Empire destroying or Rebel Scum? (Total Film)

Member Name: SWSt

Product:	Total Film
Date:	06/01/09 (137 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Humourous approach to films, informative reviews, strong features

Disadvantages: Starting to diversify into non-films, has become a little more staid, embarassing ads

About 10 years ago, there was really only one UK film magazine - Empire. Although I bought the odd issue, I always found its style a little pretentious. Then Future Publishing launched Total Film. I bought my first copy around issue 6 and immediately knew I'd found the film magazine for me.

The reason Total Film is so good is that you genuinely get the impression that they are a bunch of ordinary people who like films, writing about films. If a film is good, they will say so; if it's a stinking piece of garbage, they won't be afraid to say that either. It's like having a chat about films with your mates. Their reviews are honest, unpretentious, informative and written in the sort of language that the average cinema-goer uses, with little or no techy speak.

Of course, it probably helps that Total Film's tastes closely match my own and are very eclectic. They will happily give a rave review to a dumb film with hundreds of explosions and no plot as they are will to a great, but obscure cinematic work in Swahili. The bottom line is: if it's a good film, Total Film will say so, regardless of where it's from or who's in it. And if Total Film say it's good, the chances are I will enjoy it. In the whole time I have been reading the magazine, I can only think of 3 films which they have rated and I have slated. When you think of how many of their reviews I must have read in that time, that's a pretty good record.

As well as their good, honest reviews, Total Film also have some excellent features. Indeed, these are often better than the reviews. There are the ubiquitous interviews with stars and directors, which are interesting enough, but where Total Film really outshines its rivals is in some of its dafter features. In the past for example, it's had articles aiming to settle that perennial playground argument of who would win in a fight between (say) RoboCop and Rambo, or a recent issue had an article called "The Movies Made Me Do It" looking at instances where criminals have blamed their actions on films.

Yes, Total Film has a sense of humour and its not afraid to use it. This makes it far more entertaining and readable than some other mags which take themselves way too seriously. There's a small section called "Is it bollocks?" which looks at some unlikely thing that has happened in a film and then rings up an expert t to ask them is it possible. There's the one question interview, where pompous, verbose stars are asked a single question and not given the chance to jabber away. Finally, best of all, there's the Rod Hilton's Abridged Script, which takes a film each month and boils it down to its basics with hilarious results! It's this sense of levity, of poking fun at the industry whilst still retaining affection for it which makes Total Film such a joy to read. Sure, other magazines also have a sense of humour, but Total Film applies it constantly.

The magazine does have a few downsides, though. As the film journalism world doesn't offer many career opportunities, you often find a significant amount of cross-over between Empire and Total Film journalists. This seems to happen every few months with writers swapping between the two and this can have an impact on the magazine. If a journalist is used to writing a certain style (the more serious Empire style for example), it can take them a little while to adapt to the new style of the magazine and this can impact on the overall quality of the magazine.

Secondly, as the line between film and other media becomes increasingly blurred, Total Film is paying giving greater magazine space to things like books, film soundtracks or computer games (often not even based on films). Personally, I buy a film magazine because I want to read about films, nothing else. In fairness, the total proportion of space devoted to these areas is only small (around 5-10 pages each issue), so if you skip them (as I often do), you're not missing out a great deal. However, if increasing amounts of pages start to be dedicated to these areas, I might be a little more concerned.

As its grown older, Total Film has also drifted away a little from its original concept. Early issues made great play of getting its readers involved. There were regular features like "The 50 Best Action Films" where TF named 49 of them and the allowed the readers to vote for number 50; or polls where everyone could vote for their favourite sporting films and then TF would collate the results in a table. As the magazine has gone on, these features have become fewer and fewer - TF now tells you what is good and bad and gives little chance for its readers to get involved, other than through the letters page. This is a step backwards in my opinion as it reduces that sense of "sharing" in the magazine. It's a strange decision - most media is becoming more inclusive, and it's something which TF perhaps need to consider reintroducing.

A minor complaint is that Total Film carries a phenomenal amount of adverts for a certain type of mobile phone service (you know, those promising you can speak live with Luscious Lucy). Most mags have them these days, as they're obviously big payers, but TF seems to have more than most - often as many 4-5 pages. This can make it a little embarrassing and attract some strange looks if you're reading the magazine in public.

And finally, a final concern: in recent months, Total Film has had a re-design -always something which strikes fear into the heart of loyal, long-standing readers. It still retains many of the strengths outlined in this review, but some are slowly starting to ebb away, which is a concern as it is becoming more tabloid and sensational in its approach, which is not a direction I want it to go in.

Still, overall, Total Film is an excellent magazine. For less than four quid a month, it's very good value for money (particularly as most issues have some form of free gift) and provides a good few hours worth of reading. If you're fed up with the slightly ponderous style of Empire, give TF a whirl. Not everyone will appreciate its more light-hearted approach, but if you like your film mags with a sense of humour, TF is hard to beat!

Basic Information
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Total Film
Future Publishing
£3.75 monthly
http://www.totalfilm.com

© SWSt 2008

Summary: The film magazine for me!