Firefly: the movie

[Outsider]

http://www.sixbyte.net/fireflynwn/serenity/

Source from Slashdot. Any other fans of the short-lived sci-fi series? I thought the show was great in an off-beat dark kind of way. It was a realistic sci-fi scenario that de-emphasized 'aliens' and focused on the political, psychological and social aspects of a space faring society. And it was funny with compelling characters IMO. So I'm excited about this movie and i'm keeping my fingers crossed that a cable network (SciFi channel) may choose to revive the series.

Any other closet fans of Firefly? It's no Star Trek.

[dmgeist]

I two liked this show, i also felt it had similarities to a anime that was on cartoon network. Because in the anime the crew found a girl in a case similar to the one firefly. In the anime the girl was part of a grappler ship
that could reach some forgotten place.

But i thought firefly had promise, dont know why they scrapped it.

[curiousuburb]

Originally posted by dmgeist
But i thought firefly had promise, dont know why they scrapped it.

TV executives seem to have a chronic inability to 'get' Sci-Fi television until after they've cancelled it.

Reality teevee, Springer and lowbrow wrestling? Some networks can't get enough...
Thought provoking transpositions of societal problems into alien metaphors... :\

Cases in point: Star Trek (Original) (http://www.google.com/search?q=tv+cancel+star+trek+paramount&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8), Farscape (http://savefarscape.com/), Firefly (http://www.google.com/search?q=tv+cancel+firefly&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8), etc...

[Res]

Firefly was great! I was terribly disappointed when they canceled it after such a short time. I think that it had the potential to be really big.

Hopefully the movie will do real well and lead to a new series (or at least a bunch of movies).

[Ebby]

My entire family was disappointed when they cancelled the show. I am the biggest firefly fan of my family but they are not far behind. I often have trivia challenges with my mom.

Shall we have a trivia competition to determine the top browncoat here? :D Anyone care to place a wager? 8)

[Placebo]

Originally posted by Outsider
http://www.sixbyte.net/fireflynwn/serenity/

Source from Slashdot. Any other fans of the short-lived sci-fi series? I thought the show was great in an off-beat dark kind of way. It was a realistic sci-fi scenario that de-emphasized 'aliens' and focused on the political, psychological and social aspects of a space faring society. And it was funny with compelling characters IMO. So I'm excited about this movie and i'm keeping my fingers crossed that a cable network (SciFi channel) may choose to revive the series.

Any other closet fans of Firefly? It's no Star Trek.
Mummies and spaceships?

[Scott]

I didn't get to see enough of it. It seems like a good concept and most of all compelling characters to go on. Too bad SciFi didn't pick it up.

[Outsider]

Originally posted by Scott
I didn't get to see enough of it. It seems like a good concept and most of all compelling characters to go on. Too bad SciFi didn't pick it up. They usually like to pick these abandoned series up. I hope they see the strong fan-base and do the same with Firefly.

[Res]

Originally posted by Scott
I didn't get to see enough of it. It seems like a good concept and most of all compelling characters to go on. Too bad SciFi didn't pick it up.

They have all the firefly episodes (including the ones never broadcast) in a boxed set for only $34.99 at amazon. It is well worth the price.

[Scott]

I just put them on my rental queue.

[addabox]

As if Fox didn't have enough to answer for....

I really loved this series. I think Joss Whedon is one of the great auteurs of television, in that he knows how to take the genre stuff and make it profound.

Fox never gave him the chance to even start to build the kind of mythic resonance that only multiple seasons of TV can do, and which so benefited the cumulative effect of Buffy and Angel.

Whedon works long form, allowing the small betrayals, secrets and missed opportunities to work their way through a season or even multiple seasons, until there is a terrible price to pay or a terrible burden to bear or a great revelation that feels really earned and satisfying, instead of the usual short term memory loss of episodic TV. Everything has consequences.

Which is why, although I'm glad the movie is being made, I still mourn the loss of another Joss world fully populated and imagined.

I was so impressed with the relaxed, lived in vibe he achieved in Firefly, the easy conversation around the dinner table, the offhand but revelatory asides, the sense of not entirely honorable people willing to show up and put in a days work. There is really nothing remotely like it on television, and the fact that it couldn't even last a season tells you all you need to know about how the networks are run these days.

I wish he could get a gig on HBO-- that would be some serious bad ass TV.

[Outsider]

Originally posted by addabox
I wish he could get a gig on HBO-- that would be some serious bad ass TV. I hope not. That means I would have to pay for HBO.

[tonton]

I was fortunate enough never to have seen Firefly on TV. Fox botched it by playing the episodes out of order. It's a fricking soap opera (like Buffy, Angel, etc.) so how can you understand the characters if the episodes are played out of order.

The episode that explained the whole thing, and showed the character development, was the original pilot "Serenity". But Fox didn't play this until the third week or something, choosing instead to launch the series with a formulaic episode with more action, "The Train Robbery". Then they supposedly preempted the show week after week because of the football season, so they couldn't develop a regular fan base.

