Serenity movie

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I just watched Jaynestown and Our Mrs Reynolds again tonight and I have to say that I really cannot comprehend why they cancelled the show.
I suppose they cancelled for low ratings, but what I find interesting about your post is that Jaynestown, Our Mrs. Reynolds, and Shindig (the episode with the duel you quoted from) are all from Disk Two of the DVD set, and I consider Two to be by far the lamest of the four disks.

Just shows how good the series is when the worst of the series is still better than anything else still going.
 
After a duel that Mal has just won and people are expecting him to finish the guy off:
Mal: mercy is the mark of a great man.
*stabs the guy lightly*
"I'm just a pretty good man."
*stabs him again*
"I guess I'm just all right."
*walks off*

To me, the funniest part of the series has either 1.) got to be River responding to Shepard Book's....well, HAIR seems insufficient somehow....let's call it his "MANE"...and running away in terror from the horror of it. OR 2.) Wash's facial expression when the patrons at the Canton bar begin singing along with the "Hero of Canton" song.

"Next time...we gotta go to the crappy town where I'M the hero"----Wash. Priceless.


Pro-gun, anti-big government and with depictions of rugged individualism?....my only wonder is that Hollywood ever allowed it to make the airwaves in the first place.
 
My favorite quote:

"Shepard, isn't the Bible kind of specific about killing? "
"Very specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzy around the area of kneecaps."

I think DVD #3 is the best of the set. The series gained strength as it progressed.

Adam
 
from what I've seen of Joss' work (ALL of Buffy, and the first season of Angel), he ALWAYS gets stronger as he goes along. Of course, that makes sense: you're building on what you've already done...

As for "Why was Firefly canceled?"... that's easy. The network didn't like the idea, so they sabotaged the heck out of it (airing the episodes in the wrong order, and pre-empting it for ANYTHING)...
 
I too am a Firefly zealot. I can't get enough of it.

I also like the fact it's just humans out in space, none of that alien junk.
 
That idea, and the idea to set it in a single solar system after the abandonment of Earth, comes in part from "Cowboy Bebop," a very good anime from the late '90's. "Firefly" brings more of a western feel to the concept where "Bebop" in spite of its title was more of a "jazz noir" in space.

The notion of killing main characters without warning is common to all of Whedon's shows and I love him for it. He does not kowtow to a fan base. His shows remind me of the old BBC sci fi series "Blake's 7" where main characters would be offed as needed.

It's ironic that Roddenbery had to sell "Star Trek" to network heads in the '60's as a western wagon train in space. This time around the network heads HATED the idea of horses and cows in space, and hated everything about the show. It is a huge shame, since as was pointed out Whedon's story arc always get better as they develop. You can see the remnants of many story lines boiled down in "Serenity," but it's not nearly as satisfying.

I'm still hopeful Sci Fi or some other cable network will restart the series.
 
His shows remind me of the old BBC sci fi series "Blake's 7" where main characters would be offed as needed.

Ah...Blake's 7! You have excellent tastes in sci-fi, sir!

If you had to compare Firefly to any other series, it would be this one. Damn near the same type of situation...oppressive government, outlaws on the run...spaceships. I gotta wonder if Joss was a fan and had some of those themes percolating in his subconcious when he wrote Firefly. The only two differences I can see is that 1. Blake was still trying to fight the Federation, and Mal has decided to sort of step out of the Alliance's way. "Leave me alone and I'll leave you alone." Blake wasn't like that. And secondly, Blake's 7 was more into the alien type stuff. Weird worlds...strange technologies...transporters...etc.

Yeah, Blake's 7 wasn't above wiping out a main character or two (or ten). I absolutely loved the final ending to the series. Avon's response being totally in character.

I even liked the name of the Mafia type organization in Blake's 7....Terra Nostra. :D

Edit: I did a quick search to see if Blake's 7 is on DVD. It is...IN ENGLAND. *raised fist...swear words* But I also discovered that they are thinking of doing a new show called Blake's 7: Legecy. Knowing that the chances of successfully producing a sequel that contains 1/10 of the alure of it's pregenitor is somewhere between a snowball's chance in hell and Shepard Book cutting his hair, I dispair that it will even be worth watching. Nevertheless, if you wish to confirm my ravings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake's_7
 
Borachon said:
Ah...Blake's 7! You have excellent tastes in sci-fi, sir!
Something which I'll most certainly echo. To me, Blake's 7 brings back good memories. I'm one of the not-too-many forum members here who saw the first BBC broadcasts.

Borachon said:
Yeah, Blake's 7 wasn't above wiping out a main character or two (or ten). I absolutely loved the final ending to the series. Avon's response being totally in character.
True. It was an english series of the time in the sense that the producers did a lot with little money, but still put together excellent plots and storylines. Not like the typical Hollywood crud.

Borachon said:
I even liked the name of the Mafia type organization in Blake's 7....Terra Nostra. :D
I like how they implemented it even more: "To have total control, you must control totally. Federation and Terra Nostra, two sides of the same coin." :evil:

While Blake's 7 probably was an influence on Firefly, I also have a sneaking suspicion that someone on the Firefly team is familiar with the role playing game Traveller. The 'default' setting for Traveller is 4-7 characters with a small starship, working as free traders and smugglers. Interestingly enough, Traveller was also first released in the late 1970s.

Cheers,
:evil: ErikM
 
You can see the remnants of many story lines boiled down in "Serenity," but it's not nearly as satisfying.

One of the reasons I was a little dissappointed to hear that any future development of Firefly would be on the screen. Joss really stands out when he has a season to interweve subtle little things into the plotline.

