Serenity

August 10, 2005 1:20 PM

Serenity the Movieis coming out September 30th. The full-length movie version of Firefly, Fox's sci-fi disaster that was canceled 12 episodes into the 14 episode series.
posted by benkolb (69 comments total)

Previously discussed here.

Also, what do you mean by "disaster"? Because, in my opinion, the show was pretty good.
posted by handshake at 1:28 PM on August 10, 2005

...Fox's sci-fi disaster...

Incoming nerdrage!
posted by Artw at 1:32 PM on August 10, 2005

I'm with handshake, why post if you thought the show was bad?
posted by killy willy at 1:32 PM on August 10, 2005

I'm with handshake, why post if you thought the show was bad?

To troll.
posted by eyeballkid at 1:34 PM on August 10, 2005

though as a Firefly fan (and certified nerd) I appreciate any publicity for the movie.
posted by killy willy at 1:34 PM on August 10, 2005

I think he meant disaster in the sense of it being cancelled before it's full run was complete.

Here's hoping for Serenity to be successfull enough to get the show going again.
posted by Quartermass at 1:37 PM on August 10, 2005

The trailer doesn't mention the show at all. Are they ashamed?
posted by Potsy at 1:39 PM on August 10, 2005

I would say it was more of a disaster for Joss Whedon and crew rather than for Fox.

Personally, I love the show and can't wait for the movie (and *crosses fingers* the flames of interest being kindled and SciFi picking up the series for future episodes).

signed,

ultranerd
posted by zerokey at 1:42 PM on August 10, 2005

Are you trying to provoke the nerds, benkolb? :-)

Most people who have seen the show are going to hate you for suggesting it was anything less than Whedon's SF masterpiece brought down by the fools in Fox's marketing division.

(disclosure: I am a fan and I will be going to see it.)
posted by Crosius at 1:42 PM on August 10, 2005

I read an interview with Whedon and he said that Firefly is not coming back to TV. He also said if Serenity is successful they would make a sequel possibly exploring the Shephard Book character a little more.

Good interview with Whedon can be found here.
posted by srburns at 1:44 PM on August 10, 2005

I'm not a huge firefly fan, it's okay, but don't blame the show for Fox cancelling, fox cancels shit for no reason half the time. My favorite show fox cancelled was Keen Eddie (starring Mark Valley and Sienna Miller), which was killed after just 6 episodes despite decent enough ratings and critical love. I hear every one liked it at fox but #3 guy who coudn't understand the accents. BOOM! Dead. That show was SO good.

It went on to reair the next year on Bravo who aired all the unaired episodes as well and it turned out to be a nice rating getter for them. To bad it had already stopped production and the cast went elsewhere (Valley went to Boston Legal, Miller got engaged to/cheated on Jude Law)

I dont think Fox truly knows what to do with shows that aren't teenager or reality based.
posted by Dome-O-Rama at 1:49 PM on August 10, 2005

Cheated on BY Jude Law... damn fingers.
posted by Dome-O-Rama at 1:53 PM on August 10, 2005

Fox cancelled my favorite show at the time "Strange luck"

Please recall however that Fox also own fox news. If we for the moment consider their audience, anything that too derivative is doomed to cancellatuide.
posted by MrLint at 1:58 PM on August 10, 2005

There's a three part comic series published by Dark Horse that Firefly enthusiasts might want to check out.
posted by ODiV at 2:04 PM on August 10, 2005

My theory on Fox is -- they do what they want on their entertainment channel, and get away with it by kissing up to the power structure.

Regarding Serenity -- I saw it in prerelease. I've seen about half the episodes, so I didn't know all the history, but (no spoilers):

1) VERY cool space scenes. Wow. Seriously.
2) You can tell Joss Whedon wrote it.
3) One of the better villains I've seen in a movie in quite some time.
4) An intelligently done plot.

I'll probably be seeing it again when it hits wide release -- and I don't see movies multiple times. So, yeah. Damn, damn good flick.
posted by effugas at 2:07 PM on August 10, 2005

No, I love the show. It's very entertaining, and this coming from a person who doesn't enjoy science-fiction very much. I sadi disaster because, from Fox's point of view, it was a disaster. No one watched.
posted by benkolb at 2:13 PM on August 10, 2005

No one watched because it was on friday night and they didn't start with the first episode but showed them out of order.

If they had put it on in Buffy's old slot or after Angel it would have gotten a lot of viewers.

