Serenity (2005) (1 Viewer)

[Lou Sytsma]

Cool! You'll love it Stephen.
As for Serenity still feel its the best SF, and most overlooked SF, movie of the past 10 years.

 

[Stephen Orr]

Lou, I have been a fan of Firefly since the Train Job (the first ep Fox aired). I picked up the Firefly DVD set at Suncoast for $25 when they were first released, and saw Serenity at the special sneak that Universal and Josh Whedon sponsored months before it hit theaters. I bought a 2nd Firefly DVD set for my son when he went to college in Texas, and he began weekend marathons to get his friends hooked on the show (he's probably responsible for a few dozen DVD set sales in the Abilene TX area LOL ). The Serenity Christmas ornament wass the first I bought for my home theater Christmas tree two years ago, and I have every version of Serenity on DVD/HD-DVD/Blu.
Of course, I will love it!

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Silly me.

 

[Stephen Orr]

Silly me.

I geek about very, very few things, but for some reason, Firefly/Serenity just connected with me from the first ep. Mal had me when he kicked the guy into Serenity's engine.
I have the theme song as a ringtone on my phone, as well.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Mal had me when he kicked the guy into Serenity's engine.

mmhmm. That was the serie's gotcha moment for me too.

 

[mattCR]

They are announcing re-showings of Serenity for charity in theaters, of course:
Event Update - 8-21 June 2009|Can’t Stop the Serenity

 

[Stephen Orr]

They are announcing re-showings of Serenity for charity in theaters, of course:
Event Update - 8-21 June 2009|Can’t Stop the Serenity

Nothing in my area, rats. I would be there, especially if they're showing Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog!

 

[Mary_P]

mmhmm. That was the serie's gotcha moment for me too.

Well, that's sure the moment the convinced me this was gonna be something different.... I wasn't quite sure what to make of it when I first started watching it with the first episode Fox aired, but I tuned in every week just because it was so unlike anything I was seeing anywhere else. I was very sorry to see it canceled, but I didn't really become a Browncoat until I got to see it all, in the correct order, when the DVD set came out.
I have to say that I thought the promo for the film failed on a lot of fronts. Too much emphasis on Joss's name (those of us to whom it would mean something were going to be there anyway, come hell or high water), and some of the TV spots focused more on the hype of how highly-anticipated (within the SF fan world) the film was -- I don't think I ever saw anything that spotlighted some of the very positive reviews the film was getting from mainstream critics like Roger Ebert.
BTW, the page linked above was just for Can't Stop the Serenity events from June 8-21. The full calendar is here. Many of the events are also showing "Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog," which is going to be way fun in a big theater filled with Whedon fans....
ETA: If there isn't something in your city, you might want to consider hosting an affiliate event. See the website above for more info.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

It's still *amazing* to me that Fox cancelled "Firefly" before even airing the four star eps "Trash" or "Heart of Gold" ... or even the original pilot!!
Heck ... Somehow the girl that played Saffron (Christina Hendricks) even won an award for best guest star appearance for "Trash" ... even though the first time anybody saw it was on the DVD set!
We've been running through our Firefly DVD set this week as a "run up" to a "Serenity" viewing --- and it's still *astonishing* how good this series was. It truly was the best series ever cancelled after a half-season!! And the movie is just as good ... but with better production values. Somebody needs to get this franchise off the shelf!!

 

[SamT]

I just watched Serenity after watching the whole series last week again.

Indeed the Firefly series is great and I love it but I have to say, Serenity was a turn off and it's not a great movie. Executives didn't kill the movies, Joss Whedon did!

I explain, its amazing how different Serenity is, it's like they forgot what Firefly was all about and why it was so great.

Serenity is like a bleak Buffy in Space (without any good characters!). The movie doesn't contain the elements that made the series so great. It's no wonder that the movie was not successful. How they are expecting to get new audiences when the movie is not fun and not accessible?

I think if they had made a bright western/heist adventure in space it would have been more successful. The series is all about the characters' interactions. How could you have 2 of your major fun characters not be on the ship? Shepherd not on the ship? Something is wrong.

Major Spoiler:
and killing 2 of your major characters also a big mistake. This is not a one shot drama where you can kill your characters off. This is a series with comic books, you can't just kill 2 of your major characters like that just because the actors cant sign for the sequels! Let them survive and then if you make a second movie and they are not coming back, it's no big deal. You can make an excuse in the story.

 

[PatW]

I so disagree with you Sam. I thought Serenity was the perfect ending to the series answering a lot of questions that I had. I'm sure the producers or cast were well aware that this was probably a one shot deal. Sure it might have had a cult following but a very small following and the likelihood of further movies was remote. Personally I thought the movie was brilliant. Others were also of the same opinion since the approval rating is 82% on rottentomatoes.com

 

[SamT]

I so disagree with you Sam. I thought Serenity was the perfect ending to the series answering a lot of questions that I had. I'm sure the producers or cast were well aware that this was probably a one shot deal. Sure it might have had a cult following but a very small following and the likelihood of further movies was remote. Personally I thought the movie was brilliant. Others were also of the same opinion since the approval rating is 82% on rottentomatoes.com

But why end it? He had the opportunity of starting something like what the Star Trek motion pictures did. Instead of using that opportunity and making a fun western in space like the series (which they all say it is), they make this.

