Serenity Now!
It’s out, and it’s pretty great.
Beware the comments link below; it may contain horrible, horrible spoilers. Also, avoid reading the reviews, because the ones I’ve read have been incredibly cavalier in this area. One possible remedy is suggested by Penny Arcade.
In case you don’t know, Serenity started life as an amazing (though short-lived) television series, Firefly (2002), by Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy (1997) and Angel (1999). A great cast, a terrific set of characters, and some unbelievably creepy bad guys.
You can buy all fourteen episodes, including three never aired in the United States, on DVD from Amazon here
Chris Gibson wrote:
I believe you meant to say, “you can buy all FOURTEEN episodes, including three never aired in the United States…”.
..Chris..
Posted 01 Oct 2005 at 12:41 pm ¶
Tom Chappell wrote:
Oh, you’re so totally right; in fact, I have said so, retroactively at least.
Posted 01 Oct 2005 at 12:54 pm ¶
John Blackburn wrote:
The Seinfeld reference made me laugh.
Posted 01 Oct 2005 at 11:19 pm ¶
Tom Chappell wrote:
Yes, and there’s something hypnotic about it that makes you shout it while wiggling your fingers.
Posted 03 Oct 2005 at 12:35 am ¶
Chris Gibson wrote:
One of the things I’ve learned since becoming a parent is that time has a certain, well, “fluidity” that was heretofore unknown to me. So, excuse the nearly TEN MONTH delay, but I finally just saw the movie Serenity.
Wow. And not all in a good way, either. But Wow.
I can see why this movie didn’t necessarily break records at the box office, but I salute Joss Whedon and his team for creating the ultimate series finale.
There are some series (say, Babylon Five) where they just happily take major characters they’ve spent one (or more!) seasons building up, and just friggin’ KILL THEM OFF! It was great in that series, because suddenly, people in peril were really in peril, and you couldn’t tell the Red Shirts from the Main Cast. But Firefly (the series) wasn’t like that. As great as the series was — and I truly loved and enjoyed each of the fourteen episodes — you still knew that at the end of the day Shepherd Book would preach slightly cryptic sermons, Wash would fly home, and the tension between Inara and Mal would continue unabated and unresolved.
The movie tossed all that out of the window. Once they did, you got a sense that anyone could die (well, except for Jane, who you just knew would come through it alive). But you also finally got to wrap up the unresolved story lines from the series. As sad as I am that they killed some of the major characters, I still say that they did this up in fine fashion.
Would I recommend this movie to someone who had NOT seen the series? Probably not. Although they did a decent job creating something that stands alone in terms of the mythology, the characters really weren’t all that engrossing unless you already had fallen for them in the series, and knew some of their subtleties. I was also a little put off that they extra-crustified Mal, but it’s a minor quibble.
Overall, loved the movie, and it was like a huge, extra-super-sized episode from the series, and made for something that was, ultimately, satisfying as a worthy series finale.
..Chris..
Posted 27 Jun 2006 at 9:42 am ¶
Tom Chappell wrote:
omigod, they killed Wash!
Posted 28 Jun 2006 at 1:01 am ¶