As to Fox news: am I the only one that remembers when Bush Sr. condemned Fox for showing the Simpsons?

Ruperts just an asskisser that shows people what they want to see and hear, and right now that's a bunch of Limbaugh clones and wannabees.
posted by nyxxxx at 2:29 PM on August 10, 2005

I never saw the show so I have no context here, but the trailer was really awful. I certainly hope it works out for everyone who genuinely loved the show.
posted by moonbird at 2:31 PM on August 10, 2005

I said disaster because, from Fox's point of view, it was a disaster. No one watched.

And, from Firefly's point of view, Fox was a disaster. It was a bad pairing all around.
posted by Happy Monkey at 2:40 PM on August 10, 2005

SciFi Channel started re-airing "Firefly" a couple weeks ago. I hadn't seen it before, but have been watching, and yes actually it's very good. And I'm not generally a sci-fi fan.

I've heard part of the problem was Fox insisted on airing the episodes out of order, so the first ones shown didn't make much sense and didn't grab viewers.
posted by dnash at 2:43 PM on August 10, 2005

Dome-O-Rama: I share in your Keen Eddie love! That was a heck of a show, cruelly mistreated. It had freaking Alexei Sayle in it, for crying out loud! This reminds me I might have to pick up the DVD set.

I caught one of the Serenity screenings, and it's very good. Needed a few tweaks here and there, and I'm told it got some. Fans of Firefly will love it, non-fans might have a hard time catching up but should enjoy it as a solid sci-fi actioner.

Moonbird, the latest trailer's much improved over the first. In particular, they've worked out whatever was wrong with the bar fight sequence (it seemed too slow in the original), and highlighted a bit more of the patented Joss Whedon funny quips (of which there many).

Sci-Fi network is airing the series, by the way, if anyone feels like checking it out. Of course, it's on Friday nights. Again.
posted by schoolgirl report at 2:49 PM on August 10, 2005

Fox did air episodes out of order. They didnt show the pilot (which explains why they're running and who they're running from) until 6 or 7 episodes in.

Futurama, Family Guy, Firefly. Fox has a problem with F shows (even though they did bring FG back).

Fox also owns the rights to the TV show and they are not going to let anyone else make more firefly episodes. Movies yes, TV no. I am going to see it opening night however. I dont have a date, but I'll go by myself if I have to.
posted by SirOmega at 2:53 PM on August 10, 2005

I am going to see it opening night ... I dont have a date

Hee hee hee.

Atomic Wedgie!

---

For what it's worth, I enjoyed the show on DVD, and will most certainly not have a date for the movie. :-/
posted by CynicalKnight at 3:07 PM on August 10, 2005

No offense, I'm a huge fan of Firefly, have already seen a pre-screening of Serenity, and FOX sucks at keeping shows going... but, c'mon... should this be a FPP?

I didn't realize that the huge omniprescent corporation actually was called Pepsi Blue Sun.
posted by tittergrrl at 3:08 PM on August 10, 2005

I have no idea where you live, SirOmega, but there are no shortage of women I know who will be at the Very.First.Showing. of Serenity in Atlanta. I think if you go dateless, you have a very good chance of just picking some chick up in line.
posted by Medieval Maven at 3:15 PM on August 10, 2005

I read an interview with Whedon and he said that Firefly is not coming back to TV.

It's actually more complicated than this. FOX, as I understand it, owns the TV rights for ten years beginning the date of cancellation.

However, if they'd be willing to sell the TV rights to another network (broadcast or cable, whatever), Whedon reportedly said at Comic-Con in San Diego this year that he'd be willing to bring it back to TV. He just won't ever work with FOX again.
posted by theonetruebix at 3:38 PM on August 10, 2005

One question for those who have seen the prerelease (I haven't dared look in any of the FIrefly forums because I really don't want spoilers). The "sound in space" stuff from the preview is kinda annoying given that in the TV show they obeyed physics and didn't have sound in a vacuum. Were those roaring engines just in the preview, or did someone force Whedon to put them into the movie too?

And, yeah, of the Firefly fans I personally know most are women (including my wife, my mother, and my sister). There will be women at the first showing of Serenity. Firefly seems to appeal to both sexes.
posted by sotonohito at 3:41 PM on August 10, 2005

This Whedon interview explains (wicth minor spoilers) that they've "kept space sound-free" but that one battle takes place above-planet within enough atmosphere for sound. "So we sort of – I don’t want to say “cheated,” because that would sound too true..."

