Firefly / Serenity ? the Big Movie who watched it ?

TetsuoHashimoto

Right
they've been going on about it for months/years

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=294224
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=575

is it bigger than eastwood,
better than Yoda

or will this movie just Flop ?

Hugh Hefner

Eastwood is boring.

Yoda is small.

This is a Big Damn Movie!

Listen to the sig. The sig. knows all.

sutty

Well I seen it at and advanced preview a month a half ago. I loved it. It exceded all my hopes for the movie. I will be going again when it comes out at the end of the week. (7th of October)
Its a movie with a great cast, fantastic script and jaw droping SFX and all this was done on 40m. Unlike alot of the crap that has come out in recent years. This is a Sci-Fi that will apeal to alot of people. Even those who dont like Sci-fi

Its also the only movie I have seen an Irish Cinema Stand and cheer for when it finished.


You may hear fans of the show and movie refare to it as the BDM (Big Damn Movie) Or even call it "our Movie". This movie is about because the fans loved it so. That the DVD's of the show "Firefly" which the movie is based on, sold so many. Even on Such a low budgit for a Sci-fi movie. They deliver in every moment of this movie.

I douth you'd be sorry if you go into this movie with an open mind.

Rcuomo

ive been reading some average reviews about it and the trailer doesnt look that great, it seems a bit fifth element-esque...
im guessing that no matter what the joss whedon/buffy lovers will hark this as the 2nd coming even if its a steaming pile of poo....

Hugh Hefner

Oh God, the trailer is so bad. So very, very bad. Believe me, the trailer doesn't do it justice.

Fifth Element-esque? N-no, not quite. It's hard to explain.

I guess you'll just have to see the film to find out.

Rcuomo

yea i probably will check it out...joss whedon's done some interesting stuff before (not counting alien resurrection!). whats with him and his big fixation with strong female leads? and now this wonder woman project? not saying there's anything wrong with that, maybe he needs to branch out a little...

Crucifix

Being born of terrestrial TV, I've never seen Firefly, but I like the look of this film, I'll definitely go see it.
Anyone who has seen it, will it be tough on someone who's completely unfamiliar with the series?

slovessmg

You'll get a lot more out of the movie if you've seen the show, but I know a bunch of people who never seen the show and still thought the movie rocked.

Everything you need to know is explained in the first 10 minutes.

Some well established movie critics are calling this the best movie of the year, promising that it will make up for the summer's "average at best" films.

See the movie, Love the movie, Tell everyone how brilliant the movie is, See the movie again, Buy the Show on DVD, Enjoy, See the movie again!

Stark

TetsuoHashimoto wrote:

is it bigger than eastwood,
better than Yoda

or will this movie just Flop ?

Don't even compare it to the ****e that was Star Wars. This film bloody rocks. Packs way more punch than the TV show too.

spooydermot

without giving away(too many ) details, does the movie re-write/ignore/follow on from the TV show?

sutty

Well I have seen the movie, I loved it. I know many people who where Fans and too "n00bs" to see it. They all loved it.
With out seeing the show first. People have had trouble with the characters of Book and Inara and their impact in the moive. However they still loved it.

In terms of story and plot. They keep true to the TV show. The movie is set about 6 months after the last episode. There is a 3 issue comic that fills in that gap a little. But seeing the show and reading the comic are not needed to understand what is going on.

If you want to know who is a fan. Look behind you in the cinema, anyone with a look of shock on their face at the end. Has watch the TV show.... that is all I will say.

ixoy

However who will actually go to see the movie based on the trailer could be worrying. It was on before the movie tonight and I heard someone say "Well I certainly won't be in a rush to see that". Let's hope that the trailer doesn't cause people to overlook a little gem.

missingtime

sutty wrote:

If you want to know who is a fan. Look behind you in the cinema, anyone with a look of shock on their face at the end. Has watch the TV show.... that is all I will say.