Watch the DVD set from beginning to end. It's cheap and well worth it. FF is an awesome series with excellent writing, and the cast cohesion is unsurpassed.

I had heard rumors of a feature, but I'm really happy to know it's actually being filmed. Thanks for the link!!!

[Outsider]

Originally posted by tonton

I had heard rumors of a feature, but I'm really happy to know it's actually being filmed. Thanks for the link!!! Actually i think it's in post-production. Good news.

[rok]

i honestly didn't even know it existed until after it was cancelled.

addabox, you really put it best...

Whedon works long form, allowing the small betrayals, secrets and missed opportunities to work their way through a season or even multiple seasons, until there is a terrible price to pay or a terrible burden to bear or a great revelation that feels really earned and satisfying, instead of the usual short term memory loss of episodic TV. Everything has consequences.

you really do not see anyone doing this anymore, at least not for television. sometimes i wish someone would bring back such a a storytelling style to radio, too. the guy has such a gift with dialog that can echo drama and still take the edge off in the next scene. i think whedon would be interested in such a challenge.

i mean, the guy had the balls to make three of the most atypical t.v. episodes ever, ratings-be-damned, in the silent buffy episode, the death of buffy's mom episode, and the infamous "puppet" episode from angel's last season. hell, the silent episode even got an emmy nomination. and i only started watching buffy/angel in their respective last two seasons.

he has also said he is very interested in a buffy/angel movie, but didn't want to even discuss it until he got the firefly movie out of his head and onto the big screen.

p.s. curiousuburb, you know they're doing a farscape movie, right? the trailer's over in apple's quicktime area. another series i never watched but heard great things about constantly.

[Scott]

The pay TV channels have the really good serial shows these days. Way back when the TV exec’s said cable would ruin TV with shows with a low production value. Now it turns out the cable shows are much better than the dreck on the big 3.

[Outsider]

Originally posted by Scott
The pay TV channels have the really good serial shows these days. Way back when the TV exec’s said cable would ruin TV with shows with a low production value. Now it turns out the cable shows are much better than the dreck on the big 3. That's because they are acting like "reality"-TV is the best thing since sliced bread and insist on cramming it down our throats. I can't stand the stuff personally. I would prefer a good old fashioned sitcom to this reality garbage.

[curiousuburb]

Originally posted by rok
p.s. curiousuburb, you know they're doing a farscape movie, right? the trailer's over in apple's quicktime area. another series i never watched but heard great things about constantly.

Don't get me started...

Take a brilliant series acclaimed internationally for writing, fx, and smart style and promise the producers a 5 year run (sound eerily Trek-like). Four years into the run, and just after shooting wraps on season 4 (just after agreeing to a fifth season), kill the series.

After more than a million letters and protest calls to Sci-Fi Network, home of the modern equivalent of Paramount's chronically shortsighted executive, (B Jo Trimble and the original "Save Star Trek" campaign were consulted), what do they do? Rather than let the production company buy back the rights and shoot the final 23 episodes promised, they wimp out and greenlight a mini-series.

While I welcome damn near any change of heart by the bozos at the network (perhaps smarting from the deluge of negative press and submerged in boxes of crackers in protest), the mini-series is a harsh compromise.

Fans of the series through four seasons of character development and plot twists will end up sitting through at least 2 hours of "catch-up" for the non-fans to get the concept and pick up the vibe that 80+ episodes have allowed the cast to weave. So what might have been a 22 hour story arc as Season Five gets shrunken to 6 or 8 hours of miniseries (maybe only 4 :grumble: ).
Figure most of the first episode will be review for the non-Scapers, and it seems like the net output of the "rescued" series will be about 4 new hours.

Better than nothing, but not as good as brighter teevee execs in the first place.

What gem did Sci-Fi replace Farscape with?
Tremors (the series). Giant worms vs rednecks. :mad:

[Crusader]

Firefly made up my Firday night TV viewing for about as long as it was on the air. I saw the 1st episode (well the one the aired first, I don't think is was the first one) and was hooked. The chick/mechanic on the show was on some Disney Channel back in the day, I had the biggest crush one her :D To see her in a kick ass sci-fi show was pretty cool.

I'll have to check out the movie.

[Ebby]

Originally posted by Crusader
The chick/mechanic on the show was on some Disney Channel back in the day, I had the biggest crush one her :D To see her in a kick ass sci-fi show was pretty cool.
:lol: Get in line Pal. That's probably why "Objects in Space" is my least-liked episode. Lots of browncoats like it though.

My #1 episode is Jaynestown, closely followed by Our Mrs. Reynolds then Shindig.