I just started watching the series on DVD, in anticipation of the movie. I was disappointed in the pilot. Too many on-the-nose scenes spelling out "this is how these characters feel about each other" explicitly. But I'll keep watching for now.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 3:54 PM on August 10, 2005

Re: sound in space - apparently, space is still silent in the film, but this one big fuckoff battle takes place in the upper atmosphere (where apparently people can hear you scream).

I'm a huge Whedon fan, but I've never seen Firefly - I've been itching to buy the DVD for ages, but I'm holding out because I want to really see if the movie works for the non-initiated. Only a week and a bit left - go, Edinburgh International Film Festival!

Oh, and this is a crap post.
posted by flashboy at 3:54 PM on August 10, 2005

Thanks for the info. The pilot is by far the worst episode, but I liked it well enough. You may like the later episodes better, or Firefly may not be your thing. I'm a fairly rabid fan, but I'm not going to insist that everyone has to like Firefly.
posted by sotonohito at 3:56 PM on August 10, 2005

To those who have seen a pre-screening of Serenity...

One of the best touches in Firefly was the silence of space. Any scenes shot from outside the ship (in space) was...silent...as it should be. I always appreciated that one little nod to reality.
So...can someone who has seen a pre-screening tell me if they carried over that little detail, or will I be treated to HollywoodSpace (the one where everyone can hear you scream)?
posted by Thorzdad at 3:57 PM on August 10, 2005

Self flame: Read ALL of the posts, stupid!
posted by Thorzdad at 4:00 PM on August 10, 2005

So...My only complaint is that a late September release usually is the kiss of death to any movie particularly action/scifi fare.

I fear this will be Firefly all over again with a great movie doing poorly because of strange executive wrangling and schedule jockeying.
posted by aaronscool at 4:22 PM on August 10, 2005

Joss Whedon is my master now.

Firefly is an awesome TV show, not just an awesome SF show. After watching about 4 episodes, I was very very glad that I bought the DVD set (at 50% off) on a whim.

Serenity should be kickass, and I hope someday the series continues.

PS. Morena Baccarin may be the most beautiful woman in space, IMO.
posted by zoogleplex at 4:26 PM on August 10, 2005

I don't really plan on seeing the film, but I've seen the trailer. Did anyone else think it was poorly made? For some reason I found it very amateurish. Just curious.
posted by apple scruff at 4:48 PM on August 10, 2005

zoogleplex: Joss Whedon is my master now.

Oh, I'm so getting one of those. Thanks, zoogle!

Zed_Lopez: I just started watching the series on DVD, in anticipation of the movie. I was disappointed in the pilot. Too many on-the-nose scenes spelling out "this is how these characters feel about each other" explicitly. But I'll keep watching for now.

Definitely keep watching. After enough people recommended Firefly to me that I got hooked, I introduced it to my girlfriend (already a Buffy fan). The first few episodes didn't grab her ("I don't dislike it, but it doesn't grab me as much as Buffy did."), but the more we watched, the more interested she got. Now she's just as anxious for Serenity to come out as I am.

I think part of it is just that a lot of the relationships (and characters) aren't really spelled out quite as clearly as they appear at first in the pilot. Whedon obviously had lot planned, and he has no problems at letting certain situations unfold over time. Just a pity he didn't have as much time as he should have....

apple scruff: I don't really plan on seeing the film, but I've seen the trailer. Did anyone else think it was poorly made? For some reason I found it very amateurish. Just curious.

The first trailer (which I first watched before seeing any of the show) didn't really grab me at all. When I watched it again after seeing the show (and I knew more about the universe/characters), it was more interesting...but still not as good as it could have been. The recently-released second trailer does a much better job, IMHO.
posted by djwudi at 4:55 PM on August 10, 2005

*Needlessly obscure reference to Sapphire & Steel accompanied by cane-waving and geriatric drool redacted*

I hope all you, uh, "tanjackets" was it? enjoy your moving picture show.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 5:03 PM on August 10, 2005

Say, Medieval Maven, care to mention which theater they might be headed to?
posted by solotoro at 5:32 PM on August 10, 2005

Well, I believe if this movie is a success, it would be very wise for Whedon to seriously attempt to bring the show back for another season on a more TV friendly network.
posted by benkolb at 5:34 PM on August 10, 2005

It was brownjackets PinkStainlessTail
posted by benkolb at 5:35 PM on August 10, 2005

I've only seen one episode of Firefly, but a friend has the DVD set. Should I watch them before the movie, or should I just go into the movie cold and then go back and watch the series?
posted by Asparagirl at 5:37 PM on August 10, 2005

I haven't watched the movie yet, but I would imagine you'd be better off watching the series first. No doubt the movie will begin with a recap of the characters and how they know one another, and should stand on its own. But I'd be surprised if knowing more about the characters and universe doesn't open up quite a bit of subtext and add to the movie.

