARACTER

Now & Again, you've seen actor ! Cerrit Graham 76 THE SPY WHO SHAGS WELL Heather Graham updates readers STARLOC: The Universe is published monthly by GROUP, INC., 475 Park Avenue South, New York, on her career moves NY 10016. STARLOG and The Science Fiction Universe are registered trademarks of Starlog Group Inc' (ISSN 0191-4626) (Canadian GST number: R-124704826) This is issue Number 270, January 2000. Content is © Copy- 79 DEUS EX MACHINA right 2000 by STARLOG GROUP, INC. All rights reserved. Reprint or reproduction in part or in whole—including From out of the shadows, the reprinting or posting of articles and graphics on any internet or computer site—without the publishers' written permission is strictly forbidden. STARLOG accepts no Terry O'Quinn appears responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials, but if submittals are accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope, they'll be con- 84 OF POD PEOPLE PAST sidered and, if necessary, returned. Please do not call the editorial office re: this material. Freelancer phone calls will not be accepted. STARLOG does not publish fiction. Fiction submissions are not accepted and will be Dana Wynter recalls the Invasion of discarded without reply. Products advertised are not necessarily endorsed by STARLOG, and views expressed In the Body Snatchers editorial copy are not necessarily those of STARLOG. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices. Subscription rates: $49.97 one year (12 issues! delivered In 90 U.S. only. Canadian and foreign sub- SOLAR LUMINARY scriptions $59.57 in U.S. funds only. New subscriptions send directly to STARLOG, 475 Park Avenue South, New Director Walter Hill ignites the York, NY 10016. Notification of change of address or renewals send to STARLOG Subscription Dept., P.O. Box 430, Supernova action Mt. Morris, IL 61054-0430 or for Customer Service, call toll-free 1-800-877-5549. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to STARLOG Subscription Dept., P.O. Box 430, Mt. Morris, IL 61054-0430. Printed In U.S.A. Photo: Copyright 1999 Danjaq LLC & United Artists Film Corp. SCI-FI SENSATIONS!

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All prominent names and characters TM & ©their respective companies and publishers. DF Logo is TM and © DYNAMIC FORCES, INC. 1999 All rights reserved. been made into a TV show, particularly by Chris President/Publisher Carter. Whatever respect I might have had for him as NORMAN JACOBS a creative artist evaporated when I started reading Executive Vice President interviews such as the one printed in your magazine RITA EISENSTEIN where he demeans his source material. If it was so

useless, then why did he use it? It might not be much, Associate Publisher MILBURN SMITH but he is paying us for it; why bother if he just likes the title? The reason is because the TV show is much V.P./Circulation Director more closely married to the comic than he would ART SCHULKIN

have your readers believe, and it definitely wasn't his Executive Art Director Mail cannot be forwarded. Other fans and advertisers idea, hence, he must pay us. W.R. MOHALLEY sometimes contact readers whose letters are printed here. Unluckily for Jim and I, our publisher Harris To avoid this, mark your letter "Please Withhold My Editor Comics didn't seem to care all that much about what Address." Otherwise, we retain the option to print it. MCDONNELL Write: STARLOG COMMLOG was or was not in our interests. They cooperated with Managing Editor Carter and Fox, and as a result there is yet another 475 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor KEITH OLEXA New York, NY 10016 sad story for the history books about comics creators or E-mail: being taken egregious advantage of so that a handful Special FX Editor DAVID HUTCHISON communications @ starloggroup.com of already wealthy producers can staff their pockets just a bit more. Contributing Editors ANTHONY TIMPONE HARSH WORLDS I would like to be able to share in everyone's MICHAEL CINCOLD ...I've just picked up issue #268 and I'm bloody delight that this TV show is a good one likely to do TOM WEAVER annoyed. James Hudnall and I created the Harsh well, but I can't. I have no incentive to root for its IAN SPELLING

Realm comic back in 1991, well before either one of success whatsoever and that, more than anything, is Consultant us had any idea who Chris Carter was. I can guaran- the most depressing characteristic of this deal. When KERRY O'QUINN tee you he was not a part of the creative process when we made the comic almost 10 years ago, we crossed Senior Art Director the concept for the series was put together, and I can our fingers and hoped it would be produced into a JIM MCLERNON further assure you that the so-called "big departures" major TV series so that we could share in the rewards Art Director Carter has made from the comic are cosmetic only of same. Well, it was, but from where I stand, it looks RICK CJ TENC and all are allowed for in the comic's original like we're being punished, not rewarded. References premise. What he has done is to Harsh Realm in the pop- West Coast Correspondents The gadget hates the most. MARC SHAPIRO to alter the appearance of the ular media are proliferating BILL WARREN series so drastically that it is at an ever-accelerating clip James, it's a fine European "^n. Financial Director: Joan Baetz visually unrecognizable as writing instrument that has a day by day, and as each one Marketing Director: Daniel Sierra secret compartment containing a , derivative of the comic, but he J r arrives at the public 1 Circulation Manager: Maria Damlani perfectly legitimate instant will . M , „ has retained in whole not just ' No thank doorstep and my contribu- Art Staff: Yvonne Jang, John Dins- dale, Dmltriy Ostrovskiy, May Yung, the mechanics of the VR tion, Jim's, is ignored and ivette Zapata. premise, but also all of the or demeaned, we lose that Staff: Debbie Irwin, Dee Erwine, Jose Soto, sunny witchel, David Andreas. major character functions. much more in the process. I Correspondents: (West Coast) Kyle If your writer had gone to saw an ad on television two Counts, Pat Jankiewlcz; (NYC) Mike the trouble of reading the nights ago and the sight of MCAvennle, Maureen MCTIgue, Joe Nazzaro, Steve Swires, Dan Yakir; comic, he would have found a it made me want to throw () will Murray; (Chicago) Kim multitude of uncanny similar- the TV out my window. Howard Johnson; (The west) Bill Flo- rence, Jo Beth Taylor; (D.C) Lynne ities, such as: Harsh Realm is I notice you failed to Stephens; (Florida) Bill Wilson; (Cana- a VR game "simulation," the mention my name in your da) Peter Bloch-Hansen, Mark Phillips; (Booklog) Penny Kenny, Jean-Marc hero is sent in to retrieve the article. A heads-up for the Lofficler, Scott schumack, Michael villain over, who has taken future: Jim and I share co- Wolff; (Cartoons) Kev Brockschmldt, Alain chaperon, Fisher, magic works within the realm, etc. The fact that creator status and ownership of the copyright, as is Mike Tom Holtkamp, Bob Muleady. Carter has made the young, good-looking villain customary in comics for artist/writer teams. Thanks: Tim Allen, Michael Barnathan, from the comic into the young, good-looking hero Andrew Paquette Kristy Bernath, Meredith Blume, Tye Bourdony, Ash Brannon, John Cleese, and taken the grizzled tough-guy hero and made him Co-creator/artist/co-copyright holder, Enrico Colantoni, William Cone, John into the grizzled tough-guy hero's sidekick does not Harsh Realm de Lancie, Linda DeScenna, Kim change the fact that his characters behave in much Fitzgerald, Brendan Fraser, Geoff Freeman, Jill Fritzo, Bill George, cerrit the same way as—and fulfill the same story func- Paquette's letter arrived shortly before the premiere Graham, Heather Graham, Howard tions as—the comic's characters. of the series—on which Hudnall and Paquette were, Green, Lynne Hale, John Hall, Walter Hill, Karen Robert Jackson, Dan Jeup, Now, if we had been paid by Carter some kind of in fact, not credited (though eventually they were Glen Larson, Marleah Leslie, Desmond reasonable fee in exchange for allowing him to tram- credited on screen for the third episode). They have Llewelyn, Glenn McQueen, Daryl Mitchell, Steve Newman, Leonard ple our reputations with the enormous resources he filed a lawsuit against Carter, 20th Century Fox and Nlmoy, Terry O'Quinn, Kllllan Plunkett, has at his disposal, I might not be quite so bothered. Harris Publications. The series itself has been can- Susan Pope, Natalie Portman, Jed Rees, Alan As it is, we are receiving fees which over a year's celled. Rlckman, sue Rostoni, Steve Saffel, R.A. Salvatore, Steve San- time are worth the as about same we earned in 1991 sweet, calyn Susman, Lee unkrich, to write Jeff walker, Crystal Warren, Slgourney and draw the comic, or, to put it another way, ...What is Harsh Realm! Is it science fiction? Sus- Weaver, Ryder Windham, Dana Wyn- about as much as I made as a young college student pense? Is it just action-adventure? In fact, Chris ter, zeida Wong, Alex worman, Jason working at McDonald's. The only thing we could Carter's latest effort tries all these genres but masters Yungbluth. Cover images: Galaxy Quest: Murray possibly stand to gain from this adaptation of our none. After only waching about five minutes of Close/TM & ©1999 DreamWorks LLC; work is the attendant publicity one would naturally Carter's much-hyped version of virtual reality, I Nimoy: ©Paramount Pictures; Gra- ham: ©1999 New Line Cinema. expect, but which Carter in his intransigence is deny- ended up pulling the plug. Harsh Realm didn't give For Advertising Information: ing us. understanding is that I My Jim and may not me the same magical response as did the first episode (212) 689-2830. FAX (212) 889-7933 Advertising Director: Rita Elsensteln even get a credit on the TV show! What outrageous of The X-Files. I'm sure it will not survive long on Classified Ads Manager: Tim Clark villainy! the very harsh battlefield the of new TV season. West Coast Ads: The Faust Co., 24050 Because of the way this project has been handled Al Munro Madison St. Suite 101, Torrance, CA 90505 (510) 375-9604. FAX (310) 373-8760. from start to finish, I really, honestly wish I had never Nanaimo, British Columbia International Licensing Rep: Robert associated it been with and I certainly wish it hadn't Canada J. Abramson & Associates, Inc., 720 Post Road, Scarsdale, NY 105S3. )

of COmCS'kmSMS^.ANMATIQN.Sr.Lc, 100 YEARS

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If you do not want to cut out coupon, we will accept written orders. I I Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. QUOTE OF THE RECOMMENDED READING MONTH you're not reading science fiction and fantasy, if you're If "Jane [in the Edgar Rice Bur- only watching movies & TV shows, you're missing the roughs Tarzan novels] is a wimp. / best that the genre has to offer: The literature. would have made a much better Here are five novels beloved by this magazine's Editor mate for Tarzan." (i.e. me), all coincidentally written by five of my favorite —Jane Goodall (in the PBS writers. You can't go wrong with these choices. Read them! special Jane Goodall: Reason for 1) To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer. Hope) You're in this book, and you, and you too. Seems everybody who has ever lived, great and small, famous and unknown, has been resurrected along the shores of a great river on a strange planet. Now explorer Richard Burton (who discovered the source of the Nile) seeks answers to the mystery. The stunning begin- ning of Farmer's Riverworld series. This volume won the Hugo. No wonder. 2) Something Wicked This Way Comes by , (my other all-time favorite genre writer). The carnival has come to town, offering shadowy temptations and exotic possibilities to young dream- ers. A truly wonderful book.

3) Lincoln 's Dreams by Connie Willis. A contemporary researcher into the Civil War copes with a woman haunted by strange visions of the past. To reveal more might spoil its magic. A mesmerizing narrative from one of the field's great writers. 4) How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove. His ingenious follow- up to the equally brilliant The Guns of the South is not a sequel, but rather a straight, no-SF-aspect alternate history chronicle of how one element out of place causes the South to win the Civil War and how America twists and turns from there. 5) On Stranger Tides by Timothy Powers. Pirates! Awesome adventure! The Fountain of Youth! Imaginative entertainment! Wow! The Cylons are coming! The Cylons are —David McDonnell coming! And they're heading toward an IMAX theater in search of Battlester Galactica. STUPID NETWORK IMAX GALACTICA DECISION OF THE conjunction with the producers and special FX In MONTH team behind Wing Commander, series creator Fox: For cancelling Harsh Realm. Glen Larson is resurrecting as Millennium got three years. The Visitor a theatrical feature with, of course, a possible TV almost 13 episodes. And Fox axed series to follow. But now, Battlestar Galactica may Harsh Realm after only three first blast off for the IMAX screen. episodes? Hardly a fair test from the "At this point, it looks like our initial venture network of The World's Most Annoy- will be an IMAX presentation," Larson explains. ing Reality Specials. "Right now we have a script for a two-hour movie that we will be reexamining to decide what ele- The portal to Harsh Realm closed ments we will use, because IMAX movies tend to real soon. run no longer than 50 minutes. The IMAX movie will almost serve as a teaser for the projected two- STARLOG hour feature. I'll be able to talk about the particulars RECOMMENDS of the script in a few weeks. All I can say now is that Get on your horse and gallop off to we have a lot of elements that 1 think are exciting as a bijou near you to see Tim Bur- hell." ton's Sleepy Hollow. It's the best Commander Cain (played by the late Lloyd Gothic horror movie that Hammer Bridges in a series guest shot) and the Pegasus, Films never made. according to Larson, would be integral to any Galactica storyline. "We've played with the Pega- sus as an element for this movie. It would give us a device to update audiences on FILM FANTASY what happened and it could be done in a live, visually exciting way. But, at this point, CALENDAR I don't know if we would take the time to do something like that. I do know that it |^elease dates are extremely subject to change. would not be our intention to stay with the Pegasus through the rest of the picture." The producer is aware that Richard Hatch (STARLOG #255) has been attempting December: Galaxy Quest, Bicentennial Man, to revive Battlestar Galactica as a separate film/TV project, even creating a self- The Green Mile, Stuart Little. financed trailer to sell the project to interested studios and investors. "I was the cre- January 2000: Supernova, Lost Souls, Fanta- ator and writer on Battlestar Galactica and, according to Writers Guild law, it's sia 2000 (in IMAX theaters only). mine," Larson says. "I am working on the project with Universal [the studio which February: Pitch Black, Scream 3, The Tigger made the TV series]. I talked to Richard at one of those SF conventions. I know he Movie. has been involved in some books, and I think it's great that he's doing what he can to March: Mission to Mars, The Red Planet, The keep the project alive. Richard and I haven't had any discussions whatsoever on our Ninth Gate, Final Destination. respective projects, so I would have to say that feelings between us are cordial. Spring: The Road to El Dorado, The Crow: They're simply non-existent at this point." Salvation, Frequency. —Marc Shapiro DIAL INTO THE NEW CHANNEL • STARLOG, , FROM yS£g2FSEg$& THE MOST SCWJS RESPECTED r~-~ln^f~m\ NAME IN GENRE PUBLISHING wif ^»sea* It's ALL-NEW

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GENRE TV COMICS SCENE Despite Chris Carter's impor- Hugh {Paperback Hero) Jackman is playing Wolverine in the tance to Fox as a producer, it currently shooting X-Men movie. Jackman replaces the only took three low-rated airings originally cast Dougray Scott (who was still busy shooting Mis- for the network to cancel the big- sion: Impossible 2). Matthew Sharp portrays Henry Gyrich. budgeted Harsh Realm. Eight Screenwriter Jon {Minority Report) Cohen is at work on episodes of the 13-show order Wonder Woman for producer . No casting yet but it MBDULDG heroine. were produced. The five unaired may star Sandra Bullock as the classic DC Comics Hey, hours may get played off next By DAVID MCDONNELL Joel, think about this. Why not Carrie-Anne Moss (star of Sil- summer. ver's megahit The Matrix)! Two animated offerings have Paul Hunter may direct the Blade sequel now in the works. been shelved pending new time slots: the irreverent Family Guy (by Fox) and Mission Hill (by the WB). FANTASY FILMS Now and Again, Angel and Stark Raving Mad have been oger {) Spottiswoode will direct The Sixth Day. renewed for nine more episodes each, giving them all full first old Schwarzenegger stars as a guy who wakes up one morning to seasons. find out—horrors!—he has been cloned! And his clone is now replacing Ultimate Trek: Star Trek's Greatest Moments airs on UPN him in everyday life. Michael Rapaport and Sarah Wynter co-star. December 1 (directly before Voyager's "Pathfinder," the episode Two genre titans—Boris Karloff & Bela Lugosi—will get the dual bio guesting Marina Sirtis and Dwight Schultz). Jason Alexander treatment in a project scripted by Jeff {"V") Yagher. John Putch will helm hosts this special showcasing the saga's Best Episodes (voted on Karloff & Lugosi. via the Internet), Most Beautiful Guest Stars, Most Memorable Among the genre films being developed for (who just Villains, Best Dialogue and the like. wrapped Battlefield Earth) are The Kid (a fantasy comedy), Travel Agent (an SF thriller) and Have Gun Will Travel (the movie version of UPDATES the classic TV ). Thetie final writing credits on The WorldW, Is Not Enough are Screenplay by Neal Purvis & CHARACTER Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein, CASTINGS Story by Purvis & Wade. |ruce Campbell Galaxy Quest will now pre- ^returns to swash- miere December 25. Lost Souls has buckling adventure as found a new date, February 4. Mis- Jack ofAll Trades, one of sion to Mars, the -

the two half-hour series Disney Mars movie, is targeted for replacing Hercules. March 10. Flight 180 has resched-

Angela Dotchin co-stars. uled its take-off (to March 17) and

Production began last gained a new title, Final Destina- month in New Zealand. tion. Both Jack and compan- It's Noreen—not Maureen ion show Cleopatra 2525 Tobin who's the veteran Hercules debut in mid-January. writer now working on Martial Viggo Mortenson Law. has replaced Stuart And yes, what happens to a Townsend as Aragom in much-beloved Star Wars character

the currently filming in RA. Salvatore's Vector Prime is Lord of the Rings trilo- not a dream, not a hoax, not an SEQUELS & REMAKES gy. Cate {Elizabeth) Blanchett is playing Queen Galadriel. imaginary story. However, unlike The long-anticipated fourth High- Terence Stamp is also starring in Red Planet. other media outlets, STARLOG Marina Sirtis guest stars as the enigmatic Sister Margaret in lander film—which incorpo- has chosen not to disclose it in the rates the TV saga's extended the Earth: Final Conflict episode "Cloister." It airs in syndica- Salvatore interview (page 66) or tion the week of December mythos—is now shooting in Roma- 6. elsewhere this issue, theoretically nia, Scotland, Paris and New York. giving our readers worldwide time Both Highlanders, Christopher INTERESTED CONFLICTS enough to discover this new plot Lambert (of the movies) and TV's twist for themselves. Since this page is the last to go to the printer, we're Adrian Paul, star. Co-starring are disclosing here two conflicts of interest in this the TV show's Peter (Memos) issue. GENRE PEOPLE Wingfield and Jim (Watcher Joe Editor David McDonnell coined the name Alien Carpenter's next film is a SF thriller Dawson) Byrnes. John Voices for the multimedia company created by focusing on human colonists plagued by Screenwriter Mark Mont- and (which they dis- the Ghosts ofMars. Carpenter will direct from gomery is working on a remake of cuss, see page 20). a screenplay he co-wrote with Larry Sulkis. Them! The new version, hopefully, Former Managing Editor Mike McAvennie—who Carpenter and longtime partner Sandy King takes advantage of the treasure has continued to write the ongoing Gamelog column are producing for 's Screen Gems divi- trove of early (and vastly different) since leaving STARLOG seven years ago— Jie Editor sion. treatments and drafts of the original at DC Comics in charge of Ryder Windham and Killian 's time travel novel, movie to be found in the Warner Plunkett's Trouble Magnet mini-series (page 47). Timeline (now in hardcover), has sold to Para- Bros. Archives. Joe Johnston—who And by the way, though they're back to back this mount. Veteran fantasy filmmaker Richard employed a lovable sort-of-giant issue, Gerrit Graham and Heather Graham are not Donner will direct. Crichton, Donner and ant in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids— related. Lauren Shuler-Donner are producing. will direct.

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and countries. All rights reserved. The X-Files'" &© 1999 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved. Dark Horse Comics* and the Dark Horse logo are trademarks of Dark Horse Comics, Inc. registered in various categories TIMELY TRAVELS CHEAP TREKS Home Video has some Sylvester McCoy, the seventh incarnation of the Iniversal great double-feature pack- BBC's , brought an air of mystery to the u: VHS character not seen since the time traveler's earliest days ages that make great holiday gifts. in 1963. The latest Whovian adventure from BBC Home You can find Jurassic Park and its Video, Doctor Who: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy sequel The Lost World twin-packed ($19.98, VHS), originally aired in December 1988 and for $19.98 among other non-genre stars McCoy as our favorite Gallifreyian, with Sophie titles. Also, 's star turn Aldred as his companion, Ace. While traveling to the as The Shadow has been marked planet Sagonax to answer a challenge from the Psychic down to $14.98, along with 12 Circus, the pair encounter a boastful intergalactic explorer and his protege Mags, who are also going to Monkeys, Somewhere in Time, Segonax to compete in a talent contest. Upon their arrival, the Doctor and Ace soon realize that something Young Hercules and Dune.

is not quite right and matters slip out of control. Star Trek titles are also attrac- Paramount Home Video's classic Star Trek DVD collection continues with Star Trek 05: "What Are tively priced in VHS. Patrick Stew- Little Girls Made Of?" and "Dagger of the Mind." Star Trek: 06 features "Miri" and "Conscience of the art leads the Next Generation crew King." Paramount has priced in Star Trek: Insurrection ($14.95) the dual episode albums at a in either widescreen or pan-and- reasonable $19.98 each. scan editions. Earlier Trek feature Leonard Nimoy chats about film adventures, I through V, are the DVD releases on page 20. priced at an unbelievable $9.95 Disney Home Video com- each, while Star Trek First Contact

pletes its introductory round and are of DVD releases this month $14.95 each. Other comparatively- with The Jungle Book and priced 7Ve£-related titles include The Little Mermaid. Though 's Star Trek Memo- these titles have been seen ries ($9.95), the Stewart-hosted before—and many at sell- From Here to Infinity: The Ulti- through prices—Disney has mate Voyage ($12.95), Star Trek: chosen to price them at a 30 Years and Beyond ($14.95) and

steep $39.98 each, which is Inside Star Trek: The Real Story particularly onerous since no ($14.95). extra goodies are included. More classic black-and- white episodes from Rod Serling's Twilight Zone bow from Image Entertainment. Each DVD album ($24.98) contains four complete episodes, each from a different season. In Twilight Zone 14, Ed Wynn stars as a death-cheating sidewalk pitch man making "One for the Angels." "The Man in the Bottle" is a genie who dispenses four wish- es instead of the traditional three with the usual consequences for

those who crave an easy out. Mystery or hallucination is the question in "The Arrival," which plays cat and mouse with illusion and reality, and finally there's the classic "In Praise of Pip" with Jack Klugman and , directed by This Island Earth's Joseph M. Newman. Twilight Zone 15 features "Escape Clause," a clever first season OB/GYN Kenobi show in which David Wayne is given immortality and indestructibil- ity in exchange for his soul. "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room," scored by Jerry Goldsmith, is a one-actor show in which a man at war with himself faces the life he might have led. The third season story "The Midnight Sun" suggests the scorching heat of a NYC summer, but offers a chilling denouement and "A Kind of Stopwatch" features a mysteri-

ous gentleman who offers a man a stopwatch with the power to halt everything in the world except its owner.

RETROS ENCAGED sics from the '50s and '60s. Topping the cur- love with his daughter; and finally "The Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in the DVD rent harvest is The Intruder, a non-genre entry Miraculous Serum" starring Richard Derr, release of Universal Soldier: The Return, from director , based on Charles who had just been seen in Paramount's When which also includes three featurettes and the Beaumont's novel, and starring William Shat- World's Collide, as the inventor of a serum that trailer. It's priced at $24.98 from ner. Released in 1961, this is Corman's only makes it possible to live forever. Columbia/TriStar. "message" film, with Shatner starring as a Three more Space Patrol adventures are Moving quickly from theaters to home white supremacist whose mission is to halt the collected in Volume Two of Englewood's video and DVD is director Jan De Bont's The integration of public schools. Twilight Zone Atomic Television series. "Amazons of Cydo- Haunting ($29.98, DreamWorks) based on writers Beaumont and George Clayton John- nia," "The Monsoon Trap on Cydonia," and Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting of Hill son both make brief screen appearances. "The Men Slaves of Cydonia" were original- House. Lavish special FX, the film's sole sell- Originally broadcast live, Tales of Tomor- ly broadcast live in 1954. ing point, may not be very effective on home row featured many surprisingly literate scripts And lastly, The Phantom Planet starts out

TV screens. For far better late night chills, rent and intriguing performances despite the dull and talky, but soon turns silly, when an director 's stunning 1963 version. cheesy production values that marked the early crash lands on a mysterious Extras include an by direc- days of TV drama. Transferred from the origi- and is soon shrunk to the same six-inch height tor De Bont and production designer Eugenio nal 35mm kinescopes, this series continues as the rest of the inhabitants. The cast Zanetti, deleted scenes, bios, production notes with a rather bizarre and frenetic 30-minute includes Francis X. Bushman, who starred as and two trailers. telling of "Frankenstein" starring Lon Chaney Messala in the 1926 version of Ben-Hur and Englewood Entertainment still collects Jr.; followed by "Read to Me Herr Doktor," in Richard Kiel of 007 "Jaws" fame as a duck- some of the rarest, most interesting retro-clas- which a professor's experimental robot falls in faced alien.

12 STARLOG/Jamtary 2000 The return of a claseic in an all-new format!

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XENA PHILIA CONQUERING SUN If you happen to see a really angry woman destroying If you want to see future con- Iflicts, farther than West- leI everything and everyone in her path, stay outta her go no and its way Xena: Warrior Princess ($39.99) is storming the wood Studios much- Sony PlayStation, thanks to the folks at . anticipated PC game, Command Tiberian Sun Why is Xena so mad? Seems an evil sorceress & Conquer: named Kalabrax walks the Earth again after her cen- ($49.95). A sequel to the highly turies-long imprisonment, and she has her own gripe popular Command & Conquer with the gods who put her away. She also has a spell series, Tiberian Sun takes place in that's powerful enough to smite her enemies and give the mid-2 1st century, several decades after the Global Defense her control of the world—all that's needed is the sacri- fice of a mortal queen. Enter Gabrielle, Xena's best Initiative's (GDI) defeat of the friend, who also happens to be a Queen of the Amazons. terrorist Kane and his Brother- When Kalabrax has King Valarian's army kidnap the hood of Nod (a defeat met in the young sidekick, the warrior princess in Xena kicks in. first Command & Conquer). Nat- Not exactly known for her soft side, she ravaged many a urally, Kane's body was never village before Hercules showed her the error of her ways. Still, she can beat up the best of 'em! (Especially recovered, and the remaining

if Gabrielle, usually Xena's acting conscience, is not around.) members of the Brotherhood the past years What follows is a quest to find Gabrielle and stop Kalabrax. Not an easy task, for you—as Xena have spent 40 must fight your way through seven worlds with 21 sub-levels. In addition to a slew of Valarian's troops, awaiting their leader's return, you'll encounter the likes of war god Ares, a snake-headed Medusa, mystical dragons, a nasty giant with several factions splitting off.

cyclops and Hades, god of the Underworld. And, oh yes you'll still have to contend with Kalabrax. So get Therefore, it's no real surprise that sword sharpened! that Kane reappears with plans of ,,,.„. If much of this sounds like a TV episode of global domination through the Xena: Warrior Princess v , . ,. & ™ o* *• > v nr Xcm m re not far °* p St*™ s Xena: War- use of weapons powered by . takes her battle cry and >J ^ nor Pnncew, is one of those rare instances where Tiberium, a substance with muta- Chakram to the tive and often lethal side «3* '^S^^B PlayStation. a video game actually lives up to the cool TV show — — effects for the people and envi- . OK J that inspired it. Overall, this game is a lot of fun, k , JHk and the action's non-stop. For those of you who ronments exposed to it. B k want to fight like Xena, this may be as good a Obviously, GDI can't allow 4 chance as you'll ever get—you can kick, punch, Kane to succeed, so it's up to you * lb . wield a mean sword, do nifty back flips, 360- to stop him—or is it? Those who JrJr^*^^*k degree split kicks, handsprings and bicycle kicks. think bad is good will like having You'll make a new best friend if you learn how to the choice of being the good guy ± 1 t "^ittrMT Ifltul / throw your Chakram (not to worry, since you also or the bad guy. You can't lose H. jiL Mr v J |*JL IL JJ§ W \^Jn3St <^afeSB^3&^7 have a training ground to practice in), have plenty with either. The two sides have p £usiM^Bbr °f opportunities to add supernatural clout to your their share of strengths and weak- weaponry, and top it all off with Xena's ever- nesses, as well as some amazing- famous battle cry. looking weapons and vehicles. If you want to move forward in the game, you'll Campaigns will be long and hard-

1 1 need wits as well as a good sword arm, since there fought over terrific 3-D terrains, are several encounters and puzzles to interact with. many of which have been severe- Granted, the puzzles aren't exactly stumpers in ly affected by Tiberium, and pro- most cases, but they work well enough to give you the feeling that there was a great deal of thought put vided you survive long enough,

into this game. In fact, there are only two quibbles in Xena: Warrior Princess woith noting. The first: you'll gain experience and There is no multi-player capability. A shame, really, as Gabrielle is an ideal character for Xena to fight knowledge via the game's "veter- with. The other problem comes from the camera view itself, which will have you wishing one of the TV ancy" factor. show's directors had helped to create this game. The point-of-view moves far too frequently and unex- Unquestionably, Command & pectedly in the heat of battle, and points out occasional polygonal roughness within the game's graphics. Conquer: Tiberian Sun is top- Overall, however, the game is a must for Xena fans, and surprisingly entertaining from start to finish. notch, and emphasizes an impres- Battle on, Xena! sive science-fiction element in a combat strategy game. There's no ptooi skimping on detail—from the superb fighting and sound to the debris around the decimated environ- ments and battlefields, players will feel they're right in the thick of things. Although the story's back-

ground information gets cumbersome at times, it's fairly straightforward and well represented by the full-motion video performances of veteran actors like James Earl Jones and . Team efforts reach new levels for players who Conquer. Tiberian excels in hook up on the Internet, as Westwood Command & Sun every- thing but originality. Online offers a play-for-free battleground. All that said, Command & Conquer:

Tiberian Sun sure sounds perfect. And it would be—if it was the first game of its kind, and that's ultimately its greatest downfall. Despite innovations in weapon- ry and vehicles, the game concept itself Neo's mastery of the Matrix made sure that he isn't anything we haven't seen before would never again be hit by a little piece of spit-out food. lots of times before, in fact. It's hard for big Command & Conquer fans to honestly say that Tiberian Sun breaks any new ground beyond the surface, and while newbies

to combat strategy games will love it, the experienced PC gamer might not find the taste of victory as sweet this time around.