How 'bout you guy's. What are your top 3 episodes? (If you don't know the names, just describe what happens.) :)

[tonton]

Originally posted by rok
i mean, the guy had the balls to make three of the most atypical t.v. episodes ever, ratings-be-damned, in the silent buffy episode, the death of buffy's mom episode, and the infamous "puppet" episode from angel's last season. hell, the silent episode even got an emmy nomination. and i only started watching buffy/angel in their respective last two seasons.

How could you forget "Once More, With Feeling!"? I love that episode.

[addabox]

Originally posted by tonton
How could you forget "Once More, With Feeling!"? I love that episode.

Yeah! Best. TV. Evar.

[rok]

Originally posted by tonton
How could you forget "Once More, With Feeling!"? I love that episode.

d'oh! *hangs head in shame*

[rok]

i'm resurrecting this thread because we just got the first two discs of the firefly season from netflix, and my wife and i sat down last night and started watching... and couldn't stop. eventually, i had to get some rest for work, but man, i cannot believe a.) that this was just a tv series (if there weren't the obligatory dramatic pivot point followed by fade-to-black every 7-12 minutes, you'd think you were watching a full-on movie) and b.) that fox cancelled it.

my only qualm is that it appears that the movie will be the pilot episode "Serenity," "movie-ized," but then again, it makes perfect sense, too. it's where all the character development is, and whedon isn't so full of himself to think that there are enough people who followed the series during its short run to know what's going on without the backstory.

here's hoping this begins a re-ignition of the series...

p.s. okay, are the companion and the mechanic joss whedon's ginger vs. mary ann, or what? ;)

[bostongeek]

Just to brag...
I will be seeing Serenity tonight for the second time. It is a bit of a "rough cut" but a fun movie, and everyone should see it when it is released in September.

Also... It isn't a movie version of the original pilot. In fact, the movie is focused mostly on River. I am not going to post any spoilers, but it was quite shocking at moments.

[rok]

Originally posted by bostongeek
Just to brag...
I will be seeing Serenity tonight for the second time. It is a bit of a "rough cut" but a fun movie, and everyone should see it when it is released in September.

Also... It isn't a movie version of the original pilot. In fact, the movie is focused mostly on River. I am not going to post any spoilers, but it was quite shocking at moments.

okay, well that's good to know. and yes, please no spoilers, even for the tv series (at least until i get a chance to watch all of it!) :D

p.s. it's really weird to see all of these characters in firefly who played major villains in either buffy or angel (nathan fillion = caleb, gina torres = jasmine, adam baldwin = marcus hamilton)

[iPoster]

Originally posted by Outsider
http://www.sixbyte.net/fireflynwn/serenity/

Source from Slashdot. Any other fans of the short-lived sci-fi series? I thought the show was great in an off-beat dark kind of way. It was a realistic sci-fi scenario that de-emphasized 'aliens' and focused on the political, psychological and social aspects of a space faring society. And it was funny with compelling characters IMO. So I'm excited about this movie and i'm keeping my fingers crossed that a cable network (SciFi channel) may choose to revive the series.

Any other closet fans of Firefly? It's no Star Trek.


I never heard of it until your post. Any fan-sites about the show? When/what channel was it on originally?

[LiquidR]

Originally posted by curiousuburb
TV executives seem to have a chronic inability to 'get' Sci-Fi television until after they've cancelled it.

Reality teevee, Springer and lowbrow wrestling? Some networks can't get enough...
Thought provoking transpositions of societal problems into alien metaphors... :\

Cases in point: Star Trek (Original) (http://www.google.com/search?q=tv+cancel+star+trek+paramount&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8), Farscape (http://savefarscape.com/), Firefly (http://www.google.com/search?q=tv+cancel+firefly&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8), etc...

Add to that list Space: Above and Beyond

[curiousuburb]

Originally posted by LiquidR
Add to that list Space: Above and Beyond

And Enterprise :mad:

[Ebby]

Originally posted by iPoster
I never heard of it until your post. Any fan-sites about the show? When/what channel was it on originally?
Fan-sites? Are there ever! Pretty much the main reason there even IS a movie is because of all the rabid fans.

Oh, it was on FOX, and played in what is known as the "death slot." 8:00-ish on friday night.

Official site (http://browncoats.serenitymovie.com/serenity/)
Where I lurk (for 3 years) (http://forums.prospero.com/foxfirefly/)
A third forum (http://www.fireflyfans.net)

[pyr3]

Originally posted by curiousuburb
And Enterprise :mad:

Let's face it. Enterprise sucked for the first two seasons... and even Season 3 had some suckiness in it. Though when Archer decided to steal from those explorers, that was cool that they actually made him have to make a tough decision instead of the "we'll make the morally right decision and everything will work out in the end" stuff that tends to happen. I think what really destroyed Enterprise was the crappiness of the first couple of seasons... and stuff like bringing the Borg back for a cameo even though it goes against the Star Trek timeline... That alienated some fans... Little things like that and the tendency to think that putting T'pol in sexy situations was 'good tv'. Now, T'pol is sexy and it's nice to see her in those kinds of situations, but let's be honest. We all like porn, but porn isn't 'great movie making.'

