Saw it this weekend. Oh good lord. Joss Whedon is even more so my master now.

For the first half, it seemed to be just an extended episode. Which I was happy with and it was done well. But from the point of them landing on Haven after it had been destroyed, it just kicked off! And although Whedon is a big fan of the "little girl, big weapons" style of action, I don't think that it was tired. When River set in on those reavers, I had to control myself from going "Yes!" very loudly in the cinema.

Didn't manage that control when Wash died though. Very audible gasp from me. He was the right choice to kill off though. He is my favourite character and I am gutted that he is now out of any sequels, but he was the gentle one who didn't want any violence. Killing him made the most impact. And yes, yes, I cried.... like a tiny little girl.

I have never had the urge to go back and see a film at the cinema twice, but I think I will be seeing this again. Brilliant piece of cinema from a man who loves his classic sci-fi, and it shows.

Gosh, Ellie might just explode with excitement after all these reviews. As of last night, I only have two more episodes to see and I'm all caught up. We plan to see it on Friday if not sooner!

It becomes darker and much more involving as the series moves on - episodes like 'War Stories' and 'Out Of Gas' being particularly strong. The humour - something I grew to dislike intensely in Buffy - is perfectly pitched, and balances the drama, making you care for the characters even more.

I don't know if it does play out over the end credits of the film or not but the Ballard of Serenity doesn't feature on the OST.

I stayed in the cinema for a while and didn't hear it, but it could have started after I left (which was well before the credits stopped rolling).

My guess would be that it isn't there as I suspect Fox own it.

There's an instrumental version right, right at the end of the credits. It's the last music to play.

Cool! Pity they didn't put it on the album!

Finally finished watching the series last night. I particularly enjoyed 'Objects in Space', featuring the extremely bizarre and brilliant bounty hunter Jubal Early. 'Heart of Gold' was also good, and the most 'Western' of all the episodes.

I'm so annoyed and frustrated at Fox for being such prize idiots and cancelling the show - not even after a whole season. It's without doubt the best science fiction series of the last 5 years - which, despite not being a glowing recommendation considering the competition, is quite a bold statement for something only 14 episodes long.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to the movie - I've not heard anything bad about it from anyone - and who knows? maybe a movie trilogy will make up for the loss of the series.

He has got to be the best incidental character in the whole show. I haven't seen that episode in a while but i remember something about him confusing 'alliance' with 'a lion' and rambling on about roaring or something. Genius.

I thought at first that the guy in the trailers for the film may be Jubal Early's character, especially as he is fairly well spoken, but sadly not.

Oh and i think that Book used to be an operative, like the bad guy in the movie, because of when he tells Mal that he 'doesn't know whats he's in for', or something like that. He certainly must have some military past, based on what he knows and how he handles a weapon in the episode where they have to rescue Mal.

But i guess we'll never know now

Not going to use 'quote' there's Jubes, to save spoiler sorrow, but the thing about the alliance/lion is great:

Simon: Are you Alliance?
Jubal Early: Am I a lion?
Simon: What?
Jubal Early: I don't think of myself as a lion. You might as well though, I have a mighty roar.
Simon: I said "Alliance"
Jubal Early: Oh, I thought...
Simon: No, I was...
Jubal Early: That's weird.




Ooh - Jewel Staite was in The X-Files!

You're a stronger man than i am, so glad i saw it on thursday and couldn't spoil it for myself

Jewel is a fox, for sure!

She is also in Wonderfalls. *random fact*

The ep with Earley in it was one of my favourites. And I was also disappointed when it turned out not to be him in Serenity.

I got confused about that as well, it would have been cool to see him come back, but it might be stretching it to explain how exactly he was able to be picked up. Still a very cool character.

Only 5 hours, 7 minutes to go...then I can finally read the spoiler tags! Must keep resisting...

He could easily have a homing device or remote control for his ship. I know I do.

Yeah, if it hadn't all ended he'd of shown his face again, sort of recurring nemesis i imagine...

There's clearly something about Book and the Alliance/military that we don't know - I think that, if there are more movies or another series, they will delve into his past more. Just because he's gone doesn't mean he's forgotten!
Jessop - you will love the film.

Looks like I will, widow. Had to stop myself watching clips from the movie today.

My Mum loooooooved it, but she's a big fan of the show. Dad's only seen the pilot and he loved it too (which considering his ambivalence to Star Wars and the like it quite a feat).

So far I haven't heard a bad word.

Prequels, originals or the whole shebang?