14 STARLOG/fawuary 2000 THE BIGGEST MOVIES! THE BEST MOVIE MAGAZINES! Please indicate quantity of each being ordered. POSTAGE & HANDLING: One magazine: Add $2. Up to five: Add $3. Six or more: _ 007 James Bond Masters of the Universe Star Trek IV: _ . $5. FOREIGN: $4 per magazine. New York State residents add 8 1/4% sales tax. Technical Journal S6.99 Poster Magazine $3.50 The Voyage Home S5.95 Canadian residents add 10% sales tax. OVERSEAS (PLEASE NOTE: Customs _ 007 James Bond „ Mortal Kombat $5.99 . Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home requires purchaser's daytime phone numbers on all Overseas orders.) $6.99 _ Mortal Kombat Deluxe $6.99 Poster Magazine $3.50 Cash, check or money order to: _ Batman & Other Nightmare on Elm St. 5: . Star Trek: Generations $6.95 . STARLOG GROUP, INC. Comics Star Trek: Generations Heroes S5.99 Dream Child $3.95 . 475 Park Avenue South _ Conan The Destroyer _ Octopussy $3.50 Special 3-D Cover $9.95 New York, NY 10016

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Poster Magazine $3.50 Star Trek Makeup FX Journal $6.95 . Wing Commander $5.99 written orders. Please allow . Lost in Space $5.99 Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan $3.50 Total enclosed: 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. I2Ny The Stars Compel by Michaela Roessner ^HMHHillifl^HB (Tor, he, 432 pp, $25.95) The Stars Compel is a feast for any lover of

Memoranda by Jeffrey Ford (Avon Eos, tpb, 240 historical fantasy. Roessner submerges her readers in the sights, sounds and tastes of pp,$12) Memoranda begins promisingly. To find the Renaissance Rome as her characters travel cure for sleeping sickness, Cley must enter the from kitchen to palace seeking to fulfill their chosen destinies. the mind of his former master Drachton Below. Some- And despite span of cen- turies, any reader can sympathize with Cather- where in the mnemonic palace that Below has cre- ine Medici's desire to her fate, ated, Cley will find the antidote or his doom. de choose own rather than serve for her uncle's polit- Ford attempts to explore memory, thought and as a pawn ical machinations. reality and how they weave together. Yet even as This it all Cley forgets his purpose upon entering Below's book has —love, skullduggery, betrayal and magic, the latter showing what a skillful writer Roessner is. Magic pervades the mind, the author likewise neglects his. Character story, from its astrologers to the cats who are more than cats, but it is and author both become lost in details and lose the written so subtly it feels utterly plausible. The Stars Compel is a mes- thread of the larger theme. And while Cley is mightily interested in the merizing read. humanity he perceives in a mnemonic figure in Below's mind, readers —Penny Kenny will be less so because she is never more than a plot device. The memory Memoranda leaves is one of disappointment. —Penny Kenny Miracle and Other Christmas Stories by Con- nie Willis (Bantam, he, 336 pp, $19.95) The idea of an anthology of Christmas sto- Precursor by C.J. Cherryh (DAW, he, 416 $23.95) pp, ries by one author might strike one as being An accomplished SF and fantasy writer, C.J. Cherryh always proves undisputedly precious. But, eliminating the exceptionally skilled when dealing with space-faring cultures and, in par- knee-jerk dis sentiment for a moment, the reader ticular, with interstellar politics. She brilliantly illustrates this in her new might find enough reason to peruse this collec- First Contact novel, Precursor. Although hardly an original premise, tion by Willis. She does, after all, make a strong Cherryh's detail-intensive narrative and complexity of language pro- argument in favor of this effort, and even the foundly elevate the work. most jaded reader would have trouble denying In Precursor, the inscrutable, gigantic and all-too-humanoid atevi, Connie Willis Willis' abilities as a writer. first seen in Foreigner, return with their unfathomable gift for numbers Not that all the stories work. A few of them and their loveless, syndicate-like relationships. After 200 years, the are predictable. But others, such as "In Coppelius's Toyshop" and the humans who fled the stop-gap space station orbiting the aveti homeworld title story, demonstrate Willis' sincerity for the subject and are glowing still maintain an uneasy presence on lone island Mosipheira, but their literary jewels. If a fan of classic SFTV finds something familiar here, remaining space-faring brethren, who pushed on centuries earlier to reach it's because the same glow permeated the original Twilight Zone a farther target colony world, reappear after being driven back by an alien episodes, the same sort of sincerity with which Rod Serling imbued his attack. A precarious diplomatic situation develops and only the sole work. This collection is worth reading even after the mistletoe has human-atevi liaison, Bren Cameron, can successfully intercede for all come down. parties. —Michael Wolff Cherryh is a master of the minutiae of political maneuvering, and though her extremely dense and detailed writing can leave readers puz- zling over sections, it can hardly be argued that in terms of characteriza- Starfire by Charles Sheffield (Bantam, tpb, 416 pp, $13.95) tion and societal analysis, Cherryh has few equals. Alpha Centauri has gone supernova, and a wave front of high ener- —Keith Olexa gy particles will reach Earth and render it lifeless in a matter of years. An international effort is working to construct a shield in space, but progress is being threatened by a series of mysterious murders taking place on a space station. To track down the murderer requires, natu- All Tomorrow's Parties by (Put- rally, the assistance of a serial killer. nam, he, 302 pp, $24.95) What sounds almost, but not quite like The Silence of the Lambs A sequel to Idoru and Virtual Light, Gibson's meets Armageddon turns into a fairly decent read at Sheffield's hands. All Tomorrow's Parties resonates with those Admittedly, he has written better, especially when dealing with a themes the author understands so well—cyber- smaller cast and a not-so-catastrophic theme. There are times when space, artificial intelligence, corporate govern- it's uncertain which story he's trying to tell. But, if the reader takes a ments, urban sprawl and nanotechnology—it's all little time and steps carefully, Starfire manages to hold the attention here. and draw toward a genuinely cataclysmic finale. Idoru's Colin Laney, a man with the almost psy- —Michael "Wolff chic ability to perceive "nodal points" of existential , hires Virtual Light's wanna-be cop Berry Evergence: The Prodigal Sun by Sean Williams & Shane Dix (Ace, Rydell to help him facilitate the convergence of an pb, 400 pp, $6.99) apocalyptically important world event. (Unfortunately, Gibson never elab- The "lifeboat" plot has always found fertile ground in SF and here it orates sufficiently on this world-altering event to make it truly com- forms the beginning of a trilogy, as well as the American debut for a pelling.) Other familiar faces appear, including the idoru herself, Rei Toei, writing team which has already achieved considerable clout in Australia. and the fascinating dwellers of the Bridge. New characters, like the aptly- Morgan Roche is escorting an artificial intelligence known as "Box" named Silencio or the chillingly professional assassin Konrad, also debut. to a destination within the interstellar Commonwealth of Empires. But Starting off as a series of character vignettes, All Tomorrow 's Parties an attack by warships from the opposing Dato Bloc forces Roche to progresses comfortably to its cinematic climax. It's an evocative read wor- abandon ship and crash land upon a prison planet: accompanied by a thy of Gibson, and it is everything you've come to expect from the psychic, her companion and a genetically enhanced warrior. author—but that can be taken two ways, as nothing truly ground-breaking The book definitely treads familiar ground—this is a plot well worn occurs in the novel and the resolution is disappointing. Still, for those by other authors—but Williams and Dix make it a decent read. The readers who enjoyed the last two books in this Gibson cycle, and those entire trilogy may turn out to be good news for readers hungry for old- who appreciate good writing, this work is worth a look. fashioned SF derring-do. —Keith Olexa —Michael Wolff

16 STARLOG/Zanwary 2000 GIMP

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GNPD8055 CD GNPD 80*56 CD GNPD 8044,. CD GNPD 8045 CD • GNPD 8010 LP/CS/CD> GNPD 8032 CS/CD THE BEST OF THE BEST OF Original TV Soundtrack Original TV Soundtrack STAR TREK THE. OUTER LOST IN SPACE LOST IN SPACE • * SOUND EFFECTS. LIMITS . GODZILLA GODZILLA , ;" Vol. One Vol. The definitive library of ' • - Two Music By , J954 1975 1984-1995 Music By John Williams Music By Alexander Courage the classic sounds of Star Trek. Dominic Frontiere Includes Monster FX and Joseph Mullendore Includes Control Voice and.Sound FX * PLEASE NOTE FORMAT AVAILABILITY All albums executive produced by Neil Norman Cassettes . CDs TM, ® & © 1999 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. $9.95 $16.95 STAR TREK and Related Marks are Trademarks of Paramount Pictures.

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HARSH REALM braws.htm yJJjlJiJJli UNCOVERED Dedicated to Chris BATTLEFIELD Carter's defunct VR EARTH THE SITE WEBLOG | This lists E-mail addresses and series, with news, A comprehensive site websites for SF, fantasy & downloads, pictures covering L. Ron Hub- animation creators and their cre- and an episode guide. bard's SF epic, with ations. Website operators may http://www.geoci- information on the

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CONVENTIONS FEBRUARY APRIL MAY Questions about cons listed? Please send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the address listed for the con. Do NOT call STARLOG. Note: Con guests listed may not always appear and conventions SHEVACON STARFEST ROC-KON 2000 5-7 may be cancelled without notice. Conventioneers: Send all pertinent info no later than four months February 4-6 April 14-16 May prior to the event to STARLOG Con Calendar, 475 Park Avenue South, NY, NY 10016 or E-mail to Roanoke Airport Marriott Holiday Inn-DIA Best Western Innetowne [email protected]. You must provide a phone number and (if one's available) an Verona, VA Denver, CO Little Rock, AR E-mail address. STARLOG makes no guarantees, due to space limitations, that your con will be list- SheVaCon Starland Roc*Kon ed here. This is a free service; to ensure a listing in STARLOG—not here, but elsewhere—contact P.O. Box 416 P.O. Box 24955 PMB#207 Tim Clark (212-689-2830 x215) for classified ad rates & advertise there. Verona, VA 24482-0416 Denver, CO 80224 12111 West Markham. #14 (540)886-2154 (303) 757-5850 Little Rock, AR 72211-2734 January 22-23, 2000 100 West Broadway E-mail: [email protected] http://www.starland.com http://www.rockon.org JANUARY Patricia Wrede. Pasadena Center Penthouse Suite 1200 http ://www. shevacon. com Guests: June Lockhart, Lisa Guests: C. CREATION Pasadena, CA Glendale. CA 91210 Guests: Tad Williams, Steve Howard, Seth Green, Richard Libby Singleton Miller Sharon Rikk Anderson HERCULES & (818)409-0960 & Lee, Dean XENA The Gallcria Tower http://www.creationent.com Jacobs Explore science fic- tion—the mythology of the new Millenni- um—in the pages of STARLOG. It's the galaxy's best Sci-Fi movie 8 TV magazine and the original for 23 years. Every issue features intrigu- ing interviews with the Stars • Directors •

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Total enclosed: $_ IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO CUT OUT COUPON, WE WILL ACCEPT Account No. WRITTEN ORDERS. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. eonard Nimoy's laugh is loud, raucous and sustained. He has just been asked if he pities the poor Star Trek fan who purchased 70-something videotapes of the original episodes, then ponied up for laserdisc editions

and now must do so again for if they wish to stay technically up to date. "I've never thought about that," Nimoy finally admits. "That's an interest-

• ing question. What intrigues me is that this product—the Star Trek episodes—is going to be done and redone and redone in every con- ceivable format that comes down the road. I think that the episodes may eventually be broadcast on the Internet. I guess one day they may also start broadcasting holograph-

ic images in people's living rooms. Then, it'll really be Star Trek come to life. It'll be before your eyes, right in your living room. Past adventures replay in Nimoy's life as the entire classic Star Trek saga begins downloading onto DVD.

IN A VS. Q DEBATE, LEONARD NLMOY VULCANIZES HIS MEN VOICES.

"Right now, the DVDs look really great," Nimoy continues, refer- versions of such classic SF sagas as ring to Paramount Home Video's ongoing release of the classic episodes Journey to the Center of the Earth and in DVD volumes that feature two shows per entry. "The DVDs have The Lost World, distributed by Simon & very clear, crisp resolution prints. And they're digitized prints Schuster Audio. The company's latest done from the original negative. So, there's no generation title is Spock vs. Q, which began as a show breakdown. It's all back to the original quality and intent. staged at SF conventions and evolved into

It's really very good." an audionovel. "We had a great time, John

and I. It's chaos vs. logic, with the two charac- Classic voices ters," Nimoy says, referring to his legendary Many films released today on laserdisc and DVD fea logical and de Lancie's famed Trek alter- ture extras that range from outtakes and excised f ego, Q. "It just lends itself to that kind of wordplay. scenes to cast interviews and creator commentaries. We had a conversation just this morning about doing Interestingly, Nimoy would not be tempted to go a sequel. We both want to do it and we're beginning to back and tinker with either of his Trek directing for- prepare for that." ays, The Search for Spock or The Voyage Home, "I Make no mistake about it; Nimoy loves the Alien Voic- felt that /// and TV were pretty definitive," he notes. es . As a kid growing up, he listened regularly to "They were what they were. I don't feel any short- the radio shows of the era, including Fibber McGee and

comings. I didn't feel any loss in the cutting, in the Molly, The Lone Ranger and The Fred Allen Show. Alien editing. And we've done the extras, too. With Star Voices is not only Nimoy's way of paying tribute to his Trek IV we did a video that Paramount distributed entertainment experiences of yore, but also a way of touch- where I talked about how the film was made. It was a ing base again with the arena that actually served as the behind-the-scenes/making-of video that was distrib- launching pad for his acting career. uted with one of the later video releases of Trek TV. So, "I started in radio," he says. "Some of the first serious

I frankly think that territory is covered." acting work I did was on radio in Boston. There was a direc- Nimoy is boldly exploring new territory these tor named Elliot Silverstein, who eventually directed such days, focusing most of his energy on , the pictures as Cat Ballou and A Man Called Horse. He was a

multimedia company he runs with John de Lancie. To i wonderful director. He was a very good friend of mine, directed radio in when I was a teenager. I date, Alien Voices is best known for its radio-play audio 1 I and he Boston

By IAN SPELLING

STARLOG/tewwn- 2000 21 1

The idea of Nimoy directing a TV movie version of H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man may disappear, thanks to a murky rights situation.

dents from the Sacramento area. We wrote an original script about the Wright Brothers' first

flight. It was great fun, funny and entertaining

and educational. The kids performed it for sev- eral hundred administrators from around the state of who were in Sacramento for a convention. We videotaped the show, and that BLIEn voices tape and the script for the production will be available to schools. That's a pilot program. If i Ml « I 1 there's a good response to it, we'll do more. LEONARD NIMOY LEONARD NIMOY We'll do Paul Revere's ride, the Boston Tea JOHN de LANCIE JOHN de LANCIE -\ Party, World War II stories. It's very exciting SUSAH (AT JM and I hope it works out." RICHARD Sort! ' fUE t ftoztsr miHStim JERBT HARDIN Special Guest Star MA8NIE M0S1MAN Vaunted Treks WILLIAM SHATNER KATE *UIG«EW ETHAH PHilLIPS Other projects about which Nimoy was BWIGHT SCHUITZ once excited have not, unfortunately, always ^y. NANA VI51T0I With John de Lancie, Nimoy has created SIMON & SCHUSTER AUDI worked out. He provided the voice of General Alien Voices, dramatized audionovel Konrad for the short-lived 1998 animated adaptations of classic SF works. more creative, more wide-ranging. It feels like series Invasion America, which was produced we can cover more territory without budgetary by and longtime Trek film worked with him there quite a bit and did a lot concerns. And we can be terribly entertaining." producer . "Harve called," of radio. We eventually worked together in Nimoy and de Lancie are also taking the recalls Nimoy simply, "said, 'I need you,' and television, too, in . I was very Alien Voices concept directly into the class- so I went." room. Dramatic Publishing Nimoy's dream of directing a feature about What's next is making all of the Alien the Siamese twins Eng and Chang Bunker also for Nimoy' Voices scripts available to never came together. "It just drifted away," he "Call me 70,000 schools around the laments. "I couldn't get the backing for it that I tomorrow," he suggests country, so that students wanted. I had a couple of offers to do produc- can stage their own radio tions, but they were not of a caliber that I felt

play-style productions. would do the project justice. And I had to let it Nimoy sounds particularly go." proud of another wrinkle Then there's the telefilm adaptation of The on that idea. "We've also Invisible Man that Alien Voices recently intend- done a 15-minute produc- ed to produce with New Line Television. tion," Nimoy says. "It was a Nimoy reports that New Line's legal depart- stand-up broadcast type of ment, after extensive research, discovered that show, similar to what we do the rights to the original H.G. Wells novel are with Alien Voices, but using clouded at best. In other words, no one could

a bunch of high school stu- ascertain that rights to the property actually fell

stimulated by the work we did together. It was historical. It was Biblical. It was dramatic. It was comic. We did all sorts of stuff. And that was one of the first great groundwork opportu- nities I had in acting.

"Radio is really great fun. I don't think of it as demanding that one use his or her imagina- tion. That almost sounds negative. I would rather put it in a positive sense and say it stim- ulates the imagination. I always enjoyed that. I love doing the work on Alien Voices. Every once in a while we get some inquiries about doing Alien Voices on television. I'm interested in that, but I'm really much more interested in the audio work. I really am. To me, it feels

Of his late friend DeForest Kelley, Nimoy says, "The role he played in Star Trek called for him to be the humanist, and he

was so full of humanity that it fit him perfectly."

22 STARLOG/. CLASH OF ALIEN VOICES *T 1 1 just came to mind," Leonard Nimoy says. "I don't really remember how it * % 4v "sprung up." s/; \ "1 think we were into our fourth production of classical material," John de _____ |E$ Lancie says. "It was kind of an 800-pound gorilla waiting to be called out. And ^^^^ 3 then Leonard came up with the idea." Vb^ggll Nimoy and de Lancie are, of course, talking about their latest Alien Voices pro- Sjp "j ject, the long-awaited audionovel release otSpock vs. O. The two Trek stars had •JP^j-^fc performed the material —essentially a debate over logic versus chaos, as scripted f^tfSW 0V Cecelia Fannon—before live audiences at SF conventions in America and abroad, and decided now was tne time to record it. "i ne penormance in uer- many worked very, very well, but it was also in a real theater, where it was really focused," de Lancie says. "The sound was focused. The lights were focused. You

really had a sense of it being a theatrical piece." it," adds. the big into the public domain. "So," Nimoy explains, "It's in stores now, and we have high expectations for Nimoy "But to RealNetworks. "we're stymied. We're either going to have to story for Alien Voices is that we have licensed 11 hours of our product for the openings and closings of find a way to get the rights cleared or we're John and I were in the studio recording new narrations Lost World, Journey going to have to shift gears and choose another the material we had previously done, such as The Invisible Man, The to the the Earth, The First in the and . We've bro- project. Public domain is a strange thing. These Center of Men Moon into chapters, 10 to 14 minutes. They're run- classic titles have been produced over the years ken them down with each chapter running ning on daily basis, so that one show will take two weeks by various companies, and it now a a out> ln ^tar Trek IV] Schuck was with us in the studio, isn't clear whether or not DED LIVE! *° P' y •J°*

, —-. ^ . - doing the very dramatic opening and closing announcements. somebody owns all the rights A !V not with the or just the rights to their partic- ! "j |-^IMnC|. They're the stuff of great radio. We're tampering J" fi 11 it—~£i u itself, to it into chapters." ular script. It's very frustrat- material except break T5 Xc^ Nimoy and de Lancie are hoping that the Alien Voices ing." C £| £^ \f C £| **** actress and On a far more personal ^r* ^Mt troupe—which also includes their wives

• . i as well as Shimerman, Ethan Phillips, level, Nimoy is still dealing Marnie Mosiman, Armin * Roxann Dawson, Robert Ellenstein, Dwight Schultz and other with the death of DeForest __H ; CHk^i Trek notables—will soon reunite to record Mysterious Island or The latest Alien Voices Leagues Under the Sea, but it appears that possibility mt^Km i 20,000 showcases Leonard Nimoy ^Hl depends largely on the sales of Spock vs. O. & John de Lancie's beloved "Simon & Schuster is waiting with bated breath to see what Star Trek characters in an W ,J? Spock vs. Q does to their entire line [of Alien Voices audionov- entertaining debate. It's els]," Nimoy notes, calling a spade a spade. "They're looking for Spock vs. Q. BL ^^0P^ '0 some kind of..." And de Lancie finishes Nimoy 's sentence, Kelley, his close friend and "...shot in the arm," he notes. fellow Trek mate for nearly "I think we've done very well," Nimoy says. "The audiobook market is minuscule and, typically, with large companies like four decades. Kelley died in 1 silenc- 1€% 1 Simon * Schuster, the audiobook title is driven by the hardcov- June at age 79, forever f'lTCS* i ' er s release - So, it has dragged along as the tail of the animal. ing the delicious Spock- Y y Hi Lm i flUEQ ij i....ju,,m_j,„.juii «f. titles, that engine running J When we put out our we don't have McCoy banter that added so PRODU N | fnr |ls nn | v pnoinp we hnvp rnnnino fnr us nrp the writers of much spice to the Trek classic 3 I MHlMfVO title. it the necessary type of mix. "It's a very sad story," LEONARD NIMOY AND JOHN de LANCIE the That helps, but doesn't generate Nimoy says quietly. "On the SIMON & SCHUSTER AUDIO mass publicity and mass awareness." success the lien Voices audionovels have enjoyed, other hand, it's very heart- Whatever A attributed to the titles' strength, the marquee value of the Trek names warming. De lived a very full life, * ...^.^ then, can be each project, as well as limited he lived the life he wanted to live. De and [his involved and the production values Alien Voices puts into given wife] Carolyn had this wonderful, devoted but targeted advertising and promotional print, TV and radio interviews by Lancie and company. "I think we've done quite well," Nimoy allows. "Every relationship. What I said at the time of his Nimoy, de we've done. passing best expresses my thoughts about De. other audiobook publishing company is quite surprised with the numbers At in they're hoping The role he played in Star Trek called for him the same time, Simon & Schuster has a sizable investment us, and now to be the humanist, and he was so full of Spock vs. Q will really propel the whole Alien Voices catalog." de Lancie, "They the same difficulty that's a problem wherever you go. humanity that it fit him perfectly." Adds have Despite the setbacks, Nimoy keeps on Audiobooks are sold in bookstores, and the shelves are packed in such a way that it's plugging away. He displays his photography impossible to find an audionovel display." Time at galleries around the country, attends the "Here's a bit of irony," Nimoy says. "The first titles we put out were The Earth Verne. If you occasional SF convention and is currently Machine by H.G. Wells and Journey to the Center of the by Jules typically are, running in and out of recording studios, lend- approach the rack of audiobooks, looking alphabetically—which they by ing his voice not only to TV and radio com- author—Verne and Wells are down by your ankles." people mercials, but also to Disney's forthcoming And, de Lancie chimes in, "Sometimes it will be under Alien Voices, and won- animated feature Atlantis. On the personal der, 'What is that?'" "Alien Voic- front, he can often be found in the company of Despite the challenges, Nimoy has no intention of quitting any time soon. his wife, actress Susan Bay, his son, director es is really my focus now," he says. "We're putting a lot of energy into this. Here's what I peo- , and his grandchildren. So really want: I hope we can position ourselves as the SF entity on the Internet. Other it, the we're doing it, is what's next? He doesn't know.. .yet. ple are doing SF, but I would like to think how we're doing way "Call me tomorrow," Leonard Nimoy con- unique. And we'll see how it goes." McDonnell lan Spelling cludes, "and I could have something else to -David & tell you."

STARLOG//«/mmo< 2000 23 is not dead. He is not retiring. He is, simply, as feisty gadgets and things like that, it always takes longer." as ever—despite any rumors to the contrary. "It's Once again, Q-Branch—as represented by Q and colleague—arm

I completely made up," says Desmond Llewelyn, of 007 with deadly gadgets and hi-tech weapons, including a prototype jet

I reports his alter-ego would die or retire in the latest boat that Bond "borrows" for a watery chase up and down the River James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. "There Thames.

is a funeral, but / wasn't at the funeral, and it isn't my "I don't introduce as many of them," says Llewelyn, "but there are

funeral anyway." It's a memorial, in fact, for a busi- quite a few gadgets. I've seen cuts from the film, and it looks absolute- nessman murdered while under Bond's protection. ly magnificent. We've got a very strong cast: Robbie Coltrane, Dame "But I've at last got an assistant," notes Llewelyn, who has appeared Judi Dench of course—she has a much bigger part this time—Robert in all except two of the 007 movies (Dr. No and Live and Let Die). "I've Carlyle and John Cleese. You couldn't really have a better cast." been telling them for ages that much as I would like to, I don't suppose And of course, is back as Agent 007. Brosnan has I can go onforever, that's up to the Almighty. So I've got an assistant in great affection for Llewelyn, likening the relationship between Bond this one. In the next one, if I'm alive, I shall have an assistant as well." and Q to two legendary heroes of yore. As far as Brosnan is concerned, Q's new protege is the equally irascible John Cleese (see page 26). Q is actually Merlin, providing Excalibur and other magical weaponry "I think it went very well," Llewelyn smiles, noting he enjoyed to a superspy King Arthur. But this Merlin has aided every Arthur, working with his new associate. "We did all the Cleese stuff one beginning with in 1963's From Russia With day—the whole thing was meant to be one day, but with all the Love.

"There's no doubt about it, your favorite Bond is the one Surrounded by a few mementos of his 36-year stint in Q you saw first," the gadget wizard observes. "I think | Sean Branch, Desmond Llewelyn considers his career as Q. Bond. Roger Moore had to change t Here's a Q-tip: Desmond Uewelyn isn't ready to retire from espionage. character. He couldn't—and wouldn't—want to imitate Sean, so he introduced a lighter Bond and brought a more jaunty side to him. "Timothy Dalton went back to the original Bond, and according to aficionados who read the Bond books, Timothy was 's Bond, because Bond was not a very nice char- acter; he hadn't used all these quips. It made Timothy so right for the part. Pierce has this fantasy Irish blarney charm, but they're all extremely good actors." Magic aside, Llewelyn is always a bit spell- bound himself by the enchanted reaction to his character. "Q is such a small part, but it's real- ly fantastic the way it has taken off," he reflects. "I've got grandchildren—one is eight and the other, six—but they are mad about Bond, and all their school friends are. It's rather like the Catholic Church: If you catch them young, you've got them for life." Q has been his life. His 36-year association with the Bond movies, as well as Q's involve- Merlin & Arthur? ment with hi-tech gadgets, has made the actor That's how Pierce Brosnan feels about a perfect pitchman for 007-related products pPPthe relationship and events. "Very few actors get the same •X/f between Q and opportunities that I do, because I get to go to James Bond. all these things," he explains. Recently, "I was in Amsterdam with all the distributors. They had an enormous lunch for 1,400 people. John Cleese was though, that I'm getting a quite a lot of promotional work. on film introducing the whole thing, then I had to make a Of course, the trouble is it's always as Q. small speech and talk about the Bond films. They gave me "Because I've been in so many Bond films, I'm rec- an award—God knows what for; being long-lived I think, ognized all over the place. From an actor's point-of-view, a long service medal. I grumble because I only do Q it's very gratifying to be recognized and remembered for things, but it keeps the wolf from the one role. People say what a brilliant and wonderful door." actor I am, but I'm not really because I

Despite his technocratic reputa haven't been able to prove it for so long. tion, "I'm not very good with gad- In the old days, I was never a leading gets," Llewelyn admits. "I man. I played character parts in really am not. I was given film and television, but per- something by a firm, and haps it's just as well that I I've had three of can't prove whether or them, and they just not I can act. They go wrong. They don't just think I'm a go wrong for anyone great actor! else, but mine just go "Unfortunate- wrong. It's one of those ly, it's not just the things." general public [that

Llewelyn (who previ- :s views him as Q], but ously discussed Q in STAR- it's directors and every- LOG #223) enjoys getting in body else, because I'm early on technological absolutely stuck as Q, and advances. "I remember asking nobody thinks I can do anything the watch people at Omega about else. After all, I am an actor. I've been whether it was possible to have a an actor for 60-odd years. During my laser in a watch, and they said, 'We first year in the theater, I did 40-50 plays, never say anything is impossible.' There so I do play different characters, but I can't are so many gadgets in the Bond films that get anybody to realize that," Desmond people think, 'Oh, isn't that a wonderfiul Llewelyn laments. Still, he isn't retiring or

gadget?' and 15 or 20 years later, it's on just sitting back on his wizardly laurels.

sale and eveiybody's using it." He's hoping to play other parts. "I'm will- With The World Is Not Enough now in ing to do anything." ^ theaters, Llewelyn has been relaxing. "I'm

extremely well-paid for what I do on the Llewelyn certainly isn't ready to

films, but I'm so typecast, I don't get any retire. Attention, producers: He's other work," he says. "I am very lucky. looking to work.

STARLOG//a;i!MO' 2000 25 J

et's get one fact straight, shall we? This R thing. 'Tisn't. No R. That is in error. Absolutely wrong. Incorrect. Untrue. Just a dreadful mistake. Bloody sorry really. John Cleese is not R in the new James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. Forget what you've read, what you've seen, what you may have heard from Uncle George who just doesn't seem to enough. Officially, Cleese plays Q's assistant, protege to Q By KIM HOWARD JOHNSON (Desmond I 'ewelyn), the longtime head of the British Secret Service's Q-Branch. Cleese is not Q2. Not QE2. Not Q Jr. And he most assuredly is not R. Or S, T, U, V, W,X,YorZ.

Yes, yes, yes, we know that Bond calls him R. But it's ajoke you see, one of those Bondian quips that the super-

spy is so annoyingly fond of making at entirely inoppor- tune moments. A sort of taunting witticism. An alphabetical misidentification. A deliberate undesigna- tion. And simply not very funny. And now for something completely different. But

first, let's review. Not R, but actually Q's assistant. Got that? "The only trouble with playing Q's assistant is that Q doesn't get to travel much," laughs the non-R Cleese. "He's usually at home base with these fiendish contrap- tions, rather than keeping an eye on Bond in some exotic location." Likewise, Cleese doesn't get to venture far from

home. Nevertheless, "I love the idea of being a part of it," the actor notes of the Bond film series. "I can remember

the very first movies, the excitement of going to see Dr.

No. I felt a few years ago that the Bond movies had gone

a little too far toward the special FX, and the character of

Bond wasn't as attractive as it had been. What they've

done with Pierce Brosnan is, they've got a really terrific

James Bond. I enjoyed very much working with him.

He's very low-key, and we had some laughs. So, it's nice to think I've become a part of this great old English tra- dition!" Cleese is, of course, a legend all his own—a charter member of Monty Python's Flying Circus, the quintes- sential anti-hero of Fawlty Towers, the auteur behind A With The World Is Not Enough, Fish Called Wanda. In recent years, Cleese previously John Cleese joins the 007 series — profiled in STARLOG #96—has made guest appear- as Q's assistant, not as R (though ances on TV sitcoms (Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun), that's how he'll probably be forever misidentified). voiced the erudite ape of George ofthe Jungle and played a pioneering scientist in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. "Everyone in England has a real affection for the Bond movies," Cleese explains. "They've been around —

Design & Layout: Rick long

now for so long, and the people making them are a kind of family. I knew [series producers] Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson a bit through my wife Alyce Faye. She used to have a great friend, Maurice Binder, who designed those wonderful [007 film] titles. Alyce knew Maurice well, and knew the Bond people as a result much better than I did, which is funny considering I'm the one who's supposed to be in the film business." But Cleese did know World director Michael (Coal Miner's Daughter) Apted. "Mike was an exact contemporary of mine at the same college at Cambridge—we were both at Downing College," Cleese explains. "We both went there in October 1960. We've always wanted to work together.