[Outsider]

To iPoster and anyone else that wants to know more about the series:

Here is a fansite/timeline/info site of the series.

http://www.sadgeezer.com/firefly/
http://www.fireflyfans.net/

This isn't a show with many special effects or cool aliens. The spaceships look bloody awful*** and there is no latex!! (It's strange how Whedon plasters so much alien stuff on the characters in Buffy and Angel (set on Earth) and not a single bit of plastic make-up for his new show set in space!).

And yet, the characterisation is first class. Whedon has made every effort to keep the humour and 'fun' and the quality of the acting performances is usually excellent. Overall it's a show well worth watching.

*** I disagree.

[Placebo]

This looks like a great movie. When everyone asked me about whether I had seen Episode III, I said that I didn't give a damn in comparison to Serenity.

[rok]

i especially like the fact that the trailer is available in HD. :D

it looks like they recap the pilot episode to bring the viewing audience up to speed on the characters, and there's been a lot put into effects that i guess fox was just unwilling to shell out for when it was in their lineup. the only character i don't see in the trailer is the shepherd. don't tell me if he dies in the series, though. i just finished disc one and working through disc two now of the series. :)

[Stoo]

Add to that list Space: Above and Beyond

In the UK Space: Above and Beyond was aired at around 3am...:err:

[adpowers]

I love the series. I was trying to watch the DVDs slowly (to prolong pleasure and joygasm) with my family, but when I brought them to school, I gave in and watched them all in like two weeks (it was my first time watching the unaired episodes). It took me a while to get someone to watch it with me at school, but once we watched one, everyone hated me because they became addicted (we watched three in a day once).

But yeah, I've been avoiding the trailer. I was hoping the movie would jump right in and not reintroduce everyone, but it seems that isn't the case. Also, I hope they still leave lots of room for sequels or another series and don't reveal too many of the story details. It would be nice if they could bring it back straight to DVD, to avoid having to deal with lame networks (cough Fox cough).

Stupid Fox. If you watch the special features on the DVD, they don't outright say it, but you know Fox had it in for them from the beginning. This was one of the best shows on TV. This beat out much of Star Trek. And there wasn't one alien in the whole show. Firefly was quality TV.

Andrew

[bostongeek]

Lemme just say plain and simply, the movie is not a remade pilot episode. Instead of trying to introduce all the characters, the movie hints at certain things and hopes the audience gets it. For instance, there are only a couple subtle references to Wash and Zoe's marriage, as well as Inara's history on the ship or even her profession. This is not in any way, shape, or form the pilot episode... trust me on this. Hvaing said that, the last time I saw the movie I brought someone who has never seen the show and someone who has seen a couple of episodes and the both really enjoyed the movie. The comment I was hearing repeated was, "This is way better than Star Wars."

I can't wait for September 30th to see the final cut of the movie!

[LiquidR]

Originally posted by Stoo
In the UK Space: Above and Beyond was aired at around 3am...:err:

That's just wrong

[LiquidR]

Originally posted by pyr3
Let's face it. Enterprise sucked for the first two seasons... and even Season 3 had some suckiness in it. Though when Archer decided to steal from those explorers, that was cool that they actually made him have to make a tough decision instead of the "we'll make the morally right decision and everything will work out in the end" stuff that tends to happen. I think what really destroyed Enterprise was the crappiness of the first couple of seasons... and stuff like bringing the Borg back for a cameo even though it goes against the Star Trek timeline... That alienated some fans... Little things like that and the tendency to think that putting T'pol in sexy situations was 'good tv'. Now, T'pol is sexy and it's nice to see her in those kinds of situations, but let's be honest. We all like porn, but porn isn't 'great movie making.'

All the Star Trek spin-offs were pretty lackluster until season 3 or 4. Not that I didn't watch and enjoy it.

[ZoranS]

Originally posted by adpowers
Also, I hope they still leave lots of room for sequels or another series and don't reveal too many of the story details.

Andrew

From my understanding the movie WAS able to be released this month at theatres but clashed with other releases (read: Star Wars) and they did not want the effort to be wasted. The actor's are all contracted for 2 more movies IF this first movie is successful. <--- Please goto the cinema (even if you torrent it) :p

1. Firefly - great character interaction
2. Farscape - fun from start to finish
3. Battlestar Galactica - dark and real, the way I like it

[xmoger]

I have to say that I have a borderline obsession with Firefly (I keep ISO copies of the DVDs on my HTPC so that I don't wear out the discs). Unfortunately I didn't get to see the pre-screening. Does the movie have the original style of western music, or techno as in the trailer?

[Ebby]

Watch it buddy...

Spoilers should probably be kept to PM's. Least you want the Browncoat Mafia on your arse.