Heh! You make me want to go see it now just for that.

saw Serenity last night, was surprised i only left with about 5 mins to go, most people in the cinema left long before that. For fans of the show, (which ive never seen) maybe it delivers, but without the series behind this it would not have made the cinema.
the characters are standard, characterless, apart from the lead guy who is about a cool as a Lada riva. The black guy wasnt bad, but thats about it. It reminded me of a star trek series my flatmate watches - the one with the guy from Quantum Leap. -Tacky. This is not big screen stuff, its more tues night at 9pm on Sky One.
Im not anti sci-fi by any means, but this is your Buffy style 'cyberdemonoids' teenager stuff and I wouldnt reccommend you see this unless those kind of series' appeal to you

for those of you who thought it was good, and loved it - tell me why because I cant see one redeeming factor for this flick?

sutty

Where did you go see it last night? Seeing as it is only out in Ireland today.

sutty

Deleted User wrote:

Im not anti sci-fi by any means, but this is your Buffy style 'cyberdemonoids' teenager stuff and I wouldnt reccommend you see this unless those kind of series' appeal to you

I'm interested in how you came up with this. As there are no "cyborgs" or anything of the sort in it. Theres no monsters, no aliens. Just the really bad guys, the bad guys and well the not so bad guys.

The reasons why I liked this movie where. While sitting in the cinema from the very opening moment of the film. I was eather laughing, sitting quitely in awe at the scines or on the edge of my seat.

The Acting was fantastic. Lets face it. In the last year or 2. Sci-fi fans have been left with movies that at best, had woden acting.

The plot Was great and played out really well. It has a start, a middle and a ending. They all fit into each other nicely.

Chong

I am going to see tonight , I watched a couple of eps of Firefly the weekend on the Sci-Fi channel as my mate recommended it as a good show . I have to say I am looking forward to especially going on what my says.

Saw in Australia last night - its been out here for a while
Yeah true no cyborgs etc, but the whole thing came across as being a bit unbelievable....a serious lack of realism, which is the same sense i got from watching buffy a few years back

On the acting side of things, the black guy could act, but as far as big screen goes those actors are about as wooden as you can get. i really dont know how you can say fantastic??? the characters are filling roles that require 0 creativity, standard roles that have been adopted for the last 20 years in sci-fi, and none of those guys brought anything new to the table.

I think it probably has something to do with being used to the characters particular type of humour from the series ...but humour was mostly tacky one liners from the angry guy or the lead guy. do you not think all those jokes were predicatable?
at the end of the day I think this film is for sci-fi fans, and fans of that particular show...

Hmm_Messiah

I've not seen the film, but having watched part of the series and al of buffy I think what you might see as a flaw I appreciate: I think both what you see as poor acting and predictable humour is a good quality, jokes predictable like somethign a mate would say etc

I think Whedon genius is in making unreal situations look like they are happening on your street (hellmouth in the school grounds etc).


I think its a way of seeing things you eitehr get and love, or don't. but talking about it being unrealistic means you are so "not getting it"
I best book a tme to see it, presuming our crappy ciniplex is showing it

sutty

Deleted User wrote:

Saw in Australia last night - its been out here for a while
Yeah true no cyborgs etc, but the whole thing came across as being a bit unbelievable....a serious lack of realism, which is the same sense i got from watching buffy a few years back

I have to say, I find it more realistic than anything that has come out in recent years. There is lack of sound in space. (which is real) there is a vacume in all. The reactions the have to things that happen. Lets face it. Have the ship can come off in startrek or starwars yet as long as the bridge is ok. Then the ship still flies. Not everything works in the Serenity universe. so they make do with what they have. Which is more how I would think settleing on an other planet would be.

On the acting side of things, the black guy could act, but as far as big screen goes those actors are about as wooden as you can get. i really dont know how you can say fantastic??? the characters are filling roles that require 0 creativity, standard roles that have been adopted for the last 20 years in sci-fi, and none of those guys brought anything new to the table.

Its true that if you have seen, some or all of the TV show that you will have a better understanding to the characters. The acting is spot on. If you watch and episode or two you will come to realise it. What gets me is that they care about the movie they are in. Its not just a pay slip for them. Its something the love doing and enjoy. You can see it on the screen as you watch the movie. I think whats happening is you are compareing it to other sci-fi shows/movies and trying to relate it to them. But it just doesn't work that way. The ideas are fresh and the way the characters are played out is as well. How many Sci-Fi shows would have the captin of the ship, kill someone because they pi$$ them off or didn't do something they wanted them to do?