There is something immensely reassuring about walking onto the set and finding that you've known the director for nearly 40 years." There wasn't much filming to do though. He shot for only two days six months apart. "It's not a big part," he reports. "The first day, which was in January, was with Judi Dench [as M], whom I had always wanted to meet. There was also an Complex machinery may absolutely terrific girl named Samantha Bond not agree with Cleese, but there [as Moneypenny], and a lovely English actor he's willing to "fake the called Michael Kitchen, whom I had known for technological years. So, it was like a group of friends." competence." When it comes to arming James Bond, John Cleese now cissists#

Additionally, Cleese knew several mem- things about English actors—they bers of the crew. "There were so many famil- don't talk about acting much. I

iar faces, it was like wandering into a party thoroughly enjoyed Desmond, and where you knew a lot of people. And Mike he told me that the idea of an assis- [Apted] has a very low-key style, there's no tant was all his. He had suggested

tension around at all. There was a great sense it to Barbara and Michael, T think

of competence and a marked lack of anxiety. it's time I had an assistant.' So The only problem they had was the movie is that's how the idea arose." supposed to partially take place in Turkey. And like Llewelyn, Cleese con- Apparently, they got very worried about fesses to having a spot of trouble Islamic extremists and switched some of the with technology. "Machinery

filming to Spain. That took a bit of rearrang- knows that I don't like it," the actor

ing at relatively short notice. But everything admits. "And it retaliates. I'm all seemed under control." right on basic machinery—I can Cleese returned for his second day of do penknives, pencil sharpeners shooting in June. "It was a week before my and wheelbarrows, but anything hip replacement operation," he says. "The hip much more complex than that and Other recent Cleese encounters have included was giving me quite a lot of pain, so I was on I'm struggling. My common sense George of the Jungle and Mary Shelley's rather a lot of painkillers. The filming was doesn't mesh with the mechanical. Frankenstein. fine, once the painkillers kicked in." I'm going to have to fake the tech-

That's the day he first encountered Llewe- nological competence." All in all, making The World Is Not lyn (see page 24). "I met him, the legendary Cleese does expect to outfit 007 again with Enough was a great experience for John Q, who has been in 17 of the 19 movies, and special weaponry and awesome gadgetry. Cleese. And his favorite part? "I've got to say, we had an absolutely fascinating day," Cleese "They seemed very keen for me to do more of sitting there yarning with Desmond Llewelyn, recalls. "He was captured very early on in the them," he says. "I had always quite fancied a guy I've seen in 17 movies was lovely,"

Second World War and spent five years in a playing a villain, but actually, this is much bet- notes the man who is not R. "It was a bit like German prisoner-of-war camp, where he was, ter, because if I was a villain, I would only be sitting on the set of Cheers—you feel you're incidentally, treated rather well. We didn't talk in one movie. This way, I get to do several making some kind of link with entertainment about acting at all. That's one of the nice Bond films." history." ^

STARLOG/January 2000 27

Isaac flsmovs IWemial fflan finds motion picture rnmortalitu

The Three Laws of Robotics: Richard "Sir" Martin 1. A robot may not injure a human being, (Sam Neill) is owner or, through inaction, allow a human being to and friend to the robot (Williams), the come to harm. Andrew man whose teachings 2. A robot must obey the orders given it begin Andrew's quest by human beings except where such orders for humanity. would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence so long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws. —Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A.D.

ver since the publication of Isaac Asimov's "Runaround" in the March 1942 issue of Astounding Science Fic- tion, SF readers have known of the Three Laws of Robotics, among the most famous fictional laws of all time—and for which Asimov coined the word "robotics." ("Runaround" wasn't Asimov's first robot

story, but it was, according to him, the first to developed him expresses concern throughout classics have ever been filmed. "This script has specifically state these highly logical laws.) So the film's first half that if people become aware been kicking around Disney for seven, eight

compelling were these laws that other SF writ- of this robot's developing personality, it would years," explains Barnathan. "I don't think peo-

ers had a hard time shaking them. Asimov, result in a recall. ple [understood] it. Neal Miller bought the however, happily explored their ramifications "But the Martins are very protective of him, rights, and brought the story to Disney. Wolf- in novels and short stories for the rest of his and they nurture him, considering him part of gang Petersen and Gail Katz got involved, and

life. In fact, works of his robotic fiction consti- the family. It's through that nurturing that he developed a script with Nick Kazan, which tute one of the most famous SF series ever begins to question his destiny," adds the pro- was then given to Chris to see if he was inter-

written. ducer, "whether or not he was fated to be a ested in directing it. Chris loved it, and gave it But until now, not one of them has ever robot—or a human being." to Robin, and we began shooting not too long been turned into a theatrical release. Director It's this quest for humanity, Barnathan after that. Chris (Mrs. Doubtfire) Columbus and writer feels, that is the hallmark of Columbus' direc- "David Vogel, executive at Disney when Nicholas Kazan have transformed Asimov's torial work. "Chris is a very emotional director Bicentennial Man was greenlighted, under- Hugo and Nebula-winning story of a robot who is not afraid to wear his emotions proud- stood this movie, and ultimately [pushed the who wants to be human into the motion picture ly," he says, "and he does the same thing in his film through because he] believed in it. He Bicentennial Man (opening this month). Robin movies. Since this is a film about a robot in reads and likes science fiction, and understood Williams stars as Andrew Martin, an automa- search of his humanity, Chris seemed perfect why this was a great story to tell.

ton who goes on a 200-year quest for his for it. The script had humor, but he brought a "But that's fairly rare. SF films are very

humanity. lot more out of it. His fearlessness when it expensive, and studios are getting more and comes to portraying emotional subjects gave more cautious about what they spend big Robot Dawns this a warmth that people who have seen it real- money on. Finding a good science fiction Michael Barnathan, Columbus' 1492 Pic- ly respond to. Other directors would perhaps script is difficult—the writers often leave out tures partner, explains, "It's basically the story have made a more visually dazzling movie, but the humanity. One of the reasons why this of a series NDR robot [later called Andrew], probably a much colder one." movie got made is that it is quite literally all who comes to live with the Martin family Barnathan, a graduate of New York Univer- about humanity. around the year 2005. He's a domestic robot sity's School of the Arts, first worked in Holly- "We know that something without a touch-

who takes care of the kids, cooks, cleans and wood for Edgar J. Scherick Associates, rising stone is harder for people to grasp. Sometimes has no particular personality. But over the to the level of executive vice president. He then it's in the script and it's wonderful, and certain- course of living with this family, he starts to graduated to senior vice president at Largo ly there are hundreds of wonderful SF books develop one. The film essays Andrew's life Entertainment, where he worked on such films that would make incredible movies. But the story over two centuries, through various gen- as Point Break, Judgment Night and The Get- average studio executive reads it and says,

erations of this family. away. Since joining with Columbus and Mark 'Well, I don't know what all this stuff is. What " "There are other robots in the movie, but Radcliffe at , Barnathan has pro- does it all mean?' for some reason, it's never explained"—in the duced Stepmom, and Jingle All In this case, it meant Williams starring in film or Asimov story—"why Andrew devel- the Way. another Disney film. It also meant the actor oped in a way that was not expected or antici- One of the biggest mysteries of the SF spending the first half of the movie encased in pated. In fact, the robot company that genre is why so few of the great literary SF an elaborate robot costume made by Steve

STARLOG/Ja««ao' 2000 29 —

Johnson's XFX, Inc. "It's extraordinary," says churning out more than 400 books during his Caves of Steel into production, starring Paul

Barnathan, "although that's only for the first writing career (most of them non-fiction). But Newman and , but it was can- portion of the movie. His face has very little he rarely had much to do with movies; he celled. , one of Asimov's closest expression; every physical movement is very wrote the Fantastic Voyage , and friends, wrote a spectacular adaptation of the expressive, however, and amazingly, he comes provided dialogue for a feature cartoon called author's seminal work /, Robot, but again, the through. From the beginning, you just know Light Years. There was also the awful movie movie was shelved—although an illustrated it's Robin in there. Nobody could have brought version of his classic Nightfall. He did some- book of the screenplay has been published. him to life the way Robin did. what better on television; he helped create the One problem facing Bicentennial Man is "Robin, in fact, has a double who works series Probe and saw many of his tales adapted that audiences are used to movie robots by with him in many movies who's the same size, for British TV. now, and expect them to be basically people in and a talented actor on his own. When he Across the big lake in the UK, several of his metal casings, such as Star Wars' C-3PO. Asi- would get into the robot suit, however, you famous robot stories were telecast. "Little Lost mov, however, always took a very basic, logi- immediately knew it wasn't Robin. Robin just Robot" was shown as an episode of Out ofThis cal approach with robots: acknowledging that brought the suit to life." World, a series hosted by Boris Karloff. Caves they are machines. They are made to perform The suit, in fact, was the film's most trou- of Steel was a feature-length episode of Story certain tasks, and the Three Laws of Robotics blesome element, says Barnathan. "The perfor- Parade, directed by Peter Sasdy and starring keep them in line. Those laws, in fact, seemed mance was hard, and that all fell on to have become hardwired into America's Robin. From my point-of-view, produc- SF consciousness. (Asimov liked to tell ing the movie, the hard part was figuring the story of his first viewing of 2001: A out what the hell this robot was going to Space Odyssey. At intermission, he said, look like, how it was going to work, and he rushed out to the lobby and grabbed a how Robin was going to be comfortable friend by the lapels, shouting: "They're enough and have the ability to bring it to violating the Three Laws of Robotics! life. They're violating the Three Laws of "That was something everyone was Robotics!" His friend dryly responded, worried about at the beginning, including "Well, Isaac, why don't you strike them Robin. When we saw the first images of dead with a bolt of lightning?" That put the robot, which were quite beautiful, we everything back into perspective for Asi- wondered how we were going to get a mov, who returned to the theater and performance [out of it]. How will Robin enjoyed the movie.) come through? Why put Robin into it? But filmgoers now regard robots as But the first moment Robin got into the either Terminator-like menaces or Three- costume, we all understood why. I think pio-like clowns. Will the transition that

it's the most challenging role he has Andrew makes from robot to human being taken on, both physically and emotional- be convincing? Will the audience under-

ly. Robin plays a character who at first stand the dramatic seriousness of this understands nothing about humanity, and issue? "I think what everyone was always goes through many changes, metamor- afraid of in adapting Asimov," Barnathan phosing into something he wasn't in the speculates, "was, 'How do you portray a

beginning. It's an extraordinary perfor- robot and get the audience to care about it mance." enough?' did a great job in

Star Wars, but it was really just a small Robot Dreams part of the movie. Here, the robot's design, Obviously, there have been robots in and largely through Robin's working movies almost as long as there have been inside the suit, results in an incredible movies, from the silent era and such clas- amount of life and personality." sics as , on through the robot The movie raises some interesting menaces in the '30s and '40s serials, to questions rarely addressed in cinematic 1950s movies like Tobor the Great, For- SF. For instance, isn't a robot just proper- bidden Planet and The Invisible Boy up ty? "Two-plus decades into Andrew's liv- through the Star Wars saga, ALIEN and ing with this family, he brings up the Director Chris Columbus helms this film scripted by its sequels and the Terminator films. But concept of freedom and of being Nicholas Kazan based on the original story as well proper- Bicentennial Man seems to be the very as the novel version (expanded by Robert Silverberg ty," Barnathan explains. "He asks that he first movie in Hollywood history where a and Asimov as The Positronic Man). no longer be bound by the laws of proper- robotic character takes on such a dramat- — ty, though he would still be bound by the ic center stage role. The design was crucial as Lije Baley, a human cop Three Laws of Robotics." too far one way, and Andrew would look like a unwillingly teamed with a robot partner. A Andrew makes this request of his owner, clanking menace; too far another, and he might later British series, Out ofthe Unknown, adapt- Richard Martin (Sam Neill), the man he be a big toy, like the Tin Woodsman of Oz; too ed many Asimov stories over its six-year run, always calls Sir. "Sam did a tremendous job,"

far yet another, and it would just be Robin including several robot tales: "Satisfaction Barnathan asserts. "He is responsible for Williams in a Can. Guaranteed," "Liar!" and "The Naked Sun," bringing Andrew into the house, and for teach- 'That's something we grappled with," Bar- the sequel to Caves of Steel. A 1966 Spanish ing him and developing his interest in life, and nathan admits. "In the end, at least from the film, El Robot Embustero ("The Tricky things that go beyond his domestic responsibil-

test audiences we've shown it to, they love him Robot"), was also adapted from an Asimov ities." right from the beginning. They don't like it story. On the other hand, the 1995 Canadian Sir's younger daughter, whom Andrew

when he gets hurt; they don't like it when peo- TV movie The Android Affair was evidently always calls Little Miss, is a child (Hallie Kate

ple are mean to him. There's a certain childlike based on a concept Asimov wrote for the Eisenberg) when the movie opens; in fact, it's quality to him, and this whole movie is a bit of screen, not on a published story. her difficulty in reading NDR, and mistaking a metaphor for the life of a man anyway." Twenty years ago, Warner Bros, came very him for an android, that results in the robot Asimov was an incredibly prolific writer, close to putting a big-budget feature version of being named Andrew. She gives Andrew his

0 STARLOG/January 2000 — —

Over 200 years, the Martin family remain the most important humans in Andrew's life. He has a special fondness for two Martin women, Little Miss (played as a child by Hallie Kate Eisenberg, as an adult by Embeth Davidtz) and her look-alike granddaughter (also Davidtz).

: first impetus toward a very unusual profession you something else? design looks forward and backward, as design for a robot: He becomes an artist, carving intri- tends to do in the real world." cate pieces out of wood and creating beautiful Robot Visions However, Bicentennial Man is not a spe- clocks. In addition to being the first American fea- cial effects-heavy movie. "Some scenes that The cast also includes Wendy Crewson as ture to cast a robot as the starring dramatic fig- had heavier special effects have actually been Sir's wife "Ma'am," Stephen Root, Bradley ure, Bicentennial Man is also very unusual in cut out," the producer says. "There was a Whitford, John Michael Higgins, Allan Rich covering a 200-year span, from the near to the scene with some punks in a futuristic hot rod and the very busy Oliver Piatt as Rupert Burns, more distant future. This required intricate pro- who are harassing Andrew. It was a cool a helpful robotics expert. As an adult, Little duction design to devise a futuristic San Fran- scene, but it's not in the movie. It was a mat- Miss is played by Embeth (Army ofDarbiess) cisco, a task entrusted to Norman Reynolds, ter of length—we didn't need it. Davidtz, but while a robot does not age, people Oscar winner for Star Wars: A New Hope (pro- "When we started the movie, we felt, 'We do, and eventually Little Miss dies. However, filed in STARLOG #103). Among Reynolds' have to have these kinds of scenes because we Davidtz returns as Portia, granddaughter to other credits are Return to Oz, Young Sherlock don't want to disappoint the SF audience.' Little Miss. Andrew forms his closest relation- Holmes, , The Empire But when we looked at it more closely, we ships with these two women, leading to one of Strikes Back and . realized that this is a movie that works on a the ways in which the movie deviates from Reynolds tried to keep the scale of Bicen- story level. It's not about dazzling anybody Asimov's story. tennial Man down to a more human size, and with this or that—it's a great story. "The biggest thing that changed," Bar- advanced into the future slowly, retaining as "I saw an ad for House on Haunted Hill nathan says, "is that there is a love story in the many San Francisco landmarks as possible. last night, and it looks pretty cool. The effects movie that was not part of the original novella. The Golden Gate Bridge gains another level, look fun—but I don't think effects alone can That was something that Nick Kazan wanted to though, Sausalito gets bigger and the down- drive a movie anymore. The audience has add to give it an emotional core, and which will town area grows another Transamerica Tower. seen enough of that. The Matrix sort of make it a little more accessible. This is a movie "Asimov's original story was set in San crossed into a new dimension and offered that women are responding to, which is odd for Francisco," Barnathan points out, "and it was something we had never seen before. It may a science fiction movie. They are drawn in by certainly convenient for us to shoot there, have brought people out initially because of that emotional part, which was a primary rea- because Chris and Robin both live there. Nor- the effects, but it added more. Ultimately, you son for the change." man did a really wonderful job on the design. have to have a great story; you've got to have Furthermore, the idea that a robot can fall The approach was to be very realistic, and not characters who people get invested in and in love (which Asimov subtly suggests in his a jump into a future we may never see. When care about. And the rest of it is there to sup- original story) underscores Andrew's quest for we're in San Francisco, we preserved the trol- port that. humanity. The film, in fact, addresses the ley cars, but we also put in a space-age rail sys- "I think SF fans, including Asimov fans, essential idea of just what it is that makes tem. are going to like the movie," Michael Bar- someone a human being. "At one point, when "It was always, 'What would really hap- nathan says. "We're very proud of it. We tried

Andrew is questioning a judge at the World pen?' The whole place wouldn't change to be clear and to be loyal to the spirit of what Council, he says, 'You have an artificial organ there would be different gradations and levels. Isaac Asimov has done, and I think fans will that I designed. Does that not make you in part We have certain periods where has a be excited to see the movie. You get crazy artificial?' So that question is addressed slightly retro look, so in the year 2075, sudden- when you watch it, and wonder, 'Why aren't " when do you become human, and when are ly it looks a bit like the 1920s. A lot of the there more movies about robots?' -Ar

STARLOG/January 2000 31 ment to their craft. Today, several members of he's gone. Eventually, Andy comes in the W^^^^^^ ollowing in your own foot- the Toy Story 2 production team (who refer to room—he has a few more minutes before his Ik, steps is a challenge that every the film as TS2) wax effusive, anxious to share mom takes him to camp—and he can't resist fdBtjM^'* successful filmmaker may their enthusiasm about a picture that's obvious- the urge to play with Buzz and Woody. That's face, even—perhaps, espe- ly close to their hearts. For this, 's third when Andy accidentally tears Woody 's arm." cially—in the world of animation. full-length computer-animated film, director Later, while attempting to rescue his asth- wb Just ask the creative team behind Toy (STARLOG #269) enlisted the matic toy penguin friend Wheezy from Andy's Story 2, Pixar Animation Studio's fol- support of several of the studio's most skilled mom's garage sale, Woody is stolen by a low-up to 1995's top box-office attraction, Toy artisans, among them co-directors Ash Bran- money-hungry toy collector named Al (Wayne

Story. What began as a direct-to-video offering non and Lee Unkrich, head of story Dan Jeup, Knight), of Al's Toy Barn fame. It then falls to with a cast of "sound-alikes" soon blossomed co-producer Karen Robert Jackson, supervis- Buzz, Woody's sparring partner, to mount a into a full-blown theatrical feature, with the ing animator Glenn McQueen, production rescue mission to save "pull-string boy" (as original cast signing on to reprise their roles. designer William Cone and supervising techni- Buzz calls him), assisted by plaything pals Rex Sequel status notwithstanding, this is a film cal director Galyn Susman. (Wallace Shawn), Bo Peep (Annie Potts), Mr. that everyone involved in thinks can definitely Potato Head (Don Rickles), Hamm (John stand on its own merits. Misfit Toys Ratzenberger) and Slinky Dog (Jim Varney). Considering the relaxed, Disney-esque Toy Story 2 takes place six months after the But the plot thickens. While being held atmosphere of its Richmond, California head- first film, with a trip to camp introducing the captive in Al's apartment, Woody befriends a quarters, it's no surprise that Pixar would pro- story. "Woody [voiced by Tom Hanks] is excit- new group of toys: Bullseye, the horse (who duce such first-class family-oriented animated ed about going to Cowboy Camp with Andy," doesn't speak), Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl entertainment. There is a camaraderie among Jeup elaborates. "He assigns Buzz Lightyear (Joan Cusack) and Stinky Pete the Prospector the staff reflecting their passion and commit- [Tim Allen] to watch over the other toys while (Kelsey Grammer). Woody discovers that he

STARLOG/fonwary 2000 —

No good deed goes unpunished. In Toy Story 2, saving Wheezy the Penguin from a garage sale gets Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) pinched instead.

BUZZ U6HTW £ PLAffWiHG PALS D0D6€ r^AffiC OH A R€SCU€ AAiSStOH ADVGHrtfflE, By KYLE Toy STOf 2- COUNTS pie. , responsibilities, also working closely with the who co-directed A layout team on the film's staging (camera Bug's Life [and helped work, character blocking). "The three of us write the story for 7X2, John, Ash and I—worked together with the as well as voicing the animators on a daily basis. We all come from evil Emperor Zurg], different backgrounds, so there are different

put it very well when things we look for when we're watching ani- he said that co-direc- mation in progress. We would all chime in tors at Pixar are like about things we felt strongly about that needed Robins to John's Bat- to be changed. Ash focused very heavily on man. We're out there, animation, working with the animators fighting crime along- throughout the day. John dealt with the art

has a "hidden side John, but John is definitely direction issues, like the character and set past"—he is a toy based on a string-puppet running the show." design." character from the beloved '50s children's TV Unkrich oversaw Toy Story 2's editorial Disney's decision to turn Toy Story 2 into a show Woody's Roundup. Now he must face an agonizing moral dilemma: remain with his new "family" and be forever revered as a glass- enclosed collectible toy, or return to his true owner and risk being put on a shelf when Andy becomes too old—or bored—to play with him. It took three directors to put Toy Story 2 together—a necessity, according to co-director Unkrich, because of the project's scope and planned release date. "John directed the first

Toy Story by himself, but it really killed him.

We pulled it off, but it was difficult for John and took a major toll on him. So, we knew right away, when we segued into TS2 after A

Bug 's Life, that it made more sense for him to delegate certain responsibilities to other peo-

And who has masterminded this dastardly toy napping? At from Al's Toy Barn (artfully etch-a-sketched at center). Can Woody's pals save him? Pull-String Boy" Woody is tied up tight, unless Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) zooms in from Infinity and Beyond to save him.

its own and is as good, if not better, than the

first one."

Last Roundups Co-producer Jackson agrees that Toy Story

2 is in a league of its own. For one thing, she feels the script cuts deeper and examines issues

that adults as well as children can relate to. "In this one, we get into questions of your value vs. your worth. Woody finds out he's this valuable collectible, but his true worth is measured by his friendships with Andy's other toys. On the other hand, he's facing toy mortality: He has already been ripped by Andy, though uninten- tionally, and probably doesn't have much play

time left. It's one of those things: Do you get in

the game or sit on the sidelines? "Andy's other toys see Woody being kid- napped, and figure out from the personalized vanity plate on the car that the kidnapper's

name is Al. They also recognize him from TV commercials. So they know that in order to res- cue Woody, they must find Al's Toy Barn. That sets the plot in motion." theatrical offering, with a matching budget and our hands, and it would be a shame if we never Every film begins with a story treatment, production schedule, was, according to saw them again." and it was Lasseter who came up with Toy Unkrich, a long time in the making. That meant a sequel with more of the same Story 2's basic premise, which was then "When we finished Toy Story, there was ingredients as the first film—laughs, action, "plussed" by Jeup, and others. immediate talk of a sequel," he explains, "and, heroes and villains—coupled with a new plot "It's amazing how, even though we've been of course, it was the last thing in the world any and some fresh characters (including a cameo working on this show three-plus years," offers of us wanted to do. We wanted to move on; we appearance by Barbie, voiced by The Little Jackson, "you can go back to the original treat- had new stories to tell, and didn't want to Mermaid's Jodi Benson). "We wanted to create ment and see many of the elements that are in repeat ourselves in any way. a story that was a natural extension of the first the final script. We've continually refined the "But as time went on, and the film became film," continues Unkrich, "to send these char- story, changed some characters and written the so popular and continued to have a really acters off on a new adventure, and give us an dialogue over and over again, allowing places strong life on video, we started to realize that opportunity to introduce some new folks as for the actors to do some improv when they're these characters had become part of world cul- well. John often uses II as a recording their lines." ture. Tliere was a whole new generation of kids model of what we strove for in making this Says Jeup, "With any animated film, you growing up watching this movie. We realized sequel. You look at most sequels and they're want to appeal to the widest possible audience.

we had some really wonderful characters on often crappy. But Godfather II really stands on Nobody goes into it thinking they're making a

STARLOGZ/cOTMory 2000 with a blank canvas. But then that premise begged many Directors John Lasseter, Ash Brannon and Lee Un questions: If Woody is stolen, r take their animation seriously from skillfully rendering — why is he valuable to some- toys to making a dog, well, look like a dog. body? We had to create a his- tory for Woody, and why he's valuable. Going in that direc- tion, we decided that he was based on an old TV show from the '50s, when Westerns were a big deal. That got us really excited, and we came up with the idea of having these other characters Woody would meet." Brannon came aboard Toy Story 2 while Lasseter and

Unkrich were still working on

A Bug's Life. "I was keeping everything going during that period," Brannon says. "I was

doing a little bit of everything.

I was working on the treat- ment, making sure that the storyboards and story guys were working in sync, that all kid's film, per se. But because the different story reels were of the genre, it has immediate coming together. But then, appeal for kids. There are when John and Lee were free, some more emotional things that's when Lee did the layout in Toy Story 2 that will tap into and editorial. All three of us kids as well as adults. The would go to dailies, to look at movie is full of laughs and layout reels and give each other action, but it has heart. We comments. Every day we worked hard to develop would check in with the anima- strong, memorable personali- tors and look at their work in ties that you care about." progress. I did a lot of anima- "You know you're making tion 'walk-throughs' in the an animated film," adds Jack- afternoons. That's where you're son, "and you want kids to checking the shots one-on-one love it. But then you're writing with the animators at their work smart, intelligent dialogue stations, giving them feedback, that's also going to appeal to letting them know how the shot their parents. Every time we fits into the big picture." do a Mr. Potato Head-body- part-falling-off gag, the kids Human Elements howl—they love the slap- Supervising technical stick. But the adults will director Susman's responsi- laugh at the verbal humor. bilities included modeling, That was one of the things shading, lighting,— special FX that was so successful about and rendering "all the film's Toy Story, and that's what infrastructure," she notes. we've tried to do with Toy "Modeling is the building and Story 2." articulation of the 3-D mod- Jackson and Jeup see the els—adding in the different first Toy Story as more of a things that make elbows buddy picture about Buzz bend, cheeks puff, all that. and Woody, whereas the Shading is the department sequel, they feel, mines emo- responsible for applying the tional territory by showcas- surfaces: making wood look ing Woody's personal like wood and cloth like transformation. "Woody cloth. Then there's special goes through a mid-life crisis in this film,"says But he also knows he's a toy, and that this is a FX—things that might be related to modeling Jackson. "He thinks, 'Omigod—I may not be dangerous mission. He's very conscious that and shading, but happen more over time: for around forever. What is my value, what is my he's leading this band of toys who have never example, laser balls, where the script calls for worth? Maybe I need to consider this new life.' been out of Andy's room." fiery, sparking balls of light. Lighting refers to In terms of the internal character exploration, Co-director Brannon has been on the pro- the adding of light to a scene. When shading you see a deeper level to Woody and Buzz. It's ject "pretty much from day one—June '96. We says that wood is wood and cloth is cloth, what really more about Woody's spiritual journey. had a premise at that point, as well as our char- that's doing is describing how a surface

Buzz is still pretty straight-ahead. He's a acters and the film's specific milieu, which responds to light, but you still need to go in and spaceman who knows his place in the world. gets you a step farther than you would have add the lighting.

STARLOG/Ja/iwary 2000 35 All the Toy Story favorites have returned (along with their original voices), but newer faces—like Emperor Zurg and Mrs. Potato Head (pictured)—are also on hand

Could Buzz and Woody stop arguing long enough to consider a possible third Toy Story venture? Maybe.

"Finally, there's rendering—taking all the modeling myself. I also did a lot of model ters—specifically, Al the toy collector—have information about the models, the shaders, fixes, lit some shots and did an effect here and helped Pixar push the computer animation

lighting and animation, and breaking it down there. For me, that's the easiest way to keep on envelope even further than it did with Toy Story

on a frame-by-frame basis, putting the pixels top of what's happening technically." or A Bug 's Life. "The humans are quite a bit together and shooting them. There are some- That "umbrella problem-solving," as Sus- better in this film, especially Al," offers

where between 90 and 100 people here at Pixar man calls it, included taking a long, hard look Unkrich. "He's absolutely remarkable. It's who fall under all those domains." at the technical challenges presented by the stunning work, what the technical directors Susman's job was divided between man- film's story, and asking, " 'What are some of have done with him." agerial duties and technical concerns. "My job the big technical issues we're going to have to "When we were working on Toy Story, was half managerial—as in we need this many solve in order to pull this movie off?' Well, for most of us had never done a full-length CGI people in these different departments, and we one thing, we had a lot of humans in this film before," explains supervising animator need to finish this many models by this date, so movie. So we needed to get a group of people McQueen. "Now, many of us have done two of that they can be ready for layout. Or we need to together to improve our human technology in them. So, the majority of the animation crew finish these shaders by this date, so they can be terms of the shading and modeling, and , rolled right off of A Bug's Life and onto TS2. ready for lighting. I had to keep a finger on clothing and skin. I set up groups to do that, That, more than anything, helped us make TS2

what was happening in production and be and worked with them on the research and the film that it is. If filmmaking is storytelling, aware when we were coming up to a problem. development, to pull together some decent- at least in terms of animation, technical

Finally, because I feel I don't really have my looking human beings." advances are only going to get you so far. You finger on the pulse of things if I'm not doing More than any other Toy Story 2 element, need great animators, animators who really stuff on the computer, I did a lot of lighting and the improvements made in the human charac- know their craft. I've found that movie after

36 STARLOG/fenwary 2000 movie, the bar for animation gets raised higher. We're all just better animators now, which is one reason why the humans look so much better in TS2." 'OY STORYTELLEi Design-wise, Al is "night and day different" from Andy and his mom, says Toy Story 2 co-director Lee Unkrich's estimation, director McQueen. "He's a big, fat guy. We had a lot of fun early on, looking at video In John Lasseter is a visionary comparable to the man who made reference of big, heavy guys, like Jackie Gleason, and Danny DeVito in Mickey Mouse an international icon. Romancing the Stone. We also used a little video reference of the guy who "There are days when I sit back and wonder what it must plays Al [Knight], mostly his face. The main thing we wanted to nail was Al's have been like to work with back in the '30s," weight distribution. When this big, heavy guy with short, stubby legs is walk- Unkrich says. "I think John is the closest that any of us is going ing around, you want to make sure you have a believable amount of mass in to come in modern times to working with someone like Disney. his motion. When he starts to move forward, you want to get a sense that He's brilliant. He has impeccable taste and he's really open to there's a certain amount of inertia he must overcome, just to get moving." ideas from people around him. I've heard John say that the only

bad idea is one that somebody doesn't share. As far as he is con- Playing Fields cerned, it doesn't matter who you are in the room; if you have Cone, who was in charge of Toy Story 2's production design (with Jim an idea and you bring it up, if it's a good idea, it's a good idea." Pearson), defines his role as "creating conceptual art for the story, generating Case in point: "When we're making these movies, we occa- ideas for what the film should look like in terms of character and environment. sionally have screenings for everyone in the company, so they You work with the directors to formulate a vision. Once you get into produc- can get a look at what we've been working on so hard. We actu- tion, your job is to make sure that it gets done—that means directing charac- ally encourage people to send in e-mail, giving their notes on ter design, set design and working with lighting to generate a series of color what they liked and didn't like. John and I read every piece of e- pastels, or paintings, that define the movie's lighting scheme: the time of day mail. If we see a pattern—if a lot of people don't like some- and the mood. thing—we take a good look at it and see if it's something we "Within the art department, we have designers and sketch artists, and from can fix. John never says, 'It has to be this way because I'm the them we produce things called model packets, which are sent off to be built, director.' He always has a really good reason for his decisions, like designs for a house or a car. In addition to that, set dressing involves a and he'll tell you why it has to be a certain way. And often Ash group of people that [Brannon] and I agree—we're com- move all the elements pletely in sync almost all the time." around in any given Unkrich, who has worked with sequence. They install all Lasseter since Toy Story, admits he the objects in a scene. I had "a lot to learn about animation" did a lot of work with the when he joined the Toy Story 2 pro- FX crew, just providing duction team as one of two co-direc- color reference. David tors (with Brannon). "John is the Skelly collected video best teacher in the world to learn clips of various types of from about that. I know he has also FX that we were trying to learned a lot from me through the create for the film's open- years, things he didn't necessarily ing. You grab things that learn when he was going to CalArts. you see in other movies, "Our sensibilities are very simi- but then you try to come lar, and we've always worked very up with your own version well together. Even though my title of what feels dynamic Yep. It's incredible, but on those films was editor, there was and appropriate." Lee Unkrich confirms that Toy Story 2 is headed for a blurred line even in that, because I Another thing that stands out in Toy Story 2, Unkrich believes, is the film's things that editor a theater near you— if it was doing many an depth of field. "If you look at Toy Story, everything is pretty crisp in every sin- isn't there already! typically wouldn't do. So, it really gle frame—artificially so. When we headed into A Bug 's Life, we spent a lot made sense for me to move in this of time talking about how we were going to photograph this tiny world. If you direction with John, because we're like two different pieces of look at nature films, when you're shooting down on that level, you're often the same puzzle." shooting with macro lenses, and it's a very shallow depth of field. What you're Supervising technical director Galyn Susman adds her own shooting will be very crisp, but the background and foreground will be soft. take on the experience, and its talented director. "When we did We wanted to do that in A Bug 's Life, but we ended up not being able to do a Toy Story," she says, "there was a 'Wow, nobody has ever done whole lot of it, just because the film was so complicated to render, texturally, this before' feeling about everything we were doing. We were very with all the grass and wind and everything. But the technology was there. young as filmmakers. We had to figure out how to get the work "So, now that we're back into a world that's relatively simple, in Toy Story done, and where to put our effort into the places where it was 2 we were able to pull out all the stops. Sharon Calahan, our director of pho- most needed. We also had to learn what constitutes good composi- tography, has done some exquisite work with depth of field. She has brought tion, how to use lighting as a storytelling tool, how to put geomet- a real richness and warmth to the images and made them look that much more ric complexity where it was called for (and fake the rest), how to realistic. It's something I'm really, really proud of. It makes the whole film incorporate paint so that the surface shading looked believable. sparkle like a jewel." We did a lot of experimenting, and we got lucky. John is a phe- So, assuming that Toy Story 2 breaks the box-office piggy bank, will there nomenal director, and he had a vision that he was able to drag us be another encore? Notes Susman: "The challenge on this movie was that along with, even though we had no idea what we were doing. being a sequel, it needed to look and feel very similar to Toy Story. But we also "Now we're on film number three. There was a lot of growth wanted to use all the stuff developed on A Bug's Life. We wanted to advance during A Bug's Life, a lot of development in terms of surface our humans, and advance our toy characters, yet still hold on to the appeal of shading, lighting and visual complexity. Toy Story 2 has been a Toy Story. When I look at the film we've produced, it's clear that we were able lot less about, 'What does it mean to make a movie?' and more to retain that charm and simplicity—and yet it's a really beautiful movie. It's about how to take all the technologies that we have available much more visually rich and compelling than Toy Story!' and use them in a way that will always support the story." Adds Lee Unkrich, "We're extremely proud of this movie. Everybody who Summarizes Ash Brannon with a laugh and a reference to the has seen it so far is really excited about it, including Disney. We hope that we film's Thanksgiving release, "I feel like we all work on a big com- have a hit on our hands, and that it's a movie worthy of being a follow-up to mune. We're all hustling away, getting the harvest ready for this year. Toy Story. If Toy Story 2 is a hit, we'll be three for three, which is unprece- —Kyle Counts dented in any studio's book.'