You can't refuse... :smokey:

[rok]

one of my favorite subtle things in the series so far (netflix/us postal system has lost one of the discs i sent back, so i am stuck...waiting) is that in every space scene, there is DEAD SILENCE, other than the soundtrack playing. no wooshes and explosions and such. since, you know, you have to have AIR to carry those sounds waves. plus, it just adds to how empty and vast space is when you're in it... simon mentions his fear of it at one point, the fear of so much nothing.

i know, it's a little thing, but man it's a nice touch.

what, 114 days or something now? maybe i'll get my last firefly disc from netflix by then. ;)

[addabox]

Originally posted by rok
one of my favorite subtle things in the series so far (netflix/us postal system has lost one of the discs i sent back, so i am stuck...waiting) is that in every space scene, there is DEAD SILENCE, other than the soundtrack playing. no wooshes and explosions and such. since, you know, you have to have AIR to carry those sounds waves. plus, it just adds to how empty and vast space is when you're in it... simon mentions his fear of it at one point, the fear of so much nothing.

i know, it's a little thing, but man it's a nice touch.

what, 114 days or something now? maybe i'll get my last firefly disc from netflix by then. ;)

You are so right about that. Really the first time since "2001" that I've seen space based sci-fi that took the trouble to treat space as its own aesthetic, rather than a less well lit version of a WWII dog fight. Nice deep, diffusion-less shadows as well.

I also love the rest of the fx style. I've seen the look in a few other things (maybe from the same company?), but it really enhances the mood of the CG work-- snap zooms, camera overshoots and shake, focus pull, hunting for focus, exposure shifts, etc. Not overdone, just enough to sell the idea that what you are seeing has been "photographed" rather than rendered. It matches up nicely with the live action cinematography.

[rok]

red alert - SECOND SERENITY TRAILER ONLINE NOW!!!!

[Skipjack]

Originally posted by rok
red alert - SECOND SERENITY TRAILER ONLINE NOW!!!!

That's the second available from the Apple site. There is also an international trailer available here (http://www.cantstopthesignal.co.uk/trailer/international.html), so there are three different trailers, so far.

Speaking of Battlestar Galactica, be on the lookout for the occasional Firefly class ship. Supposedly there are at least two sightings so far.

[rok]

i am really hoping for enough word of mouth on this movie to make it enough of a success to bring it back for a sequel or two. i thought everyone who raved about it was over-reacting, but when i saw the whole series through, i became a believer. nay, a browncoat.

8)

[rok]

hmmmm... here's something i don't get. we've got three trailers, and not a single one of them shows shepherd book more than a "blink and you'll miss it" shot (he's in the first trailer where kaylee is sitting with a child in her lap while jayne and mal are in a tent. every other character gets at least 3 seconds of face time, but he's strangely absent.

it'll be a pity if he's not in this movie, but maybe joss has plans to focus on him in an upcoming movie?

plus, heck, ron glass just rocks.

http://www.nndb.com/people/542/000046404/rg_barneymiller_02_70.jpg

;)

[Skipjack]

Originally posted by rok
plus, heck, ron glass just rocks.


I think this says enough, without saying too much:

Gina Torres on Serenity
Firefly co-star expects a good reception for the Joss Whedon film.
by Paul Davidson

August 3, 2005 - "[Serenity] is a continuation of where we left off. It's a continuation of the [Firefly] stories," explains actress Gina Torres, who stars as Zoë Washburn in this fall's Serenity, a follow-up to the science fiction series Firefly.

In an interview with Blackfilm.com, Torres assured the show's many fans that the entire beloved crew was returning in Joss Whedon's feature film.

"All of the characters that you came to know and love are all present and are who they are. Circumstances determine certain reactions that we have. Circumstances that are particular to the storyline and so, stakes are very high and therefore we have to react in an appropriate manner."

Torres had words of appreciation for director Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alien IV) and her fellow cast members, particularly veteran Ron Glass. "He's one of our gifts that unfortunately I feel I don't get to see enough of him or his work and what he's capable of."

In the series and the upcoming film, Glass (who starred in the old police sitcom Barney Miller) plays an enigmatic preacher who signs on as a passenger and accompanies the rag-tag crew of the ship Serenity on their various outings and misadventures.

Source: http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/638/638800p1.html

[Outsider]

This (http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/firefly.html) might make f or some interesting reading before th movie is released. i'm picking up a copy at Amazon.

[Carson O'Genic]

I'm a big fan of SciFi, not that every show or movie pushes my buttons. Actually, good SciFi is hard to find IMO. So I wonder what rock I was under when Firefly hit the air?? Never heard of it.

[Outsider]

Originally posted by Carson O'Genic
I'm a big fan of SciFi, not that every show or movie pushes my buttons. Actually, good SciFi is hard to find IMO. So I wonder what rock I was under when Firefly hit the air?? Never heard of it. The problem is you probably blinked. Because that's about how long the series was on. ;) Basically Fox bungled it and rarely promoted it. It's not surprising you may not have heard of it.

