Firefly **Serenity Spoilers**

[Angel]

I agree with you KK about Joss dropping the ball with Angel and Buffy(*cough*BlackThorns, and multiple Slayers!*cough,cough*) but I think it was because Firefly was a new toy and better than any other before it. IMHO He wanted to get it out of that box and play with it.

Just ten more days 'til our Big Bamn Movie comes out. I'm so excited!

-Ellie

Yeah, I was ticked at him at the time as well. At a time when Buffy and Angel both really needed his attention he had a new "favorite". But Firefly was definitely good, but screwed around with by FOX. It got pre-empted a lot and they didn't show the episodes in the order they were supposed to be viewed. The commentary on the DVDs is hilarious and I can't wait for the movie to come out. I missed the screening in KC..it sold out in about 3 hours.

[Ellie]

I totally agree with you about Fox . Sometimes I wonder if the entire network isn't a front to launder money for the Chinese or something . Because it seems to make no effort to keep or nurture great shows until they can make it to syndication. Outside reality tv what was their last big hit that they kept around for more than one season?

Firefly deserved better than it got from them.

-Ellie

[Kzinti_Killer]

Fox used to be pretty brave about keeping shows on the tested the envelope, even if their ratings weren't the best to start out with. But it's been a while since they've shown any kind of chutzpah on that front. These days they're little better than The WB.

In retrospect Firefly could have been a juggernaut. The next Trek. Now we'll be lucky to get three movies.

Hey, Missus KK told me something that she'd picked up the other day. It may or may not be true, but she saw someone mention in a post that Joss had dismantled Mutant Enemy. That kinda hurts. Missus KK and I met on Buffy posting board run by a mutual freind. It also means that reviving Firefly on the small tube is pretty much beyond all hope.

Laters,
Rick

[Ellie]

Geez that's depressing. We're all little rays of sunshine today aren't we? And the movie hasn't even opened yet.

Thanks for the update though KK.

-Ellie

[Angel]

Yeah, Mutant Enemy disolved at the end of the year last year, unfortunately. Sad. Hopefully the movie does well and Joss does many many many more projects for TV and the movies. I've heard rumblings of an Angel/Spike TV movie...Joss posted about it on his site. I guess now that Serenity is over, he needs something else to focus on. lol

[Surfgirl02]

I'm WICKED EXCITED right now!!!! My friend won free passes to a sneak preview of Serenity tonight! I can't wait!

[Angel]

Lucky!

[Jezebel Jinx]

I never watched this series while it was on feel kinda guilty about that since I love all of Joss's other stuff and didn't even check this one out. But it's been on since noon today and I've been watching it and I'm definitely going to be buying the DVD here the next couple of weeks so I can watch the rest of the eps.

I was excited about Serenity since I saw it's trailer but now that I also like the series I just wanna see the movie more.

Mal and Jane (I think that's his name Adam Baldwin's character) are my favorite characters on the show. Zoey (again not sure, she played Jasmine on Angel) she kicks ass and that's cool.

[Surfgirl02]

Oh My God! It was freakin' amazing. There were afew moments where I was like "I can't believe that just fucking happened!" but overall, it was best movie I have seen in a long time.

Another cool thing was that one of my friends that went with us had never seen the show, and she said she had no problem following things. Which is good, because from the chatter around me, it seemed like alot people in the theatre had come in not knowing anything about it, so maybe it will get some really good numbers opening weekend.

[clarkkent179]

Saw a sneak preview of Serenity here in Orlando Tuesday night, and all I can think is:

Wow.

I’m trying to come up with accurate words to describe my experience watching Serenity, but the main thing that keeps popping up is WOW. I even had trouble sleeping that night, as my mind kept spinning, with the wheels of thought-provoking imagination constantly turning over what Joss and this truly outstanding cast has accomplished.

This may be long, so be forewarned. I’m just going to ramble here for a bit, and I’ll try to not get too spoilery – no specifics – but some concepts or ideas may fall out of my brain, so if you want to remain completely chaste and a blank slate going into your first Serenity viewing, you may want to just skim or be careful how much you read here.