STAKLOG/Januarv —

k. 'm an SF freak," says comedian Tim the swingin' '70s and the laidback '80s. The Questarians, Galaxy Quest has, like Star Trek ^ Allen. "I love it. It's my favorite special Gwen DeMarco issue, all about the and Lost in Space, finally been turned into a ^ thing. Galaxy Quest was a baby step gorgeous babe who played Galaxy Quest's big-budget movie—with a unique spin, howev- for me. I like other scripts that are a computer-interpreter Tawny Madison, has er. First, none of the original cast, being very bit more serious, but I'm doing this been selling to collectors on eBay for upwards busy with their convention appearances and

first. It's really funny right up front, of $100. And the coveted Galaxy Quest 20th product endorsements, made it to the screen. then gets more serious. There's anniversary issue is one of STARLOG's Allen plays Nesmith/Commander Taggart in enough SF that they allowed me to biggest sellers. the film, Sigoumey Weaver steps in as DeMar-

do it, while it's not quite what you Even the show's stars have done their own co/Madison. Dr. Lazarus fans will applaud

expect from me. Technically, it isn't writing. Nesmith, the actor behind Comman- 's Dane, who played the half-

1 what I would want, which would be der Peter Quincy Taggart, has written 17 books alien Lazarus on the show. The versatile Tony

a Larry Niven sort of thing. It isn't right on, but about the series' four-year run, and even wrote (Stark Raving Mad) Shalhoub plays Fred

it's a Saturday afternoon, Star Trek: Deep (or ghosted, some claim) a few novels in the Kwan, the beloved gruff Tech Sergeant Chen Space Nine kind of dramatic science fiction." Galaxy Quest series. Sir Alexander Dane's in Galaxy Quest, while Daryl (Veronica's What? Allen in a Galaxy Quest movie? famous I Am Not Either Dr. Lazarus, So There Closet) Mitchell is the now-adult Webber, who Where's Jason Nesmith? Well, there's a story (Now Shut Up And Go Away) has gone through as a boy was Galaxy Quest's Lt. Laredo. behind this amazing bit of casting. many printings, although his later By The DreamWorks production was direct- If you're a longtime reader of STARLOG, Grabthar's Hammer, Maybe I Am Dr. Lazarus ed by Dean Parisot, who only counts Home you remember all the articles the magazine has After All was a notorious disappointment. And Fries on his feature directorial resume. David done on the people and stories behind Galaxy Tommy Webber's A Black Kid in White Space Howard wrote the original script, which was Quest throughout the last 20 years. If you're a was a biting examination of the problems of rewritten with a comedic spin by Robert Gor- real Questie—oops, Questarian (wink wink) earning a lot of money while still a teen. don. you've even bought the occasional special As the movie opens, Nesmith is making issues of STARLOG devoted to the fan- Casting Quest another of his many (well-paying) Galaxy favorite TV series that bridged the gap between Now, thanks to the dozens of letters from Quest convention appearances, along with

38 STARLOG/fanwary 2000 —

Ever the savage within, Dr. Lazarus (played by Sir Alexander Dane) must soothe the better angels of "his own dark nature.

"This really is one of the funniest scripts I've read."

been authentic, that these people that's him. There's one scene where he goes,

actually exist, so potentially they 'It's Fleegman! My name is Fleegman!' as if could save our whole existence." that will protect him." The home planet of the peace- The set for the Protector's bridge is amaz-

ful Thermians was destroyed by ing; it looks like the original, only better, a lit- the would-be galactic emperor tle sleeker, more real somehow. Allen really Sarris, so they've fled into space. does look like Taggart (or rather Nesmith as But Sarris follows them. In a last- Taggart). He realizes that Kwan (Shalhoub)

ditch effort, they've built The Pro- entering the bridge is really space villain Sarris tector and are asking Jason, whom in disguise, and punches him out. To every- they believe to really be Comman- one's surprise—especially Shalhoub's—Allen

der Taggart, to help them. I accidentally really punches the other actor,

"This guy Sarris is so bad," hurting his hand. John Casino, Allen's stunt

Weaver exclaims. "He really is a double, steps in for a few takes. j DeMarco, Dane, Webber and Kwan—none of sadist; [he's committing] genocide against Weaver immediately approaches the visi- whom are very happy with Nesmith's tendency these creatures. What he's doing to these peo- tors to the set, showing off her new decol- to hog the spotlight. DeMarco is particularly ple is just what we read in the news, with the : letage—she has to match Gwen/Tawny's lush annoyed, because (according to this script, invasion of Kosovo. Get rid of them, wipe them figure, of course. Rickman is wearing full Dr. anyway) she and the lead ham once had an out, for no other reason than they're there and Lazarus makeup, including a prosthetic piece affair, which ended badly. he feels like it." that covers his entire head. But then something very unusual happens. "The villain, Sarris, is not messing around,"

To his co-stars' annoyance, Nesmith goes off says Allen. "My natural instinct was to play it Style Quest with a group of peculiar fans, thinking they're as a joke, but we didn't. He's pretty violent The sets are grey and gleaming, and will going to show him their garage duplicate of the when he finally meets up with me, and he beats warm the heart of any Questarian. Although set of his spaceship The Protector—but the crap out of me." she was too young to work on the original instead, he discovers they're Thermians, Nesmith has recently had an emotional set- series, production designer Linda DeScenna is friendly aliens who think that the Galaxy Quest back, learning that his fellow actors don't like happy to have the opportunity to design the episodes were a record of absolute historical him, and that he's something of a laughing sets for the movie version. "I didn't want to do accuracy. They have rebuilt their civilization stock. He sees the battle against Sarris as a way a space movie that looked like on the precepts and ideals they absorbed from of validating himself, and manages to talk his other space movies," she the Galaxy Quest series—they're actually liv- "crew" into coming with him into space admits. "One of the rea- ing Quest. They take the stunned Jason to a without, ahem, explaining that he's plunging sons I wanted to do working duplicate of The Protector, a gigantic, them into a real space war. Galaxy Quest was fully-armed spaceship. The Thermians need "We're the most reluctant heroes in the because it didn't help. world," Weaver laughs. " plays have to be real hi- As Enrico (Just Shoot Me) Colantoni, play- this fan guy who comes with us, and is pan- tech and vacu- ing Thermian leader Mathesar, explains, "We icked the whole time—he represents the audi- formed; it could come to Earth to ask for help, thinking that ence. He always thinks the unnamed crew be, you know, these transmissions we've been receiving have member is the one who's going to die, and kind of tacky. —

Gaze upon this most awesome of alien evils and despair. It is Roth'h'ar Sarris of Fatu-Krey. He will destroy galaxies in quest of the Omega 13.

time, shooting one thing and bringing it someplace else, but we did it

quite a bit. I wanted to reuse props; I wanted to see specific props in

Jason's house, as if he took them home." was the first director signed for Galaxy Quest, but he left before shooting began. "It was a different script," DeScenna explains. "It was set in the late '60s, and Harold had a different take

on it. But we hadn't cast it, and we really didn't know where it was

going. When Dean came aboard, they finally cast it, and they changed the script to accommodate the actors' ages. The tone of

Dean's approach is a little more SF adventure. Who knows how it would have gone if Harold had stayed on?" Bill George, the movie's visual effects co-supervisor, wasn't sure just how many effects shots there would be in the final print, some- where between 200 and 400. Since the movie re-creates scenes from the original series, George and his team had to approach the effects on two levels; realistic for the modern-day scenes, and tacky for the scenes from the old series. (Questarians will be excited to know that the movie includes re-creations of scenes from the "lost" two-part episode. In fact, the plot hinges on this.)

"I was a huge fan of Star Trek and Lost in Space, all those TV

shows," says George. "And it's great, because there are aspects of all

those shows in this one. We're pulling from all over the place." He points at a piece of artwork on the wall: "This was taken from the

maquette [of The Protector], and I tried to make it look as though it's " from the old TV show. Look, it says, 'Evenings at 8:00 on KCOR'

Elsewhere, a familiar-looking octopus-like creature is chasing The Protector through space. "The interesting thing about this space

creature," George explains, "is that it's a CGI model, but we're trying

to make it look like it's made out of rubber. You can see the scrapes,

chips and the sculpture. It was cheaper and better for us to do it CGI

than to actually build it. We get more control when we do it in the computer."

George points out the "piglizard," a creature built, like all the on- set aliens in the film, by the team, as well as the "Demon Child," being done via CGI by George and others from ILM.

One of the creatures George is most enthusiastic about is a living

force field that, "in order to manifest itself, picks up what's around it,

so the rocks are constantly moving and changing. Stuff spewing off, leaving things behind, picking up other stuff." All these menaces are "We were going to use blue and violet, but we ended up with the I encountered by the Galaxy Quest actors when they visit an alien planet. same color of grey, just three different values. When I start a movie, George also points out a "blood tick," a ghastly-looking creature, aside from the things you would normally focus on, like how to lay out I one of a bowlful offered to Alexander/Lazarus. The Thermians think a set to accommodate the action, etc., etc., is color. If you look at Alexander really is half-alien, and earnestly try to fulfill his alien needs.

MouseHunt, which I designed, every single prop, every single piece of wardrobe, everything is keyed to three colors. Alien Quest "In this movie, we have Sards' world, The actor "tragically" (he claims) has to wear the head appli- where everything is green. So when Sar- ance throughout the movie, fearing that to take it off would ds' men are aboard the ship, they stand upset the Thermians. "I don't really have a rubber head," out, because everybody else is in grey, Rickman admits. "It gets put on, like it would, and I get in and they're in green. So when we go into some scrapes in the movie, and this is the result of the the real world on this movie, everything fights I get into." Rickman, best known for his villain- stays with the steel blues and the greens. ous roles, is delighted to be in Galaxy Quest, not so My thing is color; that's what I get most much from being a fan of the series, but because "I excited about." JT love comedy almost more than anything. This real- In addition to the obvious primary ly is one of the funniest scripts I've read." source, DeScenna looked to Buck He's especially drawn to playing an actor. "I Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, SB like the fact that actors are probably the only pro- even Lost in Space for inspiration, "every fessionals who send themselves up. We actually space show that had been on TV. One thing have a sense of humor about ourselves. We that all TV series do, which I really wanted to were in the makeup trailer this morning do in this movie, is re-use set pieces so we actu watching Waiting for Guffinan; that's a really ally recognize them. We didn't get a chance to do funny film, but only actors would say, 'Let's that as much as I would have liked because of make ourselves look this ridiculous' —and enjoy it." (No word as to how Dane and the other real Galaxy Quest actors feel about this What manner beast be this? Once again, the movie.) "I find it really amusing," says Allen, GQ startighters must befriend strange life who forms—or be devoured by them! discusses his work at length on page 53. "It's

40 STARI.()G/.to/(((«/v v^>- one of those life-imitates-art deals. I just left a

TV show that ran eight years, and this is pretty much what we would be like if we had to search for work. You're real hot when you're doing a hot TV show, but the offers just didn't come right in, at least for many of them. I was lucky to get a film, but I was so used to the dynamics, the egos, that this was just mar- velous for me to play—to play an actor playing an actor. We're getting a little tired of our lives, so you project that anger and frustration onto the people near you who remind you of what losers you are." In addition to the fun of actors playing actors, the cast of Galaxy Quest is also enthusi- astic about the Thermians, the naive, brilliant scientists who invite the cast into the adventure of a lifetime. "It's all our set," says Weaver,

"but it actually works. It looks cheesy, but in fact, it's all real." Allen adds, "On the show, they never saw the whole ship, so they filled in the blanks as best they could. They're very scientific, and they made it look as ornate as ours, because their own ships don't look like that. They do To save you, why must some clever stuff, because they had to fill in the I kill you? Can the GO blanks behind panels, using gelatin and stuff, crew, reunited for because that's their technology." motion picture adven- The actors playing Thermians looked to ture, rescue the Ther- Colantoni as their leader. He has worked out a mians from certain yet thorough characterization for Mathesar, uncertain death? including how he walks. "He's an innocent," Colantoni says. "He comes from a very warm the pilot of the space- and loving place. He's just so in awe of who ' craft. Now he's older, these people are, and so respectful and enam- better-looking, but an ored of them that they can do no wrong. out-of-work actor who

They're from space. I thought of them runs around with the cast as happy Jehovah's Witnesses—everything out going from convention of their eyes is love and acceptance. That's to convention to make what I went with in the audition, but I added a money. He feels out of little Starman and C-3PO." place sometimes, and it Jed Rees, who plays the Thermian Teb, comes across, but he's reports, "We have a specific walk. Normally funny and real energetic. when you walk, your leg goes with your oppo- So the more I play it site arm; with Thermians, the same leg and arm move together. We had a rehearsal with some STAR WARS II & BEYOND straight, and the more I look like I know what of the main Thermians, and the walk was sym- I'm doing, the funnier it gets." biotically created." Funny—and Galaxy Quest. Words usually Thermians do not understand the concept not used together, except by those who never of pretense at all. "We're almost cultish in a liked the classic show in the first place. But way," says Rees, "because we don't understand maybe Bill George has the best last words for deceptions or lies or fighting, so that's why both those who loved the show and those who we're having problems keeping our civilization didn't. "What's freshest about this film is that alive." And that's why they don't understand it's a very clever script, it's very funny. I think the basic idea of acting, which, of course, is that people who love science fiction will like pretense. They even fret over the residents of the film, I think people who hate science fic- Gilligan 's Island. tion will love the film—because it makes fun Mitchell's challenge, like Allen's, was that of the whole genre in a really loving way. I am it was not always easy for him to change gears a fan, and when I read the script, I thought it from comic acting to straight acting, "because was hilarious."

I do comedy TV shows, like Veronica 's Closet. And Questarians, you're not left The thing about me is that the more straight I out. At the end of the film, to nit \ HLES play it, the more funny [it is], because my TV'S GREATES1 save the day and defeat the COSMIC ADVENTl I llllll (-tM'K whole thing is, 'What the hell am I doing here Vial! GrtK'itlHfi'H bad guy, Jason Nesmith

. SPECIAL QUEST SALUTES*- . in the first place?' A black man, outer space, all contacts hard-core K«r IIUMI • JOE DM TERRY GILLIAM • TIM HUSTONWON • these white people, and he's piloting the plane. ARTHUR C. CLARKE • MAOOKIIA Hie Kcquel? Questarians back on And I'm not even supposed to have a driver's Earth, and they Look to numerous past issues of STAR- license. But that's giving LOG—-like this anniversary edition used as "I play Tommy Webber, who was a young away too much. a set dressing prop in the film—for more ^ kid when he was one of the show's stars and on Galaxy Quest. Or not. f

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Earth's loveliest Communications Officer reports in: Tawny Madison (actress Gwen DeMarco, essayed in the movie by ). .1: y M

a

Amidst this metal

n the wake of The Iron Giant, Big Windham's collaboration with Plunkett was an equal sh;

Guy and Rusty and all the Star Wars including both story and art. "Killian contributed a lot o

droids comes the newest robot, Witlock, though I wrote all the scripts, and the story really is ours," s: a cybernetic Trouble Magnet who "With the artwork, Killian certainly did the hard part—he di lights villainy while searching for his thing! —but I provided thumbnail layouts for most of the art lost memory. Writer Ryder Windham and artist Killian tight, comprehensive doodle for each page, so he could refe Plunkett have created a new machine for the Millennium in this four-issue and my doodle to see where characters were positioned and mini-series from DC Comics debuting this month. would fall."

"About three years ago, Dan Thorsland, a DC editor, suggested that "I would send Ryder sketches or ideas for the robot, and 1 " Killian and I collaborate on 'a giant monster robot comic,' explains them back with suggestions like, 'make it boxier' or 'make

Windham. "Dan and I had co-edited Droids for Dark Horse Comics, and I says Plunkett. "We had to find a balance between making a had hired Killian to do covers for the series. All of us liked robots a lot, and look like a robot and not a guy in a suit, and having it be h n Dan thought Killian and I might like to work on something creator-owned. for the reader to understand what it is they're looking at.

Both Killian and I have done Star Wars comics, but we had never worked tougher balance to strike than I thought it would be. together as an artist-writer team before, and we wanted to. We pitched it to "As far as story, he would send me a rough draft, and I w

DC as a creator-owned series and they accepted it. After Dan left, it went and say, 'I've seen this too many times before' or 'Is there a to [STARLOG contributor] Mike McAvennie to edit." ing way for this to happen?' We had done a fair amount of r sorts of subjects—astronomical phenomena, robotics, airplai Robot Renderings graphic details of the U.S.—and then selected the ones that se Plunkett had finished work on DC Vertigo's The Unknown Soldier dur- best together. ing Trouble Magnet's development, and was ready for something different. "There were all sorts of things we wondered about," s;

"The Unknown Soldier was a very gritty, realistic thing, relentlessly dark and "What does it mean, a giant monster robot? Both Killian and grim, and required a lot of research on the right guns and vehicles—I knew robot should have some kind of a justifiable existence. We that whatever I did next had to be more light-hearted," says Plunkett. "It was robot created here on Earth that is intelligent, somewhat sei a breath of fresh air. Having worked for Ryder when he was the editor on to think, 'Why would somebody build this robot? What fu

ALIENS books for Dark Horse, I knew that we both looked for the same serve in society?' things in stories, that we didn't want any huge gaps in the interior logic and "The name of the series is Trouble Magnet: The Adventi we wanted some sort of reasonable progression in story elements." the Robot, and we came up with what we think is a very off! • 4 §

season, RyderHhndham

ring of ideas, tale. It's not a conventional origin story. Instead of a narrative about Witlock's roboticist, the scientist who engineers

story ideas, Witlock and how he came to be the robot he is today, we begin the story Windham. "Dr. Auster is actually modeled after An lys Windham, with Witlock already an internationally recognized robot hero. He's very played C-3PO in Star Wars. Killian and I have met A ew the whole intelligent and can-do. If he sees something wrong, he just goes ahead and and he's a great pal. We were joking with Anthony at

I would do a fixes it. In the first issue, his memory banks, which are housed in a lab in Trouble Magnet becomes a movie, we want him to pi r to my script New Mexico, are stolen, and Witlock begins operating on RAM. Over the "Another character is Herkimer Mohawk. He's a f vord balloons course of the four issues, it becomes something of a chase, where he will now works as a pilot with Witlock, shuttling him arou: try to retrieve his stolen memories, and at some point he learns certain tures. There's also Gwen Myles, a teenage grease mc le would send things about the people who took them, even realizing that these memories Witlock's mechanic, and the daughter of the AI sciei " it spindlier,' might have been tampered with. He begins to question whether he wants Witlock's artificial intelligence, Dr. Myles. robot actually the memories back. It's a complex psychological thriller that's disguised as "We presented the story with Witlock as an alread; uman enough a robot fight comic." ter, because both Killian and I really enjoyed Buckaroi hat's a much Plunkett drew on a number of disparate influences in designing of the story of 'here they are and how they came to be,

Witlock. "At first, I was looking at military vehicles, armored cars and to just open the first page and wonder, 'What the hel uld pick at it tanks," the artist says. "The stuff just tended to look heavy and angular that We hope readers will find it engaging." more interest- way. Overall, for the series, we were trying to go for something that looked The story, which is centered around the search fo

;search on all like high-end animation. It wasn't meant to be ultra-realistic and hyper- begins with an incredible action sequence, but it does: les, even geo- detailed. I tend to obsess on detail and I wanted, as best as I could, to stay four-issue series, the adventure is primarily an effort emed to work away from things that were covered in oodles of rivets and wires, and go memory," Windham explains. "When the story begi for something cleaner-looking. Ultimately, the robot's shape was taken partners are in Las Vegas attending a technologica ys Windham. from helicopters more than anything else, simply because, most of the they're in Vegas, a menacing robot scientist attacks an I believed the interesting and more organic shapes are found on helicopters. Fighter er at the top of a hotel—an excuse for a big robot envisioned a planes are just a little too swoopy and the tanks are too boxy. We wanted revealed that this might have been a distraction to p tient. We had something in between, not very streamlined, but not looking like a refrig- returning to his base in New Mexico, so that while iction does it erator with legs." thieves could get hold of his memory banks.

"Killian and I both did a lot of research about robe res of Witlock Human Elements that I suggested was, given the size of the memory ba ieat adventure Witlock is backed up by an intriguing cast of characters. "Dr. Auster is robot to actually house all these memories, it seemed 1 mm ett unleash Trouble n d the body," says be stored somewhere, and that Witlock interacts with his memories via on his arms, a silver cardboard box on his head thony Daniels, who satellite. It would be like a person walking around just fine, but with every- and giant plastic claws on his hands—I was ve nthony a few times, thing they know kept in a refrigerator back at the house. So that's how disbelief," he admits. the outset that when Witlock functions. But he does have this RAM-like ability—his dialogue Windham acknowledges several reasons ry Dr. Auster. changes after his memory bank is stolen. You realize his short-term mem- "Maybe it's the idea of wanting one as a frier

)rmer astronaut who ory is about five minutes long or so, so he's constantly questioning people intelligence that can do things people can't do, id on various adven- and becoming rather rattled and dim-witted. But at the same time, he's still ties," he muses. "There's also something about nkey of sorts. She's this hulking robot. Both Killian and I agreed that doing a perfect, fighting- neering and know-how goes into it. At the risk < tist who engineered machine robot was a lot less interesting than having a flawed character who anyone can have children, but it's difficult to m

has all of these powers that he can barely remember." kid whether he would like a big robot as a fi

-established charac- "The science is much harder than you normally find in a comic, assum- would be great."

• Banzai, and instead ing the story is about a giant robot and his pals," notes Plunkett. "We really Upcoming projects for Windham include ;

it was immense fun did try to investigate things like the surface of the Moon, atmospheric phe- Binks short story and some Pod Racer comic;

is going on here?!' nomena and future vehicles that might be used in space transportation. It's scripted (and Plunkett is illustrating) a Super

just meant to be fun, and a little more swallowable than some other stuff." wrote the Episode I Who 's Who: A Pocket Guk

' Witlock's memory, "There's a certain reality base for Witlock," Windham says. "We did Phantom Menace. t't end there. "In the question who would want such a robot, who would build one? Witlock was After Trouble Magnet, Plunkett jokes that he

:o retrieve his stolen created by the military, but when they gave him instructions for his first Wars gravy train," pencilling a framing sequen ns, Witlock and his assignment, he refused. It was almost like the secrecy of the Manhattan series for Dark Horse. But for now. the crea trade show. While Project, with different scientists working on aspects of the same weapon. Witlock and Trouble Magnet. Windham and P elevated rollercoast- In Witlock's case, Dr. Auster was working on the body, and Dr. Myles on web site in November, www.troublemagnet.ee fight. But later, it's the brain. But the brain was not a gung-ho killer. The brain was put into this mini-series.

'event Witlock from body and decided, 'No, I'm not going to kill people or engage in war.' Despite their past and present work. Ryder he was away, these Witlock is not a pacifist, he does engage in fights, but they're primarily worried about being typecast as "robot guys," : "' with other robots. Lots of robots get beaten up." Magnet enough to want to do a second series. ts. One of the things Both creators admit to loving robots. In addition to Star Wars' R2-D2 is popular enough that people want to see more iks, rather than for a and C-3PO, Plunkett has a few other low-tech favorites. "As a kid, I was a with other projects, but we're hoping the resp' kely that they would sucker for those Republic serials where it was just a guy with kitchen foil sufficient that DC Comics will say, 'Hey, let's c All Art: By & Courtesy Killian Plunkett

Ready for adventure, the Artist Killian mechanized marvel Witlock Plunkett and his human friends are carefully developed the comic book's men, women and robots in an evolving series of character sketches.

OR

ry, very willing to suspend for the appeal of robots, id, some anthropomorphic that has superhuman abili-

: the fact that human engi- of sounding sloppy, almost ake a robot! If you ask any iend. most would think it nore Star Wars (a Jar Jar s for Dark Horse). He has man story. Windham also le to the Characters of The

is also "back onto the Star ice for a Chewbacca mini- tors remain excited about lunkett unveiled their new

>m, with more info on the WITH TttB P

Windham says they aren't ffld they both love Trouble

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#2 . #26 ALIEN. Ridley Scott. #50 Lucas 3. Spielberg. #73 Cliff Robertson. Python. $10. #113 Doohan. Robert Goldsmith. Badler. R. Space: 1999EP Guide. H.R. Giger. Gerry Sean Connery. Lawrence Robert Vaughn. Roy Bloch. Rick Baker. Rabbit. V. B&B. $10. Logan's Run. War of the Anderson. $5. Kasdan. . Scheider. Jason Robards. #94 Doohan. Sayles. Little Shop of Horrors. Worlds. $50. Heavy Metal. $100. Hamill 2. $5. William Katt. John Barry. Starman TV. $50. #1 34 Zemeckis. Crosby. #27 Galactica EP Guide. Michelle Pfeiffer. V. Jedi Cherryh 2. James Caan. #3 Space: 1999EP Guide. ST: TMP. ALIEN FX. #51 Kasdan 2. #74 Molly Ringwald. FX 6. $5. #114 Nimoy. Guy Ken Johnson. Sylvester . George Nick Meyer. $5. Shatner. Harryhausen. Michael Ironside. Malcolm Williams. Robert Hays. McCoy. Big. $5. Takei. DeForest Kelley. $35. Roddenberry. Jerry McDowell. Lorenzo #95 Grace Jones. Gareth Thomas. $100. #28 Lou Ferrigno. Goldsmith. $5. Semple. $5. Matthew Broderick. #135 ft Rabbit. B7. #4 3-D SF Movie Guide. Wonder Woman EP Butrick. Hauer. #116 Majel Barrett. Robin Patrick McGoohan. Jerry Sohl. Kristen. Richard Anderson. Outer Guide. $5. #52 . #75 Nancy Allen. John III. Cocoon. $5. Curtis. Whitney. Paul Marta Williams. Alien Limits EP Guide. $50. Shatner. $5. Lithgow. George Lazenby. Darrow. Nichols. Dr. Who. Van #29 Erin Gray. Buster McQuarrie. Semple 2. $5. #96 9th Anniversary. Peter $75. Nation. $6. #5 3-D film history. UFO& Crabbe. $5. #53 Bradbury. Patrick Cushing. Jonathan Harris. Space: 1999 EP Guides. Macnee. Blade Runner. #76 Buster Crabbe. Sybil Tina Turner. John Cleese. #11 7 Catherine Mary #136 Mandy Patinkin. $15. #30 Robert Wise. $5. Danning. $6. Moore. Jedi FX 7. $6. Stewart. Adam West. Jock Mahoney. Carpenter. Chekov's Enterprise. . Nation. Lenard. Sohl 2.Trek:Lost #6 Robert Heinlein on Questor Tapes. #54 3-D Issue. Bob Culp. #77 Phil Kaufman. Chuck #97 Mel Gibson. Ron Robocop. $5. Generation. $5. Destination Moon. Stuntwomen. $15. Connie Seileca. Terry Yeager. Tom Baker. Howard. River Phoenix. Animated Trek. $25. Gilliam. Leslie Nielsen. Trumbull. $5. Chris Walken. Donner. #11 8 Shatner. Rod Taylor. #137 Marshall. War of the #31 Empire. 20,000 Raiders FX. Trek Glenn. BTTF. $10. Jeff Morrow. Michael Worlds. $5. #7 Star Wars. Rocketship Leagues Under the . $5. #78 Ferrigno. Meyer. Keating. D.C. Fontana. X-M. Space: 1999 Eagle Sea. Chekov's Clarke. Trumbull 2. #98 Michael J. Fox. George RR Martin. $10. #138 Michael Dorn. John Larroquette. blueprints. Robby. $35. Enterprise 2. $5. #55 Quesr for Fire. Philip Scott Glenn. George Miller. Dante. Jean-Claude K. Dick. Ed Bishop. Culp 2. . $5. Jennifer Beals. $5. #1 19 Takei. Kerwin Van Damme. John Lenard. Phyllis #8 Harlan Ellison. Star #32 Sound FX LP. Buck Trumbull. Trek bloopers 2. Matthews. Doc Savage. Schuck. Colicos. Wars. The Fly. $25. Rogers & Trek designs. $5. #79 Dennis Quaid. #99 Anthony Daniels. $5. Coates. John ft Chekov's Enterprise 3. Kershner. Jon Pertwee. Zemeckis. "Cubby" Rabbit. B7. $5. #10 George Pal. Ray $6. #56 Zardoz. Triffids. Trek David Hasselhoff. $5. Broccoli. Mad Max. $5. #121 Reeve. . Harryhausen. Isaac bloopers 3. $5. Dante. Lithgow. Weller. #139 . Asimov. $20. #33 Voyage EP Guide. #80 Billy Dee Williams. #100 Lucas. Nimoy. Henriksen. Karen Allen. Gareth Thomas. Landau. Ellison reviews Trek. $5. #57 Lost in Space Robot. Anthony Ainley. Carpenter. Ellison. Jacqueline Pearce. $10. Coates 2. Nigel Kneale. Phantom of the Opera. $5. #11 CE3K. Prisoner EP Conan. Caroline Munro. Jedi FX 1 . $5. Harryhausen. Nichols. Guide. Incredible #34 Tom Baker. Irv Ron Cobb. $10. Matheson. Cushing. #122 007 Film Salute. Shrinking Man. Rick Kershner on Empire. #81 Alan Dean Foster. Roddenberry. Irwin Allen. Martin Short. Duncan #140 Bill Murray. Kneale Baker. $20. Martian Chronicles. #58 Blade Runner. The Fred Ward. Veronica $6. Regehr. Robocop. Lost 2. Wheaton. Rex Reason. Buck Rogers. $15. Thing. Syd Mead. Trek Cartwright. Greystoke. Boys. Snow White. $75. Eric Stoltz. B&B. $5. #12 Roddenberry. Doug bloopers. $5. Buckaroo Banzai. $5. #101 Ellison. Ridley Scott. Trumbull. Steven #35 Billy Dee Williams. Sting. Roddy McDowall. #123 Nancy Allen. Dolph #141 Diana Muldaur. Spielberg. Dick Smith. Empire & Voyage FX. $5. #59 The Thing. #82 Schwarzenegger. Macnee. Takei. Fred Lundgren.Tim Dalton. Jared Martin. Amanda CE3K.SK. . Max von Sydow. Chris Ward. $5. Robocop. ST:TNG. $75. Pays. Gilliam. Bennett. #36 4th Anniversary. Kirstie Alley. Merritt Lloyd. Faye Grant. Dr. Kneale 3. $5. #13 . Pal. Nichols. Prowse. Butrick. $75. Who. Jedi FX 2. $4. #102 Spielberg. #124 . Kevin Logan's Run EP Guide. $5. Glen Larson. Yvette Mel Blanc. Michael McCarthy. Gary #143 Perlman. Kelley. Mimieux. $6. #60 6th Anniversary. Sfar #83 Kate Capshaw. Robin Douglas. Irwin Allen 2. Lockwood. Courteney Robert Picardo. Tracy Torme. Indy. Batman. SF #14 Project UFO. Trek II. Carpenter. Scott. Curtis. Fritz Leber. Alley. Doug Adams. Peter Cox. sr.TNG.$15. Jim Danforth. Saturday #37 . Terry TRON. $6. Marshall. Dr. Who.V. $10. Davison. $5. costuming. $50. Night Live Trek. $5. Dicks. First Men in the #125 Bruce Dern. Gerry Anniversary. Moon. $5. #61. Trek II 2. Walter #84 8th Anniversary. #103 Daryl Hannah. Anderson. Carpenter. #144 13th Shatner. #15 Twilight Zone EP Koenig. . Nimoy. Frank Oz. Chris Hauer. Rob Bottin. Elmer Cameron. Princess Bride. Richard Chaves. Guide. Galactica. Richard #38 CE3K. Buck Rogers Road Warrior. $15. Lambert. Marc Singer. B. Bernstein. $5. $6. Kim Basinger. Harry Donner. This Island Earth. EP Guide. Kelley. $5. Banzai. Jedi FX 3. $6. Harrison. Roger Rabbit 1. III. Batman.$e. $5. #62 Ricardo Montalban. #104 Peter Mayhew. #126 Marina Sirtis. FX Indy #39 Buck Rogers. Tom Koenig 2. James Doohan. #85 Jim Henson. Stephen Collins. Ken Schwarzenegger. Tim Burton. John #16 Phil Kaufman. Corbett. Erin Gray. Fred Ken Tobey. Dr. Who. $5. Jeff Goldblum. Johnson. V. Outer Limits. Macnee. . #145 Fantastic Voyage. Freiberger. $5. Bob Zemeckis. Ivan $5. Michael Praed. Robert Rhys-Davies. William Invaders EP Guide. $5. #63 Spielberg. Nimoy. Reitman. Dante. $5. Hays. Maureen Gibson. Shatner 2. #40 Hamill. Gerard. Russell. . #105 Lambert. Colin O'Sullivan. B&B. $5. Dalton. Moranis. Cobb. #17 Spielberg. Roddenberry. Jane . $25. #86 Peter Weller. John Baker. Jonathan Pryce. Rfl FX 2. $6. Roddenberry. Seymour. Freiberger 2. Sayles. Chris Columbus. . #127 Lucas. Harryhausen. Joe Haldeman. Empire FX. $5. #64 David Warner. Rick Moranis. Lenard. Planet of the Apes. V EP Davison. Kathleen #146 Matt Frewer. Andre Ralph McQuarrie. $5. Peter Barton. Dr. Who. Jedi FX 4. $100. Guide. Japanimation. $5. Kennedy. Gates Norton. Phil Akin. Cesar #41 Sam Jones. $150. Rare. McFadden. Robocop. $50. Romero. Doohan. Takei. #18 Empire. Joe Dante. . $5. #87 FX. #106 Nimoy. Tim Curry. Abyss. RR FX 3. $10. Dirk Benedict. Richard #65 Arthur C. Clarke. Kelley. Prowse. David Clancy Brown. Terry #128 John de Lancie. Ron Hatch. $5. #42 Robert Conrad. Hamill. E.T. FX. Dark Lynch. 2010. Blade Nation. ALIENS. Perlman. James Earl #147 Danny Elfman. . Dr. Who. Crystal. $5. Runner. $5. Japanimation. $5. Jones. William Campbell. Nimoy. John Varley. River Norton 2. #19 Roger Corman. Gil Childhood's End. $6. Weller. Darrow. Koenig. Phoenix. Gerard. Sfar Wars. CE3K #66 Dark Crystal. #88 Terminator. #107 Henson. Tom Prowse. Bradbury. $50. Koenig. CD Barnes. B7 FX. $5. #43 Altered States FX. Frank Herbert. Schwarzenegger. Cruise. Dicks. W.D. EPGuide.flflFX4.$10. David Cronenberg. Frank Marshall. $5. Kelley 2. Keir Dullea. Richter. Jean M. Auel. #129 William Windom.Wil #20 Pam Dawber. Kirk Hulk EP Guide. $5. V. Dune. Gremlins. $6. ALIENS. $5. Wheaton. Robert Shayne. #148 Tony Jay. Julie Biehn. Alyn. Buck Rogers. #67 TRON. "Man Who Michael Cavanaugh. Newmar. Chaves. 5. Superman. $5. #44 Altered States. Killed Spock." Trek II FX. #89 Jane Badler. Helen #108 10th Anniversary. Starman. Robocop. $75. Warner. RR FX B7 EP Bob Balaban. $5. $5. Slater. Patrick Troughton. Roddenberry. Russell. G2.$125. #21 . Lost in Jim Cameron. Irish . Chuck #130 Tim Burton. Denise Space EP Guide. Buck #45 Peter Hyams. #68 007. Harve Bennett. McCalla. Starman. Jones. Michael Biehn. Crosby. Jack Larson. #149 Yvonne Craig. Rogers. $5. Thorn Christopher. Richard Maibaum. $5. Buckaroo Banzai. $5. Rod Taylor. David Pertwee. Munro. B&B. $5. . BTTF 2. Escape from NY. $5. Hedison. BTTF. V. $6. RR FX 6. $5. #22 Special FX careers. #69 Anthony Daniels. #90 Scheider. Karen #131 . Lome Greene. Veronica #46 Harry Hamlin. Tom Mankiewicz. Jed/. $5. Allen. Ironside. Dean #109 Sigourney Weaver. Hays. Geena Davis. #150 Ben Bova. Curt Siodmak. Dick. Nation. Cartwright. ALIEN. $5. Superman II. Greatest Stockwell.$200. Rare. Henson. Carpenter. Takei. Larson 2. B&B. Robocop. American Hero. $5. #70 Man from UNCLE. Ally Sheedy. Melanie $5. Zemeckis. Matheson. #23 Dan O'Bannon. Debbie Harry. Chris Lee. #91 Koenig. Michael Griffith. $5. Cameron. Johnson. $5. Prowse. Dr. Who. The #47 Takei. Sarah Douglas. John Badham.$5. Crichton. V Dune. #132 12th Anniversary. #151 Fox. Crosby. Day the Earth Stood Still. Doug Adams. Outland. $5. Terminator. $10. #110 Bradbury. Cameron. Howard. Alan Young. ALIEN. $5. #71 . Judson Cronenberg. Nimoy. RussTamblyn. Janet Matheson 2. Nichols. Jim #48 5th Anniversary. Bill Scott. Dan O'Bannon. V. #92 Carpenter. Tom Geena Davis. Bob Gale. Leigh. Colin Baker. Coburn. Gary Conway. #24 STARLOG'S 3rd Mumy. Ford. George $5. Selleck. Gilliam. Brazil. $5. Robocop. Roger Rabbit. Gary Graham. $5. Anniversary. William Lucas. Carpenter. $6. Barbarella. $5. Beetlejuice. STTNG FX. Shatner. Leonard Nimoy. #72 7th Anniversary. #1 1 1 Columbus. Sarah $6. #152 Leslie Stevens. $6. #49 . Bradbury, Hamill. Shatner. #93 Donner. Lithgow. Douglas. Nick Courtney. Gareth Hunt. Jay Adrienne Barbeau. Roger Moore. June John Hurt. Robert Martin Caidin. 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a