I think it probably has something to do with being used to the characters particular type of humour from the series ...but humour was mostly tacky one liners from the angry guy or the lead guy. do you not think all those jokes were predicatable?
at the end of the day I think this film is for sci-fi fans, and fans of that particular show...

Its true that you can at moments know when some of the characters are going to say somehing. But you dont know what is the thing.

End of the day though. From what I have found there are two types of people. The first is the person who likes Firefly/Sernenity. The second is the person who doesn't. Its a case of each to their own really.

Hugh Hefner

Deleted User wrote:

i only left with about 5 mins to go

I can never understand why people leave so close to the end. I mean, you've watched this far, you might as well finish the film.

ixoy

Well in fairness, the film's not particularly realistic - having a bunch of planets, all different distances from the sun and all having equivalent climates? Heh - not likely

Now to the acting and characters - wooden? I don't think so. The characters however are sarcastic/tongue-in-cheek a lot and that may make them seem one dimensional. We've had the benefit of seeing them fleshed out but the movie doesn't really do that. Just because Character Z reaches a resolution that we've waited 14 episodes to see, doesn't mean the average non-fan will appreciate the emotional pay off.

The plot? Ho hum, it was good, I liked it, but without the appreciation of the characters, and their circumstances, it might have felt a bit flat. I mean chasing a rogue is hardly new nor is a well-spoken villain. The humour, etc. alleviated it for me but Whedonesque humour is an acquired taste.

The direction I thought was quite solid, with some great sequences. Can't really fault the SFX....

Just trying to see it here from a non-fans POV...

Chong

Ok just back and this has to be best film I have seen all year gets 10/10 from me.

Hugh Hefner

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh you have seen the light. Come, my child.

Basq

Was dying to go see it earlier tonight but got work at 9am tomorrow so i'll probably go the late show tomorrow night!

Cannot wait!

spooydermot

i was trying to watch it from a non-fans point of view and I imagine that a non-fan would not have gotten the connections between some of the crew in the same way that someone whp has seen the series has, but then its a different medium working on a different timescale.

Never the less its a great film in its own right, and a far departure from the mediocre films that plagued the cinemas this summer.

to those who have'nt seen it yet, avoid all spoilers! I accidently came across a spoiler on a page (off this site, nor was it marked as a spoiler) and it ruined a major plot point for me, but there ya go.

is there any word on sequels, offers of a new series etc?
again, great film.

BlitzKrieg

i actually thought it was more confusing for a fan then a non fan.

I went with 2 friends, i myself am a fan as is one of my friend, the other has never seen firefly.

The move was great fun.

BUT

There were elements that me and my friend who has seen the series got muddled on.

Firstly (correct me if i am wrong) but Simon, right up to episode 13 didnt know *WHAT* they did to his sister and its only in a few episodes that he pieced them together. Yet in the movie he is told when he is saving her what they did to her, only some perculier details left out (why they did it)

Secondly The preacher living on Haven, is not as far as i can remember mentioned at all in the series.

My other friend not knowing any of this didnt get muddled and enjoyed the movie immeansly, thought it had good characters, nice plot and was very entertaining. I agree with him.

On what my friend and i got muddled on, we feel:

that the film takes place after a number of seasons after the 1st season that were never made. Introducing Mr Universe, saying Bye to Preacher etc

Overall i give it plus points on.

+Space battle scene is much better then episode 3's
+Plot is great (though i admit guessing it during the series)
+Characters were all as great as ever

what i didnt like.
-

I still never found out who the preacher was!!!

-

two of my fav characters died.

Hugh Hefner

BlitzKrieg wrote:

Firstly (correct me if i am wrong) but Simon, right up to episode 13 didnt know *WHAT* they did to his sister and its only in a few episodes that he pieced them together. Yet in the movie he is told when he is saving her what they did to her, only some perculier details left out (why they did it)

Yes, they changed the storyline from the show a little. In the show, other people smuggle her out for him. At least that's what he says.

Secondly The preacher living on Haven, is not as far as i can remember mentioned at all in the series.