[Carson O'Genic]

I really need to work on blinking with only one eye at a time. I should also learn to sleep like a dolphin so I can have half a brain awake at all time. Tha way I'll stop missing things.

[addabox]

Originally posted by Carson O'Genic
I really need to work on blinking with only one eye at a time. I should also learn to sleep like a dolphin so I can have half a brain awake at all time. Tha way I'll stop missing things.

One good rule of thumb: if the advance buzz for a show on Fox is really really good, and then you watch the pilot and it seems cool and different and well written, make sure to watch every show they air because they will definitely cancel it within four or five episodes, having killed any chance of building an audience by airing each of those episodes on a different night at a different time with a few two or three week gaps thrown in for good measure.

[rok]

you know, technically, i guess the title of this thread should be rebranded to "Serenity: The Firefly Movie." nevertheless...

I saw this posted somewhere,shortly after the announcement of firefly's cancellation:

Nathan Fillion (aka Cpt. Mal Reynolds) posted a little farewell note on the Firefly board (well, everyone did, but his was the best one). Included below:

So, here we all are. It seems that we are a living embodiment for the show. We are Browncoats, fighting a war we were never meant to win, but fighting nonetheless. The Fox Alliance has spoken, leaving us to make due with the cards we’ve been dealt. If you are anything like me, you’ve been pulling the record tabs off your precious Firefly VHS tapes, pushing along through your life still bitterly fighting the war from within.

I love Firefly. Walking around the cargo bay, the bridge, it’s all been terribly painful. It does still live inside me, though. With every “gorram” or “them as can” I throw unknowingly into my daily conversation, or everytime I sit in the captain’s chair that lives in my heart, I smile with the knowledge of what we’ve accomplished here. We may have been on the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one. I can’t remember who said that.

Keep sending those postcards into to UPN. Every little bit helps, and if ever you see me on the street, just nod and say, “Captain.” You’ll make my day.

[ZO]

I had heard here and there about Firefly and then saw the whole thing, all episodes, nicely packaged in one big Bittorrent with a ton of seeds and couldn't resist.

I had NO expectations whatsoever, and over a weekend I saw them all. Was really really good. I loved the character development and such.

Go figure that a week after I saw the DVD-rip they announce that a movie is coming out and such :)

Am really looking forward to seeing it and buying the DVD of Season 1 so I can see and hear with surround on a bigger screen :)

[Outsider]

I'm waiting for a good deal on the box set, hopefully before the movie comes out. Who knows how valuable those DVDs will be after that ;)

[iPoster]

Just under two weeks to go! Woooo! :D

Something I've been wondering and haven't been able to find out on the internet, does Serenity (the movie) use the same filming techniques as Firefly (series) did? In other words, the silence in space, the 'hand-held' camera look, etc.

:???:

[Ebby]

I saw the Box set for $44 at Fry's. Don't know about Amazon.com.

We just finished re-watching everything again. I also saw a ad on FOX. :D (Same as the downloadable ones.)

[Skipjack]

Originally posted by Ebby
I saw the Box set for $44 at Fry's. Don't know about Amazon.com.

We just finished re-watching everything again. I also saw a ad on FOX. :D (Same as the downloadable ones.)

Amazon was $34, but I heard that they just lowered the price to $30 or less (the price it was a couple of months ago).

[rok]

Originally posted by iPoster
Just under two weeks to go! Woooo! :D

Something I've been wondering and haven't been able to find out on the internet, does Serenity (the movie) use the same filming techniques as Firefly (series) did? In other words, the silence in space, the 'hand-held' camera look, etc.

:???:

well, joss said the hand-held thing was to try to convey the tight confines of the ship, so i have to assume we'll see that again, whenever they're on the ship anyway.

[Ebby]

I heard there was an epic fight over silence in space. I didn't hear who won.:\

[iPoster]

Originally posted by Ebby
I heard there was an epic fight over silence in space. I didn't hear who won.:\

Hmmm.... I have a bad feeling they went 'Hollywood' with it, based on the trailers so far.... :no:

[Placebo]

There should be no sound in space. In my opinion, it's cooler if it's silent anyways.

As for the movie, it looks like it'll be awesome. Definitely seeing it.

"This is the captain speaking... we're going to experience some turbulence and then, uh, explode..."

"But I don't wanna explode!"

[fng]

Makes me think of my favorite ff episode Objects In Space (http://www.scifispace.com/html/ffepisodes.php).

Objects In Space - Airdate: December 13, 2002 (bumped from January)

A bounty hunter is lured into a treacherous game of cat and mouse after he infiltrates the Serenity to deliver the much sought-after River to the Alliance.

[addabox]

Originally posted by fng
Makes me think of my favorite ff episode Objects In Space (http://www.scifispace.com/html/ffepisodes.php).

That is correct. Objects In Space rules.