Critical kids—like young Allen—may quibble with its planetary atmospher- ics, but Questarians everywhere recall such GQ classics as "The Bivrakium Element."

lot of smart-ass dialogue as you would expect,

like that in Tremors or Ghostbusters, and it's a little more serious in tone than Men in Black'' Humorous improvements Allen's success as a stand-up comic in the 1980s led to the TV sitcom hit Home Improve- ment (which aired for eight years). In addition to starring in several movies {The Santa Clause, Jungle 2 Jungle and For Richer or Poorer), Allen voiced Buzz Lightyear for the computer-animated smash-hit Toy Story. And he found time to write two books, Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man and I'm Not Really Here. Besides Galaxy Quest, Allen has

reprised his role as Buzz in Toy Story 2, now in theaters.

The actor's love of science fiction is gen- uine. His bookshelves, he says, are lined with old issues of Galaxy magazine, and he has duplicates of Robby the Robot and Gort in his den. And he collects ALIEN memorabilia, too, so being cast opposite Galaxy Quest's Sigour- ney Weaver was a real treat for him. eminded that on the set of Quincy Taggart. Now Jason and the rest of the "ALIEN" he says, "is like Puff Daddy—

1 Galaxy Quest (page 38), show's cast have been taken into space by crossover artist. It was straight SF, but had a he said he liked science kindly aliens who think they really are space horrible alien. I ended up knowing half the

fiction, Tim Allen responds, "Well, 'like' is heroes. guys who did ALIEN, and I didn't know it at probably not a strong enough word. For me as "I wanted to do science fiction," Allen says, first. Some of the guys at Amalgamated who a boy, it combined my love of mechanical "I wanted to do an ensemble piece with great did The Santa Clause also did ALIEN. I had things with fantasy stuff. I didn't like The Hob- actors, and I wanted to do something different somebody take the H.R. Giger poster I bought bit kind of fantasy, because it didn't have for me—those were my prerequisites. The from the back pages of off the

enough cool shit in it. I really enjoyed science script we first read was much broader. The wall and take it to Sigourney to sign it, but of fiction." director, Dean Parisot, decided to treat it as course, she's Miss Smart Ass," he chortles.

This zeal couldn't have hurt his chances of though these people were taking themselves "I still think Ripley is such a strong charac- landing the lead role in DreamWorks' Galaxy very seriously. The movie itself is getting a lit- ter that she bypassed SF, and landed into the

Quest as Jason Nesmith, who once starred in tle scary for me because it's coming out so real. strong woman category." The character is so the TV series as the heroic Commander Peter It's a whole different perspective: there's not a strong, so iconic, Allen believes, that at times —

Mapping out a rescue mission, Allen is also in command as Buzz Lightyear, space hero, in Toy Story 2.

emu

it's hard for Weaver to shake her. "It's even hard for her personally not to turn into the hero in certain scenes we did. She would go, 'Lemme handle this,' and I would have to say,

'Whoops, you're not Ripley here; you're a lit- tle blonde with big boobs. That's what you wanted—don't change on us now.' But it was really hard for her not to be strong-willed like she is in ALIEN."

Allen is initially hesitant and a little shy when talking, but he slowly warms up. Many actors, including comics, are far more inse- cure than people might imagine; Allen is no different. So it was fun for him to play an actor playing his role in Galaxy Quest. "I have a lot of empathy for these people," he explains. "They get themselves into dire situations." Actually, it's Allen's character Nesmith who gets people into trouble. He thinks that all it takes to be a real hero is to act like one. "Well, I wasn't thinking," Allen says, more or less in persona as Nesmith. "Let's just go ahead with it—and I get these people into deep shit. Then, we have to go Quest's villain] Sards. actors like Weaver, Alan Rickman and Tony down to this planet, which is one surprise after "Jason is kind of a loser, and Peter Taggart Shalhoub. At one point, Jason has to admit to tortured another. It looks like ajoke when the pig-lizard is this fictional character he portrays. Jason has friendly alien Mathesar, who's being actor, comes after me, because it's a 'dumb-looking' to become the best of both; I become a hero by Sards, that he is actually an not a creature—but that's not the monster. Then the and transform into an OK guy. I was a jerk space hero. "We did this scene several times," blue babies look like a threat, but they're not before that, down on myself, not very confi- Allen explains, "and my natural inclination as the problem either. The problem is the Gorig- dent. Twenty years after the show went off the a comedian was to make jokes about this, but nak. All these names sound dumb until you see air, I haven't really done much with my life. Dean said let's not go that way. And it got pret- these things—TLM makes them kind of threat- Then boom, suddenly we have this chance ty damned serious, where I had to drum up ening. and it looks like I'm going to get everybody some situations from my past where I've had to like "Then it's fun trying to get off the planet, killed because of a mistake I make." apologize for terrible things I had done, I to and it's like, 'Just beam me up!' But I'm talk- when I wrecked my mom's car. had come ing to an actor, a Screen Actors Guild member, Questarians Forever up with stuff of that nature 12 or 13 times for who has never beamed anybody up. I come up, It's clear that shooting Galaxy Quest was one angle, then for close-ups. we save everything, and two seconds later, I'm something of an adventure for Allen, and he's "It was brutally hard on me, but afterward, getting my ass legitimately kicked by [Galaxy still a little amazed to be working opposite I'm getting some accolades from my fellow actors because they were in the same scene. "Even though there are problems because sorts of memories. I meet Buzz Lightyear from They're going, 'Nicely done!' —and this is of the location, a lot of late nights, movie stuff, the first movie; I play both characters," he says, Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver! For me, we got along. At least, I think so, until I read "with a split screen.

it's embarrassing to watch because it's so emo- their memoirs and learn they didn't like me as "The second movie is like your second tional. But once it starts, this whole scene starts much as I thought they did. I really enjoyed all child. It's a little easier the second time around moving; tells it's Dean me just flying. of these people tremendously. I appreciated because I know exactly what Buzz would do. It "You don't really know where the movie is their talent, their workload, their professional- is an odd thing to go, 'Buzz wouldn't say it like going," Allen says, "there's so much laughter ism and their sense of humor. Of course, this!' And I did say that sometimes, because he up front, and you love this situation with these between Daryl [Mitchell] and me, two comedi- was screaming a lot in this movie. 'Buzz goofos getting their due—then suddenly, ans, it was tough on these people who are vet- wouldn't scream like this. He wouldn't do this. there's " some threat here. These guys are going eran actors to have two guys just screwing Buzz is leaving the building now.' to get hurt." around all the time. But, that's my process, As before, Allen did his voice recording by Allen loved making the movie, and work- that's what I like to do. himself. "The sound is too critical," he points ing with this cast, finding out surprising things "Galaxy Quest has a wonderful tone to it. out. "You can't have another guy breathing "I about them. was going to say Sigourney is One of my favorite things is discovery, and it's into your mike. I think they would love to be really sexy, but that's not a surprise. But how just one big surprise after another. The dia- able to do it some other way, but another prob- pleased she was with her breasts was a big sur- logue is deliberately very cheesy because it's lem is scheduling, getting all of us into the fiction did for me WIS to open up my perspectives." prise. For Alan, it was just how funny he can all a bunch of TV has-beens. Because they same room for six hours at a time. That was be. And Tony, the depth of his character—it's hired great actors, the Thermians turn out to be almost impossible." real interesting to watch. Keep an eye on him. genuinely sympathetic, brilliant aliens that just He enjoyed working again with John Las- In scene, any he's doing something remark- have a color-blindness" when it comes to seter, who directed the first film and co-direct- able." understanding pretense. ed the second. "I think he has to think about his One of the aspects of science fiction Allen shirt selection," Allen quips of the often bright- loves the is its most ability to take you to places Beyond infinities ly clad filmmaker, "but other than that, he's a one has never been, and Galaxy Quest literally Then, of course, there's also Toy Story 2, wonderful director. There is nobody better for did that for him. "We shot the location scenes which grew from a straight-to-video sequel to Toy Story than John. He knows these charac- about 50 miles outside of Moab, Utah, way the hit to a major theatrical release itself (see ters, this is his baby. You have to have real con- into the Badlands—it's really alien-lookin' page 32). All the major voice characters return, fidence in your vocal ability, and John provides there. They built an alien town, so much of it is including, of course, Allen's Buzz Lightyear. that by constantly supporting you." real, and it has a texture that is wonderful. Then "Buzz is much more comfortable now," Allen Allen is not involved with the projected they could just do a matte for the sky to make it says. "He's not so involved in being a hero Buzz Lightyear TV show, and the terseness of look a little odd—and we were there! It wasn't Buzz is having a great time being a toy, being his one-word answers at this point indicates on a Hollywood set, it was out in the middle of what he's supposed to be. The problem is that he's not entirely happy about the situation, but Utah. he meets his alter-ego, and that brings up all doesn't want to explain it, beyond noting, "I

'•."•'••.••••••iV — •

Design & Layout: Rick Teng Photo: Linda R. Chen/Copyright 1999 Disney/Pixar

Irt Toy Story 2, both Alien and co-star Tom don't like anybody else doing Hanks reprise their Buzz's voice, but at this point, I computer-animated don't have the opportunity to do alter-ego buddies, Buzz it, so they had to do it with and Woody, from Toy someone else." Story (below). Although he never quite says so, Allen certainly gives interesting that the ships the impression that he was were so far in the future something of a loner as a child, that they used a propul- heavily into models, shop work sion system that didn't and the like. And this helped rely on aerodynamics, so build his love of SF. "For a the ships could look like shop/industrial education guy," anything. They reflected a he says, "science fiction is great. stylized version of what I don't mind fantasy, knights, was on the ground. dungeons and dragons, that sort "There's so much of thing, but SF, especially the about Dune that I like," he Larry Nivens who were very adds. "The houses, the technical about it, made it real accouterments that they for me. wore, and that it's like "I remember a series of B science they almost forgot about atomic fiction books, but I can't recall the power. 'Gurney! When the storm titles right now. One of them was hits, I want the atomics!' The about a paramedics crew in a world atomics were like a weird thing where, on the freeways, which were a they didn't use much any more." mile-and-a-half wide, you could do On the other hand, that criti- 200 to 300 miles an hour. The book cal kid does lurk within the adult was Code Blue or something like Allen. "Star Wars got a little that." (This is almost certainly Code Mickey Mouse, sometimes," he Three by Rick Raphael.) He mentions claims. "George Lucas' worlds his special fondness for Niven's were fabulous, the big shots from "hard" SF several times, something space—he's as good as anybody that delighted Niven himself when he at creating a world, but it's kind was told of Allen's affection for his of bubble-gum when you get work. there." And despite his love of As he's being interviewed, Allen ALIEN, he says, "ALIENS didn't switches to a cordless phone and float my boat. The original float- wanders over to his bookcase. "Of ed it, because it's like a magic course, I have Jules Verne; I have an trick—you saw just enough of original edition of 20,000 Leagues the Alien to make it frightening. I

Under the Sea, and an original book had to draw it, then I bought the by Albert Einstein. And all these old model right away to see what it Galaxy magazines," he muses. "Oh looked like." man, the covers of Galaxy, the worlds It's clear that Allen's not only they created. The Man Who Couldn't optimistic about Galaxy Quest, 9 Sleep? What the hell is this? Charles Eric Invaders for a while, too, but then it turned into but that he thinks it turned out to be both better * Maine. The Isotope Man, A Stir of Echoes.." Gilligan's Island or The Beverly Hillbillies—it than he expected, and something different. "I He trails off, obviously in the "Ms" of his was an ongoing thing, you're never going to t really invested in this once I knew where it was library. get to the end of it. It's like The X-Files— going and saw some of the dailies. It's beauti- * "What science fiction did for me was to you're never going to get to the end of that fully shot. My dream is ALIEN, legitimate SF. open up my perspectives," he continues. "You show. I like a resolution." Galaxy Quest has an element of comedy to it, have to be the kind of guy who likes mechani- and an element of SF, straighter than I expect- cal things—or at least that was true for me Galactic Quests ed, so I'm very surprised. for it to have an impact, to feel that these The hardware of science fiction, the reality "I can't think of another movie that sug- worlds were possible. It brought me through a of alien worlds—these are what appealed to gests how fake actors really are, and what kind very, uh—I wouldn't say isolated time of my the young Allen. "I like the Star Trek movies," of jeopardy we're putting everybody in life—but I liked hobbies, model cars and he admits, but mainly "I liked the fact that it because of our egos. I can't think of another model ships. The Gemini and Apollo pro- was a new kind of spaceship, and all movie that suggests that in the same way: we

grams, suddenly, it was real, what these guys that. The planet sequences on the TV series really are putting everybody in danger because were talking about was reaV. were cheesy to me. And they never had space- of an absolute blindness to our careers. You

"I remember how excited I was to see First suits. Every planet had the right pressure and have to see how cheesy we act together as

Spaceship on Venus; it isn't that bad of a movie atmosphere, and as a kid, I'm saying, Ah, actors; there's a lot of back-biting between

still. There was a whole genre of movies that that's bullshit. It's very unlikely that would us—then suddenly we must work together. came out about the same time that were so ever happen.' I was a very critical kid; 'fakey' And there are some big surprises about who

exciting. Star Trek, though, wasn 't my favorite, was a word that came out of my mouth a lot. dies and how much damage is done by us." because it wasn't set enough on planets—too "I love Dune," he says. "I saw it again the Tim Allen still hopes to make a straight SF much character for me. Like the way Stephen other night, and some of the effects do not hold film someday—and because Dean Parisot King sometimes gets way into the guy's char- up very well. It's like, 'We gotta show the made Galaxy Quest a bit more serious than acter. As a kid, I wanted to get to the damned spaceships somewhere, but we don't have any everyone was expecting, it may be the half-

adventure! I liked Battlestar Galactica for a more money, so take a cigar and put it against a way point between comedy and science fiction while, until they ran out of money. I liked The backdrop.' " But he did like the designs. "It was drama for everyone. a

As Rick O'Connell, Brendan Fraser played a two-fisted hero ready for anything— whether fighting the undead or just hanging around get- ting executed.

By IAN SPELLING

Fraser and movies based rel are still animated). A Fraser-less Sherman We don't really know where he comes from," Brendanon Jay Ward cartoons seem to & Peabody flick is in the works. explains the actor. "We just know that Dudley's go together like Laurel and "I'm not in Rocky & Bullwinkle, and I was a young man who always wanted to be a Hardy, bacon and eggs, R2-D2 a little concerned about that," Fraser teases. Mountie. We meet him first in his basement as I and C-3PO. Fraser, the tall "Nan, I'm sure that will be a great movie. I a small boy with aspirations to be a Mountie.

| and athletic star of everything hadn't heard that they're doing Sherman & He has his own little Mountie outfit and his " from Encino Man and Air- Peabody. I'll have to check into that. I've own little Mountie office. So, the premise is heads to The Mummy and always adored Jay Ward cartoons. I didn't even fun. He screws everything up, and he has been Gods and Monsters, rose to know why at the time, because I was very sent so far north that he can't screw up any- major stardom in the hit live-action version of young when I first saw them. When I watched thing else, until Snidely Whiplash [Alfred Ward's George of the Jungle. And with Dudley them as an adult, I realized that they were actu- Molina] shows up. He steals everything, Do-Right (due out this month on video), Fraser ally stinging satire. They're subversive com- including Dudley's girl, Nell Fenwick [Sarah returns to Ward-land. mentaries that could get right under the Jessica Parker]. Naturally, Fraser has no intention of cor- censor's nose. They were cutting-edge for "In the grand Jay Ward tradition of dumb nering the market on live-action Ward charac- 1961-1973, like South Park for its day." luck, I'm a guy who's duty-bound, means well ters. That leaves Jason Alexander (as Boris and always screws up. Dudley will win at the

Badenov), Rene Russo (Natasha Fatale) and Mountie Rightest day's end, but it will be through a circuitous Robert De Niro (Fearless Leader) to tackle Fraser, of course, is Dudley Do-Right. "As route and with the help of his sidekick— Rocky & Bullwinkle (though Moose and Squir- I play him, we don't know if he's a Canadian. horse named Horse. My take on Dudley came

58 STARLOG/faraary 2000 ley. Does Fraser think it's helpful to have one person handling both assignments? "At the same time, Hugh is such a brilliant "Usually," the actor responds. "Sometimes writer that I wouldn't want to make sugges-

it can be a detrimental thing, because you're tions on how to improve on his material. His locked into a specific vision and the person background is in TV. He did The Mary Tyler

can't be swayed from it. 'This is mine. I'm Moore Show and WKRP in Cincinnati [which the auteur. Don't touch my precious work.' Wilson created]. He writes dialogue that makes Stephen wants people's ideas. But he's not a you kill yourself laughing." weakling. He knows what works and what Do-Right was a box-office dud, thrown doesn't. He'll listen and say no if he doesn't away by Universal with scant marketing atten-

agree. He'll try things on the set. I was so tion, so there won't be a sequel. Likewise, impressed with him. Fraser believes it's unlikely he'll don a loin-

i "I got to vicariouslv live but the thrill of a lifetime." cloth again for a George of the Jungle follow-up. "I wanted to

do George because I thought it would have mass appeal," he

notes. "I thought I could bring my abilities to work on charac- ters from a physical stand-

point. I love physical comedy and George provided a chance to incorporate that into a char-

acter. To tell you the truth, I think Dudley Do-Right is my George of the Jungle sequel. I His gre; was never committed to a

was a Mountie, and sequel. I can speculate that that's reason one they'll do a Baby George Fraser wanted to be straight-to-video film or some- Dudley Do-Right. thing like that. Disney will probably pick up the reins and do something without me." from a personal place. I've Mummy Dearest always admired Mounties. As a And now to Fraser' s genre Canadian, Mounties have always pictures from the recent past, stood for something very specif- namely The Mummy and Gods ic to me—authority and a sense and Monsters. The Mummy, a of benevolence. And that crim- playful $80 million revamp of son coat demands attention and the classic Imhotep saga, casts respect. My great-grandfather Fraser as Rick O'Connell, the was a Mountie." adventurer who battles the As was the case on The Mummy (Arnold Vosloo) and Mummy, Fraser found himself gets the girl (Rachel Weisz). on the Dudley Do-Right set The film benefitted from nat- being put through his paces by a ural chemistry between Fraser writer-director. Stephen Som- and Weisz and from superb FX mers wore both hats on The (the scarabs, sandstorms and Mummy and Hugh Wilson, who the O'Connell-vs.-the- directed Fraser in the charming Mummy's-minions sequence box-office misfire Blastfrom the were visual marvels). Gods Past, tackled both jobs on Dud- and Monsters was, by compar-

" January 2000 59 Gods and Monsters focused on the relation- ship between the aging filmmaker James Whale (Sir Ian McKellen) and his gardener (Fraser).

The Oscar recogni- tion that Gods and Monsters gained was a milestone in Fraser's life.

she has a beautiful presence on screen. Fraser loved the broad, "The Mummy pays physical, tree-smashing, homage to the genre animalistic comedy of George of the Jungle. without sending it up.

We do it with a bit of a

wink and a nod. You shot. I got to work with a terrific cast. There have to have that was also the idea of Universal of doing a rein- because there's a super- vention of a beloved horror character. They

natural element to the wanted to do it right and, in my opinion, The

material. It has to be Mummy definitely delivers the goods, given its something of a horror production values, the work of ILM, the actors

movie. So, every time and the locations. I said yes to all of that." you sting the audience ison, a tiny drama about a hunky gardener's with a good scare—which Stephen is really Monkey Godliest (Fraser) relationship with James Whale (Sir good at—you've got to feed them a little bit of As for Gods and Monsters: "I was working Ian McKellen), the aging, gay director of comedy. You've got to let them know, there's a with Ian McKellen and Lynn Redgrave on a

Frankenstein, The Invisible Man and The Bride joke, to let them off the hook." project about James Whale. That is a film," he of Frankenstein. Fraser merited critical praise Is it true, as Fraser has been quoted else- raves. "That is an experience. That's why I for his understated performance, while McK- where as saying, that he actually yearned to wanted to be a part of it. Yes, it was a delightful ellen and Lynn Redgrave earned Oscar nomi- play the Mummy? "I was being selfish," he surprise that it did so well. Not bad for a $2.8 nations, and writer-director Bill Condon won a explains. "I was probably making a joke. million movie shot over 28 days in a broken- Best Adapted Screenplay statuette for his Everyone heard that I was doing The Mummy down part of Hollywood. Not bad for a film script. and thought that I was the Mummy. I knew that was overlooked at the Sundance Film Fes-

"Actors are supposed to be able to play different roles."

"I was delighted that The Mummy was dif- they wouldn't let me play the Mummy. And I tival. It wasn't even screened in regular compe- ferent from any previous Mummy movie," the was pretty happy to play Rick O'Connell tition at Sundance. It was overlooked by every actor says. "We paid homage to Mummy because he's a fellow who can pretty much be company in town for distribution. God bless movies, but took it in a different direction. It anyone and do anything. He seemed to be a the Canadians, Lions Gate, who stepped up to helped that we had such a good actress in battle-worn soldier. It's a screenwriting tactic the plate and championed it. It's a real success

Rachel. She gave voice to all of this exposition, to let the hero be tough enough to survive his story. It's a film that the critics and reporters and she did it in a way that gently entertained own death early in the film [during the hanging who saw it championed. They said, 'Why is and yet reminded people of something they sequence]. You had to believe that he was up to this not getting the attention it deserves?' They already knew. In essence, she was the brains the task of fighting the Mummy. gave it the impetus it needed. The Oscar recog- and I was the brawn of the film. It was played "I said yes to everything. I got to vicarious- nition that it received was a milestone in my for humor. I would stand around loading my ly live out the thrill of a lifetime, playing a For- life. I shared that moment [Condon's accep- gun while she was trying to figure out what to eign Legionnaire in a film that's set in the same tance speech] with Ian, Lynn and Bill." do next. Rachel was so winning and game, and neighborhood where Lawrence of Arabia was Fraser has just wrapped work on Monkey-

60 STAKLOG/January 2000 Do-Right may be a screw-up, Fraser theo- rizes, but that doesn't stop him from winning the heart of Nell Fenwick (Sarah Jessica Parker).

With a wink and a nod, The Mummy paid humorous homage to Univer- sale classic hor- rors, delighting Fraser and co-star Rachel Weisz.

bone, in which he co-stars with basically playing a man pos- Bridget Fonda and Dave Foley sessed by his creation, a cartoon under the direction of Henry 0. spirit." Selick. "I think that Nightmare Next up for Fraser is a roman- Before Christmas and James tic comedy in which The Wedding and the Giant Peach certainly Planner finally finds the right guy proved that Henry has a highly (Fraser, of course), only to dis- unique vision," he says. "It's cover he's the groom-to-bc in the crazy. It's based on a comic latest ceremony she's master- book novel called Dark Town, minding. Fraser's plans beyond which was about a man with his that are hazy. He may travel imagination in a suitcase. He's A round the World in 80 Days for a working his way through this new take on the Jules Verne clas- H.R. Pufnstufkind of world, try- sic, or he may return in a sequel to ing to get to a phone booth to The Mummy, now in the works. make a call to his wife, to tell Monkeybone advances the her that he's OK and he's com- theory that Fraser—who will also ing home. In the world of the soon be heard as a voice in the Although Fraser doesn't expect to stop jungle traffic again as living, find the wife keeping animated 3-D movie Sinbad: we George (here with Leslie Mann), Disney is developing a sequel vigil over the bed of her hus- Beyond the Veil of Mist—can't band, who is in a coma. He has been in this "On the eve of this great success, he's possibly be typecast, that there's no such mon- coma so long that she's contemplating having involved in an ironic accident in a phone booth. ster as a "Brendan Fraser role" or a "typical his life support turned off. He gets clobbered by a telephone pole and Brendan Fraser film." "I suppose that I'm just "That basic story inspired Henry to huddle goes into a coma. Along the way, he encoun- more interested in having a diverse slate of with [screenwriter] Sam Hamm and write ters his cartoon creation, Monkeybone, a small films, because it will teach me more about the Monkeybone, and to add a new character. In Capuchin monkey that's a CGI and stop- different types of movies that are being made. our film, an artist is plagued with a sleep disor- motion animation creation. He has a big mouth One day I would like to produce my own der that gives him nightmares that influence his and a lot of attitude. work," the actor reveals. "If you make the same art. He learns to draw with his left hand and he "Together, Monkeybone and I go into this kind of movie every time, the audience is going becomes an animator and cartoonist. He place called Down Town, a broken-down car- to come to expect that. Actors are supposed to becomes a normal-functioning human being. nival world populated by creatures from be able to play different roles, to do different

And he's funny. But it tortures him artistically mythology and pop culture. I bide my time films. You have to make an effort. The thing to because, in a way, he's selling out. His cartoon there and I cheat Death, who's played by do is turn your heel. When people perceive you series has been picked up for a great number of Whoopi Goldberg, but the monkey is diaboli- in one way, show them something else and broadcasts by a network. cal and slowly tries to take me over. So, I'm make them eat their words."

.... SIARLOG/Januarv 2000 61

' ome actresses get to play ijf , but Natalie Port- ^|^^ man will be playing Queen Ami- ^^H^ dala of Naboo for a decade. ^Jr That's how long it will be '^^r until she completes the new Star Wars trilogy. And that's a concept scari- er than facing all of Darth Sidious' hordes.

"When I was offered the films, I took a long time to decide whether I was going to do them or not," recalls the talented, 18- year-old star of The Professional, Heat, Beautiful Girls and Mars Attacks! "That was for two major reasons. One was the commit- ment: I was signing at age 14 for at least 10 years. That's a huge thing to do at any age. When you're 14 and you don't know what you're going to do the next day, you're not really jumping at the opportunity to sign away your life until you're 24. That was the first consideration. The second one, obvi- ously, is that The Phantom Menace is so big.