One thing you should know pre-movie, whether you watch the series or not, is that all the characters tend to break into Chinese from time to time, especially when cursing but sometimes just at random. I honestly didn't notice that for the first twenty minutes or so I watched the show. The Chinese fits so neatly into the other dialog that it's actually hard to notice. I just thought I was missing some of the dialog.
posted by sotonohito at 5:53 PM on August 10, 2005

Two words: Jubal Early. Two more: Great episode.
posted by Mo Nickels at 6:27 PM on August 10, 2005

It was disastrous that Fox made the blunder of cancelling "Firefly." This was one of the most enjoyable shows on television.

I too have see a preview showing of "Serenity." I recommend it to everyone, science fiction fans or otherwise.
posted by bshock at 6:43 PM on August 10, 2005

Jubal Early was a truly scary character. Though I've always wondered, wouldn't it have made sense for Mal to have salvaged and sold his ship instead of just letting it drift off?
posted by sotonohito at 6:47 PM on August 10, 2005

How have a lot of you seen these previews of the movie?
posted by benkolb at 7:34 PM on August 10, 2005

Jubal Early was a truly scary character. Though I've always wondered, wouldn't it have made sense for Mal to have salvaged and sold his ship instead of just letting it drift off?

Yes, but how would Early then be able to hit the homing beacon in his suit to set the ship to autopilot and come pick him up so he could appear in later episodes?

I wondered the same thing, but wrote it off as a device so that Joss could bring Jubal Early back later.

"Am I a lion? I don't think of myself as a lion. You might as well though, I have a mighty roar."
posted by [insert clever name here] at 7:53 PM on August 10, 2005

I saw the pre-preview of Serenity without having watched the show, and I must say it is quite accessible as a non-fan. Of course afterward I bought the DVDs for the show, so now I am one. Anyhoo, the movie is at least a 7.5/10...
posted by TwelveTwo at 7:56 PM on August 10, 2005

err pre-showing, I think is the right term
posted by TwelveTwo at 8:04 PM on August 10, 2005

benkolb: There were several official pre-screenings held at cities around the US. In the first set, many of the cast members showed up and saw the film for the first time. It was an awesome, yet insanely geeky, place to be.

(I liked the movie a lot.)
posted by nev at 8:12 PM on August 10, 2005

To anyone that saw the movie, does the movie feel like a movie version or like very one long episode of the show?
posted by benkolb at 8:20 PM on August 10, 2005

Jubal.E! It's a bad pun! I've only just noticed! Sorry. I'm slow sometimes.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 8:22 PM on August 10, 2005

I just recently saw the whole Firefly series. I got so hooked, watching the whole thing took maybe a week. And I had my misgivings about Whedon before.

From the trailer it seems that it's a "remake" rather than a continuation of the serie's plot. Judging from the above comments, it doesn't look like that's actually the case, but...

And yes, Jubal Early was one scary, awesome dude.
posted by neckro23 at 8:30 PM on August 10, 2005

benkolb: It's bigger in scope than any one episode, although it's not much different from a Whedon season finale multi-parter. I don't mean that in a bad way, though.

neckro23: It's a continuation.
posted by nev at 8:41 PM on August 10, 2005

I loved the show. And I saw a prescreening of the film, which I also loved. If you haven't seen the show, go get the DVD's or rent them from Netflix. The movie provides a great deal of closure to a show with tons of potential.

At least Farscape got four seasons.
posted by McBain at 8:50 PM on August 10, 2005

Wonderfalls and VR5 are two more that Fox canned that were very promising (IMO). One of the things they tend to do is switch around the time-slot on shows they don't have a tab-a/slot-b marketing demographic for, which screws the show out of decent viewership. They actually did this to the X-Men cartoon when it first aired and subsequently pulled it twice before it went on to be a huge success for them, leading (in part) to the movies being made. With Firefly, Farscape and Family Guy, DVD sales were so impressive that the networks/studios were been convinced to bring the shows back in some form.
posted by YurikoKinje at 11:27 PM on August 10, 2005

I buy things on Amazon all the time, and I'll tell you this, I've never seen anything with better reviews and feedback on the whole site.
posted by benkolb at 1:28 AM on August 11, 2005

I'm reading the op... and I'm thinking, "...yeah... and?" I'm a fan of this show, but I'm wondering why this is meta material.
posted by unrequited at 2:23 AM on August 11, 2005

I saw the prescreening here in DC and let me tell you, it is fucking awesome. I can't wait til it's out, because I'm going to see it again.