Prior to watching, I’ve read some of the non-spoilery reviews by both Firefly fans and non-fans alike, who spoke about the quality of the film – ranging from mildly surprised and entertained, to the all-out gushing and falling all over themselves with praise.

I definitely find myself in the latter group of supreme praise, but I don’t want to cheapen the phenomenon with “OMG! This is the greatest movie I’ve ever seen! Joss is a GOD! I am going to DIE if I don’t see this again RIGHT NOW!!!” Believe me, those sentiments are very much present in many of the people I saw this with last night, but for me, the gravity of the content, and what it means for these characters we have come to know and adore over the series Firefly, is something that is hard to verbally do justice. I can say that this IS one of the best films I have ever seen. Not just sci-fi or action. One of the best FILMS. Period.

First of all, the entire night was kind of surreal, as I wasn’t sure if I’d even make it into the show. I arrived at the theater – one I had never been to, and is apparently an independent under fairly new management the last couple of months – shortly after 6:00, well ahead of the 7:30 start time. All I knew was that my name, along with 30 or so others, was on a list given to a Universal rep/P.R. spokesperson who was supposed to be there. I saw a fairly large group – at leat 50-60 people at this point – waiting in the roped-off hall, and wasn't sure if that was the right place to be. I told one of the mangers of my online group’s admission "arrangement", and she looked at me like I had two heads, and said everyone in that line had a "hard ticket", apparently part of promos Universal had arranged with a local radio station and some businesses. I had no news of this, and felt pretty stupid showing up with nothing. At this point, I was moving into all sorts of uncomfortable-ness, thinking I may have been had.

A few minutes later, a couple of other guys showed up in the same situation, but actually brought a print out of the thread from FireflyFans.net, showing the "list" of names to be admitted to this Orlando showing. We brought this to the management’s attention, but were still rebuffed with no new knowledge. But at least I knew I wasn’t the only crazy person (or sucker, if you will). I had allies in my plight and concern. We all waited for another 10-15 minutes (nothing else we really could do), and finally, a woman showed up with a big binder and notepad, with a couple printed lists, and we saw her talking to the management staff. I guess the one manager remembered our disenfranchised group, and she came walking over to us, brandishing her magic list. My name was there. So were those of the other handful of Browncoats I was talking to. She was very nice, and explained the management just was never made aware of this P.R. arrangement, and that we should move to the VERY FRONT of the line, into a separate waiting area to be seated (so as to not further anger those in that long-ish line who may have been there for a couple of hours already).

Long story somewhat short, I WAS THE FIRST PERSON INTO THE THEATER, and I got the exact middle seat that I wanted, with no one in front of me, able to kick back and put my feet up in the reclining stadium seats. I was feeling pretty pleased, and almost like I was sneakily getting away with something. I ended up sitting next to the woman who was organizing the Orlando Shindig this Friday, and her friend who was helping. She had already seen the film twice, but only in the unfinished fan pre-screenings, so this was her first time with all the finished effects, music, and credits. She was almost more excited than I was that I hadn’t seen it yet and was unspoiled. She was giddy over how much I would enjoy it. Then the radio station intern-lackeys asked some local sports/events questions/gave information, that no one really gave two shits about. The next guy, though, was a rep from Coliseum of Comics (the store where I have my subscription box, btw), and he was giving away stuff, so people perked up. I knew the answers to all the questions, of course (most were way too easy), but never got called on, even though I was dead-friggin’ center in his eyeline. Most of those prizes were store stuff anyway, so I wasn’t too peeved. The last prize though, was one of the officially licensed action figures, and the question was "Name three of the nine actors who play characters on the crew of Serenity". I just about jumped up from my seat, raising my hand, saying "YO! RIGHT HERE!" He had no choice but to call me, as I was easily first, and I got my prize – turned out to be 'Final Battle Mal', so that was cool. I got a few dirty, jealous looks, but the women and the guys next to me were happy for me, so I didn’t care.