When you do any sort of big film, it changes your life. You become more recognizable. It makes your life much more difficult. But it presented so many opportunities. It seemed like I would have the best summer ever. So I could it? For her journey to a galaxy far, far they could be easily taken on and off, said yes." away, Portman sported numerous hairstyles because if you have to go to the bathroom at And did Portman have a summer of fun? and eight heavy, highly stylized costumes, some point during the day, you can't spend "It was so much harder than I expected," and figured in many of the film's 2,100-plus five hours for a bathroom break. The hair and she admits, "although it was really nice to special FX shots. "The outfits are so beauti- makeup usually took about two, two-and-a- work with everyone. All of the other actors ful. Even when I was wearing them, I real- half hours, but the costumes took 15 min- were very cool and George Lucas was won- ized how wonderful they were," Portman utes." derful, but it was very hard. We worked real- notes. "Trisha Biggar did one of the most In terms of performing opposite people ly long days. We were in the desert a long amazing jobs, if not the most amazing job and things that weren't actually there, of time. I had to wear not the greatest costumes. ever, on film costume design. They're mag- having much of the movie inserted after the People have done harder things for money, nificent. [Concept artist Ian McCraig] drew fact, it all caught Portman by surprise. "I but it wasn't as big a breeze as I thought it pictures for Trisha and she made them a real- didn't recognize 99 percent of the settings," would have been. I thought it would just be ity. It's rare when you can look at a picture, she explains. "It was really weird to do, and this flighty action movie." then find the fabrics and put it all together. I didn't realize how weird it was until I saw Trisha really did some unbelievable and the movie. I saw myself walking around Royal Flash original things. The costumes are one of the places I had never been to, places that had Though the actress counts among her most special parts of the movie. been totally fabricated. It was a really differ- credits Tim Burton's SF extravaganza Mars "I wasn't the happiest of people having to ent skill [to master] as an actor. It's a huge Attacks!, that single experience barely pre- wear the Senate costume with the big hair- exercise in imagination. Not only do you pared her for The Phantom Menace. How piece, however. The outfits were made so have to imagine what your character is think-

STARI .()( WJanuary 2000 63 Although Portman isn't an SF buff, she did find work on The

Phantom Menace "really fun. It was a nice experience." And one she'll repeat in Star Wars:

Episode II.

production to further distinguish between Padme and Amidala. George worked with me a lot on my acting, which surprised me because people warned me [that he doesn't

actually direct all that much]. I don't know where people get that idea. "Although he's a very technical director and he knows that stuff, George has very wide- spread talent as a director. He can do every- thing. He's also really cool about making

strong women characters. I don't think he does

it consciously. He's the kind of guy who views women as equals and really makes them strong characters in his movies. I was thrilled to get to be the really smart and in-control one, and to kick some butt at the day's end, too. "Liam is very kind and reserved. He's a very classy man and such a great actor. He had just finished filming Les Miserables and he hopped over and started Star Wars the next day. It was amazing to watch him work. He was very good to me. If I was having a bad day, he would talk to me and cheer me up. Jake was a little on the set, just running around, ing and feeling, but you have to imagine what's Neeson heads the cast as Jedi Knight Qui- being happy and playing. When you work with around you. It's like a little kid playing with a Gon Jinn, and McGregor is his loyal appren- kids that young, you get scared that they'll be cardboard box and pretending it's a horse or a tice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Lloyd portrays young obnoxious stage kids corrupted by the busi- spaceship. That's what I was doing." Anakin Skywalker while Ian McDiarmid ness. And Jake wasn't like that at all. He's a Fortunately, Portman had Lucas, Liam reprises his Jedi role as Palpatine and Best total kid. He was playing with droids and con- Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Jake Lloyd, Ian brings to life the controversial Jar Jar Binks. stantly telling us riddles. One of the great McDiarmid and Ahmed Best around to lean "George was really wonderful to work things about his performance is how sponta- on, talk to, ask help from, joke with and share with," Portman raves. "When I got there my neous it is. There are all these moments where experiences as the film came together at first day, we started to rehearse. George was he just makes this great face or moves a certain Leavesden Studios outside , on loca- the one who suggested the voice and the way that's so in the moment. He really adds a tion in Naples, Italy and in the Tunisian desert. accent. I had a dialect coach to work with me lot to the film. Lucas, of course, wrote the film, hand-picked on making up a kind of accent that we called "Ewan is the heartthrob in the movie, and Portman and put her through her paces as she 'the Lauren Bacall,' that had no specific accent. he's a wonderful actor," Portman continues. played the dual roles of Amidala and her Then we worked on deepening my voice, "And Ian was awesome. He's such a great decoy, the handmaiden Padme. which was deepened [electronically] in post- actor. I loved what he did in the movie. We

64 STARLOGX/anwary 2000 already in motion, preparing to lense Episode II next summer in Australia. Beyond exploring the continued develop- ment of Kenobi, the second adventure will spotlight the burgeoning love between Amidala and Anakin. "They're finding someone now [to play Anakin], who I assume will be about 18," Portman says. "I'm really looking forward to the next two. You work together for three months on a film and you form these rela- tionships, then you never see the people again. Usually, you just don't have the

chance. With Star Wars, I'll get to see the crew and many of the cast members again."

Natalie Portman is obviously a bright young woman and an actress likely to blossom into a major star who will be around for decades to come. Yet, she reveals the kid in her when offering her assessment of The Phantom Menace. "It's

really didn't talk a lot about Return ofthe Jedi. Now we know why We talked more about theater and his acting royalty always company in England. He was very supportive. looks so dour. "I Ahmed is just so funny, and he always had us wasn't the

laughing. I actually still see a lot of him, happiest of people to wear the because we both live in New York." having Senate costume," Queen Daze Portman remarks. And now for a big secret: Portman isn't really an SF fan. "I haven't seen any SF movies besides Star

Wars, and I only saw it when I was offered the role in The Phantom Menace" the actress admits with a nervous laugh. "SF just wasn't a part of my life. I grew up in an Israeli house- hold, so Star Wars wasn't a big part of my

family tradition. I just never happened to see

it. When I did see Star Wars, I was really excit-

ed by it. I thought it was a fun twice. I had to take it all in again.

and entertaining film. I like There were whole scenes that movies that have meaning on didn't even enter into my mind

different levels. Star Wars can the first time I saw it. I was just so just be entertainment or it can amazed by all the scenery that I

be a way of life, as some peo- got distracted. I had to see it twice

ple have made it." to really get it.

Portman is equally happy "I'm proud of my work on the with The Phantom Menace. film. And I'm really proud of the "It was really fun," she says. film itself. But there is a different "The audience response was sense of accomplishment at the cool. Everybody just had a end because I feel it has nothing

good time and didn't take it to do with me. The movie is as

too seriously. It was a nice amazing as it is because of all the

experience. I love it because artists who worked on it. I read Mars Attacks'. But as Portman can attest, Tim Burton's Martian invader my fans are now 10-year-old somewhere that Ewan said, 'Peo- flick was thwarted by the littlest things on Earth—its box office boys and girls instead of 40- ple worked for two years in pre- earnings. year-old men!" production, four months in

The heavily licensed film spawned all sorts KFC. I was like, 'This is unreaV. It's frustrat- production and two years in post-production. of merchandise—action figures, T-shirts, ing, but that's what the movie is about. It's a So you can see how important [the actors']

countless toys. Portman was a bit dismayed by big marketing extravaganza type deal, and I roles are in it.' I think that's one of the most

a few of the items emblazoned with her like- knew that when I was getting into it." appropriate things to say about it. Clearly, the ness. "Someone told me Queen Amidala was Last month, Portman returned to Earth to actors are getting the most attention, but this

on little boys' underwear, but I haven't seen share the screen with Susan Sarandon in Any- movie is the artists' movie, and it is just unbe- them in person yet. That's odd," she observes. where but Here, the new film from director lievable what they did. I really have no prob- "The strangest place I saw my face was defi- Wayne Wang. And she recently wrapped her lem bragging about the movie, because I had

nitely Kentucky Fried Chicken, on a big poster. first on-screen romance (Where the Heart Is nothing to do with it. I'm like, 'It's so good! I'm a total vegetarian, animal rights, and which co-stars Ashley Judd). However, outer It's so cool!' and I don't feel I'm bragging they've got this big poster of me advertising space beckons. The Lucasfilm machine is because it's not me at all." -Se

STARLOG/Tam/ary 2000 65 ' j4 F/ Hp in

fi 14 J

ft •

^HMBMB^^ obert Anthony Salvatore this done, and we think you're the guy to do V is more than familiar Fantasy it.' I was hesitant because I was very busy at m with fantastic worlds, the time. I'm supposed to do a Dark Elf'book jHHgPr whether they be TSR's and a Demon Wars book every year, and I did or his ^f^^fck novelist not really want to do it. But they impressed K «k own creations like the upon me how important it was, to the point ^JBy^ world of Corona, site of where my next Demon Wars book would get '^^^^^^ ff^B. the Demon Wars R.A. backed up a month so I would have time to series. But when Del Rey Books want- write this Star Wars book. Then Terry ed him to write Vector Prime, a new Brooks—who wrote the novelization of The hardcover novel that takes place in a Salvatore Phantom Menace—called me up and said, " galaxy far, far away—and starts the 'Bob, are you crazy? This is Star WarsV New Jedi Order, the latest chapter in heralds the a Star Wars saga—he very nearly Jedi Rites refused. It wasn't just this voice of reason that con- "In August 1998, I got a call from New Jedi vinced him, however. "The decision to do it [Del Rey editor] Shelly Shapiro, whom was made easier," he continues, "when I I've wanted to work with for a long time,' explained I hadn't read any of the Star Wars Salvatore explains. "She said, 'I need to get books and wasn't about to sit down and read

66 STARLOG/Jatmary 2000 mmmmmm — — 8

Vector Pr/me, in bookstores, con- now more star fighter scenes! It's such j tinues the saga 21 years after Return a kick, because you're thinking in J of the Jedi. Now, a Atew Jet// Order is so many dimensions and places coming into being. _STA | of potential interference." them all. The answer to that was, 'Beauti- Other than unfamiliarity ful! That's exactly what we want: A com- with the expanded Star Wars pletely fresh voice. You've seen the movies; THE NEW JEDI ORDER Universe, Salvatore says, "Ini- I $ & all we want is someone who can make tially, the difficult part was just those movies come to life again. We don't having the guts to go ahead and want you caught up in all the books' details; write for the characters. I was 1 we'll have consistency editors who'll feed when I saw Star Wars, and now

^ writing it it's very intimidat- I you information as you go along.' .* . * * T?*- .. i. I'm — "You see, Del Rey did not want to just ing. The second difficulty was that continue Bantam Books' Star Wars series. although there are so many named

planets, I had to resist the urge to keep going back to places that had been seen "When you before in the books. Lucasfilm would come back with all these suggestions, read Vector and I would say, 'No, let's get some- thing fresh,' so there was a constant Prime , you attempt to find a balance between giv- ing readers the familiar and the new. It should feel was challenging. Galaxies, for exam- ME) ple, have millions of planets, so it's the way you kind of ridiculous to keep going back felt when R. A. SALVATDRE to the same four. I created a bunch of new ones. you "The easy part was, once I fell into the writing, those characters % watched were so alive for me already," he I continues. "I really enjoyed it much Star Wars. more than I thought I was going to When you read Vector Prime, you They wanted to be consistent with the should feel the way you felt when you Bantam books and wanted to make sure watched Star Wars. If you don't, then they didn't nullify the Bantam series, but I've failed. When you read Leia, Han they wanted something fresh and new. Solo or Luke Skywalker talking, you Fisher, Harrison They also wanted a book where people should hear Carrie Ford or Mark Hamill's voices. But I who hadn 't read any of the Bantam series to project these people into the could jump right in. You don't have to also had they're not the same people have read anything before this. All you future, and the movies. I mean, when I first have to do is accept the fact that Han and from character I most Leia are married and have twin 16-year- saw Star Wars, the Luke: an 18-year- olds [Jacen and Jaina] and a 14-year-old identified with was that the [Anakin], and that Luke's married to old kid, very idealistic, upset he thinks it Mara Jade, a character who you probably universe isn't the way be, and a little bit perplexed by won't know if you hadn't read the books. should determined to try to make it That's fine, though, because you're going that, but he has all the to meet her in Vector Prime. But there that way, because and I know I aren't a million references to things that answers. But now I'm 40, of the answers. I have a happened in Vision of the Future or even don't have any 15-year-old, a 14-year-old and a 12- Heir to the Empire. We're looking for- into ward, not back." year-old, so I certainly got Han relationship with Jacen, Set 21 years after Return of the Jedi, Solo and his very real Vector Prime concerns the latest threat to Jaina and Anakin that was 's tenuous peace. to me." Salvatore's Demon Wars addresses the aspects of Accompanied by Mara Jade, Jaina and evil. Is the demon the spawn of man's corruption or a C-3PO, Princess Leia travels to the plan- New Orders manifestation of the force which plagues humanity? character required more ets Rhommamool and Osarian, where Still, one Nom Amor's incendiary rhetoric has brought reasons why Del Rey [chose] fantasy writers work than others did. "Before I started writ- on-line message the worlds to the brink of civil war. While the like Mike Stackpole, Troy Denning and me to ing, I checked out some people novel represents Salvatore's first foray into do the New Jedi Order books." boards and found out that many Skywalker. People science fiction, he admits having difficulty in As for writing in the Star Wars Universe, "I weren't happy with Luke I can certainly sym- viewing Star Wars as strictly SF. "Science fic- don't think it was a stretch for me at all in that were finding him whiny. I get the same thing tion really depends on science and technology, regard. I had to be more attentive to things like pathize with that, because character, Drizzt Do'Ur- and what could be. T m not sure I consider Star the laws of physics, but choreographing battle about my Dark Elf Wars more science fiction than fantasy scenes with was amazing—they're den. When you have a character who stays that whiny. I instead of sword fights, you have lightsaber some of my favorite parts of the book," Salva- good, after a while, people call to Luke philosophical fights, and the Force is more like magic than tore says. "I had to get the lightsaber battles in was determined make judgmental and whiny. The way anything scientific. I think that's one of the there, too, but I found myself wanting to do without being — OjJh il Ml L. Midi I rUlldOf\

Author of The Forgotten Realms* novels In the Wars, over- Demon good can that's my own and completely under my come evil—but only at great cost. control either to make wonderful or screw up. At one point, I had contemplated an X-

I see Luke is that he, probably above any- Files book because I thought it was such a one else in the universe at this point in well-written series, but off the top of my time, understands the universe. He is Obi- head, no, I don't have an urge to write for Wan Kenobi now. He's very content with anything else that's someone else's license. his place in the galaxy." It's a matter of control—not answering to But before Salvatore could write Vector anybody else but your own sense of story- Prime, he had to get his story outline telling. There's something nice about being approved by Del Rey and Lucasfilm. able to be the god of a world." "They told me the overall story arc that they had in mind for the New Jedi Order, Demon Wares basically I had to get from Point A to Point When Salvatore last spoke to STARLOG

; B, and however I got there was up to me, exactly five years ago (issue #209), the first except for a few plot points they wanted me Demon Wars book, The Demon Awakens, to incorporate. Many of the new weapons, was in the works. Since then, two other nov- frightening and otherwise, are mine. I used els, The Demon Spirit and The Demon Apos- the Star Wars Encyclopedia and the Essen- tle, have also been published. The series tial Guides to get reference points and takes place on Corona, "a medieval world material on the hardware. The only thing I dominated by a church," the writer elabo- felt constrained by was having a dozen pro- rates, "much like our own, the biggest tagonists. I usually don't like that many, exception being magical gemstones. Most of but that was one of the necessary ingredi- the magic in this world is based on gem- ents in the first book of the series. By the stones that fall from an equatorial ring about time I started, I had a general understand- the planet. The only ones who know how to ing of what Extended Universe Star Wars get these gemstones and treat them so they'll was all about. And if the details were off, retain their magic over the years are the there were people who would tell me why monks of the Abellican Church, hence gem- something didn't work; they would tell me stones become the basis for religion, power that a character I had on the Senate had and wealth on Corona. A dating sorcery *%enture by the bestsetihta author died six years ago, that sort of thing. basic t of Echoes of Ihe Fourth Magic v "The question that's asked in the outline "My essentially underwent a first book's beginning is: Is the demon the questioning process, where they were physical manifestation of the evil that taints grilling me on everything. They didn't men's hearts, or is the demon the result of know who I was and what I was all about. corruption in men's hearts? Demon Wars bet they You gave me the third degree follows three separate aspects of that evil: they questioned every line, paragraph and the physical manifestation, the temptations page of that outline. They're very serious taken down wrong roads by people and the about controlling the quality of the product inner corruption of very powerful figures. that goes out in their universe, and I can The Demon Apostle is very brutal, probably respect that. It pleasure was a working with the most brutal book I've ever written in them, because I found people like Lucy terms of good overcoming evil, but not with- Autrey Wilson, Sue Rostoni and Howard out a huge price. In many ways, it was a very Roffman, people who deeply cared about sad book. I got some angry letters from peo- the product, and if I wasn't going to be any ple, who wrote back a week later saying good, they didn't want me to have anything thank you. They were mad because they to do with it. There were a few things they were in mourning, and that's the kind of said I couldn't do, but the outline went anger a writer loves to hear, because you right through. It was very difficult at first, know you did your job." but once they realized I was serious, they Salvatore recently completed Mortalis, let me go, and the rewrite was wonderful. I the fourth Demon Wars novel. "It's about the have this philosophy of working with edi- plague and will be the bridge to the Second tors: they can make me work as hard as Demon War," he explains. "I've been going they want, so long as the end result is bet- a through a pretty tough time in my life the ter product. Vector Prime first to went past two years, had a lot of devastating ill- Shelly Shapiro, and I rewrote it to her stan- nesses in the family. In Mortalis, I took all dards. Then it went to Lucasfilm they and the pain I've been feeling, and it's almost hit us with rewrites, maybe five to 10 per- like I could feel it just pouring out of my cent of the book. But I'm convinced that at body onto the paper. When I sent it to my the day's end, it's better a book because of Despite 33 books under his belt, Salva- editor, I said to her, "This is either incredibly those edits, and that's all I really ever ask out tore notes, "I've never loved the writing self-indulgent or incredibly good, and I'm too of editors." more than I do now." close to it to tell which.' She loves it, there's As of now, Salvatore's future involvement really not even going to be a rewrite. with the New Jedi Order consists of a book Still, Salvatore's not exactly eager to write "This is what I need out of my writing tour promoting Vector Prime. I "I think could for another licensed media product. "It's not now. It can't just be a job that gets me a pay- write more books in it 1 wanted to. (/ They something I want to make a habit of," he check—I have no desire for that anymore. would probably stick me in here or there, but all admits. "Of the things I'm doing right now, There's too much pain in this business for it to I'm so busy right now with a Drizzt book and the thing I feel the best about is the Demon be just about money. Every time I write a a Demon Wars every year." book Wars series, because I'm creating something book, I feel like I'm giving a little part of

68 STARLOG/January 2000 Silent Art: Todd Lockwood

The Sew York Times Best-Setting Saga Continues!

With The Silent Blade, Salvatore ranzen, the city located miles returned to his Dark Elf characters as below the Realms' surface. "Jar- they reassessed their lives. laxle is a very ambiguous charac- myself away, and there's just no way I'm ter, and Entreri's not maliciously going to do that if I'm not growing in the evil; he's professionally evil. I process. I'm trying to explore many different mean, he kills people. Now he types of writing within fantasy at this point, has his own code of honor, and and success has allowed me to take chances. I he honestly believes he never just can't sit down and write another killed anyone who didn't deserve

'whirling scimitars' Drizzt book right now, it, but his definition of 'deserve' and there's no reason for it. If you want to wouldn't exactly fit the legal defin- read that, go read books one through 10 in the ition of self-defense. F m not trying to series. We will see whirling scimitars again, glorify what they do in any way, so it's but they will not be the book's focus. Drizzt a difficult book to write. If a book does will be the focus of a book again. Of course not challenge me now, doesn't bring he will be—I love the character." something new to the table, then I have Salvatore freely admits he took a break no desire to write it. I'm halfway through from the Dark Elf'books to create his Demon my 33rd book. There has to be a reason Wars series. "I was voluntarily giving up a for doing it, something that gets me excit- life that forced me to write three books a year ed about writing. I defy anyone to sit and was giving me very minimal control over down and write 2,000 words a day. Go the series' direction. It was becoming formu- right ahead and do it for 365 days straight laic, and there wasn't going to be new ground and you'll know the life of a writer. You to break. The last time we talked, I was done better be excited about doing it! The

with the old manifestation of TSR. It was sin- creative juices have to be flowing for

cere on both ends that it was over. When Wiz- more reasons than money. For me, ards of the Coast bought TSR, they didn't see they are; I've never loved the writing

it that way, and asked me to come back and more than I do now."

write. They twisted my arm, and it wasn't that Unsurprisingly, the next few years hard to twist when I saw they had made some will be very busy ones for R.A. Salva- fundamental changes in their creative direc- tore. "In June 2000, there's the release of tion, and they gave me some of the creative Mortalis. Then in the fall, the Entreri/Jar-

control I needed to take the series in several laxle book for TSR continues the Dark Elf new directions." series. Spring 2001 will see the first volume His return novel, The Silent Blade, saw of the Second Demon War, and the fall, the Drizzt, his human nemesis Artemis Entreri next Dark Elf book. Then in spring 2002, the assassin and the tormented barbarian there's the next Second Demon War book, the Wulfgar taking stock of their lives and mak- sixth set in Corona. That's all I've got on my

ing major changes. "In that book, I think plate right now. I don't know what's next you'll find Artemis Entreri a whole new char- after that; will it be a Star Wars book? A Dark acter," Salvatore says, "and many people Eip. A Demon Warsl A Crimson Shadow can't follow that. They have trouble seeing book, back to Oliver deBurrows? Will I take growth in a character from book to book in a a journey back to the Land of Faerie for the

series. It's like when Fleetwood Mac put out Spearwielder's Tales! Who knows? I'm just Rumors, a brilliant album that sold 17 million playing it day by day at this point." ^ copies. Their next album, Tusk, has some of the most wonderful lyrics, melodies and arrangements of any Fleetwood Mac album.

It's a fantastic piece of art, but it wasn't Sc-(;elc.-L io ilu- New York 7(/jft v lvM-M.'lling lite Silent Blade that. Rumors II, and people didn't like You I

see it time and again, musicians wanting their The Spine of the World"\s very different act to grow with them, and in our world, a lot from any other Dark Elf book," says Salva- of people refuse to accept that." tore. Its characters are "much more real." Memorable Realms Next to awaken in the Demon Wars series is Mortalis, due out in June. A pair of Salvatore's opinion, the just-published In entries in the Second Demon War will novel The Spine of the World, in which Wulfgar follow. tries to regain the empathy and humanity he lost while imprisoned in the Abyss, "is very protagonists, and a very ambiguous figure. different than any other Dark Elf book, or any You'll like him, feel sorry for him and hate him other Forgotten Realms novel. The characters at various times. This guy beats up his daugh-

in it are much more real than archetypal fanta- ter because he's so torn up about something,

sy characters. I knew everybody wouldn't get it and then he beats himself up emotionally about and follow along, but I told Wizards this was hurting his daughter. He's a very, very real

the book I needed to write in the series, and the human being, about as real as if I were writing

response has been much better than I thought it a book about real people." would be. Some readers are pleased to see me At the moment, Salvatore is halfway expanding the boundaries of the Forgotten through another novel set in the Forgotten

Realms. I have a character in this book named Realms that concentrates on Entreri and Jar- Dohni Ganderlay who's the father of one of the laxle, the Dark Elf mercenary from Menzober-

'G/Jofuiarv 2000 69' ilL! By TOM WEAVER t y character is the only char- Bjhk actor on Now and Again f^LJj^Bj who is not tied by circum- I stance into the show," actor JH H Gerrit Graham says of Roger Singer, the role he plays on the CBS action-fantasy series. "Eric Close plays the central figure, and Now; this is Q I'm not one of Eric's 'minders' and I'm not hair. Graham part of his family. So to that extent, I'm sorta was amazed outside the inner circle of the characters. But I that produc- am in the enviable position of providing the tion was held comic relief—which is always a good slot. up so as to Because when you show up on screen, people get his hair- style perfect are kinda wonderin', 'What's this guy gonna do nowT That's a good position to be in."

Comic Relief

| In the Friday night series, conceived and attributes the series' popularity to its unique- lighting, too—it was the humanness of the sit- ness: "As was the case with the [Caron] TV uations that was interesting, more than guns

series Moonlighting, when it hit, there was and cops and robbers. Or at least the combina-

absolutely nothing else on the air like it. You tion of the two that made that show so inter- could say that the show falls into the same cat- esting."

egory as The X-Files and Harsh Realm, but I Series creator Caron, says Graham, "is, don't think it does, really—it's not that obviously, a very intelligent, creative guy. 'devoted' an SF show, because it has this What struck me right away when we were

strong human element to it. Eric's suburban doing the pilot was that he was one of the very life is as important to him as his life as a secret few people I've worked for in the last 30 government operative. That was true in Moon- years—Brian De Palma is another—who has the whole thing in his head the whole time. Knows the arc of the show, the arc of each character, where every- thing's going at every moment. Plenty of times I've showed up on a set and had the director say [claps his hands together], 'OK, so, what are we gonna do here?'

I think to myself, 'You mean, you don't know??' But Glenn, he has the entire show in his head at every moment. That's very reassuring, obviously, for an actor.

"The way I got the part was unusual. I've lived in LA for 22 years, and only came back here [to the East Coast] about three years ago. Of course, every TV pilot season in LA, I auditioned; the high point—or the low point, depending on how you look at it—was the year that I auditioned for 30 pilots, and actually did network tests for six of them, and didn't get a single one. So my track record as a network TV show regular has not been sterling. I've certainly done a few, and been very close to doing others; whether or not it's true I don't know, but they told me that it was between Rene Auberjonois and me for the shapeshifter in Deep Space Nine. "Anyway, when I got the call to audition for Now and Again, I went into the casting office and there was every single first-rank, established, works-all-the-time New York character actor in my age range. Every single one! And I looked around and thought, 'There's not a snowball's chance in Hell I'm gonna get this job.' I walked into the office, and there was no one there but the casting director and Glenn Gordon Caron, who I critic work, had never met. I had heard of him, and was aware of what he had done. Fl job I canfor him. I've never been a cheerful of my own I want. I'm glad When I walked in, he jumped up from behind the table and said, 'Oh, but in this case, if Glenn's happy, that's what And Gerrit Graham, gosh, I'm such a huge fan of yours' and 'I'm so thrilled to say, he seems to be happy." that you came in' and 'I've loved your work for years...' Well, with A key element in the fledgling series' success is the "tremen- that and a $1.50, you can get on the subway—I tend to take that stuff dous likability" Graham feels that each cast member projects. with a grain of salt. But he seemed completely sincere! I was one of a "When you see Margaret Colin [the hero's wife] on screen, you very few guys he brought back before he went out to LA to start look- automatically start rooting for her, for her character, because her ing. But from what I've been told, he had pretty much decided from very presence is so likable. It's true of Dennis Haysbert [Close's interest- the moment I walked in the room that he wanted me. I, in fact, ended handler] as well, and certainly of Eric, who is getting more up never having to test for the network, never going into the torture ing, more likable, fuller with every episode. And, God knows, he's chamber and meeting the network suits—an extremely demoralizing carrying the lion's share of the load here, definitely—he's the char- experience, because you're being played off against your fellow actors acter around whom the show revolves, so he has much more work to 0. in a really unpleasant way." do than the rest of us. And Heather Matarazzo... anybody who has e has concluded that Caron must have simply insisted that seen Welcome to the Dollhouse knows what an exceptional actress she Graham j| that he play the part. "Glenn swears, no no no, that it was my demo tape, my is. To date on air, she hasn't had much to do, but the episode we » her character, so Heather will own work that did it. Well, I'm sure that helped, but I firmly believe just wrapped, episode seven, focuses on j to time to real- - that Glenn said, 'This is the guy I want, and that's it.' And it's nice to have a chance—as will we all, presumably, from time — have someone who has that kind of faith, that confidence in you. It has ly stretch out." happened to me a few times before, but not anywhere near as often as I would like! To have it happen on a big-budget network series, hour- Student Actor offbeat film long, flagship TV situation like this is a first for me. So I want very Graham has been stretching out to play whimsical and than much to pay back Glenn's confidence in me and do the best possible and TV characters—and the occasional heavy—for more 30

STARLOGX/anHan- 2000 71 —

Seed Photo: Copyright 1977 MGM/UA ' —

Graham spent what he calls "a pointless year" in Los Angeles in 1971; one of the few movie jobs he landed during that time was a bit in the comedic Son of Blob (a.k.a. Beware the Blob), directed by Larry Hagman. "It was certainly, on some level, a 'goof for Larry and his friends—a lot of 'em were in the cast, Burgess Meredith, Godfrey Cambridge and so

on. It was laughs for them. I enjoyed myself. I wore a gorilla suit, and I recall one scene in which I pulled off the gorilla mask to reveal

another gorilla mask, and then I pulled that off and there was another gorilla mask, and so on—three or four gorilla masks. And then we all got Blobbed!"

