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I've come to respect your opinion on many things. I've found that we often think along the same lines and have simlilar opinions on many matters. So when I saw your review of Serenity, http://www.hatrack.com/osc/reviews/everything/2005-09-30-extra.shtml, I was excited. I knew I could get an informed answer I could respect.
Seeing the paragraph "For those of you who love the TV series", I eagerly awaited the paragraph saying "If you HAVEN'T seen the FireFly series...", but it never came.
Uncle Orson, what do I do? I've seen perhaps 15 minutes of the FireFly series. Do I wait, save my money, and watch the whole series (and then the movie) on DVD (& in the order the writer intended) or do I see the movie while it is still in the theaters without having an knowledge of the FireFly series...
Signed,
Confused in Akron Posts: 9 | Registered: Oct 2005
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I say see the movie. I'd never watched a bit of Firefly and Serenity is now one of my top 5 movies. I'm sure seeing the series would add to it, but its a freakin awesome movie even if you haven't
Posts: 2827 | Registered: Jul 2005
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How could he address that? Maybe professional "reviewers" like Ebert will pretend to be able to read minds, but I assume OSC has more self respect than that.
From what I've heard, previewers who hadn't watched Firefly also loved Serenity. But I couldn't even guess what that's like.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I have to admit a certain blindness on the subject.
For me, two works of art, even if done by the same artist, can treat the same subject matter and take different perspectives on it. And I don't have any problem with that.
I also don't have any problem with knowing details of the plot ahead of time. How are you supposed to enjoy the great literature of the world or study it's history if knowing the outcome can spoil it for you? So I'm bad about spoilers. I have trouble identifying which particular details of a plot will be spoilers. I've always felt that if a work of art is any good, the more you study it the more you like it.
Posts: 763 | Registered: Aug 1999
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quote:If you've seen Firefly then you don't need me to tell you a thing -- you're probably already in the theater.
I think he was saying that everything else in the review was directed to people who haven't seen Firefly because people who've seen it wouldn't need OSC to sell them on it.
Posts: 75 | Registered: Nov 2001
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See the movie. It is one of the best sci-fi films ever made, period, and at worst you will find yourself compelled to watch the series later.Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Get the DVDs of the show and see them first. There is too much you won't get otherwise. There isn't a lot of characterization here; the assumption is that you already know the characters.
Posts: 289 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by starLisa: How could he address that?From what I've heard, previewers who hadn't watched Firefly also loved Serenity. But I couldn't even guess what that's like.
But Lisa I think people that have seen both are the MOST qualified to answer this question. Plus the person I asked is an EXPERT at nuances of revealing character motivation. In fact, this topic has an almost direct corrolation to the reading of the Game and Shadow series(es). Which of those would you read first? Reading enders shadow first would give an interesting perspective! (Another question would be what is the correct order in which to read The Chronicles of Narnia but that's perhaps too far off topic)
And here, this is exactly what I was worried about:
quote:Originally posted by Goo Boy: Get the DVDs of the show and see them first. There is too much you won't get otherwise. There isn't a lot of characterization here; the assumption is that you already know the characters.
"the assumption is that you already know the characters" Exactly what I was scared of. Plus I don't want to see the movie and RUIN the series. From everyone's reviews I know that watching the series first and then the movie doesn't ruin the movie. But will seing it the other way spoil the series?
Unlike the poster named Survivor, I am HORRIBLE about spoilers. I want thing revealed as the author intended. I HATE blurbs. I almost never read dust jackets. Someone mention disfigurement in a river of lava, and that was the ONLY thing I'd heard about one particular epic movie recently released even though I first saw it two months after it openned, (that was hard to do and involved much humming and quick channel changes) but I still spent the whole movie waiting for the river. I was wrong about who got disfigured anyway but still it distracted me and kept me in myself out of the characters in the movie.
One of the things I liked best about some of OSCs prefaces is that he tells you when you should stop reading them and move onto the story. Still for almost every one of his books, and I spent 1998 reading every single one he'd published to that point, I read the prefaces LAST.
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: See the movie. It is one of the best sci-fi films ever made, period, and at worst you will find yourself compelled to watch the series later.
From Card's review and Tom & Dr Strangelove's endorsements it sounds like the movie really can stand on its own.
At this point, I am leaning toward seeing the movie if the chance arises. With 4 kids under 9, you don't see many movies. So, I think I am not going to make a point to see it in the theaters, but if a miracle happens and my wife and I go on a date, it seems like this would be a good choice.
Any further thoughts?
