Product Description: Universal Serenity - HD-DVD Beloved television cult director Joss Whedon (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL) makes a spectacular first foray onto the big screen with SERENITY, the cinematic adaptation of his wildly popular but short-lived sci-fi series, FIREFLY. A mix of space western, comedy, and drama, SERENITY follows captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and his ragtag crew as they trade their way around the edges of civilized society. Of particular interest are two passengers they take on,Simon and River Tam (Sean Maher, Summer Glau), a brother and his telepathic sister on the run from the corrupt governing Alliance. As notorious former members of the anti-Alliance opposition, Mal andhis crew make it difficult for Simon and River tostay hidden. Everything goes completely awry whena government assassin is sent to retrieve River. As Mal is forced to choose between his close-knit crew and the brother and sister newcomers, it becomes apparent that River harbors both a dangerous secret and astounding fighting powers, and Mal decides that discovering the truth about what she knows might just be worth his time.
Amazon.com: Serenity offers perfect proof that Firefly deserved a better fate than premature TV cancellation. Joss Whedon's acclaimed sci-fi Western hybrid series was ideally suited (in Browncoats, of course) for a big-screen conversion, and this action-packed adventure allows Whedon to fill in the Firefly backstory, especially the history and mystery of the spaceship Serenity's volatile and traumatized stowaway, River Tam (Summer Glau). Her lethal skills as a programmed "weapon" makes her a coveted prize for the power-hungry planetary Alliance, represented here by an Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who'll stop at nothing to retrieve River from Serenity's protective crew. We still get all the quip-filled dialogue and ass-kicking action that we've come to expect from the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Whedon goes a talented step further here, blessing his established ensemble cast with a more fully-developed dynamic of endearing relationships. Serenity's cast is led with well-balanced depth and humor by Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds, whose maverick spirit is matched by his devotion to crewmates Wash (Alan Tudyk), Zoe (Gina Torres), fun-loving fighter Jayne (Adam Baldwin), engineer Kaylee (Jewel Staite), doctor Simon (Sean Maher), and Mal's former flame Inara (Morena Baccarin), who plays a pivotal role in Whedon's briskly-paced plot. As many critics agreed, Serenity offered all the fun and breezy excitement that was missing from George Lucas's latter-day Star Wars epics, and Whedon leaves an opening for a continuing franchise that never feels cheap or commercially opportunistic. With the mega-corporate mysteries of Blue Sun yet to be explored, it's a safe bet we haven't seen the last of the good ship Serenity. --Jeff Shannon
Love it! Love it love it love it. Glad to finally add it to the collection.
Firefly fans only The decision on this movie is simple. If you are a fan of the Firefly TV series, you must see this movie. It brings to conclusion several (but not all) of the long-term sub-plots introduced in the series. If you are not a fan, this movie is just so-so because you won't understand why certain events and interactions are significant without knowing the character development of past episodes.
If you have never seen the Firefly series, consider getting into it. It's that good. For just under $20 I bought the entire series as a collector set from Amazon in late June, 2008. On four DVDs it's the entire single season that aired and was tragically cancelled before anyone knew it had begun. The Firefly series and its conclusion movie Serenity are a wonderful combination of the action-packed sci-fi/space and western genres - all presented with witty conversations, wonderful characters, and hilarious situations that have viewers literally laughing out loud again and again.
To better understand this recommendation, pick a favorite TV series with funny characters. For illustration, I'll pick Everybody Loves Raymond. Now imagine the charcters buy the space ship equivalent of a yacht and travel together to remote planets so early in their settlement they resemble western frontier territories. Even if the plot, special effects, and action made a first-rate movie, it's the funny characters playing it out that would make this hypothetical movie tremendously entertaining. Using my example: when Marie and Debra Barrone argue about cooking in the ship's galley, and then Raymond gets a larger slice of pie than Robert, it's a lot funnier if you already know those characters from the TV series.
The Serenity movie is similar to the example above. It's OK in its own right, but tons better if you know the characters from the Firefly series. It's a little worse in the case of Serentiy because the setting requires some Firefly background to make sense. A Star Trek movie wouldn't make complete sense if you hadn't watched the series enough to understand that Klingons are always war-like, Romulans routinely use cloaking devices, and the Federation is guided by the Prime Directive. Firefly similarly creates a universe setting with its own "rules", and the Serenity movie just can't take the time to explain it all again.
In conclusion: 1. If you've watched Firefly, buy the Serenity movie. 2. If you haven't watched Firefly, buy the Firefly series and then watch the Serenity movie. You'll be glad you did, on both counts. 3. If you haven't watched Firefly and won't follow #2 above, then don't buy the Serenity movie.
Superior Excellent Sci-Fi Movie!
I can recommend this one very, very much! One of the best Sci-Fi Movies, I have ever seen!
The series "Firefly" is as good. All 14 episodes are very good! But unfortunately the series is not in Dolby Digital 5.1, just Dolby Surround.
Other very good Sci-Fi movies, which I can recommend are (for example):
Aeonflux Alien (Quadrilogy) Aliens vs. Predator Requiem (unrated) Battlestar Galactica (Almost every episode is good) Battlestar Galactica Razor (Unrated Extended Edition) Bladerunner - Final Cut Doom Species Starship Troopers
Kind regards,
Mark-Stephan Wendt
An Amazing Film This film is pretty much perfect, it acts as a stellar conclusion to Firefly. I want more Firefly, but if this is the true end, then I have no qualms.
Another Soap Opera Masquerading As Sci-Fi If you like Stargate Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, and other soap operas masquerading as Sci-Fi, then you'll like this movie. If however, you like REAL Sci-Fi (Alien, 2001, War of The Worlds, Predator, The Time Machine, etc.) where the focus is on the story and the action involving monsters/aliens and not on a bunch of "emo" crap, then you WILL be disappointed. I hope that "sensitive" types go back to the drama arena where they belong and stop polluting the SciFi arena with this kind of crap.
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