Firefly / Serenity

[anephric]

I initially hated Firefly based on catching the odd episode here and there on the Sci-Fi channel (plus my vested and completely natural hatred of Joss Whedon as an entity and geekdom marketing phenomenon) but when I watched Firefly properly on dvd the scales fell from my eyes and even Bitter Cynical Refuse to Admit He's Wrong About Anything Me really, really liked it.

I still hate Buffy tho.

[JRMacumber]

Anephric, there is hope for you yet. Not a lot, mind you, but still.

[giogi]

If that's true about the effects originating on Firefly then I take it all back

The passion you guys have for the series has persuaded me to check it out though, will grab some tapes from work and give it a viewing this week.

An Alliance government ship looks like a black office block full of skyscrapers, unwieldy and officious and daunting. A man in a vacuum suit in space kicks clumsily off a ship's hull, spins lazily in place, and corrects himself with a quick shot from his suit's gas jets. When it premiered in 2002, Firefly's Emmy award-winning visual effects were like nothing that had been done before.

All that visual detail adds to the depth of an uncommon science fiction show. Firefly breaks the rules. It's not as preachy and pretentious than Star Trek, more sophisticated than Star Wars, less grandiose than Babylon 5, and ? doubly clear when you begin watching with the original two-part pilot, "Serenity" ? as smart as any of them and funnier than all.

There's a pretty good article here about the show, and how Fox treated it like crap: www.revolutionsf.com

I'm sure you'll enjoy the show, I just hope it gets a chance for a 2nd series.

[jezzace]

I saw serenity at a free screening last night. I had no idea it had anything to do with firefly, which i've never seen. I wasn't terribly impressed with it as far as a piece of entertainment goes its absolutely fine, but its pretty cliched. It seems as if all the crew members are from the same training camp as the Aliens soldiers, with the dumb jock, hard ass women, quiet sensitive one etc. The reavers are generally quite creepy but, for me, they weren't actually in it enough. Its good if you put your brain on hold and it is better then most popcorn fluff these days.

[nonny]

Ive got a copy of the entire series of FireFly in my hands as I type this (which is difficult if you think about it)... plus I am off to see Serenity on monday.

As ever Im glad NTSC-UK is on the pulse yet again as Ive heard nothing but good things about this series and its just about to air on Fox over here in Australia.

I think the world has officially gone mad though... reality TV shows get into their 5th-6th series which is essentially the same **** dished up with wank garnish on the side and yet this original material gets canned after one series.

I pity the people that make reality TV popular, I really do... I just pray this trend dissipates soon because I now watch less than 8 hours of TV per week, and thats news reports.

[JRMacumber]

Serenity was... amazing. I have to go see it again. Soon. Just brilliant.

"I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."

[Morcerf]

Depite being a massive fan of Buffy/Angel, I've still not seen Firefly.

However, am thinking of going to see Serenity tonight - is that a good idea, or should I wait and see Firefly first??

[spagmasterswift]

Depite being a massive fan of Buffy/Angel, I've still not seen Firefly.

However, am thinking of going to see Serenity tonight - is that a good idea, or should I wait and see Firefly first??

I caught some episodes recently (after seeing Serenity) and they do add a lot to the 'relationship problems' I had with the film. I'd check the series first if I could turn back the clock.

[Ben-K]

People, you've got two days till Serenity comes out. That's plenty of time to watch at least half of the series. And in that amount of time you're bound to fall in love with the characters enough to enjoy the movie.

I personnally cannot wait.

[Paleface]

If you've only got time for a few episodes, however, and need to prioritise, I'd probably suggest: Serenity (pilot), Shindig (for a better handle on the verse, and because I love it), Our Mrs Reynolds (similar, useful for Mal), Out of Gas (lots of character backstory), Ariel (interesting River stuff), Objects in Space (very interesting River stuff).

None of them will be essential for the film's plot, but they do fill in a lot of characterisation you might find useful.

[Mardigan8]

Is the cast from the series the same as the cast in the film?

[Briareos]

Caught Serenity on saturday at a special screening, and loved it!

As a fan of Firefly it was a massive treat, though the friends I went with who hadn't seen the show weren't as impressed

Is the cast from the series the same as the cast in the film?

Yes indeed.

[giogi]

Okay, finally seen Serenity and I can say it is a fantastic film, though a lot like a bigger budget double episode of the series. The style hasn't changed that much, which I am thankful for.

the story is good, but more importantly the characterisation has stayed up their, with some nice one-liners and confrontation.

Some of the exposition was a little rushed, but hey, when you have the advantage of a series like Firefly, you can be as well paced as you like. Not sure if it will be enough to make a second series viable. I was told by a friend today that Whedon is not interested in doing another TV series, but he may do another film (you can't blame him with the way he has been screwed over by the networks.)

[OFF TOPIC] Saw the Chronicles of Narnia trailer before Serentiy, looks amazing [/OFF TOPIC]

[Resonance]

I saw Serenity, left halfway through. It is the kind of Scifi that rubs me completely the wrong way. The visual style was a mess, it seemed like they just threw a bunch of scifi styles together with no real thought, the script was clich?d and corny. Might have got good later on but I was not sticking around to find out.

[Stuart Smith]

I'm sorry, but I've never understood the idea of leaving a film halfway through. You've paid your money, you had allocated time to the film, so what do you gain by leaving? Serenity does get progressively better as it goes along, but fair enough, if you didn't enjoy what you saw, you probably wouldn't get into the rest.