Serenity...

[deadlock]

Greetings and salutations,

Star Trek: Voyager ran for seven years. It ran that long because of the fan-base of the entire Star Trek franchise. I know people who start indoctrinating their offspring in the womb. No matter how you look at it, ST will not go away for long. The franchise is biding its time to make a comeback of some kind. Not sure where in the time line it will be, but it will make a comeback.

That is my hope for Firefly/Serenity. I hope it will make a comeback and continue the story. In a sense, I do agree with you, Ender. The movie closed some open storylines and added more flavor. However, like any epic tale, more will be added to it. How? I do not know. Perchance it will take the route of Star Trek and Star Wars. Books maybe written that will add more detail to the universe and introduce us to new characters, crews, and ships.

One never knows.

 

[jappel]

Hitting a couple of points:

Length of the movie vs. character treatment: Even in Lord of the Rings, Merry & Pippin don't get near the development in the film that they do in the books. Why? Time. And I don't think Serenity could have been pitched as a 3-hour movie. Reality sets in at some point folks, and compromises sometimes must be made. Even in Firefly, we only saw glimpses of many things. I think a credible job was done.

The future of the 'Verse: I follow this pretty closely, and all of the regular creative talent (except for Alan Tudyk, whom I haven't heard weigh in, but including Joss Whedon) says they want to do more. It all comes down to the money - if Serenity makes enough through DVD sales to push the total profit margin high enough to convince a studio, probably Universal, that it's worth the investment. (The original production costs, though not neccessarily distribution & marketing costs, have already been recouped via the worldwide box office take.)

People have talked about everything from a return to TV (this time on Sci Fi) to more theatrical releases to direct-to-DVD. But none of the people talking about these options are in a position to know. It's all just rumors and speculation until the DVD numbers are in and the suits sit down with Joss & co. and make an assessment.

I do believe that Chwitel Ejifor might be a bit leery of returning in some form; he spoke in an interview about being a bit creeped out when someone approached him on the street and said, "You can't stop the signal!"

Shepherd Book: The stories I'd most want to see that likely won't be now. I really thought both the Book/Mal and Book/Jayne relationships had a lot of potential to explore.

Bottom line: if you want more Firefly/Serenity, buy the DVD if you can and encourage others to do so. And be patient.

- John, who spends way too much time following this stuff

 

[parmasson]

Watched the entire season of Firefly and then Serenity.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

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I am a heretic to say that the movie felt forced. I would not miss Book but killing off Wash was eh . . . ok you killed of a colorful character.

Now we know why there are psycho-ships out there, big deal.
Assassin man should have killed them off. You don’t let witnesses walk.
You led an attack on an Alliance fleet, seen the big no, no and they are going to let you walk? What?! Sure with a MCr400bounty on your head and an order to shoot to kill on sight.

I loved the series . . . . and the universe.

I feel like a traitor to say this but, the film was so-so.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Originally posted by Kurega Gikur:

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

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Assassin man should have killed them off. You don’t let witnesses walk.
You led an attack on an Alliance fleet, seen the big no, no and they are going to let you walk? What?! Sure with a MCr400bounty on your head and an order to shoot to kill on sight.

Maybe you missed it in the movie, but there is no point in killing Mal and the crew. They broadcast the big no no to the entire 'Verse -- there is no point in killing them, the secret is out.

In addition, the Operative is a changed man. Changed on a fundemental level. He's not the same man. He sees no point in killing them, and can't bring himself to do it. He didn't care about any bounty (when was a bounty ever mentioned in the movie anyway?) -- he wasn't doing it for money, he was doing it because he was a True Believer in the Alliance and what it was trying to accomplish. After learning what happend on Miranda, he was no longer a True Believer.

 

[parmasson]

[qoute] Maybe you missed it in the movie, but there is no point in killing Mal and the crew. They broadcast the big no no to the entire 'Verse -- there is no point in killing them, the secret is out.[/quote]
Yes guess I did. Still . . .

In addition, the Operative is a changed man. Changed on a fundemental level. He's not the same man. He sees no point in killing them, and can't bring himself to do it. He didn't care about any bounty (when was a bounty ever mentioned in the movie anyway?) -- he wasn't doing it for money, he was doing it because he was a True Believer in the Alliance and what it was trying to accomplish. After learning what happend on Miranda, he was no longer a True Believer.

