SFXclusive (SFX)

Member Name: ralfschumacher

Product:	SFX
Date:	06/08/04 (90 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Exclusive info, good reviews, excellent pics

Disadvantages: If you don't subscribe then the price can be a bit expensive

I have been subscribed to SFX magazine for quite some time now and although I can get a lot of the news and other info from the internet I still enjoy the read. So as you can probably guess from the title, the mag will appeal to anyone who is into the Science-Fiction and Fantasy genre. This can range from Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter to Farscape and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Whatever you're into there's always something interesting to read.The magazine is 122 pages in total and covers all of the latest news and views in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy world.

The magazine costs around £3.60 in the shops but you can get it cheaper if you subscribe. I currently pay £8.90 for every 3 issues, which works out at about £3 each. You will need a debit card though, if you want to subscribe. When you do subscribe you get the latest issue early and you also get a limited edition cover that doesn't have any writing on it, apart from the logo. You sometimes get free stuff too. A couple of issues back I got a free copy of Total Film and Playstation 2 magazine. Not bad if you ask me.

Before we get to any of the main features we are given a teaser of what's to come. This is done via the 'highlights' page. The page basically gives the reader an idea of the main stuff that he/she can expect in this issue and also tells you what page these things are on. We then move on to the 'Contents' page. This shows what page each topic is on so you can skip ahead to something you really want to look at. I know that in this issue, as soon as I found out they had 'Farscape: Peackeeper Wars' pics, I jumped to that page straight away. The contents page also shows that the magazine is split into four different sections. The four sections are entitled 'News', 'Features', 'Departments' and 'Reviews'.

When we turn to the next page we land on the trailers page. Each issue they analyse a new Sci-Fi or fantasy trai
ler via screencaptures and also include a short summary about the movie, the trailer is advertising. The views of the SFX team are also included. In this issue they analysed the trailer for the upcoming Sarah Michelle Geller horror 'The Grudge'. Some of the info they included was that the film was a remake of a Japanese horror film and that this was the film that prevented SMG from being in the last episode of Angel. The SFX team's views are quite funny too.

The 'Mailbag' page is next and is probably one of my favourite parts of the mag. In this part we get to read the letters and emails from SFX readers who want to shout out about something or want to ask questions to the SFX team. In this issue they had a side section for some of the Angel letters they recieved about the cancellation of the show. They could only show a few because they got so many. I haven't written in yet but I'm planning to at some point.

We now move on to one of the main sections, 'News'. This part includes the topic 'Strange Tales' which basically has all of the latest news and rumours in movies and TV. As I said before there was a nice Farscape page in this issue which included some really great teaser pics, but who knows what it might be in the next mag??? Also included in this part is a 'US TV round up' that includes casting news and other info about some of the US TV shows such as Tru Calling and Smallville. There can be some exclusive news so it's always a great section to look at.

'Features' is the next main part of the magazine and includes a great array of intresting reads. First off is 'SFX Profile'. This part usually includes two or three articles about people in sci-fi/fantasy. In this particular issue they included a great article about Chris Barrie who was the star of Red Dwarf. Next is the 'cover feature' which, in this issue is 'The 69 Sexiest Aliens and A.I.s' whe
re the winner was Enterprise's Jolene Blalock who plays T'Pol. I don't know if I agree with that but all I can say is that SFX must have a lot of Star Trek readers! I would have wanted the Buffybot to win or Claudia Black who plays Aeryn Sun on Farscape.

Still in the same section, we move on to the next load of load features. In this issue these were 'On Set: Smallville' which was basically a look back at Season 3, On Set: The Chronicles of Riddick', this was a behind the scenes look the set, Interview: Dominic Keating', 'On Set: Stargate SG-1', 'On Set: I Robot' and 'Past Perfect: Doomwatch'. So as you can gather this section is very packed and will definitely last you until your next copy. I know it takes me ages to get through all of this stuff but when I do sit down and finally read it I find it very informative and at times humourous. The quality of writing is top-class and easy to read, even for the casual reader like myself.

The last two section are 'Departments' and 'Reviews'. 'Departments' includes more articles and most notably this where all the info is if you want to enter the competitions. You can also find out about the latest subscription offers too. 'Reviews' as you can guess is full of DVD, Movie, books and comic reviews. Although not always right their reviews are always a nice read and remember if you don't agree you can always write in.

So overall this is a fantastic magazine with lots of great articles and other reads to get stuck into and always delivers the top-class writing and humour that is associated with SFX magazine. I recommend you pick up a copy today.

I don't think this is a very good review because when I read it back it seams as though I have repeated quite a few words and it doesn't make that much sense. If you feel the same way I would be greatful for a few edits to spice it up a bit. Thanks for read
ing anyway.

Also posted on Ciao.

Summary: