posted
I just saw the movie, I brought a friend and my mom and my mom's friend.
My mom's friend who never saw scifi before, thus never saw firefly before, so at the end of the movie she remarks "When is Serenity 2 coming out?"
Frankly if a movie is good enough to warrant a sequel from someone who isnt a scifi fan I think Joss did good.
Nothing bothered me in the show, I see whatever explanations I see and accept them. "the suspension of disbelief" is something YOUR SUPPOSED TO HAVE when watching a movie and I'm surprised so many of you missed key pieces of dialogue which would've answered many of your questions.
And finally the movie was at 7:10 PM and the theatre was FULL I had to leave my mom and her friend at different part of the theatre to see the movie from the mathamatical middle to watch it with my friend.
All of us including the audience laughed at the same parts, cried at the same parts, were stunned at the same parts. The movie was an amazing experiance for all.
However I never ever want a sequel, that would only allow the franchise to try to miss another bullet in a game of Iraqi Roulette. But what I do want, is a new SEASON of Firefly, because consider that with a recent increase in sales of DVD's for firefly, a demand for a sales of Serentity DVD's and all the profits accosiated I think, I HOPE that if Firefly gets a second season they'll get a third season, and a fourth, and ending with a fith before it goes stale.
If there are more Firefly movies i only want them in conjunction with Firefly to add filler to the back story like with Crusades with Bab5, and the other movies.
The death of Wash and book pained me but they're understandable, though heres a convo with a fello firefly fan:
Me- "Wash dies WHY!" Dano- "Becuase the show died and they don't care" Me- "I heard that if it makes 80 mil they make a new season." Dano- "Then they'll bring him back to life! Anythings possible"
The western feel was amazing, everything was done perfectly, the action was fast but not rushed (imo), parts of the movie where I epxected long drawn out solutions to problems were solved almost immediatly through the cleverness in Mal and his crew, esp with the rescue of Inara with the beacon and the decoys was esp brilliant to me.
And for the love of mike stop nitpicking the movie!
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This thread is for nitpicking. If you don't like the nitpicking, you don't have to read it. For those of us that have seen the movie more than 5 times, nitpicking is FUN, as is discussion with smart people about what we've seen, what we like, and what we didn't like.
I'm glad you like the movie. Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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OK Nitpikers, assume that everything in the movie would have been one great big seasonal arc on the TV series. Where would the individual shows be?
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I think it could've just been a really good two-hour episode. With no commercial breaks. Oh yeah.
Posts: 853 | Registered: Feb 2004
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quote: I told one of my profs last week that if he saw one movie between now and Narnia (he hates movies and thinks they all mostly suck, but sees them occasionally) that he should see Serenity. To which he responded "is it one of those sci fi shows about a family in space like Farscape?"
I'd consider it a compliment. Serenity, Farscape, Sopranos, and West Wing all have that family in space atmosphere.
Battlestar Galactica doesn't. Babylon Five didn't. Both fine shows, in their own right with their own moments, but that "family in space" feel is what makes everything so much more powerful than mere lone adventurer stories.
Posts: 5600 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Um, not really. It had a compatriot feel, but there was no indication that they were anything but a group of people who had been thrown together and given a choice to change the world, or to sit back and let it go in the direction it headed.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Oh gaw, I just saw this again in a group. With two people who utterly hated it and made comments through the whole movie. Now I'm finally realizing how corny some of it is.
I hate it when that happens.
Posts: 1735 | Registered: Oct 2004
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quote:Um, not really. It had a compatriot feel, but there was no indication that they were anything but a group of people who had been thrown together and given a choice to change the world, or to sit back and let it go in the direction it headed.
I agree. They were all allies. They really weren't vulnerable to each other, in fact, they were kind of closed to each other. Both Bab5 and Battlestar Galactica are stories concerning career soldiers enjoying professional relationships in serious times.There are a lot of uniforms and saluting by dispassionate stoics, but given their situation, it's competely appropriate.
The dynamic on the other shows I named is a little bit looser. The characters aren't constrained by as many rules and protocol and manners, and in general, and that freedom lets their loving character come through, as well as making the problems flowing from this looser dynamic more vivid.
Posts: 5600 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Joldo -- It's not corny, you know. Everyone has different tastes. Your friends are just rude enough not to keep their mouth shut during a movie and let other people enjoy it even if they're not. Don't let them ruin it for you. Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Corny might not be the right word. We do have to make sci fi allowances and ignore things like "We can't broadwave this video from the ship" etc. But it's definitely NOT corny. Eljay's right.
Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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I personally thought SERENITY was excellent. Not quite as excellent as a full season of FIREFLY, but good enough that it deserves some sort of continuation. I'll leave the medium it graces to Joss. Be it another film or a return to the small screen, I'll be there.
You can't take the sky from me.
Posts: 43 | Registered: Oct 2005
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Narnia, it occurred to me why they couldn't broadwave the video from the ship upon my second viewing -- because it bugged me enormously the first time through. There's a throwaway line in which Mal mentions that the recording's so old that they don't have the equipment to play it back on board -- and indeed, we never DO see them play it on board. That said, it's probably fair to ask why they didn't just take the player from the shuttlecraft, but maybe it didn't occur to them. *laugh*
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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It seems that Joss Whedon's strengths aren't logicality and consistency. The problems weren't big enough to ruin my enjoyment, though.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Good catch Tom. It didn't bother me very much, but it is something I noticed. So now I can explain it away as "They were just too stressed out to take the player." Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: Narnia, it occurred to me why they couldn't broadwave the video from the ship upon my second viewing -- because it bugged me enormously the first time through. There's a throwaway line in which Mal mentions that the recording's so old that they don't have the equipment to play it back on board -- and indeed, we never DO see them play it on board. That said, it's probably fair to ask why they didn't just take the player from the shuttlecraft, but maybe it didn't occur to them. *laugh*
Or perhaps they realized The Operative was chasing them down and they wouldn't have the time to dismantle the equipment built into a ship's systems and move it to Serenity. Not to mention the fact that none of their crew is necessarily able to do that. Kaylee knows a ton about engines, but that doesn't mean she knows Alliance technology or ship construction, or how to take such things from one ship and hotwire them into her own.
Posts: 43 | Registered: Oct 2005
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I'm happy that nitpick isn't valid! Sure, they couldn't read data off of it and didn't have time to figure out how to transfer the reader.
So here's my nitpick: why didn't Mal take Kaylee with him to broadcast the signal? From War Stories, she's worse than useless in a fight and he's got no problem with that. So why leave her to face the Reavers when he's about to face what he expects to be a purely technological challenge?
Posts: 535 | Registered: Sep 2000
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'Cause he knew how to use the system that activates the message, so why should he need someone to help him with it? I mean, as far as he knows, Mr. Universe is still alive when he headed downstairs. In his estimation, he could hand the thing off to Mr. Universe and get it broadcast using his equipment, then sprint back up and help his crew out with the Reavers. He didn't know Universe was dead till he went down the elevator.
As for Kaylee: She might not be good in a fight but she might be able to hand the rest of the crew guns when they run out of ammo or reload weapons for them. Gunners aren't on their own in firefights generally speaking; they have support people there to help keep them firing away.
Posts: 43 | Registered: Oct 2005
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besides, from what they knew about Mr. Univers, anything female might have been a distraction.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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" Narnia, it occurred to me why they couldn't broadwave the video from the ship upon my second viewing --"
My no-prize explanation is that a broadcast from Serenity would be pretty much treated as spam by the rest of the galaxy. Mr. Universe probably has the ability to hack into trusted newsfeeds and popular underground news sources. Kind of like a future Wired.com type of deal.
Posts: 4116 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Sure, but they could have sent it to Mr. Universe over Serenity's communications system, and have him relay it to the rest of the world.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I'm willing to accept the idea that the rescue shuttle didn't have broadcast capability and Serenity didn't have the right hookups to access the disk.
Oh, and I'm willing to bet that Mal expected trouble when he went to Mr. Universe's place. After all, there was an entire Alliance fleet in orbit of the planet. I'm sure he suspected that Mr. Universe might be dead or a hostage. I bet he even realized that the equipment might be destroyed, though he was probably hoping it wasn't.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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This didn't bother me in the least. The holo was just that. Ever seen any holographic transmission in Serenity? Any little fuzzy green people hovering over the control panel?
I assumed the holo was too informationally dense for the Serenity's basic systems to transmit, even to Mr. Universe.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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It didn't bother me either, but rather than saying "we can't broadwave this," perhaps Mal should have said "we can't transmit this, so we'll have to deliver it."
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote: I assumed the holo was too informationally dense for the Serenity's basic systems to transmit, even to Mr. Universe.
They wouldn't have to actually transmit a holo, you know. If they could play a holo while standing in front of whatever sends video, they could transmit video of the holo. Unless there are frame rate issues. Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote: I assumed the holo was too informationally dense for the Serenity's basic systems to transmit, even to Mr. Universe.
They wouldn't have to actually transmit a holo, you know. If they could play a holo while standing in front of whatever sends video, they could transmit video of the holo. Unless there are frame rate issues.
Then you run into issues of authentication, right? Why would anyone believe that the holo was real if they just recorded a video of it and sent it to Mr. Universe? Presumably the holo had some sort of embedded digital "watermark." I was thinking that maybe it can't be played back on or transmitted from a non-authenticated device. That way receivers know it isn't a fake.
Transmission of FMV was definitely a change from the series, though. In the series you had to be nearby to do real-time FMV. "We're close enough for vid, put her up." I figured that was a result of speed-of-light issues, which the movie completely ignores.
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: Narnia, it occurred to me why they couldn't broadwave the video from the ship upon my second viewing -- because it bugged me enormously the first time through. There's a throwaway line in which Mal mentions that the recording's so old that they don't have the equipment to play it back on board -- and indeed, we never DO see them play it on board. That said, it's probably fair to ask why they didn't just take the player from the shuttlecraft, but maybe it didn't occur to them. *laugh*
A couple of thoughts: Has anyone considered the issue of a power supply? It may be that the ability to 'put it on every screen for 30 worlds' would just requre more power (whether more available power or a transmitter capable of utilizing more power) than Serenity had at its disposal -- remember the size and look of the generator Mr. Universe had?
Or it may just be an issue of the right equipment. For a very rudimentary example, it doesn't matter how sophisticated my radio transmitter is, I can't send any information to my television set in the next room, let alone in the next state. Mr. Universe had an enormous facility whose entire function was communications -- it was designed to send and receive anything anywhere within the verse, probably using any medium. Serenity is a small transport ship, meaning she probably has the necessary communication devices to do her job and not much more. To me it seems perfectly natural that Mr. Universe would be able to put the signal on every screen for 30 worlds and that Serenity wouldn't be able to do much with it.
Posts: 270 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Why wouldn't Mal just send Kaylee by herself to send the signal then? If he was expecting it to be a one man job, or expecting Mr. Universe to be alive, why wouldn't he said the person with the most tech experience and stay behind as one of the better fighters to help take care of the Reavers?
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote: To me it seems perfectly natural that Mr. Universe would be able to put the signal on every screen for 30 worlds and that Serenity wouldn't be able to do much with it.
That's not the problem, Jemmy. The problem is that Serenity should have been able to get the signal to Mr. Universe, since they had full-motion video communications established with his base. Unless of course they couldn't play the holo at all using their own equipment.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote:As for Kaylee: She might not be good in a fight but she might be able to hand the rest of the crew guns when they run out of ammo or reload weapons for them. Gunners aren't on their own in firefights generally speaking; they have support people there to help keep them firing away.
It's only the film that matters to Joss Whedon... this very clear throughout the series and the movie. The plot or "logicality" of the plot tends to take a back seat to the impact of the movie and the lines and scenes. From a movie POV there's plenty of reasons why it was better for the story that Kaylee stayed.
1) The "Hell with this..." line and the admission from Simon. 2) It adds tension- she is is sweet girl in the line of fire. 3) Mal had to face The Operative alone. The hero has to have the last fight to himself; he must leave the group behind. 4) The shot with him in the elevator has that great impact... two people wouldn't have the same effect...
To Joss it's about the audience, the film, the scenes and the lines, not, necessarily, about the plot.
EDIT: This also explains the problem with the transmission to Mr. Universe. I'm sure Joss is smart enough to realise he's got giant holes in his plot, he just doesn't worry much about it.
I don't think.
Maybe we should send him an e-mail or something?
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Good point. I guess I don't know about that one . . .
Could it still be a case of the wrong equipment for the medium? I guess that has already been mentioned. *checks* Yep. That was your first comment, wasn't it Tom. I'll just sheepishly second your suggestion. Posts: 270 | Registered: Jul 2004
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"*imagines the horror of the Operative vs. Kaylee*"
I think it's pretty obvious that Mal wasn't expecting the Operative to crawl out of a ventilation shaft like that. If he had expected that, he would have destroted Mr. Universe's fembot to stop the Operative from finding out the plan.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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That was another point at which I had to suspend my disbelief. An escape pod. Landed exactly where he wanted it to go. 5 minutes after Mal got there.
posted
And how in the heck did River get out of her handcuffs before Jayne came into the locker on the ship?
Was it something she could have done all along and was just waiting for the 'opportune moment?' In fact, did she actually CREATE that opportune moment by actually getting Jayne to come open the door??
Hm. Deep thoughts. And much nitpicking. Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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Yeah the landing pod thing was farfetched. But whatever, half the plot of the movie has to be taken on faith, why take issue with something as small as that?
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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If the landing pod has any sort of navigational system, the Operative following Mal is no problem. Especially since Serenity went pretty much straight down to a rather noticeable landing. All the Operative had to do was follow.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Ok, so what about River and the cuffs? But I guess I shouldn't even ask that. It's River for crying out loud!
Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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I always assumed that Mal took the tape down to Mr. Universe himself because he needs to see the deed done. What's on the tape backs up everything he believes is wrong with the Alliance and now he gets to tell 30 plus worlds about it. He's got evidence. He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to leave that to someone else, even if there's no tactical reason for him to do it himself.
Also: I watched the DVDs some more and then saw the movie again, and the inconsistencies that I thought I saw aren't there. I'm much happier with the movie now. Much.
Posts: 753 | Registered: Mar 2001
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I can't imagine Mal ever sending Kaylee to make the transmission. To begin with. This is Mal we're talking about, it's just not in his nature. Sending out the message was something he had to do. I doubt it would have occured to him to send anyone else.
I also really doubt that Mal, knowing the Operative's general mode of operations would have any illusions about Mr. Universe being alive when he got there. What I find in need of nitpicking is that Mal was surprised the equipment was destroyed. I can't imagine anyone in the Operative's position not destroying the equipment and I can't believe Mal didn't think of that possibility. Also, since Mal obviously knew that the Operative probably had gotten to Mr. Universe before he did, I'm sort of missing why he would have transmitted the holo straight into the Operative's hands. In his mind the only way to get the message out was to distract the Operative from the equipment for long enough to transmit it himself.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Narnia: Ok, so what about River and the cuffs? But I guess I shouldn't even ask that. It's River for crying out loud!
If you really have to have an answer... Perhaps she could have gotten the cuffs off at anytime, but doing so didn't gain her anything until Jayne was coming in to kill her (the fact she could read minds from inside the pantry was already placed).
Posts: 1368 | Registered: Sep 2002
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