IMHO True Believers are the way they are because that can continue to believe even after burning several colonies, dispensing summary justice, and making all sorts of evil for their higher cause. Epiphanies are few and far between. After his homicidal rampage through the system why does Miranda strike him as being especially evil? Their deaths are regrettable to be sure but they died in service to their state and society.

I can see your point but I still grumble.

 

[Scarecrow]

I'm with Kurega on this one. It was weak. There were a number of things like this that ranckled me about the movie but, like Star Wars, it was soooooo good to see the guys back in action, I was willing to forgive (that and Firefly/Serenity beats the crud out of the Star Wars Sequeliverse anyway).

Crow

 

[jfetters]

Originally posted by Kurega Gikur:
IMHO True Believers are the way they are because that can continue to believe even after burning several colonies, dispensing summary justice, and making all sorts of evil for their higher cause. Epiphanies are few and far between.

But they do happen. Every person of faith has it tested at some time in their life. Many times they don't pass the test, especially in a case like this where he may not have know the truth of what he was fighting for.

I was under the impression that the Operative didn't necessarily enjoy killing, per se, it was just that he was damn good at it. So when he saw that recording, it pretty much blew away his faith in the system.

 

[Isis]

I enjoyed the movie, and would like to see the show now. Lots of stuff felt sudden or given a lot of emotional emphasis that I assumed made perfect sense to fans of the show. I hadn't formed any particular attachment to any of the characters that got killed, but I could tell by the way the film-makers handled the scenes that fans would be tripping out over them. Also I knew there was a lot of history there, especially with the romance, but in the movie itself I was not particularly worked up about it.

My main enjoyment was the Traveller-like feel of the story, and in the psychic power of one of the characters. (I'm a sucker for psychics) The fighting scenes, especially with the girl, were great fun. Plus, Mal's a cutie! (sigh!)

 

[jfetters]

Amanda,

I am a latecomer to the show as well, having seen only a third or so of the episodes on Sci-Fi. I was impressed with how quickly I could get a feel for the show by only watching one episode, and in some ways I am sorry I missed the show on its first run. The movie did a lot to flesh out the backstory for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

But you are completely correct about it being Traveller. After I saw my first episode, but especially the pilot, that was the exact thought running through my head.

 

[mak]

I give both the movie and the TV series a C-. The background and themes were interesting, but the acting, plots and production were weak.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Originally posted by mak:
I give both the movie and the TV series a C-. The background and themes were interesting, but the acting, plots and production were weak.

Them's fightin' words!

 

[Falkayn]

Originally posted by mak:
I give both the movie and the TV series a C-. The background and themes were interesting, but the acting, plots and production were weak.

As compared to ... ?

Star Wars?

Star Trek?

Battlestar Galactica? (new)

Stargate?

IMO it beats all of those hands down ... then again I like the humour in the series.

Did you watch the series first, or the movie?

 

[Pickles]

Originally posted by mak:
I give both the movie and the TV series a C-. The background and themes were interesting, but the acting, plots and production were weak.

 

[parmasson]

^

 

[Jame]

We're all forgetting to compare it to Andromeda!

Said show is sadly dead now, right?

 

[Andrew Boulton]

God, I hope so...

 

[Jame]

What, you didn't like it? Less so than Firefly, even?

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Andromeda started off okay, but headed downhill fairly quickly. I'd put it on a par with Voyager - a few fun characters, and I'll watch it if there's nothing better on, but I'm not a big fan.

 

[parmasson]

^ Firefly was unapologetically western / sci-fi. It used the tropes from both in a way that made it original. The “crew” were not super heroes with a cutting edge ship armed to the teeth and ready to do battle. Many of the personalities onboard did not mesh well and two characters were married (rare in a sci-fi show).

Many didn’t like the open fusion of the two styles and I can see why. It took a little while for me to get into it and I am now a big fan.

Andromeda I did not like. Not sue why but it didn’t appeal.

 

[jfetters]

I also was kind of ambivalent about watching a "sci-fi" western - especially after so many awful sci-fi shows provided on network television.

It took me until the reruns on SciFi and the movie for me to really appreciate how well done it really was.