[rok]

Originally posted by Ebby
I heard there was an epic fight over silence in space. I didn't hear who won.:\

well, saw the movie last night. very under-populated theater, especially for a friday night opener, but then again, a.) we're in the midst of hurricane recovery and b.) most of the teen-crowd that frequents this theater are idiots who go to see roll-bounce and care more about making out than watching a movie. i guess this attitude of mine makes me officially old. oh well...

i never remember any silence in space in the movie. i am hoping that there is an alternate version on the dvd that uses a differnt soundtrack for those areas, for those who want the good ol' tv treatment. that'd be cool.

all in all, very worth the money and the wait, especially if you liked the series at all. you can also see that joss had a backstory line he could have dragged out for five or more seasons if he needed to. it's a very intense story, that might have even benefitted from being told in episodic tv, since you can break it up with other plots easier for longer periods of time. this story just keeps hitting you wham, wham, wham... the pacing is frenetic, and you never get much time to absorb what's happenign so much as react to it. i'm not sure if that's a fault, or if whedon was trying to show how the character could not slow down or grieve, or else risk getting killed themselves. but, all in all, it sure is a lot of fun.

oh, and don't worry if you've watched the trailers 80 times like i have...most of the trailer contents occur in the first 15-20 minutes of the movie. maybe i'm just clueless, but i did not see the surprise plot twists coming. there were a couple small logic holes, but the pacing never gives you enough time to spot them and labor upon them.

is it me, or is morena baccarin even hotter than she was on tv? rowr! i could have used her on screen more. i assume, if there is a second or third movie, the mal/inara relationship will expand in the han solo/leia tit-for-tat that we all liked fromt he original star wars trilogy.

potential spoiler:

for those who have not seen the movie yet, this isn't as much a spoiler, as just a reminder... joss whedon has no problems with killing off pretty major characters in order to convince the audience that the danger the rest of the cast faces is truly mortal. you'll not see "ensign expendable" bite the dust here. that's all i'm saying.

[/mandolux/]

I tried to see it last night but was sold-out - I saw Lord of War instead (which BTW, it was actually pretty good).

[Placebo]

I saw it last night, and I'm truly impressed. I can't not recommend this movie to anyone.

[iPoster]

Just saw it today, even better than I hoped it would be! Outstanding movie!


Potential spoiler:





IRT rok, you were right about your spoiler. Made me think of that book series by George R R Martin, he does the same thing in regard to main characters in his books.

[Splinemodel]

Question:

I thought the series was AWFUL. Does the movie have the same, over-done familial motifs?

[Ebby]

I don't want to give too much away, but Mal was intentionally written much darker in the movie than the TV series. (I've read this is how Joss wanted Mal in the first place, but changed it to appeal to the networks.) There are a handful of puns, some big plot twists, and LOTS of action. (I love the movie, but I did feel dizzy once. I was pretty close to the screen too.)

[rok]

Originally posted by Splinemodel
Question:

I thought the series was AWFUL. Does the movie have the same, over-done familial motifs?

wow, all-caps awful? seems a tad harsh, but i'll do my best to encapsulate the main differences i saw int he movie last night from the series (and i only watched the series once in the box set):

- way more of the unique frontier dialect (kaylee has maybe the best line in the movie, but i won't spoil it). i guess joss was asked to tone down the chinese slang and swearing for tv since the audience "wouldn't get it", but here, it pervades the discourse a lot more during the crew's informal discussions, and there are some great plays on words that make sense in context. i wish i could relay some of them, but i think that would spoil some moments.

- i assume by the familial motifs, you may be referring to the brother-sister story, as well as the husband-wife thing? well, the brother-sister stuff has to be there, since the sister is the crux of the plot. the husband-wife thing is alluded to, but not beaten over your head.

- the presence of the reavers gives some scenes a campy-yet-terrifying b-movie horror feel (and i actually don't mean that in a bad way). i'm sure others felt the same way. the reavers were also given, in very efficient manner, a presence that felt like, if they touched you, you were already dead. i have heard several folks say that the makeup for the reavers seemed cheesy, but i prefer the old-fashioned touch rather than the lucas "cgi, because i can" approach. yet in the series, we were never even SHOWN a true reaver. they were just this presence you were told to never, ever let get close to you. similar to the "blue sun group" that was looking for river & simon tam in the series.

- adam baldwin wasn't made to be as goofy or dumb muscle as he was in the series, and i actually preferred him much better this way. he's portrayed in a much more pragmatic and survivalist way. if the current plan does not benefit his survival or profit, he'd rather not have any of it. here, it has a simplicity, whereas in the series it was portrayed as stupidity.