Glitter Star Following his Blob experience, he returned to New York, acted off-off-Broad- way—and then was offered the chance to play what became his

signature film role. "I still think you can make an argument for being Brian De Palma's best picture," Graham says of the 1974 rock rendition of Phantom of the Opera, now a cult classic. "It's certainly one of the most original things he has ever done in his life. And 'Beef was the part of a Dealing with Chucky lifetime for me. Brian and I had led Graham to an made these two films together in inevitable bad end in Child's Play 2. which the dialogue was entirely improvised, and we seemed to I'm trying to make a feature film, and have gotten to the point at which I had some

I'm hoping that, for old time's sake, the notion of what it was that he wanted, and he Players would provide me with some had reason to believe that what I gave him was free extras or maybe some wardrobe...' going to be what he wanted. And somehow, He also said that he was looking for two Brian knew that I was the guy to play this big

or three lead actors, people with a lot of glitter rock queen. It's not something I would experience, maybe people in the Gradu- have picked for myself or imagined myself

ate Arts program. I was a sophomore; I doing, but he saw it." certainly didn't fit the description. I said The original casting, according to Gra- I would do everything that I could to ham, was quite different. "The wonderful help, and I asked him again what his Phantom songs were written by Paul name was. He said, 'Brian De Palma.' Williams, who at the time was an extremely 'OK, Mr. De Palma.' And of course I hot ticket—he not had only his own perfor-

never told anybody else anything about mances of songs in the Top 10 and selling j II— it, I just went to see him myself! And lions, but he was one of the hottest years. Born in New York, he grew up in St. I that's how I ended up in Greetings [1968] songwriters in the business. Paul had always Louis, Grosse Point, Michigan and Chicago. with Bob De Niro." wanted to be an actor, and as I understand it, At eight, he made his dramatic debut in a The experience of co-starring in Greet- he essentially let them have the music [which Detroit Ait Institute production of Winnie the ings, in combination with the general climate was later Oscar-nominated] for nothing with Pooh; at Groton School, he was president of at Columbia, convinced Graham to take what the understanding that he would play a part in the Dramatic Association, and at New York's he thought at the time was going to be a year's the movie, I guess whatever part he wanted. , he served as general leave of absence. "I went back to Chicago, And originally he was to play the Phantom, I manager of the Columbia Players. "I was a where my family was living, and I got a job was going to play Swann [a ruthless record sophomore at Columbia University in spring with the touring company at Second City, the company executive]—and Peter Boyle was 1968, which those who remember history will improvisational theater company. And then a going to play Beef. William Finley, the actor recall as a rather momentous spring—the few months later, Brian called again and said, for whom the Phantom part was written, was campus was in turmoil, demonstrations 'We're doing a sequel and I want you to be in out of the picture, he had been eliminated. against the and so on," he remi- it. It's called Hi, Mom! [1970].' By that time it Then, rather late in the game, Paul decided nisces. "I was, I thought, going to be a French was clear to me that my career as a French lit that he would rather play Swann, which meant lit major. One day, in the Columbia Players major was fading, and that—although I hadn't that Finley got the role that was written for production office, during a non-production ever recognized it to the extent of being able him, and I ended up playing Beef. period, the phone rang and I answered it. It to put a name on it—what I was, what I would "When I went out to LA to talk to Brian, I was this guy who said, 'I was general manag- be, the only way I had of describing thought—because they had said originally er of the Players back 10 years ago, and now myself. . .was as an actor." that the back-up band would be Sha Na Na

72 STARLOG//amM/>' 2000 I —

that what he wanted was a 'New Yawk grea- P Home, The Wasp Woman and the expected about 10 years later. After the PC revolution, suh type uh guy.' But while we were chatting brigade of "Roman numeral movies" (It's suddenly everybody was making jokes about away, he said, 'Do you think you can do it Alive III, C.H.U.D. II, Child's Play 2, guys with pocket protectors and calculators more kind of like... Little Richard?' I said, Philadelphia Experiment II). These frequent and all the things that I did in that movie. The 'What do you mean? Like... like thithT And sidetrips into SF suit the actor just fine, since villain in Demon Seed was a super-computer, the two of them, Brian and Paul Williams, he grew up enjoying horror and SF flicks, and at that point it was too peculiar an idea burst into uproarious laughter! Frankly, I did '50s-style. "I'll tell you two pictures that were that a computer would be having sex with not think that it was a joke that would 'sus- formative experiences on my young self. One Julie Christie; I just don't think the audience tain' for an entire movie, but I was wrong." was Creature from the Black Lagoon—I had could wrap their minds around it. But it's the

As in the two earlier De Palma films, "I never been so terrified in my life. Incredibly kind of thing now that seems like a stock made up a huge percentage of my lines scary. I mean, you look at it now and you idea—these days, we take virtual reality and Brian and I just somehow intuited each what think, 'Oh, gosh, this is corny, some guy in a its brethren for granted. I think if Demon Seed the other wanted or needed. And that is me rubber suit.' But, man, when I was seven or had been made 10 years later, it would have singing in the non-production scenes—in the eight years old, it scared the living daylights done much better. I don't think the studio shower and the dressing knew quite what to make of it. room. The casual, inci- "Demon Seed was directed by i dental stuff. The vocals a friend of mine, Donald Cam- for that character were mell, a wonderful guy who's now, done by Ray Kennedy, I'm sorry to say, dead. At that and they were already 'in time, I was playing a lot of hood- the can;' Paul had already lums in Spelling-Goldberg cop recorded that by the time shows," Graham explains. "I

I showed up. My dance knew that I could do this comput- moves . . . they certainly er wonk character, and I con- have elements of my per- vinced Donald, and he got the sonality, let's put it that producers to take a chance on me way [laughs]. One of the in a situation in which most would guys in the back-up band, not have. Hollywood in particular Harold Oblong, was the is very hidebound when it comes C show's choreographer, to casting—and I understand and he helped me a lot. why. There are so many jillions of

But it was all very collab- actors and so relatively few jobs, orative and a genuinely the more you can pigeonhole this creative experience— and that actor, the less thinking never felt at any point Two Qs just sitting around talking? Graham reports he didn't get any Q- you have to do about it and the that I was being told what tips from John de Lancie for his "Death Wish" appearance. easier your job is. I understand

I had to do. It's a smart that. But Donald let me do that movie—a very smart movie." part, and in my own mind it's one of After Phantom was completed, my best performances. I'm not, as I Graham notes, "I got a call from said, a very cheerful critic of my

Brian saying that, as it was an own work, but I see that and I'm independent film and therefore pleased. Because that's what I needed a distributor, he was going thought and what I was trying to to take it out to LA and show it do, and I think it works well." around. And, he added, it was his On TV, Graham appeared in the opinion that I was very good in the 1980s revival of The Twilight movie, and that if I was ever con- Zone, but he prefers to talk about sidering going to Los Angeles to the TZ episodes that he and his give it a shot, now would be the partner wrote for the series. "Philip moment. I took his advice, and he DeGuere, the executive producer, was absolutely right: I got there in was someone I had met socially; I Guesting on "rubber head shows"—here as the Hunter of and of course every- had been in an episode of one of his spring 1974, DSffs "Captive Pursuit" (center)—can be an ordeal, but Gra- body in town saw Phantom very ham likes doing TV shows that say something. previous shows, Simon and Simon I quickly, and I got an agent and think," Graham recalls. "When I stalled working right away. And I essentially out of me! That and Revenge of the Creature, heard that he was doing The Twilight Zone, I worked non-stop for two decades. I mean, they worked, boy—they worked like crazy. said, 'Look, my partner and I wanna submit everybody has ups and downs, but I've been And there was Them!, about giant ants, mutat- stories.' 'Oh, no, no, no,' he said—the pre- incredibly lucky. I've been able to make my ed by nuclear yadda yadda yadda. I remember sumption is that if you're an actor you can't living as an actor for 30 years, and not many lying in bed the night after I saw it at some possibly write, if you're a writer you can't people can say that." kiddie matinee, envisioning the giant pincers possibly act, etc. Anyway, DeGuere finally coming in through my window. Just terrify- agreed to let us pitch stories, but he wouldn't Twilight Writer ing!" agree to any more than that. My partner Chris Graham became a regular in genre movies, One of Graham's favorites among his own Hubbell and I wrote three or four really good SF spoofs and TV series in the years follow- SF features is Demon Seed (1977), based on ones—too good even for sneering TV execu- ing his West Coast relocation; just a few of his the early Dean Koontz novel. "That was a tives to cast aside. genre film credits are The Creature Wasn't great movie, about a decade ahead of its time. "The first one was 'Children's Zoo' Nice (a.k.a. Spaceship and Naked Space), I was playing a computer wonk, a nerd of the [directed by Wes Craven, who also cameos] in Chopping Mall, TerrorVision, Martians Go kind that became a popular phenomenon which a young child who has parents who

STARLOG//a«Han' 2000 73 R —

Design & Layout: RickTeng

bicker ceaselessly gets an invitation to a spe- morality, or the ethics if you like, of fox hunt- that you might not rely on so heavily. What cial zoo, and she has to bring her parents. Her ing. The Tosk character was a creature bred you do with your voice and your entire body, parents end up in a cage in a row of cages with essentially to be a fox, to be hunted and killed as opposed to just your face. Aside from the

parents in them, and she gets to select some at the hunt's end—that was his sole purpose in physical discomfort, of course it presents parents who have been in a cage for a while, life, being pursued by this 'superior' species. some challenges, to get the performance and therefore know how to behave [laughs]— And the crux of the show was the DS9 people across, what the character thinks and feels and she gets to take them home to be her parents! attempting to interfere with something that what he means—you have to get all that Then, there was one ["Still Life"] in which a didn't fit into human, ethical constructs as across without having at your disposal your

guy [Robert Carradine] finds a 90-year-old appropriate behavior. face. . .which is what most people would con- camera with exposed but undeveloped plates "Man, those 'rubber head shows' —they're sider their primary asset."

I in it. He has the film developed, and it's of a tough," Graham sighs at the memory of the The actor also enjoyed his stint among the

: little-known expedition to the Amazon Basin Emmy-winning makeup he wore in the stars on Babylon 5, playing Lord Kiro in

I early in the century. There are Amazon River episode. "The four-hour, five-hour makeup "Signs and Portents," and hoped that the pro-

1 Basin Indians in the photos, Indians who did calls, and extremely elaborate costumes and ducers would find a way for him to reprise his

I not want their pictures taken because they felt so forth and so on ! Very hard work, but always character—even though Kiro appeared to per-

I it would steal their spirits. The guy hangs the worth it, because they take such great care on ish at episode's end. "It seems as though his

pictures in his to dry, Star Trek. Everything chin ! | up home darkroom and from my up—my ship explodes, but you never know You didn't I he gets back there and the Indians are actually see me blown to bits, so I was gone from the pictures and they're hoping they would find to | some way there, in the house, alive, trying to bring me back. I remember we were in barbecue his wife! the middle of shooting that when a big

"We had at least three of them on earthquake hit; I believe the earthquake air, and then they asked us for an anti- was late Sunday or early Monday, and story. God, we wrote a great Monday was a holiday. It was quite a one about a guy who makes a Faustian large, devastating quake. And I got a bargain in order to wake up the next call from the show's producer late

morning without his cigarette craving. Monday, and I thought, 'Gee, this is But they chickened out, they wouldn't ff nice. He's calling to make sure that my produce that one. Chris, my brother house didn't fall down, and that every- Sam and I also have writing credits on thing's fine.' And he said, 'Gerrit, The Little Mermaid and Oliver and you'll be thrilled to know that the set Company and solo writing credits 1 % came through perfectly. No damage! tvith a nod to Mark Twain!—on The So we will be shooting tomorrow.' That Prince and the Pauper, Mickey was it! His interest in my physical wel- Mouse's first featurette in 20 or 30 fare was non-existent! But that's typi-

j'ears, with Mickey playing dual roles, cal Hollywood, and I understood |>oth the Prince and the Pauper." where he was coming from. That show

As though writing for animated was his 'baby,' and I was just passing movies weren't enough, Graham is through." also active in the voiceover field, most As for "Death Wish," one of the tmemorably as a regular (Franklin) on best-regarded episodes of Voyager, *TV's The Critic. "That was about as Graham found playing an all-powerful, Gerrit Graham enjoys making Now and Again with fel- smuch fun as you can have with your low cast members Margaret Colin, Heather Matarazzo, immortal yet suicidal Q "a wonderful clothes on," he laughs about his Critic Eric Close and Dennis Haysbert. experience. There wasn't any makeup ; stint. "For one thing, you don't have to to speak of. It was also the sort of part shave, dress up, put on makeup. All you have upper lip, cheeks, everything—was encased I don't generally get cast in. In the DS9 .to do is show up on time! You don't even have in rubber, with a wig attached. So of course episode, I played a heavy; every other time I to learn your lines, you're reading them off the my own hair had to be pinned up out of the had auditioned for a guest shot in a Star Trek,

page! So you spend a lot of time in a room way, so bobby pins were in this clump at the it had been as a heavy of one sort or another.

with other really hilarious people, laughing back of my neck which made it impossible for I'm not quite sure why I was even there for your behind off. It just was so much fun—that me to put my head down. It was like being 'Death Wish,' except that they thought maybe show in particular I loved, because I got to do stabbed if you tried to put your head down to I had it in me somewhere. I took a big chance

it week after week. I also did episodes of The rest! The costume itself was heavy material at my audition for 'Death Wish;' I tried some-

Tick, Bruno the Kid and Gargoyles. As is the and many parts, and it was a struggle to get in thing completely different, and to my gratified

case with any fantasy or SF, it frees your and out of it. That's part of the bargain that amazement, they went for it! I went with, for imagination, because you don't have to apply you make when you agree to do one of those me, a much lighter approach: childlike—not quotidian, everyday human standards to how episodes. You want the makeup to be great childish, but childlike. I wanted the tone, the

you behave or what you say or do. Anything, and the costume to be perfect, because there's quality of the character to be 'light.'

theoretically, is OK!" nothing in the world as cheesy as cheesy SF!" "The day before I started shooting, I did a he laughs. number of makeup and wardrobe tests," Gra- Suicidal immortal Graham agrees that there's a sense of free- ham relates, "and they took pictures of me in Graham has also made regular excursions dom in wearing this type of heavy makeup: the Starfieet uniform, with the usual into the Final Frontier, guesting on DS9, Voy- "You're freed from the 'you-ness' of yourself haircut, all combed back very neatly, and then ager and Babylon 5. "The interesting thing intruding somehow, in a way that might not be pointy sideburns. Those pictures were sent up

about Star Trek, one of the things that makes it suitable. But, particularly in that DS9 to the production office, and everything fun as an actor, is that every episode is about episode—that was as heavily entombed as seemed fine. Then there we were at the first some real issue, something that means some- I've ever been in rubber. It limits your facial day of shooting, all set up to do the first

thing. The DS9 episode ["Captive Pursuit," expressions, and it requires that you use scene—we had rehearsed it, the camera was with Graham as the Hunter] was about the 'tools,' or emphasize 'arrows in your quiver,' ready to go. It was a scene between Tim Russ

74 STA LOG/Janua ry 2000 ' —

and me, in his little office. And one of the pro- DOn'TMISSwhAT's ducers appeared on the set and said, 'Wait, wait, wait. What's wrong with his hair?' Somebody responded,—'What do you mean? It's a Starfleet haircut On SCI-FI "The producer said, 'But he shouldn't have Starfleet hair, he should have Q hair, Here's the programming lineup of past editions. Order NOW. he's playing a Q.' 'Well, what's Q hair?' 'Q hair is his own hair, it's the way he looked when he auditioned.' And they pulled the plug for a half-hour so that I could wash my hair,

so that it looked more like my own hair. That's a very expensive decision to make on a big set like that, but they didn't hesitate. That's how careful they are to get every detail right. Obviously, they have a gilt-edged fran- chise there, and they make every effort to pro- tect it and to make sure that the quality remains superb. That's why it's, always a very Interviews: David Interviews: Chris Interviews: Kate Mul- Interviews: Robert Picar- gratifying experience to do a Star Trek. Duchovny, Rene Carter, Nicole deBoer, grew, Michael Dorn, do, Garrett Wang, Alyson "That episode really was limited almost Auberjonois, Salome Bill Mumy, Robert Armin Shimerman, Hannigan, Cirroc Lofton, exclusively to John de Lancie, Kate Mulgrew, Jens, Tim Russ, Pat Duncan McNeill, Rox- Jonathan LaPaglia, X- Anita La Selva, Richard director Burgi, Sabine Karsenti, Tim and me. All three of them are wonderful Tallman, Richard ann Dawson, Mark Rob Bowman. Chevolleau. Sliders. Dacascos, X-writer Young Jules Verne. Kevin Conroy, B5 pro- actors. When you don't have to 'serve' an $10 Vince Gilligan. Ani- Episode Guides: Baby- ducer John Copeland. action plot, you get a chance to really get into mated Godzilla. $6 lon 5Year 1-5 Complete, Episode Guides: The some interesting character work." Millennium^ -2. $6 Sentinem-4, SlidersYI- Did de Lancie offer any Q-tips about play- 4. $6 ing a Q? Graham laughs, "No. Tips, no—de 1 Lancie wouldn't give me a tip on anything if his life depended on it. But we had a lot of laughs. He's a very smart guy, and a very good actor. Because it was just de Lancie, Kate, Tim and me in that episode, in a way it was as close as I've ever come on TV to the S ZZLING experience of doing a play with some people.

It was just us, and we got to know each other and our characters very well in the course of

shooting it. And de Lancie always wants to enjoy himself, and that rubs off. We had a Interviews: Christopher Interviews: Jeri Ryan, Interviews: Richard Dean Interviews: Tia Car- Michelle Gellar, rere, Eric Close, great time." Judge, Ben Browder, Sarah Anderson, Ethan Phillips, Michael Easton, Chris Renee O'Connor, Daniel Dae Kim, David Jonathan Frakes, Thirty years after he took that fateful Owens, Kevin Kilner, Nana Visitor, Terry Allen Brooks, Rob Robert Trebor, Aman- phone call from Brian De Palma, Gerrit Gra- Nick Searcy, B5 director Farrell, Carrie Dobro, LaBelle, Sam Whipple, da Tapping. Roswell. 7 ham is still fashioning intriguing characters. Janet Greek. Writing Jason Carter, Alan Helen Shaver. Angel. Days. Episode Trek. Stargate SG-1 Scarfe, First Wave Episode Guides: Guides: BuffyY1 -3, "As an actor, my philosophy is directed Lexx. Episode Guide. $6. creator Chris Branca- Crusade, Earth Final Voyager Y1 -5. $7 toward the work rather than the career. In to.$6 Conflicm-2, XenaY1-4, other words, today you have to have two DS9 Complete Y1 -7. $7 careers—your art career, your acting career Rusty. $7 and your career career. I've never paid any (Interviews: Gillian Anderson, Robert Leeshock, James Marsters. Big Guy & ' attention to my career career. The business # #10 February $7* #11 April $7 • #12 June $7 • #13 August $7

now is in the hands of people who are really geniuses of career—Madonna, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Demi Moore. People who, SCI-FI TV BACK ISSUES whether or not you think they're artistic medi- of self-inven- ocrities, are certainly geniuses Please send me these SCI-FI TV issues tion. That's not me—my interest has always # Price # Price Total enclosed: $_ been in the work. I want to work, I want to do # Price # Price # Price # Price interesting things. I don't care, have never cared sufficiently probably, about what effect Postage & Handling: New York State residents add 8 1/4% sales tax. One mag- it has on my career. And if there's any reason / (Mo./Yr.) Card Expiration Date: . azine: Add $2. Up to five magazines: Add why I've ended up in a lot of fantasy-related $3. Six or more magazines: Add $5. Your Daytime Phone #:( )_ stuff, it's that it appealed to me. It had noth- Method of Payment: ing to do with my career, it was something Cash Check Money Order that I wanted to do. There's something terri- Discover Master Card Visa Print Name As It Appears On Your Card bly appealing about fantasy. It's 'freeing.' You Credit card orders may be faxed to 212-889-7933.

levels, do whatever the hell you order to: can, on some Cash, check or money Street want, because you're not applying human STARLOG GROUP, INC. 475 Park Avenue South standards of behavior to it past a certain point. New York, NY 10016 City State Zip And I've always enjoyed fantasy and SF work If you do not want to cut out coupon, we for that reason." will accept written orders Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. Your Signature Photo: Copyright 1999 New Line Cinema MM

"s .'1

Heather Graham shot to stardom with a little help from Austin Powers.

eather Graham would die "I would do it because I really loved VHS from New Line Home Video. "It was for Mike Myers. No kid- everybody," Graham enthuses. "If they want strange, because people really wanted to see

ding. to do that, I would make them do it in a dif- it. You could sense that people were excited

And Graham, who ferent way. I wouldn 't want to be a Fembot about it, but I didn't really think it would be played the ferociously and explode. They would have to think of so big. It was kind of surprising." blonde Felicity Shagwell something else. I had a good experience. Jay Though some might argue otherwise, opposite Myers' irre- Roach is one of the nicest people you could Austin 2 was very definitely a science fiction pressible, mojo-loving ever meet, and Mike Myers is too. I'll help film, with its time-travel plot, multiple

British spy in Austin them in whatever way they want to do it. If Austins, scenes set in outer space and the Powers: The Spy Who they want to copy the Bond movies, each one genetically engineered Mini-Me (Verne

Shagged Me, may very is about the romance with a different Troyer). It was not, however, Graham's first well get her chance. That's the case, woman." visit to the genre universe. Her previous cred- at least, if Myers and Austin Powers director Fair enough, but did Graham really think its include the "Resurrection" episode of the Jay Roach ask Graham to follow in the boot- Austin 2 would power up in quite so groovy a revived Outer Limits—a second season hour steps of the first film's femme fatale, Eliza- fashion at the box office? Hell no, baby. "I written by Chris {First Wave) Brancato, with beth Hurley, and bid adieu in a don't-blink thought it would do well," she says of the Graham and Nick Mancuso as androids on a Austin Powers 3 cameo. $200 million-plus hit, now out on DVD and lifeless Earth who secretly create a human

76 STAKLOG/January 2000 Photo: Copyright 1999 Universal Pictures From swinger spies to Alien Love Triangles, nothing's too far out for Heather Graham clone from the DNA of a strand of hair—and, of course, the Lost in Space feature, which cast her as Judy Robinson opposite Mimi Rogers, William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc and Gary Oldman. film The i was directed by Stephen Hopkins, with whom the actress became romantically linked during produc- tion, but both the liaison and the film's box-office run proved short-lived.

"Lost in Space is not the movie that I'm most proud of," says Graham, whose non-genre credits In Bowfinger, Graham include Drugstore Cowboy, Swingers, Two Girls played an actress and a Guy and, most recently, Frank Oz's Bowfin- who slept her way to, ger, a successful comedy about the making of an well, the middle. ultra-low-budget alien invasion flick. "As an actor doing a special FX movie, it's kind of bor- ing. That was before came out, and I didn't really know I would have so many choices. I had never been in a commercial film before. I had been an independent movie person, and I thought, T need to do a commercial movie so that I can get other jobs I want to get.' It was a cute story, but to redo a TV show is never the strongest place to come from with a script. Lost in Space was fun, but I didn't feel totally fulfilled by it." Graham will next be seen in Commit- ted, a low-budget feature about a young woman trying to understand the meaning of the word "committed" after her hus- band (Luke Wilson of Blue Streak) leaves her. Then comes another genre picture, namely the long-delayed anthology film

Alien Love Triangle. "In my segment, I play an alien. I'm Courteney Cox's wife, because she is a male alien in the body of a female human," Graham says helpfully, going on to further clarify the complicat- ed story. "She's married to Kenneth Branagh, who does not realize that she's a Graham almost prefers that Lost in Space (which she discussed in STARLOG #251 ) would male alien. She's a very chauvinistic just stay lost. male, and when I show up, she becomes hugely chauvinistic. And it's really funny because it has Courteney the actress has been around for a while, and isn't exactly an overnight saying all this stuff. success. "I got to watch many people, their careers, their ups and "It's played for laughs. It's definitely edgy. I have this bald, green downs," she acknowledges. "I'm definitely more prepared to handle head. I have pointy ears. I have big black contact lenses and long fin- it now." gers. I really look weird and totally unrecognizable. Many of my And what is she getting used to these days? "I'm getting more friends have a little framed picture of me [as the character]. They recognized on the street, and I'm getting recognized by kids, which think it is so funny." is really funny," Graham replies. "Before Austin 2, no kids really saw While awaiting the release of Committed and Alien Love Trian- the movies I was in. Now, little kids want my autograph. It's really gle, both due out in 2000 from Miramax, Graham is busily reading sweet. They'll be like, 'You were the best actress in Austin PowersV scripts, spending quality time with her beau, writer-director-actor It's adorable. It's also funny because my boy friend is doing a movie

Edward Burns, and getting used to life in the limelight now that [15 Minutes] with Robert De Niro. I went on the set and Robert De Austin 2 has put her on the Hollywood star map. "It's definitely excit- Niro said, 'Oh, you know, my sister's kids really want to meet you.' ing, and I guess it's scary in that I want to handle it in the best way," I'm like, 'Oh my God, Robert De Niro's sister's kids want to meet she comments, musing about fame. "I want to use it to help me get meV better jobs and establish a career. It is scary. You hope you can rise to "That," Heather Graham concludes with a laugh, "was a real the occasion and make this a long career for yourself." It helps that moment."

STARLOG/fom/ao' 2000 77 Austin Powers Ppodaete

PE»so, 0/W.y SWILL

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ei'Q' O'Quinn, has all of the enterprises have been entirely and the first two Stepfather movies O'Quinn tAj MllA Mffi > who not — *y ^"appeared in The X-Files, Mil- successful. "Chris has never specifically said lent menace to the short-lived Harsh Realm as ' ' lennium, the X-Files movie to me what he likes about my work. He said he the VR world's reigning villain, Omar Santia- >flp and Hars/i Realm, seems to be wanted me to play Santiago on Harsh Realm, * go. "What I understand so far is that he's a mil- H Chris Carter's good luck charm. Or, and I didn't ask why. My theory is, 'Don't tell itary lifer, a Sergeant Major," O'Quinn notes. p jH at least, his go-to guy. "I don't know me how I throw my curveball, or it will stop "The character's significance to Chris is that [ •~<^fc»» soldier. if I would say good luck charm," j breaking.' he's a soldier's soldier, a ground He he avers, discussing his career less than a week apparently became dissatisfied with the way before Harsh Realm's abrupt cancellation, "but Harsh Rulings that the military handled things and the way so far go-to guy is OK with me." Long a genre favorite—his credits include that the world was going in general, and he y O'Quinn acknowledges with a chuckle that Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Rocketeer took the opportunity—in this VR world—to

STARLOG/January 2000 Photo: Michael Lavine Realm & Millennium Photos: Copyright 1996, 1999 Fox Broadcastini

Photo: Doane Gregoi

rlts almost the hardest I laughed in my whole life."

Interestingly, O'Quinn notes that he never keeps too close an eye on the

3 ' 4:* evil-ometer to gauge whether or not he's going over the edge. With Santia- go, he left that up to Carter. "I think that's something that can't be defined by the

person who's doing it," he says. "Some people can get away with going a lot set things up the way he thought they should be. further than others. At times, I probably am in "Santiago sees himself as a good soldier danger of being over-the-top, but you can't really

who's simply doing what a good soldier would do worry about it. If you do that, the tendency would if he had the power. I don't think Santiago sees be to not go far enough. So you take your chances

himself as a bad guy. I don't think he's bad. He and others will watch and tell you if they think thinks the world has gone in a bad direction. He you're going too far. That's why you have direc- has gotten a taste of power in the virtual world, tors and producers."

though, and it has taken a little turn and gone to Fair enough. And what does O'Quinn make of his head, and now he sees himself as a potential Harsh Realm"? "I think the pilot worked super

Alexander or a Genghis Khan. I don't know, well," he replies. "I saw it three times. I got a bit

though, what bad people truly think, if they think more each time. I got sufficient information the

or know they're bad or wallow in and enjoy their first time to want to go on with the other episodes,

evil. Santiago just thinks that he's on the right but it was very informative to watch the pilot a track and that he's the person to make things go few more times. The second episode was very

the way they should go." good, too. I only did the first, second and third Next Generation Photo: Joseph Viles/Copyright 1994 Paramount Pictures

Playing Riker's mentor in the Next Generation's "Pegasus" was very much a laughing matter. "I just had too much fun," O'Quinn avers.

stand that some eggs were going to get bro-

ken. I tried to stay with that. I always had

trouble with the fact that he couldn't tell his

best friend, Frank Black, certain things. I was saying, 'You're not ready to hear them,' but I'm not sure what those things

were. I just had to go with it and assume that, as a soldier, there were secrets he sim- ply had to keep." O'Quinn feels that he and audiences alike have seen the last of Watts. The char- acter does not appear in the upcoming Mil- lennium crossover episode of The X-Files and, more tellingly, O'Quinn believes that those feet he saw sticking out from under- neath a table in Millennium's third season finale belonged to Watts. Though he was sorry to see the show disappear, the actor didn't leave with only dark memories. "We did an episode called 'The Hand of Saint Sebastian,' " he recalls. "Some- body had found these bog mum- episodes, then took off for the next three. mies. We go to see them and find In the seventh one, Chris had Santiago out that one of them was an ancient get proactive and go take care of a situa- Millennium Group member, and tion in the virtual world's Cincinnati. It's wrapped in his arms was this hand, very creative, with a lot of face-changing. which was presumably the hand of "Santiago's goal is to take over the Saint Sebastian. We were working entire world, which is a match for the very late one night and had been real world. Our heroes have particular shooting for 14 hours. I said the adventures that are not specifically relat- words 'bog mummy' and every- ed to their dealings with Santiago. So, body on the set just started to Santiago cruises along with some bumps laugh. We must have laughed for a in the road, confronting our heroes. Ulti- good hour. It's almost the hardest mately, Santiago wants to control every- I've laughed in my whole life. The thing. Whether that means controlling time was going by and the dollars the VR world and the real world, or con- were ticking off, and we were trolling the VR world and eliminating laughing." the real world, I don't know. That's what And now it's time to check out he thinks he can do, and that's what O'Quinn's other genre credits, a His strongest memory of being Howard Hughes in The everybody fears." task that the actor happily agrees to Rocketeert "Talking for a long time with Alan Arkin about Unfortunately for O'Quinn and all do, starting with SpaceCamp (in our kids," recalls O'Quinn. involved in the series, the real world which he played the launch direc- quickly intruded. Fox cancelled Harsh Realm Frank Black's (Lance Henriksen) close pal and I tor): "I didn't like that too much. That was the after only three airings with production halted Millennium Group associate. "That was origi- 1 first movie I did where I realized that the next 13- after completion of the eighth episode in a nally supposed to be just a scene," O'Quinn | generation of actors was coming in. I remem- episode order. O'Quinn sadly accepts the recalls. "Then they said, 'Well, we ought to . ber looking in the mirror and thinking, 'I'm " Nielsen ratings reality. "I don't know what a have somebody from the Group, so why don't I turning into a crusty old fart!' to back?' car- Silver Bullet, as the typical TV watcher is, but when I come back you just keep coming And he just J His next foray was my hotel room or if I'm at home, I turn on the ried on." sheriff of a town fighting werewolves in an TV for company," the actor notes. "The people Watts, however, carried on in ways most adaptation of a Stephen King story. "When I

the are kind of optimistic. We're hang- strange. moment he a hero, Black's did that, it hit that 'I've now been killed on show One was , me ing in there because we think it's a quality ally, and the next he was something of an anti- about 20 different ways. I've been shot,

product. If Harsh Realm doesn't catch on, it's hero. By the end, he was a villain. Or was he? I stabbed, drowned and blown up, and now I've simply one of those quirks of fate. It won't be And was that all part of the master plan? "I did been clubbed to death by a werewolf.' I also because somebody's not carrying the ball." not understand the plan," admits the actor. "I remember that my kids, who were very young

had the impression it kind of wandered. I at the time, came to the set. I have pictures of Creative Realms thought they were trying to find ways to best my two-year-old son being held by these were- It has been said of Millennium, however, use Watts, to get more out of him. I don't know * wolf ladies, and everybody's smiling." that if the ball was not dropped, then it was that they did or didn't. It got a little bit mysti- O'Quinn signed aboard the U.S.S. Enter- passed far too often. In other words, the show- fying to me, as I think it did to the audience. prise for the "Pegasus" episode of The Next running responsibilities changed hands from My impression, early on—and I tried to stay Generation, playing Commander Riker's men- Carter to Glen Morgan and James Wong to true to it—was that he was a guy who was very tor. "We laughed," the actor notes. "I showed Chip Johannessen during its three seasons on dedicated, very spiritual, terribly honest and up and was just delighted that I would be able the air. compassionate to a certain extent. to tell my kids that I was sitting on one of those O'Quinn, of course, played Peter Watts, "He was also enough of a soldier to under- great chairs they have on the Bridge of the Earth 2 Photo: Peter lovino/Copyright 1995 Amblin/Universal Televisio

That Earth 2 virtual reality set, where O'Quinn The people were nice enough. But that one set and Jessica Steen consulted, was "really [where he and Jessica Steen shot their VR dis- physically uncomfortable." cussions] was really physically uncomfort- able." Of course, some of his most recent work has been in the Carter series of shows, begin- ning with The X-Files' "Aubrey." "Oh, man. I

just remember that it was a hot show, so I did

it. It was kind of another job. The people were

nice. I really didn't communicate with Chris much on that. Chris and I don't talk a lot. If I have a question or a problem, I might give him a ring." The conspiracy for O'Quinn continued on into Millennium and then the big screen as well, in a small but pivotal role as doomed FBI agent Michaud in the X-Files movie. "I was surprised they called me," he notes. "Chris doesn't seem to have any compunction about holding people over and bringing them back.

Having something of an ensemble is unusual.

I want every producer to have Chris's gift for disassociation."

Starship Enterprise. I remember And with Harsh Realm,

Michael Dorn. The first time Michael O'Quinn returned to the VR uni- [as WorfJ said, 'Captain, there's a verse. Given his own frequent warship decloaking on the sojourns to worlds make-believe, starboard bow,' we were in rehearsal. not to mention the advent of The Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes Matrix, the actor thinks he under- and everybody started screaming, stands the appeal of virtual reali- 'Oh, no!' Patrick ran, sat in his chair ty to filmmakers and TV show and started sucking his thumb. And creators. "As we advance tech- they all busted up. They made me nology, VR becomes a more

laugh the whole time. I wish I had graspable concept," says the done a better job, but I just had too actor, due next in X-Rated, an much fun." upcoming cable TV movie star- The actor also had a rich time ring Emilio Estevez (who also playing Howard Hughes in The Rock- directed), Charlie Sheen and eteer. "I remember sitting in that Deep Space Nine's Nicole wonderful office they had designed deBoer. "I was watching TV last for Howard Hughes," O'Quinn night and some physicists were recalls, "leaning against a wall and talking about time travel. They talking for a long time with Alan had old tape of Arkin about our kids. Talking with and Carl Sagan. Sagan was talk- Alan, that's my main memory of that ing about Contact, and he said he film." first had his heroine going into a There was a TV horror turn in the black hole and coming out at this Tales from the Crypt episode "The other place, where she talked Bribe." O'Quinn notes: "That wasn't with the extraterrestrials. Well, in

very pleasant. It felt kind of hurried, fact, that couldn't work because done on the cheap and on the sly for you couldn't escape from a black

some reason or other. But we got it hole. When Sagan talked to his out. I also felt uncomfortable with my physicist friends, they told him

acting. I wasn't happy with it." he couldn't do that. He said, O'Quinn essayed the murderous 'What about a wormhole?' and title role in The Stepfather and its they said, 'OK.' sequel. "They flew three of us out to "That all sounds like SF, but

Vancouver to audition about three or the more these guys talk about it,

four days before they were going to start shoot- I therefore we're going to give you less money.' I the more they experiment, and the more they

ing. They said, 'Well, go home, get your I didn't think it was supposed to work thattnat way. r develop Albert Einstein's theories, the more

clothes and come back because we're going to I was in a position where I didn't care, so I took they realize it's not completely impossible and

start shooting.' I was in the dark. It was the first it. [In retrospect], I should have only done the that it might, in fact, be possible. So, all this

time I ever had that much to do in a film. It was first one." stuff about the VR world is pretty much in the

really fun. It came naturally. Most of the stuff I same vein. That kind of thinking was incon- we did that was supposed to be scary, ceivable just 10 years ago, but the idea of a we J veritable Realities VR laughed real hard after doing it. We thought it I The actor has equally mixed feelings about world is not inconceivable anymore. You've was pretty funny," O'Quinn says. "I enjoyed his Earth 2 stint as Reilly. "I remember stand- got real smart guys saying there are probably j the first one a lot. I didn't enjoy the second one ing in a room with lights and smoke. It was ter- parallel universes.

as much. We shot it in LA. The company called | ribly uncomfortable and I didn't have a sense "So," Terry O'Quinn concludes, "you can and said, 'We're going to do it in less time, I of everybody feeling, 'Oh, things are good.' believe just about any of this stuff." ^

82 . .