- A six year lurker... (I think I actually have a member account in the 3 digit range on an email account I no longer have from back in 1999.)
Posts: 9 | Registered: Oct 2005
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I would see the movie now. Simply because Chris Bridges' Serenity tallies depress me, and if you enjoy it, you'll tell your friends, and the movie will make more money. Unfortunatly that's the only way things get respect these days. If you can get your hands on an episode or so before you go, watch it.
In the spoiler forum, people have posted some dissapointments (the movie is not as perfect OSC says, but still more than worthy of your time) with the impressions the movie gives newbies of certain characters in the time allotted. I will rectify them:
Simon (River's brother) is a competant doctor and a surgeon. Mal (the captain of the ship) is not as big a jerk as the movie makes him seem.
Posts: 1757 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Everyone I've talked to who hadn't seen the series and saw Serenity first loved it. Period. No problem getting what was going on.
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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Though I know a certain person that is adjusting her perception of a certain character that she thought was some kind of nun, given her portrayal in the movie Posts: 763 | Registered: Aug 1999
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Thanks everyone... I'll go see it. I truly appreciate the input. I was definitely going to skip this movie till I read about it here. I must say the commercials I've seen don't seem to do it justice.
<OT> BTW the "Use your ticket to influence producers" strategy is almost the ONLY reason I see movies on opening weekend anymore. We have some wonderful "cheap" theaters around here. Including an old (huge) single theater building that has been updated to the best sound. So, I'd rather pay $1.50 and see a movie in a better atmosphere, even if I have to wait, than pay $8.50 to see it in a cramped, small screen multiplex theater.
But sometimes a movie is worth your support in the normal theater. I last used my opening weekend vote for HGTG. Batman Begins got a normal theater vote too. </OT>
Anyway Thanks again! And especially to you Mr. Card. I'm honored by your reply.
Posts: 9 | Registered: Oct 2005
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quote:I just want him to see it now, in the theatre while he can still help get a sequel made!
I can totally respect this.
I sat with someone who had never seen the series. I did my best to prep her, and I leaned over frequently and explained stuff. But the bits of misinormation I hear online from reviewers not familiar with the show demonstrate how much you miss by not already knowing the characters and situations.
But it is an excellent movie, in terms of how much story it crams in, and in the further struggles of characters I came to love in a phenomenally short period of time.
The answer, clearly, is to see the movie, watch the DVDs, and see the movie again. Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Hey, I didn't say she was a nun. I said she was praying to Buddha in a place that you had to be a mysterious agent of the government or dressed like a woman to get into. There was indication that she had hung out with the space pirates previously.
I'm glad the movie went more with noble pirate and less with Western. Mal doesn't seem like more of a jerk in the movie than on the show, IMO. Who was the other one? Oh, Simon. Giving up a promising career doesn't mean you aren't a good doctor. Hollywood would have us believe the two are pretty much mutually exclusive. Anyway, both are hot. Everyone's hot. There are probably other qualities to the show, but the hotness is pretty hard to get past.
P.S. Just because some online reviewers are morons (the reavers kill people and eat them, Wash and Zoe are secretly married) doesn't mean you can't follow the movie. So I didn't know Inarra was... Inarra. I knew she digs Mal but for some personal reason couldn't do anything about it. Telling people they won't understand the movie without you translating it for them, they might feel disappointed not to be dependent on your insights. Or they may not have wanted to like it as much as I did.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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BTW I spent $1 to see War of the Worlds last night. Totally worth it. Though I was ready for it to really get into the meat of the movie when it ended. I'm waiting for the alternate ending on the DVD or the cable series that really gets into the meat of the war. LOL
Posts: 9 | Registered: Oct 2005
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Did someone mention Narnia? In my opinion just skip the magicians nephew and go back and read it some other time. Reading it first somehow diminshes the granduer of the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe.
P.S. Can't wait untill the movie. Hope they do it well.
Posts: 832 | Registered: Jan 2005
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Lion, Witch, Wardrobe Prince Caspian Voyage of Dawn Treader Silver Chair Horse and his boy Magician's Nephew Last Battle
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I've chosen to watch the series first, and although I haven't finished it I 've already developed a love for the characters and the plotline that will make my movie-going experience THAT much more extreme.
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I read Magician's Newphew first. Sucked me straight into the story.
Didn't feel that way two years earlier when I couldn't get past page two of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Posts: 1757 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Exactly what I was scared of. Plus I don't want to see the movie and RUIN the series. From everyone's reviews I know that watching the series first and then the movie doesn't ruin the movie. But will seing it the other way spoil the series?![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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