This is done in the comics which bridge the T.V.-to-film gap.

I still never found out who the preacher was!!!

They'll probably return to this in a future manifestation of the franchise.



In other news, Universal have released the first 9 minutes or so of the film on the internet. Clicky. I can confirm that this is a reputable and official release. And it is the real thing. If you're a fan and are going to see the film for the first time in the next few days then just wait. However, if you're maybe someone who doesn't know whether they'd like it or who has seen the film and is trying to convince a sceptical friend to go then this is the thing you need.

Don't worry, it doesn't reveal any spoilers. It just introduces the bad guy and has some exposition about River and Simon, "Earth That Was" and the Alliance and the civil war.

spooydermot

In other news, Universal have released the first 9 minutes or so of the film on the internet. Clicky. I can confirm that this is a reputable and official release

cool, thanks for that I missed the first 2 minutes

up to where they stick that thing in rivers forehead

cause I had to wander and go look for a friend of mine who hadn't found her way into the cinema.

one thing though:

From the series I always got the impression that they didn't know the location of 'Earth that was', that in the time since they left earth, the location had been lost, in fact when they found Miranda, I thought for a second perhaps that was some kind of code word for Earth

By the way , the Ticket supplement in the Irish Times today gave Serenity a great review, the reviewer suggested that George Lucas should be nailed down to a chair and forced to watch Serenity several times to see how a proper space movie should be made (in light of the 3 most recent star wars movies), the review also praised Whedons storytelling.

I've just finished reading the X-Men comic books that Whedon wrote, great dialog in them.

sutty

Spooy, what where the turn outs like in the cinema?

dudara

What a great show! Didn't disappoint at all.

i know that there were a few minor tweaks to the story, possibly to make it more big-screen friendly, but besides that, it was great.

i want more! I want a series

Fence

Hugh Hefner wrote:

Yes, they changed the storyline from the show a little. In the show, other people smuggle her out for him. At least that's what he says.

Ah yes, but we can fan **** around that simply by saying that

Simon knew what a danger River was and so lied to Mal so he'd take the pair in.

Hugh Hefner

Can and will.


There's a short interview with Alan Tudyk (Wash) in the new Event Guide. So if you're in Virgin or wherever you might as well pick yourself up a free copy.

spooydermot

sutty wrote:

Spooy, what where the turn outs like in the cinema?

well i went to Santry Onmi (which I don't goto that often)cinema because UGC was sold out. In my experience theres never a lot of people in Santry cinema during the week (but maybe thats just when I'm there) but I'd say the cinema was about 70% full, but that said this was a thursday night, and the real opening is friday.

So far it seems to be getting good reviews and selling tickets so I'd say over all it'll do well.

Sarky

Blimey.

That was stunning, utterly stunning.

It's all been said before, really. Very true to the series, the acting was spot on. Bit of everything in there, especially big surprises.

I won't believe anyone who said they weren't surprised to learn the origin of the Reavers. And OMG, poor Wash...I nearly cried.

Went to the Eye in Galway. Even Hector's inane wittering couldn't spoil it for me. A friend of mine saw it in the Omniplex. Both screens were at least 70% full, which was nice to see.

If you watched the series and liked it, you'll love Serenity. If you didn't, you'll probably come out wanting to buy the DVDs. People who didn't get it or outright hated it seem to be in the minority.

Damn good film. I'll go watch it again soon.

Karl Hungus

Sarky wrote:

I won't believe anyone who said they weren't surprised to learn the origin of the Reavers.

On another message board I was involved in a discussion about Reavers, and we theorised that they were some kind of shock troops developed by the Alliance to instill fear and destroy moral, but after the war they were left drifting without a purpose. So in all honesty, it was no suprise.

sutty wrote:

As there are no "cyborgs" or anything of the sort in it.

Mr. Universe's cyberwife would be something of the sort, wouldn't it?

sutty

Karl Hungus wrote:

Mr. Universe's cyberwife would be something of the sort, wouldn't it?

