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1 book, 3 videos and no funerals.

Hot damn. Uncle Geoff's shelves have been creaking with review copies of books and films again this month. Here we go again, for a taste of review heaven from deepest darkest Somerset ...

1. The Mammoth Book Of UFOs by Lynn Picknett.
(Pub: Robinson. 537 pages. Price: £ 7.99 (UK). ISBN: 1-84119-075-6.)

website: www.constablerobinson.com

Everything you wanted to know about the current state of affairs related to all things UFO plus a lot of case histories from over the years of sightings and abductions. Food for thought for anyone interested in the subject.

A few things missed Picknett’s path. No reference to the fact that astronauts have seen some unusual sights while in space or the ‘electric worms’ (see my article last month) that frequent Earth’s atmosphere.

As I’ve previously also commented the problem with UFO books is the lack of photographs. In this instance, one can only guess would have increased the price as the Mammoth range like to stay within a certain price range. This in itself should have been more seriously considered, especially with such a visual orientated subject.

This book doesn’t glorify the subject of UFOs either. Kenneth Arnold - the pilot who coined the words ‘flying saucers’ - is denounced for mistaking flying pelicans for unknown flying craft.

The Roswell Incident is shown to be made from disparaging incidents conveniently linked together by the media. There is the occasional speculation against the sightings suggesting other sources of more mythological nature might be behind it including Man’s own ability for self-delusion.

This reviewer does raise some odd question marks about that mainly from all the photographic evidence.

As a starter for information on the subject, the price is reasonable enough to rush out and buy it.

If you want to pursue the subject further, there is an excellent bibliography and a collection of contact addresses.

2. X-Men: The Movie Special Edition

(20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Video 19942S. 100 minutes Price: varies £11.99-£14.99 so look around for the best deal)

Actually, the film is 95minutes long with another quarter of an hour devoted to the trailer, a brief featurette behind the scenes meeting the cast and seeing some of the effects being made and several deleted scenes.

Having only read what the DVD contains, other than a few links, pictures and Hugh Jackman’s casting demo, it doesn’t look like you’re missing that much by going for the video tape. Relief all round.

Now, I have to confess to having a rather vested interest in the look of this film. In one of my previous incarnations, I ran the UK X-Men Fan Club for 20 odd years so am rather familiar with the subject matter. It was an off-the-cuff comment to Chris Claremont when I interviewed him years ago that resulted in Magneto hailing from Europe.

Even back then, there was a lot of discussion about how any director would get around the problem of dealing with so many of the graphic X-Men such as Colossus, Nightcrawler and the Beast. We also came up with the same conclusion: if they can’t be used, then they’d have to be omitted.

It’s an accepted thing that what looks quite natural in a comicbook is somewhat harder to depict in real-life let alone on film. The transformation isn’t perfect but director Bryan Singer has achieved a lot within such confines.

It also has to be remembered to supply sufficient information for film-viewers who’ve never heard of the X-Men - you’d think by now they should be reading press releases before going to such films - while at the same time not talking down to the comicbook fans.

In many ways, the X-Men movie has an almost dreamlike quality throughout the film. Considering Singer said he was going to have events happen in a reality not too far removed from our own, I think too often he pulled back more than dug into it emotionally.

You end up admiring the use of the visuals, effects and background scenery then realise there isn’t that much dialogue. It was only when seeing the deleted scenes at the end of the tape that it became apparent that it was deliberately exercised. It isn’t that I want mountains of dialogue but to minimise as much as they did seems a crying shame.

The aforementioned deleted scenes certainly indicate there was little wrong with the material and would certainly have added more dimension to the characters. The fact that they were included to show the difference indicates some indecision as to what they should have done in the original cut.

I suspect within the year, we’ll have a film special edition putting all the deleted scenes back in. Saying that, if you’ve got DVD - which I don’t - you can probably do that anyway.

I’m going to discuss the lack of super-hero costumes in a separate article shortly - see ‘Hot Pants And Zoot Suits’ - but the ‘X’ motif and even the Cerebro console in a big empty room was more ‘Batman’ movie than its original source. It would have been a better touch had Xavier used Cerebro in his study.

Using brighter costumes would have contrasted better with the otherwise dark scenery on occasions. We’re in a world of bright colours these days after all. There’s also an odd question mark in my notes that it’s going to make a lot of kids think that either leather or PVC is the preferred material for super-hero costumes.

Personally, I’d have thought this would have been difficult to move easily in and dissipate sweat.

In terms of combat, the X-Men have always been regarded as being at their best when they act as a team. Granted it would have been difficult on the viewers’ eyes following combined action but splitting them all up in battle doesn’t really demonstrate the X-Men at their best.

There were a few more major niggles. Professor X can’t take over other peoples’ bodies. If Magneto’s helmet prevents Xavier from taking control of him, why weren’t the rest of the Brotherhood given similar helmets or protection?

It’s a shame that Magneto’s helmet wasn’t given more of the look from the comicbook. Was loosing the trident spike such a major decision? Then again, it’s about time Jean Grey was given a new code-name in the comicbooks as well.

Oddly enough, the cast’s height differentials didn’t make much difference, especially as Wolverine is so short in the comicbooks.

There’s a lot to be said for the quality of the actors when it doesn’t become a big issue. One can only wonder if Patrick Stewart was given an insurance to ensure that his hair grew back after the film?