- oh, yeah, there's one scene that may give you vertigo if you sit too close to the screen. not sure if that was intentional, but considering how many advanced screenings and edits this movie reportedly had, i have to assume it was intentional. you'll know it when you see it.

there will be comparisons to the last series episode which never aired int he u.s., "objects in space," and there are some definite similarities in the bad guys' personal philosophies and professional sophistication, though the operative is given a much more enormous scope in pursuit of river tam than the lone-wolf bounty hunter, jubal early. but i'd say if you liked that last episode, the movie is all that AND a bag of chips. ;)

[rok]

p.s. fans of the series should probably stay all the way to the end of the credits. there is a very small treat awaiting you at the end.

[iPoster]

Originally posted by rok
p.s. fans of the series should probably stay all the way to the end of the credits. there is a very small treat awaiting you at the end.

Damn, I had to go really bad at the end, (had one of those Mega size Cokes) so I left when the credits started! :mad:

Is it something worth going to see it again, or wait for the DVD? :???:

[rok]

Originally posted by iPoster
Damn, I had to go really bad at the end, so I left when the credits started! :mad:

Is it something worth going to see it again, or wait for the DVD? :???:

no, it's not huge. it was just a nice homage to the tv series. seriously, if you think about it, you'll probably guess what it was.

[Ebby]

DAMN! :mad: I remember I heard something about that but forgot! That's why all those people stayed. :grumble: (I must have looked like an ass walking out with a brown shirt.) Guess I'll have to see it again...

[fng]

Two thumbs up:D

[rok]

i am interested to see the direction they will take with the next movie (joss said this will not be the last you will see of the serenity crew at the san diego comicon panel, and they were second at the box office... second... a movie that is a sequel to a series NO ONE SAW was SECOND. that's pretty damned good).

without giving any spoilers, you gotta figure the blue sun group will be coming next. from the series, they had some vested interest in the tam twins that they were willing to kill an entire alliance installation to keep secret. and if you look around online, apparently there are a LOT of blue sun references throughout the series in its short run. in fact, there's one "blink and you'll miss it" reference in the movie.

joss said he wanted the blue sun group to be this galactic coca-cola-style megacorporation that seemed to deal in much more than food items as the story unfolded... or perhaps that's their avenue for, well, whatever they do.

methinks river holds more than just one secret in that kooky head of hers.

plus, i'd like to see the browncoats rise up again. heck, i could even live with the movies ending their run with mal being killed off in some future movie as he saw his actions convincing people to fight the good fight one more time after he was gone.

there's also a slant i think people are missing, and that's alluded to very briefly in the commentary of the firefly box set. simon tam isn't as squeaky clean as everyone is making him out to be. and in one episode of the series, one of the writers mentions a super-brief intimate exposition between simon and inara. and recall that inara was in support of the alliance before she got on board. and simon's brilliant and all, but when book (who seems to have a shady past of his own) mentions simon's penchant for dastardly scheming, simon replies "i'm thinking of growing a mustache. i'm a traditionalist." interesting deflection.

remember this is joss whedon. absolutely nothing is what it appears. i suspect a double-cross someday by mr. tam.

there are some spoilers i would love to discuss (well, really, one, and fans know which one i am talking about), but i'm not sure when will be a sufficient time to elapse so those who wish to see it will have done so. there are some significant areas that are easy to spoil.

[iPoster]

Originally posted by rok
joss said he wanted the blue sun group to be this galactic coca-cola-style megacorporation that seemed to deal in much more than food items as the story unfolded... or perhaps that's their avenue for, well, whatever they do.


It's made from PEOPLE!

:D

[Ebby]

Originally posted by iPoster
It's made from PEOPLE!

:D
Leela: No theres already a cola like that...Soilent Cola.

Fry: How is it?

Leela: It veries from person to person.

[Res]

I was greatly disappointed by the movie. It is by far the worst "episode" of firefly (which was a great series).

I will not post a spoiler here, but the movie is full of plot holes and changes events that happened in the series. I really wish that they never made this movie.
:(

[fng]

I think that train heist episode was the worst. I know they wrote some to satisfy the networks need for more shoot 'em up action and I think that was one of them. Just such a boring trite concept. Besides why would we have training in 500 years?

[Ebby]

:lol: The Train Job was the episode totally re-written to be the pilot episode for Firefly. (Instead of the normal 2 hour pilot.) But it could be a great stand-alone episode too. Nonetheless, I like it. Great Quotes.
#1) Our Mrs. Rehyolds
#2) Jaynestown
#3) the Train Job
#4) Heart of Gold
#5) Bushwacked

I can't stand Objects in space (although that seems to be one of the best rated) and Out of Gas gets a little long in the tooth at places, but has LOTS of background information on the characters so it is good.

[Res]

Originally posted by fng
I think that train heist episode was the worst. I know they wrote some to satisfy the networks need for more shoot 'em up action and I think that was one of them. Just such a boring trite concept. Besides why would we have training in 500 years?

I don't think that Train Job was bad at all. And Maglev trains are very appropriate for futuristic settings like Firefly. If you notice they are avoiding tech that seems impossible according to the laws of physics, like faster than light drives, and I rather like that for a change.