P.S. I never go to see a movie twice in the theater, but I'm making an exception.
posted by poppo at 5:16 AM on August 11, 2005

solotoro, me and mine will be where ever there is a midnight showing (assuming there is one). Generally this means we end up at Phipps (as in ALL of the LOTR midnights) or possibly the Purple Monster up 85.
posted by Medieval Maven at 5:18 AM on August 11, 2005

Not a disaster for FUX, because they really didn't care what happened to the show. Their incompetence in airing episodes out of order, switching times, postponing episodes for "special sports events" and other shit are entirely their fault.
My take is that the brass at FUX had it in for Joss Whedon. Why, I don't know -- maybe had something to do with Whedon's desire to bail on further projects for FUX. It's hard to say. But the bosses wanted him to fail.
Bad for them, Whedon still came through with Firefly. Even with one arm tied behind his back and a bloody nose.
Whoo-hoo! Firefly!
posted by mooncrow at 7:10 AM on August 11, 2005

I went to a pre-screening, and a friend observed that he hadn't been in a room with that many geeks since his senior year at Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute. And it was true.

The movie was...okay. One of those experiences that sours with time, for me, but enjoyable while there.

I've got two reviews (with and without spoilers) online but am not sure of the MeFi policies for posting such things...
posted by DarbyMac at 7:54 AM on August 11, 2005

I've got to say "thanks" to MeFi for pointing out Serenity a few months back. I never caught Firefly, so I rented the series on DVD and was really blown away.

Looking forward to the big screen event.
posted by aether1 at 8:21 AM on August 11, 2005

zoogleplex: Morena Baccarin isn't even the most beautiful woman on the ship. IMO. (I named my cat Kaylee.) Though I will admit the toning down of her makeup in the movie from what she wore in the show did make her much more alluring....

Asparagirl: I've seen the movie and they don't waste^H^H^H^H^Hspend a lot of time on exposition. Highly recommend watching the series on DVD if you have access to it prior to seeing the film.
posted by mike9322 at 9:49 AM on August 11, 2005

zoogleplex: Morena Baccarin isn't even the most beautiful woman on the ship. IMO. (I named my cat Kaylee.)

Sorry, you're all wrong.

Saffron.
posted by quantumetric at 11:02 AM on August 11, 2005

I think we can all agree to disagree on who's the most beautiful. It's a matter of taste, after all, and my taste simply falls toward petite exotic brunettes with huge eyes you could drown in. :)
posted by zoogleplex at 11:09 AM on August 11, 2005

Sci-Fi is my favorite genre to read/watch. The first trailer for Serenity was my first exposure to the whole story.

My first impression from the trailer was "this looks like some kind of cookie-cutter dark gen-x sci-fi like Battlefield Earth". This idea was probably catalysed by the fact that it was billed as by the same guy who made "Buffy" and "Angel" -- both series had no appeal to me, and I had never heard of this Joss person before.

I didn't plan to watch the movie -- "well, maybe when it comes out on TV, I might DVR it".

Then one Friday evening after work, I got home and was a bit bored and couldn't remember what time SG-1 came on, so I turned on the TV early.

I was about an hour and five minutes early for SG-1.

I'm *so* glad I was!

I now own the DVDs, and have been advocating this series and movie to everyone I meet.

I don't know how long I would have gone without knowing about this great series if it weren't for the Sci-Fi channel.

BTW, I think perhaps the saddest thing I've seen in a while in any series or movie was when I watched the DVD extras and discovered how the funeral scene in "The Message" was just as much a funeral for the series as for the character in that episode. That was the last episode they filmed, they knew it was cancelled when they filmed it, and the funeral was the last scene in the episode.

PS: Kaylee easily redlines the cute-o-meter =)
posted by joquarky at 5:14 PM on August 11, 2005

It really says something about Whedon and his open stance on the future of prostitutes. I mean, hookers, in this are more important than most. It's very interesting
posted by benkolb at 8:23 PM on August 11, 2005

It's just a reflection on the past -- courtesan
posted by joquarky at 7:20 AM on August 12, 2005