Nope,

she was a robot, cyborgs are part living and part machine

Crucifix

I went to it today, and thought it was damn good. I've never seen anything from the series, but everything was nice and straight forward so I was never really lost. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the series at some point now.

spooydermot

Crucifix wrote:

I went to it today, and thought it was damn good. I've never seen anything from the series, but everything was nice and straight forward so I was never really lost. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the series at some point now.

keep and eye on play.com and sentit.com I got it quite cheap there a while ago, but it seems to be back to normal price of €43, they might have it on offer again. In fact i think HMV had it on sale a while ago for about €30 euro, it might still be that price.

Crash

returned to it this evening - i think everyone who's read the serenity board knows how i feel about it

unfortunately i went to see it in Dundrum, which was "teh ghey" - note to self, do not return to dundrum.

tetsujin1979

I saw it last night, after having seen a few episodes of the series.
First off, I was impressed with the series. Not with the sci-fi of it, but with the scripts, the characters and the way they interacted with each other. Very dysfunctional but still willing to work with each other for the common good.
As for the film I found the first 20 minutes or so to be very slow, but I accept that it had to be in order to make it acceptable to people who have not seen the show and need to get introduced to the characters on the boat.
Following that I thought that it was excellent. The plot, the development of the characters, the SFX, all will be displayed in future classes of "how to make a good space opera", while Episode I will be the primary text in the "how to please the least amount of people and make the most amount of money" class.
There are definite similarities with the fighters in the original Star Wars trilogy and the Serenity's appearance, very much battle scarred and gives a definite feel of flying by the seat of your pants - compare and contrast with the X-Wings and the Millenium Falcon (the MF is still the king BTW).
I don't want to reveal any part of the plot, suffice it to say that a doctor and his doctored sister have bought passage on a pirate ship of sorts and someone wants the girl back for various reasons, all the while the threat of the mythical Reavers lurks in the background. Needless to say the heroic/moralistic/stupid (delete according to you preference) captain refuses to give up the girl and hilarity ensues. No, wait, it doesn't. Violence ensues, that's it.
The only problem I had with the film was the intensely stylised speech of the crew, sort of the way a red neck hillbilly harvard english grad with a penchant for sarcasm and pop-culture reference would talk. It did remind me a lot of the last few series of Buffy and Angel. And in a weird way, The OC. It does go a long way to show us what our small screens have been missing since the demise of the latter 2.

Short review: Go and see it. Your end of year cinema review will be all the better for it.

Hobbes

You can watch the first ten minutes of the movie for free, basically the backplot.

http://video.vividas.com/CDN1/3929_Serenity/web/index.html

TetsuoHashimoto

Here are a few fansite clips from the original show

http://easylink.playstream.com/fireflyonline/oogtra.wvx
http://www.fangirl.nu/gogocactusman.rm
http://www.strangefinger.com/riverhill.mpg

I wonder if the movie is good, some critics say its well done
here's what is said at the board
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=310688

Full_Circle

Huh, already posted on a similar thread on the Sci-Fi/Fantasy board, but I guess it works here too:

Went to see Serenity on Friday night and really enjoyed it.

Been patiently awaiting its release for months, and that only made my expectations for the film abnormally high. Happy to report that I came out of the cinema feeling totally satisfied

I feel that even though Whedon managed to create a functional story with the two hours he was given (and one with particular relevence to the characters and overarching plot of the series), its still very necessary for people to have seen the Firefly series beforehand. Otherwise they wont appreciate all the nuances of the characters or fully understand the history of their relationships.

Sadly, the film suffers from the same problem that afflicted the Next Generation movies. Given the short running time, only particular characters (from an ensemble TV show) were focused on in any great detail. Not everyone will be happy with this, but if you treat this movie as an extra long episode of the show, there is nothing to complain about. And really, all I wanted from Serenity was a little more Firefly, and thats exactly what I got

The Whedon wit is still there, and the action has been amped up quite a bit (with just a touch of violence, for those folk partial to such behaviour!). The effects are (just like in the series) suitablely spectacular. And I was delighted to see that they have finally perfected the hovercraft, after its abysmal appearance in "Heart of Gold" :rolleyes:

Basq

Hadn't seen 'Firefly' before and as a complete non-Whedon head (in other words, absolutely hated Buffy and Angel). But after hearing so much about 'Serenity' on the way and being recommended the show by ixoy and many others in a thread i made a month or two back, I got the full series and watched it practically in one sitting. What an amazing show!