The whole shebang. He was a real SF nerd as a kid, but mainly books; Asimov, fifties pulp, all sorts really. He's more 2001 than Star Wars I think.

Speaking of Star Wars, I remember thinking during the big space battle how much more exciting it was than the similar one at the beginning of Return of the Sith. And on a tiny fraction of the budget, I'll bet.

Why's that a spoiler?

Well, I thought the way the scenes progress and end is similar enough that drawing attention to the similarity would be a minor spoiler.

Stick that Austin!

I've just bought a ridiculously large advertising banner for the film from a friend who works at a cinema. I think it's about ten feet long.

God only knows where I'm going to hang it.

On a ten foot long wall?

Mmmkay, so remember when gulfcoast_highwayman posted this link with the massive, shexy photos of the Serenity women? And I complained about there being no such pretties of the men?

I take it all back.

*keels over* *is dead*

Honestly now, I have to go to work!! How is that going to be productive?!?!! Damnit!




Thank you!

It's Austen. Sorry. Pedantic. Had to study her books for a year and it has made quite an impact on me.

Saw the film last night and I absolutely loved it, there's a fairly longish review of it in 'Last Film I Saw' so I won't get into that all again but needless to say it was what I, as a fan, had been waiting for. It was so good to see the characters again and to see them bantering and progressing etc. I also though the plotting of it was top-notch Wash dying was a tremendous shock to me but I could see the justification of it and thought that it was absolutely masterful of Whedon to do it. Still, Hoban? I also thought the slight ambiguity about Book's death was cool too, I knew when Mal walked away from him that he must have died, but the way Simon went to help him kept a small kernel of hope in my heart for about 10 minutes until Jyane's line ''Shepherd Book used to say''

I also thought it was quite interesting how the film as a whole seemed to pay homage to loads of different films in some scenes, I won't list them since it will give some things away, but it was clearly from the visual and plot references that the man knows his sci-fi.

Anyway, I loved it. And I am very happy that it is top of the box office, it's just so deserving of the success. Roll on the sequel!

The BBFC site has deleted scenes posted that may point to what we can expect to see on the Serenity DVD.

00:00:21:21 (EXTENDED LILAC ENTRANCE)
00:01:05:20 (EXTENDED KAYLEE AND JAYNE)
00:02:18:20 (INARA AND SHEYDRA)
00:02:12:15 (OPERATIVE TRACKS MAL)
00:02:22:05 (EXTENDED RIVER AND SIMON/HAVEN OPENING)
00:01:27:16 (ESCAPE FROM COMPANION TRAINING HOUSE)
00:00:13:17 (MAL AND INARA SHUTTLE CHASE)
00:02:16:04 (MAL AND INARA QUIET MOMENT)
00:01:06:20 (EXTENDED MAL AND OPERATIVE CODA)


Wow, Morena did have quite a bit of her scenes wind up on the edit floor...

Not on the books I've got!

*hurriedly crosses out all the "e"s and replaces them with "i"s*

Nurh!

Firefly topping sales chart at Amazon in the US:

Amazon.com Top Sellers

Okay, it's slipped to Number 2, now, but still..... eee!

Eeee! Stick that you tv exectutivey-decidey-what's-on-the-telly-in-America-people*. You were wrong!

*Maybe I shouldn't be the head spokesperson for bringing back Firefly....

I'd vote for you!

I re-watched the whole series in preparation for the film (I only got up to 'The Message' before seeing Serenity but I've since watched the rest) and it's so cool on the extras on the documentary where one of the producers (I think) says ''I hope that they make a feature (happened), and that it's a success (happening) and that someone comes up to Joss and says 'Why don't we make a series out of Firefly? (YES! I hope that happens)''

Good to see that the current trend of DVDs undoing all the hard work of humourless, imagination-free executives is still going strong.

I was also very impressed to see that they had rebuilt the Serenity set so accurately, it must have been awful for Joss and everyone to have that wonderful set destroyed when the show was cancelled.

Which Serenity character are you?

http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=79387

I'm Zoe apparently. An amazonian goddess who knows how to handle a weapon. Hmmmm......

You scored as Hoban 'Wash' Washburne.

The Pilot. You are a leaf on the wind, see how you soar. You have a good job, and a stunning wife who loves you (and can kill people). Life is good, which is why you can't help smiling. Now if you can just get people to actually listen to your opinion things would be perfect.

Whole lot of Kaylee in there. Shiny!

You scored as Kaylee Frye.

The Mechanic. You are a natural mechanic, and you are far too sweet and cheerful to live out here. How you can see the good in everyone around you boggles the mind occationally. Still you don't seem to be any crazier than that, and it is a nice kinda crazy.

