Quite the adventurous ride. I've had a headache all day, so I'm going to give this a grade that I believe I'd give it without the headache. With the headache, it's still a B/B+, but right now, I'll be safe and give it an A-. I'll re-watch soon, and give a better review.

The Operative: Your broadcast about Miranda has weakened their regime, but they are not gone. And they are not... forgiving.



The Alliance never admitted they exist (which you can hear during the news broadcast in the bar before River shows up). People still know about them.



They are faceless -- just a savage race. What space ships did they have? Not every single Reaver was on Lilac. You had one ship that dropped attackers off, and then a skiff -- i.e. hovercraft -- took chase after Mal, Zoe, River, and Jayne.



It really wasn't. Reavers themselves were only seen in one episode: the pilot, and even there you only saw a single ship. The killers themselves were never on-screen, and received only one mention after the pilot.

Which to me falls under the "not a lot of mention of any backlash the Alliance has taken". One line? They aim to topple a regime and get one line about "well, you may have hurt them a bit, but otherwise...!".


If the Alliance never admitted they exist, and consequently a great deal of the movie's plot relies on the knowledge that the Alliance uses propaganda to sell there message then I would say that not that many thought they existed.


Savage, and inept. You can't possibly make me believe that a race of people that essentially are infected with the rage thing like 28 Days Later are organized enough to attack worlds, keep (presumably stolen) spaceships running and prove as something the Alliance would be scared of wiping out. The Reavers have no threat and no character, they really don't even make *sense*. It's bad sci-fi writing in my opinion (based on what I know of them).


That's weird. And they are all the sudden a big threat in the movie? Blame it on the show's truncated story line? Who knows.

They never intended to topple the government; they just wanted to get the truth out. These bits of dialogue were filmed, but cut from the final print:

THE OPERATIVE: Do you know what an uproar you've caused? Protests, riots -- cries for a recall of the entire Parliament.

MAL: (turning) We've seen the broadwaves.

THE OPERATIVE: You must be pleased.

MAL: 'Verse wakes up for a spell. Won't be long 'fore she rolls right over and falls back asleep. T'aint my worry.

I suppose it was cut because it makes it seem like their sacrifice was pointless. It wasn't, but Mal never intended to take the Alliance down.

B+

Damn good. Hopefully a Serenity 2 comes out, they set it up quite for one at the end.

Never saw a minute of Firefly, and only watched Serenity because of the glowing critical reviews. Surprised to find it an enjoyable movie that was highly entertaining. I was happy that it required absolutely no knowledge of the Firefly universe, and it was cool to see a mainstream movie without a lot of star power. Made me curious to see the show... A-

Never saw an episode of Firefly and because of that I seemed to miss soem stuff that went on. Little bit hard to follow at the beginning, but it is so well written and directed that you get everything by the time it get's into the main story of the Alliance, Brevers (sp?), River, and Miranda. Good borderlining on great story, with good humor, great individual scenes, however subpar acting and computer graphics. I need to see Firefly though now since I really, really like the movie with a couple exceptions.

-A-

The hell?!?!.... What a huge surprise, it was so much better than i expected and im not a fan of Firefly at all. Anyways very Fun, the humor was good and the visuals were crap!
Pretty enjoyable movie

B+

Very enjoyable space western that does not require past knowledge of firefly to appreciate. I'd never seen an episode of Firefly before I went to see this bar the odd glimpse on Sci-fi that didn't really grab me, so I went in completely blind. I missed the first 5 minutes as well with all the exposition but I still had no real trouble following the story. It follows the line of all Whedons previous stories as serious action mixes with devil may care humour. The characters all have there little quirks that make them memorable with Jaynes grizzled merc and Captain Mal the highlights. River Tams character was a bit jarring at times with her crazed mumblings threating to stall the movie at a few points althought it just avoids that. The action was pleasingly frenetic and the "handheld" camera tricks made a nice change from the norm. The main space battle also held its own against the best of the Star Wars movies.
Overall a top movie that made me pick up the Firefly series to catch the backstory.

A

Sorry, it was just released over here last Wednesday!!

I loved it! I never thought I would. Not Firefly fan, nor Buffy/Angel. But I highly enjoyed it.

**** out of ***** (A-)

Second best film of 2005':happy:'

A+

This was the reason I started watching Firefly.

3rd Best Movie of 2005.

A Solid A

After 2 viewings I can confidentally say that this is a very good movie.

***1/2

You people....


Oye.

SERENITY

"This is your Captain Speaking"

Serenity is a kinetic experience, bursting at the seams with energy. A joy to watch from beginning to end, the viewer will take in two hours of light brilliant sci-fi, well-choreographed action, and sharp, witty humor.

After his show "Firefly" was canceled, Joss Whedon never packed up and went home. As the show became a cult phenomenon on DVD, he finished writing its adaptation for the big screen. From independent financiers he was able to scrap together a meager $40 million budget (coincidentally very close to the original Star Wars). He had to stretch his budget, and did so well. It is refreshing and thrilling in its own way to hear in the background of battle scenes the evident banging of pots and pans, and understand what kind of heart is at the center of Serenity. Make no mistake though, this is no ordinary B-movie. Whedon is able to stretch his budget to create a well-thought-out, if not technically astounding, galaxy, where humans have colonized after exceeding what Earth can handle. Surprisingly, Whedon does not take the ordinary angle of modern low-budget space films, which usually end up being replayed on the Sci-fi channel at night. Whedon knows his effect shots are limited, so he takes a chance and makes this film about the characters, plot, and screenplay.