And now onto the film... went to the cinema to see it with my girlfriend who loved the series and 2 mates who hadn't seen or heard anything about 'Firefly' besides watching the 'Serenity' trailer (but one is a big 'Star Wars' fan so i kept quoting that infamous reviewer quote about tying George Lucas down to a chair and making him watch Serenity 5 times so he can see how a proper space movie is made... quote is something to that effect).

Anyways.. i absolutely loved it. Had one major probem with it which i'll get onto. What i did like:

Jayne / Mal's wisecracks were still on top form, some fantastic fight scenes between Mal / The Operative and River / everyone else (:D), how Zoe / Mal (Zoe especially) showed absolutely no emotion / sign of weakness at Wash's death in Mr. Universe's compound, the closing shot of another piece of the ship falling off with Mal saying "what was that?"... and so much more as i'd be here all day listing what i liked!

Two small comments:

did Reaver's remind anyone else of Orcs from LOTR? Also, didn't Mal do that ".. i want a pony etc." line (or something to that effect) when Innara was praying at some point in the series?

The one major problem i had about the film:

Simon and Kaylee hooking up - it just seemed like the only reason they got together in the film was it was something Whedon probably regretted not doing in the lifespan of the show. It just felt too planned for the film.. didn't like it!

What suprised me was my girlfriend was disappointed by it. She felt it didn't explain the River / Simon situation very well but i thought they did it quite well but my mates (who hadn't seen 'Firefly') were somewhat confused during bits of it. But i agree with most people.. you had to see the 'Firefly' series to really appreciate a lot of the film:

Mal's bumpy relationship with Inara, the conflict with Jayne regarding River and Simon, Wash / Shepard's death would not have been nearly as shocking if you weren't a 'Firefly' fan and sat through 14 episodes with these two guys, Simon and Kaylee's relationship

But the real question that plagued me after seeing the film: would you prefer another film (which is pretty much bound to happen) or would you prefer a revival of the TV series (will never happen)? My view: the film was great.. sequels typically aren't. Based on the film and the TV series, i have enough faith in Whedon's writing to make a decent sequel. But a bad episode and a bad movie are very different. My opinion: if i had the choice, i'd bring back the TV show. Be interested in hearing other views so i'll post up a poll in the 'Serenity' section.

Rating: 8.5 / 10

PS - any 'Lost' fans spot Michael's ex-wife as River's teacher in the film?

D

Saw this yesterday. Had no prior knowledge about film, never even heard of Firefly. I enjoyed it, thought it was good the whole way through apart from 3 bits in the film.

The "Americana/Patriotism" speech when they find out the "secret", and the brother and engineer love talk at the make shift barricades. These two points were counterbalanced by things going boom afterwards. Towards the end after River had beaten up all the Reavers and stood there with the sword and axe with the over-used stance, with the head tilted forward and looking up at the people through the hair was really corny! As before though, enjoyable movie, one question to the long term fans. Is the film set before or after the series?

Basq

D wrote:

..

Is the film set before or after the series?

..

After the series.. as Innara threatens to leave in the 2nd last episode of the series ('Hearts Of Gold' if i recall correctly). And as the film progresses.. we learn that she has left the ship.

Karl Hungus

D wrote:

Is the film set before or after the series?

After.

Hugh Hefner

basquille wrote:

After the series.. as Innara threatens to leave in the 2nd last episode of the series ('Hearts Of Gold' if i recall correctly). And as the film progresses.. we learn that she has left the ship.

In the comics you get to see her leave.

TetsuoHashimoto

you can view a 9 min preview of the film
http://video.vividas.com/CDN1/3929_Serenity/web/index.html

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2681478?htv=12&htv=12

I'm going to watch this

TetsuoHashimoto

I found some more big clips of the original Tv show
http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/ugo/ugo/tv/firefly/firefly_06.wvx
http://moon-catchin.net/firefly/FFMV-bdw.avi
http://www.edgeofthehill.com/Firefly/Die_Another_Day.wmv
http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/ugo/ugo/tv/firefly/firefly_01.wvx
looks pretty good