Since I have seen all of them together recently in a short time period, I see clearly that each episode of firefly is more fun than this movie.

 

[PatW]

I agree with you there. The series was fun and the movie very dark but I loved it. I would have loved if Firefly had lasted longer than it did. Maybe if it had been on a another network that allows series to develop past their growing pains. I also would have liked to have seen more movies but I'm realistic enough to realize that chances were very slim.Star Trek was a different situation. The movies didn't start until 10 years after the series ended. That gave it time to develop a very strong following in syndication and by the time of the first movie there was a demand for more Star Trek. And we all know that led to a slew of movies and four additional TV series.

 

[Jason Charlton]

Major Spoiler:
and killing 2 of your major characters also a big mistake. This is not a one shot drama where you can kill your characters off. This is a series with comic books, you can't just kill 2 of your major characters like that just because the actors cant sign for the sequels! Let them survive and then if you make a second movie and they are not coming back, it's no big deal. You can make an excuse in the story.

While I was disappointed with this decision, I respect it (and Joss) a great deal for making it. I watched the film not knowing beforehand that this would happen. The first death wasn't too shocking, since his character was relegated to a much smaller role in the film. However, when the second character died so sudeenly and unexpectedly, I was flabbergasted. From that point on, as I watched the movie, I thought to myself, "All bets are off! If that could happen, then I can see the same happening to any or all of the rest of the characters."

This SO increased the tension and emotion during the final battle for me because I was literally telling myself, "They may all die". It made the experience of watching the end of the movie that much more gripping.

I do agree that tonally, things in the movie were different from the series, but I still felt it was an adequate wrapup to the characters and world. While part of me would love to see more Firefly, a bigger part of me would rather simply remember the brilliant show as it was, without the risk of a followup not meeting expectations and bringing down the legacy of what was.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Why end it? Because it was already "ended". No offense, I'm clearly a comic book fan, but comic books don't count. The VAST majority of fans of the show would never read them or even know they exist. The fact that Joss got a chance to do a wrap up and give fans of the show some resolution and a conclusion to the story he wanted to tell is one of those rare bonuses that fans of this type of thing ever get. Joss kills off major loved characters in his shows. The deaths in the films would have happened in show eventually if it went on. And I'm betting that the story of the film was a condensed version of what he had planned for the series' first season. It may have been the long term "end game" plan for the entire series, but he tends to develop and resolve major arcs over each season (at least, that was the Buffy and Angel formula). So there would have been more new story to tell if he, by some miracle, got to do more. I'm sure he would have liked to be able to do more films, but I also think he was quite realistically aware that the possibility of anything more after Serenity was a long shot at best. He did the best possible thing for fans of the show and gave the series resolution and payoff. And I agree with Jason, after that second death, when the crew was starting to get hit by the Reavers, my first thought (especially knowing Joss Whedon's stuff) was "oh, man. It's going to be a bloodbath." That fight and every injury the crew took was that much more intense for me, because I felt like there was no safety net. "Oh, they have to get out of this because we need them in the next episode or movie, right? Nope. There probably isn't going to be anymore, and most of them are probably ending here with the story." It was such a relief that there weren't any more deaths. I was actually surprised!I loved the show and found the movie to be a very, very enjoyable experience.

 

[Quentin]

Why end it? Because it was already "ended". No offense, I'm clearly a comic book fan, but comic books don't count. The VAST majority of fans of the show would never read them or even know they exist.The fact that Joss got a chance to do a wrap up and give fans of the show some resolution and a conclusion to the story he wanted to tell is one of those rare bonuses that fans of this type of thing ever get.

Yeah, it was 'ended' and Joss knew it. I appreciate the film as a very entertaining wrap up/goodbye.

 

[Jim_C]

Gotta agree with the rest here. To me Serenity was closure to the short lived series and I was very happy with it. I also had the same feeling as Jason and Sean after Wash died. I was certain that a few more were going to be dead and it really added to the tension. I re-watched the movie about a month ago and it holds up well, IMO.

 

[Afiger]

I don't think we could have asked for a better closure on the series. Yes, it was a let down when the show was cancelled but when it comes to the movie Whedon really ended things with a bang. Sure no one wants to see their favorite characters die, but I guess it sort of wipes off the what if factor. This will probably always be one of my favorite series though. Maybe it was a good thing it was only one season, there was no room for disappointment.

 

[SamT]

A good comparison would be Star Wars. I do understand now why Lucas refused to kill Han in Jedi and it's one of the occassions I agree with him. Letting the characters have an after life in this case is better. More adventures.

And about the tension. For how long it lasted? It lasts for half an hour and only on your first viewing? Those characters are more important than half an hour and frankly it felt cheap to me. But that's me I guess.