Nathan Fillon stars as Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a former rebel who fought against the Alliance (the government of the galaxy). These days Reynolds is just looking for cash to keep his boat afloat and crew away from hunger. The story of Serenity starts midway through a job. A teenage girl, torn by her psychic visions, has just broken out of a government stronghold, and along with her brother needs transportation. The crew finds that they are getting more than they bargained for when the Alliance comes after them ruthlessly, killing seemingly anyone they have ever met.

Right from the beginning (a three-minute-long single, winding shot introducing the entire crusty but faithful crew of Serenity), the viewer knows they are in for something a bit out of the ordinary. Along with a creatively-thought-out galaxy, where clichéd, odd-looking aliens do not run amok causing chaos but are substituted with people very similar to today's, heart-felt performances and production, the story is something of an original in today's Hollywood. As a storyteller, Whedon (who also wrote it) injects some science into the sci-fi, along with the action, thrills, and effects.

One of Serenity's few, but most blatant, errors is the portrayal of The Alliance. It can be compared to The Empire of Star Wars, but it is more like its younger, more immature brother. An agent of The Alliance sent to hunt down and kill the cargo of Serenity comes off as cartoonishly evil. After being accused of being a monster by Reynolds, the agent responds by saying he knows that he is, and that he has done so much evil that there is no use in trying to do good, as if he does not have a chance. In the film's only cringe-worthy clichéd turn, he later changes his views.

Serenity's sci-fi roots from Star Wars are very easily seen. The scenario featuring the ragged team of rebels/space cowboys finding an elusive truth and using it to exploit a tyrannical government is very familiar. Where Serenity triumphs is in its originality, dialogue, humor, and heart.

B+

I cauhgt this on OnDemand the other night. It surprised me a lot (which may have even been enhanced by following the stinker AVP). I had never seen Firefly prior to watching, nor had much desire. I may have to borrow the DVDs from somebody now. The movie does a good job establishing the universe in which the movie is set. By the looks and feel of it, it does a great job introduing n00bs to the universe, while not seeming too boring or tedious for old fans who already know everything. There were some really coold things Whedon did with this movie. The captain was a great character. The opening credits, from the title to the final "Written and directed by" line was all one shot, which I thought was pretty cool. In that short bit, it established all of the characters and the setting incredibly well. Bravo.

This wasn't an amazing movie, and my grade reflects it, but it was still a very good movie that I think will surprise many, of they just give it a shot. Here's to Serenity 2, now one of my most hoped-for sequel.

A

I blind bought it for some reason, and was very pleased with what it turned out to be. It's funny, cool, and great action. It's amazing what they could do with the small budget (in today's terms). Too bad there'll be no sequel, but I got the series for my birthday, so at least I'll have that.

Im breaking out this NEW rating just for this movie, cause 1/2 isn't good enough, and 4 is just too good.

***3/4

Not terribly funny or inspired or nice to look at, but it is ultimately rather fun, especially the crackling second half. I don't think the "Star Wars for a new generation" comparisons are warranted -- it still has the trimmings of a TV show, and I didn't find the characters quite as charming as it seems most did. But it is fun and witty, and melikes the Joss Whedon wit. And I also really liked where the story went once they touched down on the planet wherein they discover the history of the Reavers.

Not a huge fan, but I think it should have done better than it did.

B

Ok I dont understand all those "masterpiece" grades but I did also enjoy the movie. I like the idea to mix sci-fi with western.
And I like sci-fi in general so.....Nice CGI too.

8/10

Watched this again... <3

It's kind of like the "best episode" of the show... which is fine by me. I actually think it's better, though neither are totally flawless.

Either way it's one of the most fun movies of the last couple years and sci-fi action at its finest, with tons of charm and likeable characters to spare. The death scenes and sideplots also worked much better after going through the show. It's a shame there's no sequels.

A

It doesn't feel nearly as natural or effortless as the show did, but I had a good time nonetheless. The slang feels forced, and there's too much weighty drama and not enough quick humour, but it's still a solid space western with superb writing and a great cast.

I liked the fractured opening scenes colliding with the lengthy shot inside the ship; it's a very deliberate and measured directorial intention, and it worked remarkably well. But there's too few of those moments, and before long, the film dissolves into 'just another' Star Trek clone, though admittedly a pretty good one. The final battle, while impressive, is too epic and explosive to mesh with the tone the show had going for it.

I'm coming across as too negative; I still liked it a lot, but it just wasn't as good as the best episodes of the show. At its best, Firefly was intimate and philosophical and witty and fun and inventive. Serenity is most of these things, but never all at once, and it never combines them as well as the show did. It's too big, too generic, and too cinematic, amazingly enough. I would've much rather it stayed down n' dirty, rather than cleaning up for the masses. Ah well.

This is a review for both the series and the movie, as I picked up both over the holidays after having never seen it before. Many people have recommended it to be after I mentioned how much I love the Stargate series.

I can see why after watching. For one, 3 characters ended up on Stargate at some point, and 2 were important characters.

The strength of Firefly and Serenity for me is the interesting characters and the humor. River is a great story and character. Unfortunately, the rest of the characters don't have great side stories to develop, which is why I don't rank it as high as SG-1 or Atlantis. My biggest problem is the lack of focus on an interesting theme. You have a war survivor who wasn't allowed to win bring together a bunch of people to make their own way as righteous (mostly) thieves and traders. There's the mysterious River, but aside from that, no underlying story or motive to drive forward other than running from the Alliance, which is hardly edge of your seat. I never felt watching Firefly that I HAD to see the next episode right away to see what's going to happen. I think given time it could have become such a show as Stargate, and that's a shame. As it is, I'd give the series a B+ and the movie a B. The movie almost completely ignored Inara which really annoyed me. Otherwise it was solid.

Also, the guy who plays Wash, is the voice of King Candy in Wreck-It-Ralph. Wrap your head around that.