Category: Featured

Star Trek surpasses box office estimations

Posted on by Chris McQuillan

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Star Trek continues to impress, this time at the box office.

The studio had estimated the movie’s weekend box office haul would be in the region of $50 million, but turned out to be a whopping $76.5 million.

What’s more, the movie haul improved from $26.8 million on Friday to $27.4 million on Saturday, which, according to analysts, suggests the film will have “legs” and hopefully a long successful run.  It should certainly benefit from word of mouth.

Experts are now confident the movie should take in $200 million in the United States this summer, and Star Trek is a show which should benefit from a strong international market as well.  Abrams’ Trek could be on its way to becoming the most successful Star Trek of all time.

Poll: Joss Whedon’s Greatest Show

Posted on by Chris McQuillan

joss11After last night’s rather wonderful episode of Dollhouse, I think it’s fair to say that Joss Whedon’s latest creation is quickly beginning to find its feet and hit its stride.  Let’s just hope that it’s not too late in the big bad world of television execs.

However, has Dollhouse reached the heights of Whedon’s previous, much-adored shows?

Only you can decide, so vote below and decide definitively which is his greatest creation to date.

Why is there no pure Science-Fiction on television anymore?

Posted on by Chris McQuillan

image It’s a question many people have been pondering for quite a few years.  Gone are the hey-days of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the subsequent Nineties sci-fi boom.  The arrival of multiple Star Trek spinoffs, Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda, Stargate SG-1 and a plethora of dozens of other sci-fi shows seemed to herald the dawn of a new Golden Age of a more pure science-fiction.

Yet today, we’re left with a fraction of the science-fiction which used to grace our television screens.  Battlestar Galactica and Stargate Atlantis have both just finished, and other shows such as Firefly or Threshold were shot down before they really got going.

So why have these shows fallen into decline?  Twenty years ago, Star Trek was a guaranteed ratings winner, drawing in millions of viewers and a massive market share.  As the latest television incarnation of the franchise – Star Trek: Enterprise – came to an end, it was left with a fraction of the viewing numbers its predecessors had enjoyed.  Enterprise‘s decline has been written about in more than enough detail, and its death can be attributed to any number of factors: lack of advertisement, lacklustre plots or perhaps simply too many episodes of the same franchise without a break. 

Yet Enterprise is reflective of a much wider problem for the genre.  The few genre shows which have succeeded in recent years have attempted to blend their traditional sci-fi elements with elements of other genres.

Continue reading…

George Takei Interview

Posted on by Chris McQuillan

On 14th April 2009, Sci-Fi Heaven.net spoke exclusively with George Takei on the subject of the new DVD releases for the Original Series.

George was a pleasure to chat to, and Sci-Fi Heaven thanks him for his time. In the interview, he discusses many aspects of the original show, including his desire to be made Captain, Star Trek’s endearing and timeless message, and his other acting experiences.

Doctor Who: Easter Special 2009: Planet of the Dead

Posted on by Gateway

image In brief: Fun!

In-depth:

One down.

Three more to go.

Let’s get serious people!

To elaborate – this is it folks. Strap yourselves in for this adventure because it’s fun, tongue in cheek and a fast, furious ride. If you’ve read any interviews you’ll know that this is probably what RTD might call his last chance for a ‘light hearted’ romp in the Whoniverse. If you can call strangers on a London bus being dragged halfway across the universe by a wormhole and then being hunted down by an alien swarm ‘light hearted’.

But this episode doesn’t really dwell on the scary moments for longer than, well, a few moments. It’s about crashing through…

Read more…

Competition: Star Trek Giveaway!

Posted on by Chris McQuillan

Competition-Splash

Now this is epic.  Epic, I tell you.  We’re giving you the chance to win:

  • Star Trek TOS Season One on Blu-Ray
  • Star Trek Movies 1 – 6 on Blu-Ray
  • Star Trek: Alternate Realities Fan Collective on DVD
  • A Star Trek Bottle Opener
  • A Star Trek Bottle Cooler

The whole collection retails at well over £200 ($300), but we’re giving one lucky winner the entire bunch for free.  No strings attached.