9 summed & ^ef

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^sed ofl this sanwiep's smaslitog M&tiu Pomes: Ttie Spy Who Slugged

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hate the idea of a double," Dana Wynter once told a TV Guide interviewer, adding that she always refused to allow herselfto be doubled in her movies. She was referring, ofcourse, to the standard use ofstunt doubles and stand-ins dur- ing picturemaking, butforfans o/Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the comment has a coincidental "double " meaning: It vividly recalls her co-starring role as Becky Driscoll, the chic divorcee romantically pursued by Kevin McCarthy—

All Body Snatchers Photos: Copyright 1956 Allied Artists T * ^ t.

ftf Dafla Wyriten facing the

as wasn't as frightening orking m Hollywood

then stalked and sents, Suspense, Studio One,) and the stage before "going Hollywood" duplicated by the a short time later. extraterrestrial pod peo- The willowy, dark-eyed actress appeared in more than a dozen ple—in the 1956 SF cin- films, worked in "Golden Age" television (Playhouse 90J and even co- ema classic. starred in her own short-lived TV series, the globe-trotting The Man The daughter of a Who Never Was. Married and divorced from hotshot lawyer Greg noted surgeon, she was Bautzer, Wynter, once called Hollywood's "oasis of elegance," now born Dagmar Wynter in lives in happy retirement in the County ofWicklow, Ireland. Berlin, Germany, and grew up in England. STARLOG: When you first arrived in New York from England in When she was 16, her 1953, things must have been touch-and-go for a while. father went to Morocco DANA WYNTER: Yes, I was living on donuts, living on.. .absolutely to operate on a woman nothing! The English only allowed you to take £500 out of the coun-

who wouldn't allow any- try—that was it. Then you were on your own, you had to make your one else to attend her; he own way. But I was very lucky; I was great friends with [composer] visited friends in South- Richard Rodgers from England, and when I got my first TV show, he

ern Rhodesia, fell in love had quite a few people watching it, [TV producer] Martin Manulis

with it and brought his and people like that. I had the lead—Eva Gabor fell out, and they daughter and her step- pushed me in. It was one of those miraculous things that happens in * mother to live with him America, one of those wonderful, crazy, no-reason there. Wynter later things. And after that, I was very lucky, all the rest of A enrolled as a pre-med the live TV stuff happened. My life has really been

student at Rhodes Uni- blessed, it has all been quite magical. »

versity ( the only girl in a STARLOG: You stalled your Hollywood movie career »l class of 150 boys) and under contract to 20th Century Fox, but before you W also dabbled in theatrics, appeared in a single Fox movie, you co-starred in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Why did producer Walter Wanger think of you? WYNTER: Some time prior to that, I was in the William Morris Agency in New York. They weren't my agents, so I don't know why I was X there. Walter Wanger happened to be there and he saw me and asked some-

body who I was. I didn't meet him at the

time, I didn't know any of this. STARLOG: But he thought of you when he playing the blind girl in a school production o/Through a Glass Dark- went to do Body Snatchers. ly in which she says she was "terrible." WYNTER: Apparently, Vera Miles had been pencilled in After a year-plus of studies, Wynter returned to England and by Allied Artists for Body Snatchers, and Walter said, "No dropped medicine, turning to an acting career. She was appearing in want that new girl. The English one." That's when they found a play in Hammersmith when an American agent told her he wanted out that I was under contract to Fox, and Fox allowed me to to represent her. Moving to the States, Wynter had more success in push the [start of the] contract a few days backward so that I New York than in London, acting on TV (Robert Montgomery Pre- could do this picture. Body Snatchers was my first movie.

STARLOG/fanwary 2000 Body Snatchers Photos: Courtesy Marc Zubatkin

STARLOG: Any very important things in one's life and

I "first-picture jitters," or not the minutiae. [My career] wasn't

had you had enough my passion, and that's why I left.

experience on TV to walk Because I think you have to [have a

right in and go to work? passion for it] to devote your life to it.

WYNTER: Not jitters, no, Kevin McCarthy, for instance, is a because everybody was awful- very fine actor and the theater is his

ly nice. Well, most people were. passion. I do things out of a sort of

From live TV to this, it was a intellectual curiosity. I once wrote for dawdle, you know what I a year for The Manchester Guardian, mean? You could gather your- one of the oldest English newspapers.

self together. Also, I was I had a series of my own, every fort-

quite young and inexperi- night. But once I did it—it's like fly- enced, and. ..well, "fools rush ing. Once you fly solo, that's the

[laughs]\ The cameraman thrill; after that, it's on to something

was very kind to me, too, else. That's terrible. It's a very flib- Ellsworth Fredericks. Just terri- bertigibbet way of going about one's

bly concerned and friendly life, but it's great fun! and helpful. The crew gath- STARLOG: Walter Wanger—how ered 'round—I think it was did you like him? my English accent. They WYNTER: Walter was an probably thought I was an extraordinary man. Tremen-

orphan! dously civilized. I have STARLOG: "Most peo- nothing to say about him ple" were nice. Who was that everybody else doesn't not nice? say. He was highly educat- WYNTER: I must say I ed, had beautiful manners, learned a lot from her, but was well-read and had good was strangely taste. I don't know how he unfriendly and un-helpful. But survived in that community. I learned a lot from that, too, STARLOG: He called you because I learned that if there's "a brunette Grace Kelly somebody in your cast who's with the zest of Ava Gard- new and hasn't been around ner. My best discovery much, you gather 'round and since Hedy Lamarr." try to help them through. WYNTER: Oooh, how STARLOG: You had to have lovely [laughs]] A great a plaster cast made of your compliment! body for the pod scenes. What STARLOG: In interviews, was that experience like? Don Siegel sometimes told WYNTER: [laughs] Well, a far out-sounding story that worse for Carolyn, because he once broke into your she had claustrophobia. house and put a pod under For me, it wasn't bad, your bed.

I I except the guys who made WYNTER: That is a bit far out.

ij it were "funny." I was in Actually, he left it on my doorstep. • this thing while it hardened, He had a girl friend who lived next and of course it got rather door to me—I lived on Santa Mon- warm! I was breathing ica Boulevard near the Mormon

through straws or Temple in an enclave of five little something quite cottages. Don was courting this r 4 bizarre, and the girl, and he would pass my cottage rest of me was all the time. And one night he just

encased, it was like a left it on the doorstep! sarcophagus. The guys STARLOG: And you found it— Efai who were making it WYNTER: Yes, I did, leaving at

tapped on the back and 5:30 or 6:30 a.m., and there it was!

said, "Dana, listen, we STARLOG: Did it have the won't be long, we're just desired effect?

off for lunch!" [Laughs] WYNTER: Yes, I nearly broke my STARLOG: Why did neck, because when you open your these dummies have to front door to go to your car, you I be made? Why couldn't don't expect to find something the actors themselves large on your doorstep [laughs] ! just lie inside the pods in the scenes long time ago, and I really don't remember the STARLOG: What was Siegel like as a direc- where they opened up? scene with the pods opening. tor? r WYNTER: Probably because the spe- STARLOG: Did you read the story by Jack WYNTER: Very interesting. He had so much cial FX people hadn't decided how it was Finney that the movie was based on? fizz, that kind of New York buzz, fizz energy. going to work, and if they had these WYNTER: Yes. This may sound stupid, but I Enthusiasm and drive and a wry sense of

[dummies], they could experiment. They really can't remember what I thought of it. I'll humor. And then was the dia-

weren't that advanced in special FX. I only tell you something: Once something is done, I logue coach. He was a very nice man, but I

saw that picture once, and that was a very put it behind me. I suppose one remembers the had no memory of him later. Even now, if he

86 STARLOGX/anwary 2000 —

was alive and I ran him over in the street, I wouldn't know him [laughs]\ STARLOG: According to one of the * trade papers, Body Snatchers was mostly shot on actual locales, and only four out the very of the 24 days shot in the studio. end of the shot WYNTER: That could be right. Bronson one guy steps Canyon was where the final chase took place. between the boards and

Also in Bronson Canyon is the tunnel where starts to fall forward. Did he fall on top of you Miles goes off and leaves Becky. They dug a two? trench and put planks over it and had the cam- WYNTER: I don't remember. I just remember seemed to era looking down at us. Then, the town in Bak- an awful lot of bits of stones and things falling have lost ersfield; I can't remember its name. You know, down on us [laughs] ! quite a lot. I people write theses about Invasion of the Body STARLOG: What's the key to playing in a far mean, he was out movie like Body Snatch- making very serious ers! Or didn't your mind pictures at one time. work that way? He had either lost his WYNTER: Well, on the grip or, as Billy surface, nothing was said Wilder says, "You

about it being far out. It was don't lose your talent in just supposed to be a plain, this business, you just become unfashion- thrilling kind of picture. able." That's pretty good, isn't it? Anyway, I That was what Allied Artists don't know what happened to Walter; I don't thought they were making. know whether the shooting of Jennings By the way, we realized Lang made him into a bit of a laughing- Walter, Kevin and people stock in that town. [In 1951, Wanger, hus- who can think about band of actress Joan Bennett, convinced things—that we were mak- himself that Bennett and her agent Lang ing an anti-"ism" picture. were having an affair. He shot and wounded Anti-fascism, Communism, Lang, and served a short prison sentence.] all that kind of thing. We Maybe he was just too good for them; he was

took it for granted that's a bit too sophisticated, too highly educated.

what we were making, but it Maybe he made them feel a little uncom- wasn't spoken about openly fortable. on the set or anything like STARLOG: Your impressions of McCarthy? Outside of the Snatchers; it's the most extraordi- WYNTER: You feel there's not a <£S occasional excep- nary thing about this film! One man shadow on Kevin: He doesn't speak tion (like badly of people, he's full of praise, was writing a thesis on this film for j McCarthy), Wynter enthusiasm. feel that he's his degree, and he measured—he laughs that she full of You measured!—the distance from one has "no actor- decent through and through. That's being so charming. And corner to the other in this town. He friends, I can't apart from said to me, "Dana, the line when bear 'actor talk'!" he doesn't have that "actor you say, 'I'm here, Miles,' when thing"—I really don't care for McCarthy comes back to the cave. actors very much! I've had noI actor-friends, I can't bear "actor It's a tri-tonal line—you go from B- flat to E to G. Now that was bril- talk" [laughs] ! early pub- 1 liant. How did you decide upon that STARLOG: In your tri-tonal thing?" And I thought to licity, the first movie you made myself, "These people are out of for Fox, The View from Pompey's < their minds!" [Laughs] Head [1955], got all the atten- STARLOG: Did you have a stunt tion. If Body Snatchers was men- I double at any point in those strenu- tioned at all, it was referred to as ous scenes? a quickie, something that had to WYNTER: No, and poor Kevin be gotten out of the way had to carry me! I was quite chunky before you could start Ib^fe. I if your real movie career. at the time [laughs], and all his good breeding that. They were delicate times, and think Tfc % that came out. He didn't huff or puff or pull a face Allied Artists had had the slightest idea that WYNTER: That's because all or anything; he was terrific, 'cause he had to there was anything deeper to this film, that was done through the Fox publicity run in and out of this muddy canyon carrying would have quickly been stopped! machine, and of course they stories the humor in the weren't interested in doing ol' Dana! Kevin has about — STARLOG: It really looks like a very grueling film that was knocked out by Allied "We anything for Body Snatch- chase. Was there enough time between shots don't want any laughs in here!" Oh, they were ers. Also, remember that for everybody to catch their breath, or was it a something, those people, they really were Body Snatchers was a B-picture real hard day? something. I tell you, it took some getting used from the start—that's what WYNTER: The picture was shot in, what?— to, going into that town [Hollywood] and being Allied Artists made. three weeks—and there were a lot of setups. So part of it when you come from a completely Honestly, this Invasion of there wasn't much time in between. They real- different culture. the Body Snatchers thing—looking ly got a move on. STARLOG: Wanger didn't have enough pull back on it, I'm not really mad about STARLOG: After you and McCarthy hide to keep the humor in? thinking about it. I was sort of new and yourselves beneath the cave floorboards, the WYNTER: I don't know what his position looked kind of young and... boring. townspeople swarm in searching for you. At was in the studio system at that time. He And my acting—I was boring in it.

STARLOG//o««ary 2000 There was no edge. If you're No avid fan of got a child who's two. If I take him to Kenya, lucky, you develop a bit of her own I don't want him to have his head stuck on a I that as you get older. And you screen work, pole!" The Mau Mau thing was still going on develop a bit of humor. In your Wynter then. So I was under suspension for a good first picture, you're so terrified recalls the deal of the time. The head of the William that you're going to do the wrong war films D- Morris Agency, a friend of my husband's and Day, the Sixth thing that you just play everything a very nice man, said he wanted to represent of June and straight. So it's nothing I'm proud me and he tried to get me [away from Fox]. Sink the Bis- of. Now, I was happy to be in it, But Adler wanted to teach me some kind of a marck! (pic- especially because of Kevin and tured) as her lesson, and he wouldn't let me go. I was there Don, and it was a fun thing to do. for I I most enjoy- seven years, and could do nothing about But I as it. I would just soon forget able filmland it. r STARLOG: Did you feel, by mak- STARLOG: What brought you to Ireland? ing a B-picture, a SF film, that you WYNTER: They were making Shake Hands were starting off in Hollywood on With the Devil [1959] here and the studio

the wrong foot? sent me. I had never been to Ireland before. I

WYNTER: Oh, no, it was very made a lot of friends here. And then I came much the right foot for me. I was back when John Huston asked for me for The happy to be doing it because I List of Adrian Messenger [1963]—I played liked Walter very much. Your the mother of Huston's [real-life] son. I had first picture, you're delighted never ridden side-saddle before, and I had to whatever it is. Mind you, I've ride side-saddle; had to play in hunting always said that I was terribly sequences side-saddle; had to drive a land embarrassed by that title. I begged rover, and nobody ever bothered to ask Walter, I said, "Walter, you can't whether I could do it or not [laughs] \ So I did

[call it Invasion of the Body it! I bought the land here in 1966, built a

Snatchers] ! How can I admit to my house. But my son was at school, so I stayed parents that I'm doing a picture called in America until he went to university and As for Body Invasion of the Body Snatchers, for was able to drive. That's when I started Snatchers, Wyn- God's sake! They'll think that I'm spending more and more time here. I love it, ter's verdict is demented!" [Laughs] How do you but the winters are pretty here. grim: "I was sort hard They're explain that away? Even now, people who of new and long and grey. don't know it and haven't seen it kind of looked kind of STARLOG: So what's the best movie you snicker. Don Siegel wanted to call it Sleep young and. ..bor- were in? No More. ing. And my act- WYNTER: You know, there really wasn't a

ing I STARLOG: In 1955, before Body — was best. The best workout was, of course, the boring in it." Snatchers had been released, you were Playhouse 90 work. Also [the TV series] already telling interviewers that the title Twelve O' Clock High—I had a wonderful was dreadful. You also said about it, "I time there. I did three of those, and they suppose it will appeal to the science were love stories that were kind of tragic. fiction kids." Unresolved love stories, like D-Day, the WYNTER: [gasps] Oh, dear...oh, Lord! Sixth ofJune [1956]. But I finally gave up. In It's terrible you can't bury your past, the end, I found myself doing a Magnum, isn't it? It's always there to haunt P.I. And even though Tom Selleck is the you! loveliest man in the world, and the whole

V STARLOG: Once you married Greg thing was fun, I found myself with a gun in "» Bautzer, obviously you didn't worry my hand, playing some wicked person. And about where your next meal was I thought, "Hang on here. Here's a grown coming from, and yet you stuck with woman with a gun in her hand, and this is your acting career. supposed to be entertainment? What am I * WYNTER: Well, because doing here?" ' ,? I was under contract and The Playhouse 90s were my favorites. let Fox wouldn't me go. I As for the films, I don't begged to be let out, because know. The View from Pom- they wouldn't allow you to do any- pey's Head was fun, D-Day thing [beyond movie work], espe- was lovely, and Sink the Bis- I cially in television. When Martin broke that open, I was marck! [1960] I enjoyed. s Manulis and John Houseman sent able while under con- But there really aren't any the script me for the Scott Fitzgerald tract to do these three movies that I did anything "Winter Dreams" [episode of Play- Playhouse 90s, because astonishing in, or with. I house 90], it was such a wonderful they were recognized as never read my own publici- story, * such a part of Americana, I being prestigious. FA x ty, just as I don't see pic- went to [Fox exec] Buddy Adler STARLOG: But you tures that I've done. Once and said, "Let me do this." He couldn't get to let Fox lived, once done—that's it. said, "No. None of our people can you out entirely. Onward! -4& do television." I said, "But we WYNTER: That's right. i "How can I admit to my can't learn, we can't stretch our- And they kept giving me parents that I'm doing a selves. Where do we learn if we just pictures like The Lion picture called Invasion of go from film to film to film? That's not a [1962] with Bill Holden, the Body Snatchers, for learning process." So I made him read it which was going to be /ATVAStONE God's sake!" Wynter asked and they all discussed it, and then they shot in Kenya. I told S producer Wanger. "They'll said, "All right, she can do it." So at least I them, "I can't go, I've jeiui/ameoRPf think that I'm demented!" 88 STAKLOG/January 2000 These lithographs, magnificent examples of film art, have been signed by Ralph McQuarrie, the^ original production artist and numbered in a Limited Edition of only 2,500. They come matted and framed with a still from the sequence ictured in the lithograph and a light- ed one-of-a-kind (no two are alike!) 70mm film eel from the actual movie scene. Batteries not included.

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urSshimltr! ATnon's r-^,:, Use ig probably closer to MUM Mt m ^ %w& The Thing than it "8 to ' Star Wars

If Supernova's cast aren't careful, they might wind up having a fatal close encounter.

A X cience fiction movie directors ft » tend to waver when appraising ^^^^^ their own films, saying, "It's either jokes more often than rage. been working on a couple of projects that, too early to tell or it's too late to "I'm on my good behavior today," notes the because of subject matter, I was having trouble

change it." The same is certainly director. "Besides, I don't know what you gain getting off the ground, and I was leaving a not- ^ true of Supernova's Walter Hill. by doing a lot of yelling." entirely-happy relationship with Paramount. K "We're in the 'too early to [Producer] Frank Mancuso was involved with J** tell' stage," laughs the director as Sun Burnings Supernova, and I had always found him to be he settles into a chair amid the jumble Given Supernova's troubled history, how- an honorable man. But I don't know if I'm of equipment on Supernova's, elevated set. ever, nobody could blame Hill if he resorted to actually doing them [MGM/UA] a favor. They

"But get back to me in two weeks and I may profanity. The original director quit well into were in some distress regarding this project. I have a different answer for you." pre-production and an actors' strike was a don't know if they [expected me to save it]. I

Hill, a good-natured, bearish man, has looming cloud. The Supernova script has also know they hoped I could." guided the mid-morning lensing of Superno- been in a constant state of rewrite. "I was get- But the Supernova story, Hill asserts, really va's several complex and claustrophobic labo- ting new pages quite often. Those usually drew him to the project. "You don't like Frank ratory scenes. Repeated takes don't ruffle him. aren't good reasons to do a movie," Hill Mancuso or anybody else in the world enough,

Dialogue fluffs and camera miscues evoke admits. "But I guess I was ready for this. I had including your wife and children, to do some-

90 STARLOG//fl«Kary 2000 mmm thing that you think you couldn 't do well

The thing I liked most was the story. I know ven movie or an extreme hardware movie. In Hill is also delighted with his Supernova this is something the publicists won't want me fact, Lost in Space probably had more gadgets cast, which includes Lou Diamond Phillips, saying, but the Supernova story is basically an in the first five minutes than we have in all of James Spader and Angela Bassett. "This is a updated version of a '50s science-fiction story. Supernova." great group to work with, and they're also very

Supernova is probably closer to The Thing than Consequently, Hill is able to concentrate on good actors. This is a better cast than you usu- it is to Star Wars. It's kind of like the opposite the characters as they deal with each other and ally get in SF movies. It's a conscious attempt end of ALIEN. You have these characters their surroundings. "I'm more interested in the to upgrade the whole concept of the science caught in a restricted environment, fighting an personal stories and how their interaction fiction film and to make it more creditable in unknown terror." impacts the narrative. This is one of those sto- human terms."

Hill's directing style on Supernova, which ries where it's tough to talk about it without let- The director is light on production anec- he describes as "a thriller in outer space," is ting the cat out of the bag. I can tell you that dotes except to say that "the biggest surprise pretty elementary. "This movie for me is just there is a definite pulp feel to this. Supernova is has been how smoothly the physical produc- your basic job of storytelling. It's not so much the kind of stuff I used to read when I was a tion has gone. I've always associated science- an illustration of the future as it is a suspense kid. John W. Campbell would have bought this fiction movies with nightmare shooting tale set in the future with a certain amount of tale for the old Astounding [later Analog] mag- conditions where nothing works. But, so far, speculation attached. This is not a gadget-dri- we're doing well on that front.

STARLOGX/anwary 2000 91 do with ALIEN Resurrection," Hill points out. "We didn't think the script was very good. Fox

did and so they made it. We were out of that. The studio had taken over the franchise. "I really didn't think ALIEN Resurrection

was a very good idea. I think the ALIEN thing ran its course. We had given them a rather ele- gant ending with ALIENS but, for commercial

reasons, the studio felt otherwise. ALIEN is part of the past for me. Our problem with the ALIEN films was always very simple: each time we made an ALIEN movie, we were deal- ing with a different administration at Fox. And they always felt differently than the previous administration did." Consequently, remembers Hill, getting ALIENS—and a little-known writer-director named —launched at Fox was difficult. "The studio didn't want to make a sequel to ALIEN, as strange as that may sound. They had done a re-release of ALIEN, and that convinced them that there was no market for a sequel. We finally convinced them that an ALIEN sequel done as an adventure story would work." At that point, Cameron entered the pic- ture. "Jim had not yet made Terminator, but

we weren't scared of letting him do it because we had seen his Terminator script, which was one of the best things any of us ever read. We thought, 'Christ! If he could write a script for ALIENS that was half that good, we would be in terrific shape.' Jim went off and did Terminator, and after that he was the hot director and could have easi-

ly gotten out of doing ALIENS. But it was to his credit that he did not waver. He always

said he wanted to do it. So he went home, wrote the script and made the movie." Hill insists that ALIENS not only took the franchise in a different direction, but opened the doors to the future of action filmmaking. "Audiences Of course, Supernova were ripe for ALIENS. will touch on such Someone, or Jim's sequel is the most Space Age advances something, is imitated film ever. Jim's as star travel, playing a game of whole theory of the hyperspace cat and mouse with roller- coaster ride the climax propulsion—and CGI- the crew, but will the and enhanced medicine. glaring truth reveal following climax—all the itself? Die Hard movies and every action movie that "We've shot a series has come since then are of violent acts, but there built on a structure created really hasn't been much by Jim Cameron." physical action, running Although he has built and jumping," he his own career on action explains. "Most of what dramas such as The War- we've been doing is a riors, Streets of Fire, Last kind of quiet character Man Standing and 48 development, and those have been my fondest depends on how well we work the script. HRS., Supernova is Hill's first directorial stint memories so far. There have been moments Things have changed, but the essence of the on an SF film. Though he's a fan of the genre, where the interaction between characters has story remains the same," he says. he does not see SF as a reliable predictor of the been so strong that it has been easy to forget future. "I've never believed in science fiction in that these were actors and that this was a Stellar Aliens any way other than as literature. The genetics

movie. I like to work fast, and, despite the Hill turns his attention to his big claim to process being what it is, humans in the future script problems, we've been moving along at a science fiction fame. He was part of the pro- will be a totally different construct," Hill says. pretty brisk clip." duction triumvirate (including Gordon Carroll "So the idea of taking contemporary human But Hill is still dealing with a primary ques- and David Giler) that guided the ALIEN fran- beings and throwing them into some future tion. "We know where this movie is going, but chise—an association with 20th Century Fox problem is an interesting literary conceit, but I how well the story ultimately 1 turns out that ended with ALIEN . "We had nothing to don't think it has anything to do with what the

92 STARLOG/January 2000 future really holds. "Many directors of these kinds of films are very much into the amaze- ment of what the future will be. I think that's naive."

Solar Flares However, the director believes that Supernova offers a counter to the whiz-bang, effects-heavy approach that dominates contempo- rary SF films. "We've got special effects," he notes, "but I like to think we're using the FX in a much smarter way. We're using them to enhance our characters' environ- ment, rather than detracting from the human characters, tending to put the actors more in the spotlight. Let's face it, you don't get the likes of Space, the FX-laden frontier—not that Hill found- it so. '.'We've got special effects,'

James Spader and Angela Bassett to he notes, "but I like to think we're using the FX in a much smarter way." do your film when they're going to be overshadowed by effects. Super- nova is a , but it

is, perhaps more importantly, an actor's film." Serious as this might sound, Hill

explains that Supernova also has its more light-hearted moments. "I get up in the morning, kiss my wife goodbye, come to this studio every day and spend hours making a movie like this with all the behind-the- scenes stuff with the script [and on the set]. For me to make a movie this

way is hilarious."

It has been nearly 25 years since Hill helmed his first film (Hard Times),

and he still loves directing. "And I'm con-

tinuing to learn. I don't think you're ever too old to learn something. I know the nature of making science fiction movies has changed. I've turned down a lot of SF movies over the years, and a big reason

was that I was never a fan of spending nine months in a special FX lab working on things that might not ultimately be to my satisfaction. Well, I've learned that special effects come together faster these days and that they tend to work a whole lot better." Hill's post-Supernova projects are shrouded in secrecy but he does disclose that he has taken an option on the Philip

K. Dick story The Golden Man and is co- writing the script with Paula Heller. Right now name off the film, perhaps substituting the reshaping of the film, according to co-star Lou his thoughts focus on Supernova and the fortu- "Alan Smithee" pseudonym that some direc- Diamond Phillips. nate caprices of circumstance. tors adopt to advertise their dissatisfaction with At presstime, repeated calls to Hill's repre-

"If Supernova had not happened, I'm sure I a final cut. Director Jack (The Hidden) Sholder sentatives seeking comment regarding his final would have been into something else in a few supervised post-production. credit on the film (as "Smithee," under his months. The right projects come at the right In mid- 1999, months before the movie's name or another) were not returned.

time. And I usually end up doing them." new release date, MGM took a financial write- Will Supernova—with its script rewrites, Of course, whether Supernova was the down on the $60 million Supernova, effective- director changes and troubled post-produc- right project for Hill is still an open question. ly expressing little faith in its prospects. (The tion—sizzle on screen? Will it, like Stigmata, The release of Supernova (now due for a Janu- studio also took a pre-release writedown on overcome the writedown heat? In short, will ary 15 bow) was repeatedly delayed by MGM Stigmata—which then opened and surprised the movie work? amid reports of story problems, creative differ- everyone by making money). To paraphrase Walter Hill, it's too early to ences and too-ambitious FX work. After Sholder's involvement, director Fran- tell. And it's too late to change it. Months after this interview, Hill exited the cis Ford Coppola (a new addition to the MGM Find out when it finally premieres next project, prompting rumors he would take his board of directors) was recruited for further month. £»

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solving thorny problems and steering me to achieved in practice, no matter what the

valuable resources. He was generous with technical difficulties, if it is desired greatly both his time and his vast knowledge. enough." I remember another time Asimov helped For any STARLOG reader, this illumi- What is Possible me with a "heavy" topic. "Where can I find nating book sorts the science from the fic- Sometimes I miss Isaac Asimov deeply. out about gravity?" I asked. "Is anti-gravity tion—helping to determine what might be During the 1970s and '80s, the great a realistic possibility or just a device invent- and what will never be. writer of Robots ofDawn, The Gods ed by SF writers?" If that kind of exploration sounds fasci- Themselves and the Foundation series "The best thinking on questions of that nating, but you are more theoretically would stop by the STARLOG offices from sort," he immediately responded, "is Arthur grounded in science, a recent book by John time to time, and I would occasionally visit C. Clarke's Profiles of the Future. He deals Maddox, What Remains to Be Discovered, his apartment on Manhattan's West Side. with what's possible and what's not." now in paperback, might be a better choice. We would bump into each other at New Although I had met Arthur years earlier, In broad terms, Maddox maps the secrets of York conventions, and we shared stimulat- I had never read this particular book. Origi- the universe, the origins of life and the ing conversations over lunch. nally written in 1962, a revised edition was future of the human race. He shows that I remember one of those conversations, published in 1983 and is the most valuable new knowledge is usually the result of con- in which I challenged , resource I know of for separating scientific tradictions that scientists must resolve. because it presumes that existence requires fact from fantasy. As Clarke says in the Maddox explains how 19th-century con- ". a beginning. "Something can't come from Introduction: . .science will dominate the tradictions led to the most important break- nothing," I argued, "unless you believe in future even more than it dominates the pre- throughs of this century—Albert Einstein's magic. What's wrong with accepting the sent." But that doesn't mean that science can theory of relativity, the discovery of DNA, notion that something has always existed, achieve anything we can imagine. This book splitting the atom and other remarkable and always will?" I don't think we arrived at outlines the limits of reality—no small achievements. This book is a mind-expand- an answer on the subject, but we enjoyed undertaking. ing challenge, exploring the contributions of arguing such topics. "The real future is not logically foresee- those innovators who have moved the One day, sitting at my desk, I impulsive- able," he states. Looking beyond today human race onward and upward. Although ly ". picked up the phone and called Asimov. requires imagination, and . .only readers it poses many questions without supplying And busy though he often was, he always or writers of science fiction are really com- answers, in the end, What Remains to Be answered. "Why do we need the designation petent to discuss the possibilities of the Discovered is a source of inspiration. of odd and even numbers?" I inquired. future." Through the words of Isaac Asimov, "What's the function of that differentia- In Profiles of the Future, Clarke discuss- Arthur C. Clarke, John Maddox and other tion?" es everything from transportation speed lim- remarkable thinkers, those of us who are "Well, to begin with," he laughed, "it's its to invisibility to teleportation, and, like fans of science fiction are able to sense the handy." Then he launched into a detailed Asimov, brings complex theories and princi- validity of our most optimistic visions of the explanation that was part math and part his- ples down to an everyday level that anyone world of tomorrow. Thanks to science, the tory. Asimov was my intellectual help-line, can understand. His basic premise is: "Any- future will be as wonderful as fiction. capable of answering unusual questions, thing that is theoretically possible will be —Kerry O'Quinn STAR WARS: STAR WARS: EPISODE I EPISODE I THE PHANTOM THE PHANTOM MENACE #1 MENACE QUEEN DYNAMIC FORCES AMIDALA #1 DYNAMIC EXCLUSIVE HARD-TO-GET FORCES EXCLUSIVE HOLOFOIL QUI-GON JINN HOLOFOIL COVER! COVER! $10.00 - Unsigned $10.00 Unsigned $19.95 Signed by $29.95 Signed by Robert P. Craig Russell Teranishi and Chris Chuckry Limited Edition Limited Edition

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