Serenity the movie was okay.... but even with all the extra cash they had to play with, it still wasn't as good as the series I think. He had to do too much too quickly, and the movie really suffered for it.


NOW... on the whole L&P side of this.. one thing I can really give Joss credit for is how well he can produce a series with a flavor to it antithetetical to his own beliefs. He's said as much in interviews -- that he really is a "gov't beats the alternatives" Alliance kinda guy. He comes across as fairly conventional Hollywood lefty. And let he's not only cognizant of the underbelly of his own belief system, he can highlight it in mass media.

Color me impressed. :)
 
Silver Bullet said:
I've read the DVD of the movie will be out December 20.

I believe the movie broke even (US sales + foreign sales +anticipated DVD sales). I don't know if that's good enough for a sequel or not. .

My wife, who follows the twists and turns of Whedon somewhat fanatically, says that Universal has more or less cancelled foreign release in favor of direct to DVD sales. :mad:

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=14201

also, there are more comic books on the way!
 
I don't want comic books. :(

-------------------------------

Funniest scene I can think of offhand is the end of “Train Job,” where Mal is trying to return the money that his crew was advanced for stealing the medical supplies off the train.
 
JJpdxpinkpistols said:
My wife, who follows the twists and turns of Whedon somewhat fanatically, says that Universal has more or less cancelled foreign release in favor of direct to DVD sales. :mad:

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=14201

also, there are more comic books on the way!

Actually it got a pretty good release overseas and was No. 1 in the UK when it premiered. So far it's made ten million overseas. I expect final numbers will be closer to 15. The cancelled overseas runs in Argentina, Singapore, etc. are secondary overseas markets.
 
Cosmoline said:
Actually it got a pretty good release overseas and was No. 1 in the UK when it premiered. So far it's made ten million overseas. I expect final numbers will be closer to 15. The cancelled overseas runs in Argentina, Singapore, etc. are secondary overseas markets.

I bow the superiorly informed. Thanks for the note :)
 
but still put together excellent plots and storylines. Not like the typical Hollywood crud.

Isn't it amazing how a well written story with good dialouge can carry a TV show or movie?

Isn't it also amazing how a vastly over-budgetted film that relies on special effects to provide the entertainment can come off feeling hollow? I'm talking to you now, MISTER LUCAS! :cuss: And after you did the original three so well!!!:cuss:


Another suggestion for good sci-fi entertainment. If you've never seen it, I recommend Babylon 5. People still act like humans in it...and not those Star Trek Federation "happy happy joy joy" robots that you see crewing those Star Trek moralizing spaceships. They do get on their high horse occasionally in Babylon 5, but they get down into the Depths too.

The issues about terrorism, torture, "security", privacy (telepaths make this hard), and freedom are all worked into B5 plots so well that you don't even know you've been moralized to until after you stop and think about it.
 
Babylon 5 is my second favorite behind Firefly. I also liked Farscape and both of the Stargates.
 
Babylon 5 had a pretty good story arc relating to facing down an oppressive government as well. I don't think anyone can pull off continuity as well as Stracynski did. A passing comment in Season 1 would come to fruition in Season 4. That's why he was very strict about deviations from the script.
 
Stracynski afterward did Jeremiah on Showtime, which was another excellent program. It was about a man made virus that wiped out everyone on earth over the age of 15. 10 years later they were trying to rebuild. It starred Luke Perry and Malcolm-Jamaal Warner. It was supposed to be another 5 year story, but JMS had a falling out with the company producing it, and it ended after two years. For my money it was the best series Showtime ever produced.
 
Just bought Firefly DVDs tonight.

I saw Serenity and saw all the chatter here about the series. never heard of it before.

As I spent 2004 in Baghdad I guessed I missed it.

Anyway, looking forward to the DVDs, some Jameson, and some quiet time.;)
 
We're glad you made it home ok. Thanks for your service over there.
 
Borachon said:
To me, the funniest part of the series has either 1.) got to be River responding to Shepard Book's....well, HAIR seems insufficient somehow....let's call it his "MANE"...and running away in terror from the horror of it. OR 2.) Wash's facial expression when the patrons at the Canton bar begin singing along with the "Hero of Canton" song.

"Next time...we gotta go to the crappy town where I'M the hero"----Wash. Priceless.


Pro-gun, anti-big government and with depictions of rugged individualism?....my only wonder is that Hollywood ever allowed it to make the airwaves in the first place.

ROFL

The hair epesiode was funny as heck.

They still show firefly episodes on SCI-FI every once in a while. Theres a regular schedule but im not sure what it is.

And anyone who likes stargate- Dont give up on it just cause they changed the characters. I thought the first few episodes with the ne charcters SUCKED, as it wasnt natural att all, but they are good actors, they just are in a new environment. You can really tell they are warming up to their roles in stragate as they have gotten way better, and i am enjoying the show again.

I mean, as cool as O'neill was, he was getting old. AS in, splinter cell old :D
 
They still show firefly episodes on SCI-FI every once in a while. Theres a regular schedule but im not sure what it is.

Actually, they're on tonight and tomorrow night. Right now I have "War Stories" playing in the other room. Four episodes each night.

I'd encourage everyone to watch them...or at least turn your channel to Sci Fi while they are on. I think that marketing research has actually evolved enough so that they know what TV program you are watching and at what time. So if SciFi finds out that a lot of people are watching Firefly, they may approach Joss about doing another series....which truthfully I'd prefer that to another movie.

Even though Joss did kill off main characters.

You bastar*!:cuss:
 
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