Head on over to our Competitions page right now to enter.

Featured Discussion: Is ‘The Dark Knight’ overrated?

Posted on by Chris McQuillan

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This  featured discussion is an experimental idea on Sci-Fi Heaven.  It’s intended to be like a forum thread rather than your traditional blog post.

It’s been a few weeks since The Dark Knight splashed onto our home screens in DVD and Blu-Ray glory, and so hopefully those of you who didn’t see the movie an unhealthy number of times in the cinemas now have had the chance to do so.

Now that the hype has settled, and the dust begins to form on top of what is widely considered to be a modern day masterpiece, there have been one or two voices in the distance crying out to be heard.  They proclaim The Dark Knight to be overrated: a over-hyped piece of cinema that’s simply too dark to be enjoyed.  Some say it’s just not that good.

So what’s it to be?  Is The Dark Knight truly a 21st Century wonder that will sit atop the favourite lists of film critics for decades to come, or is it simply much ado about nothing: a film made famous in no small part by the very tragic passing away of Heath Ledger.  Is that too cynical?

Discuss.

Majel Barrett-Roddenberry Passes Away

Posted on by Chris McQuillan

majel_92nov_chiThe actress and widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry passed away yesterday at home in California. 

Best known as Nurse Chapel and the voice of the computer on Star Trek, Barrett-Roddenberry had been suffering from leukemia which had been diagnosed earlier this year.

She also played Lwaxana Troi on Star Trek The Next Generation.

She had just completed voice recording for Star Trek XI, meaning she had featured in almost every movie and series of the long-running franchise.

She also had recurring roles on Babylon 5 and Earth: Final Conflict.

A firm fan favourite, she will be sorely missed, and our condolences are with the family.

David Tennant’s Own Journey’s End

Posted on by Gateway

Chris got here before I did… so in that regard I’m not going to offer much in the way of news… but more some immediate thoughts on the announcement.

Perfect Ten will be sincerely missed.

I think the last series proved how completely David Tennant encapsulated his version of the Doctor. How thoroughly he understood what the role was.

And frankly, for myself, how much of a sheer joy he was to behold. His enthusiasm was nothing short of infectious.

If Tennant was a drug on the market, I’d be on it.

Read More…

David Tennant Quits Doctor Who

Posted on by Chris McQuillan

tennant-dr-who David Tennant has stated that he will stand down from the role of Doctor Who in BBC’s hit sci-fi series.

Tennant will remain in the role in the four special episodes which are broadcast next year, but in Tennant’s own words, "When Doctor Who returns in 2010 it won’t be with me".

"Now don’t make me cry," he added. "I love this part, and I love this show so much that if I don’t take a deep breath and move on now I never will, and you’ll be wheeling me out of the Tardis in my bath chair."

Tennant took up the role three years ago in 2005, becoming one the most popular Time Lords in the history of the long-running series.

No word, as of yet, on his replacement.  Expect the ever-linked-to-everything Johnny Depp to crop up at least once, since every male role in the Northern Hemisphere seems to be his next.

For further coverage, please visit the BBC article.

Comments and views, people?

Shameful lack of recent activity

Posted on by Chris McQuillan

Durham_castle I’d like to apologise for the absolute drought of updates plaguing SFH in the last fortnight.  This is in no small part due to my moving house (indeed, actually moving country).

The process is now complete, and for the most part I’m now opening hailing frequencies from sunny Durham, in the north of England (see picture).

Now that the transition is smoothly complete, I’m hoping to get back into the groove here with regular updates and often unwanted opinions.

This is just the kind of clear-the-air update I really, really want Guns N’ Roses to make re: the supposed upcoming release of Chinese Democracy late-November.  Please, Axl, if you’re reading: follow my example.