Kaylee Frye 69%
Hoban 'Wash' Washburne 63%
Simon Tam 63%
River Tam 56%
Zoe Alleyne Washburne 56%
Capt. Mal Reynolds 50%
Inara Serra 38%
Shepherd Derrial Book 38%
Jayne Cobb 38%
The Operative 38%

You scored as Capt. Mal Reynolds.

The Captain. You are the captain of the ship, so the crew are your responsibility. You just want to do the job, get paid and keep flying. Why is that always so hard?

'nuther Kaylee here. Damn, I really wanted to be Zoe.

I had the Operative in second, though. WTF?!

Is it wrong that I pretty much hate Kaylee? She's just so gorram twee.

I ruddy love the rest of the show, though. I feel guilty for thinking "A western? In space? Joss, what are you thinking?" when I first heard of it.

Yes, it is pretty much wrong. In fact it's VERY wrong!

Twee she may appear but underneath she's a raving sex machine. The line about battery powered in the BDM creased me up. Like Jayne, I could have stood to hear more about it.

I'm the real Zoe.

I hate it when other people have my name.

I must admit, my view of her changed slightly after the flashbacks in Out of Gas. Dirty!

You scored as River Tam.

The Fugitive. You are clever and dangerous, which is a nasty combination. The fact you are crazy too just adds to your charm. They did bad things to you, but you know their secrets. They will regret how they made you.

Um, okay ...I'm quite pleased with that, certainly explains my constant urges to beat up whole rooms full of people...it was a close run thing though. I was tempted to say ''Dinosaurs are cool'', then I'd be Wash. Still happy with the result.

Hoban Washbourne
75%
Simon Tam
75%
River Tam
75%
Zoe Alleyne Washburne
69%
Capt. Mal Reynolds
56%
Inara Serra
56%
Shepherd Derrial Book
56%
The Operative
50%
Kaylee Frye
44%
Jayne Cobb
38%

Same here . . .

You scored as Kaylee Frye.

The Mechanic. You are a natural mechanic, and you are far too sweet and cheerful to live out here. How you can see the good in everyone around you boggles the mind occationally. Still you don't seem to be any crazier than that, and it is a nice kinda crazy.

Kaylee Frye 75%
The Operative 69%
Inara Serra 69%
Hoban 'Wash' Washburne 63%
River Tam 56%
Shepherd Derrial Book 56%
Capt. Mal Reynolds 50%
Zoe Alleyne Washburne 44%
Simon Tam 38%
Jayne Cobb 13%

If anyone want's me I'll be in the engine room looking for batteries . . .

The moment where she earned her stripes. I'm also fond of any time she snaps back at Simon when he says something stupid, unintentional or not. Poor little pretty-boy geek.

Simon: "This may come as a shock, but I'm not that good at talking to girls."
Zoe: "Why, is there someone you ARE good at talking to?"

Have we said it's cracked it's way into the IMDB's top 250 with a whopping 8.5 average?

It's sitting at #126 between 'Duck Soup' and 'Cool Hand Luke'. Not a bad place to be!

I was always favourably inclined towards Kaylee. but the thing that really sold her as a character to me was her conversation with Wash in 'Heart Of Gold'

K: Wash, tell me I'm pretty.
W: If I were unwed I would take you in a manly fashion.
K: Cos I'm pretty?
W: Cos you're pretty.

She's just so insecure and sweet and really sells it, whilst also being quite the sex kitten.

Pfft insecurity isn't sexy, and anyway that's not genuine insecurity that's what's called 'fishing for a compliment' - I should know!

You are Simon Tam

The Doctor. You have a gift for healing that goes beyond education. You took an oath to do no harm, even when your patients have tried to kill you. You are out of place where you are, being used to refined society. However, if you take that stick out of your arse you should be fine.

Simon Tam 63%

Hoban 'Wash' Washburne 63%

Kaylee Frye 56%

River Tam 50%

Capt. Mal Reynolds 50%

Jayne Cobb 44%

Zoe Alleyne Washburne 44%

The Operative 31%

Inara Serra 25%

Shepherd Derrial Book 25%

I had to choose between the statements 'You would do anything for your family' and 'Dinosaurs are cool'. Should have picked the dinosaurs.

You scored as Inara Serra, The Courtesan. You have a job that brings comfort to people and eases their burdens. It took years of training and dedication to perfect. So why do people keep calling you a whore? You tried to get away from those people, but something keeps bringing you back.

Followed by Zoe (81%) and Wash (75%)