In a similar light, the reaction from the media press suggesting the age differential between the characters wasn’t that apparent either. Jean Grey and Scott ‘Cyclops’ Summers appeared more the same age than not. Although Wolverine dominated film as the eyes into this world, it might have helped had we seen more of Cyclops’ leadership qualities.

All right, I’m probably niggling a little too much. There were some nice touches showing some other students although quite how Pyro got there beats me. I liked the touch of explaining how Rogue got her white-streaked hair.

The plot revolves around Magneto and his cohorts wanting to press home their belief that the ascent of mutants affects everyone with the X-Men getting in the way of achieving his aims.

There haven’t been many super-hero team films. Roger Corman’s ‘Fantastic Four’ never really surfaced before a big studio binned it. The ‘Justice League Of America’ film was extremely low-budget and pally to resemble its comicbook counterpart.

As such, The X-Men movie signifies the standard all other super-hero team films will be compared to in the future as it at least caught some of the essence of the original. Watch and enjoy.

3. Doctor Who: The Daleks (Remastered)

(BBC World-Wide Limited video BBCV6960. 172 minutes. Price: £11.99.)

I haven’t seen the first 7 part Dalek story since 1963. The only reason I hadn’t bought the video edition until now was cos of the size and cost. 2 expensive video tapes takes up more space than a single one. At last, the BBC have finally realised this as well and it can now be bought on a single tape at a reasonable price.

It’s rather odd seeing this story after so long. Part of me watches with an editorial professional attitude while the other sees it purely in terms of effective story-telling. This story never had me originally hiding behind the chair watching cos the events took place on Skaro.

It was more scary when the Daleks invaded Earth - time that was released on a single video! Nothing brings home a scare more when it happens on your home planet.

The introduction of the Daleks is rather different from the image of exterminating Nazis as they were developed into. Yes, they still had a rather vindictive approach to life but there was also a demonstration that they could care for their prisoners, albeit with ulterior motives, by regularly feeding them.

They were also extremely advanced if they had the ability to create artificial sunlight and edible foods that even the Thals could eat. As with all TV series, the focus tends to be on the action of the plot rather than mundane things like what do they do for sustenance.

Through this story we learn they have a greater dependence on radiation than anything else but I doubt if this would stop them having three square meals a day.

The Doctor and his companions arrive on Skaro and discover they are in a petrified forest. They see the results of a neutron bomb attack at first hand and through the mischievous activities of the Doctor stay long enough to discover the survivors.

The Daleks are mutated and rely on travel machines to move around in their metal city. The Thals have changed into blond benign pacifists who come down to the forest from their own plateau desperate for fresh food supplies.

Rather naively, Susan believes it possible that an arbitration treaty can be formed between the two species before discovering she has been tricked. From there, the TARDIS folk have to ensure a civil war that ensures the Thals come out the victors.

From a plot logistics POV, the trip through the swamp to the far side of the Dalek city is padding. It would have made more sense had they did something important arriving that way by messing up the Daleks power supply but this got lost along the way. Saying that, there is enough tension along the way to only worry about such things when left to analyse later.

Considering the restricted 1963 budget, this episodic story holds together remarkably well. Whether the youngsters of today will feel the same way is debatable. Back in the 60s, there was little SF around to draw comparisons. If nothing else, this is history as it was and if nothing else, it deserves respect for helping to pave the way for all that followed since.

The effects of the Daleks on the British public in the 60s has rarely been surpassed anywhere outside of Star Trek. If you’re a fan of media Science Fiction, it will automatically be accepted that you’ll be adding this to your collection.

If you’re too young to have seen it originally and want to know what the fuss was about, this is worth a look. If you’re my age, then it brings back some, well maybe not happy memories - genocide never is - interesting memories. Watch and enjoy.

4. Galaxy Quest

(DreamWorks Home Entertainment video 4900403. 97 minutes. Price: £12.99 although I’ve seen it priced higher, so look around.)

I have very mixed feelings about this film. I loved the original intention of aliens believing that the exploits of a TV SF programme were real and needed the crew’s aid in saving them. What is annoying is these aliens also have the best lines in the film.

All the human cast do is go from cliché to cliché without any real indication of over-blown egos. Actors that have been on and appear at ‘Star Trek’ conventions - which the supposed TV series is based on - acknowledge it’s a massive ego-boost to be recognised for work they’ve done in the past.

The ‘Galaxy Quest’ cast might be a disheartened bunch of thespians unable to get any other work - something that rarely happens to any of the ‘Star Trek’ main cast these days anyway - but they don’t also have anything about them to want me to particularly root for them either over their misfortunes.

A more unsympathetic bunch you’d never want to meet. Whether this is a script problem or the actors afraid to take it to the limit is debatable. American humour doesn’t always carry over well to the British eyes as it is. It’s the kind of film that would probably be better to heckle aloud than to watch in silence.

Yes, I recognised all the ‘Star Trek’ clichés being used. One can only wonder if DreamWorks or its scriptwriters had approached Paramount for permission to actually use the originals and got turned down?

Visually, the film is stunning but considering it’s Industrial Light and Magic doing the effects this shouldn’t be much of a surprise. On reflection, I did wonder if it would have been better had they ignored the human actor aspect and just played the film as a straight SF movie would it have been better?

The problem is, I think it would have been. Sorry, chaps, but this film could have been so much better and funnier.

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