Finally, after a few minutes of house light issues (they wouldn’t stay off), the film started about 5 minutes late. And I was enthralled for the next 2 hours. I swear to God. The setup is artfully done – a very nice recap for the Firefly fans, but also a superb succinct introduction into this ‘verse for the Firefly virgins. The average moviegoer can watch this film as a self-contained plot and be thoroughly entertained – as was proven by comments I heard from no less than 5 or 6 non-Firefly watchers after the film – and that’s just what I heard.

The pacing of Serenity is spot-on, as the circumstances/relationships of each of the crew members are established, and the overall plot for the movie gets introduced. Again, I won’t give much away, but Joss’s ability to tie in what we should know about River and Simon, and their place among the rest of the crew, to the big, big mystery behind what really happened to River is just amazing. Some of the shooting of the sets and actors – with some hand-held/steady-cam – is reminiscent of the series, but with a harder, edgier tone. And the lighting of the characters/scenes marks the biggest differences between the show and this film, IMO. There is a blue-ish hue to many of the indoor scenes, and the contrasting of light and dark is stark at times. It makes for an impending-doom vibe that works well to establish the "here-and-now" immediacy of the danger all of these people are in. It’s hard to accurately explain, but you’ll know what I’m talking about when you see the film. And also, Joss makes damn good use of his less-than-$50-million budget. Some of the space flight/battle scenes are as good as anything to come out of Lucasfilm or ILM. There are less of them, naturally, but each one sure as hell counts. I was simply blown away by how integral to the story all the visual effects are. Nothing is wasted here just for "the pretty".

I’m not going to summarize the story or what happens to the characters, but I will definitely say that the outcome of this film will profoundly affect the way you view these characters, and reminisce upon Firefly as a series forever. There is almost a sort of paradigm-shift in the way these characters will view their world from now on, and how they will respond to the threats posed to them. Joss goes for the jugular as well as the heart-strings, and he succeeds wildly – more than I even suspected he might. There are moments that keep you on the edge of your seat with the action; moments that make you laugh out loud with the sharp wit and sarcasm that permeates all of Joss’s dialogue; moments that make you nervous with anticipation of "what the hell is gonna happen next?"; moments that will make you gasp and cringe with delight, surprise, shock and horror; and moments that will make you cry, with a feeling of your emotional center being completely ripped out of your chest, turned upside down, and stomped on a few times. At least, for the Firefly fans, I think this is how you may feel. Knowing these characters as well as I do, I commend the confidence – and just plain balls – that Joss shows in where he chooses to take this story.

And I would be remiss if I did not mention that I cannot give enough credit to the cast. None of these players are major film stars, and few of them have ever even had much success on television. But you would never know it by the nuances shown here. There are steady progressions and evolutions that viewers of the series will be able to see in each of them. Their respective journeys on and off Serenity have culminated them all into the people we see here, and all of the roles are brought to the larger-than-life silver screen with heart, and a true emotional investment into what happens to each of them.

When Joss has said in interviews that this is the hardest thing he has ever had to write, I completely believe him. He is essentially condensing a couple of television seasons’ worth of story arcs into a jam-packed 2 hour feature. That kind of task is monumental, in order to satisfy the die-hard Firefly fans, while at the same time initiating a brand new audience, not getting them lost in this ‘verse in the process. For everything that he was able to accomplish on both of those fronts with Serenity, I think this is just about the best work – film or TV – that he has ever done.

I don’t know what more to say beyond going into specific plot details. I have tickets to see it three times Friday, and I will be ecstatic upon each viewing, I’m sure. I’ve also done my best to recruit fans into the series – or even to just take a chance and watch the film – prior to seeing it myself, and will continue to do so, especially now knowing how much the average, non-Firefly fan can still honestly appreciate Serenity.

I’m basically just still stunned with awe. I don’t know what else to say.