posted
Okay, knowing the crowd here, you've already had this topic, and probably a few years ago. However I just finished watching it about five minutes ago.
There are a few things about my reaction to that movie though.
As far as technical observations, it seemed like they dialed Jayne down a bit. He seemed more caring than he did in the series, which I suppose might have been to help with the movie audience, that and there was nothing to even hint at what Inarra does for a living.
The operative was a remarkable antagonist, however I want to know what happenned to the "two by two, hands of blue" people.
As far as gut and emotional reactions:
Wash? Book? WHY??? Why why why why why?????????
I don't know why that affected me so much, In other movies where main characters die I'm not affected nearly as much. However maybe it's the fact that I've seen them in 12 episodes of Firefly and in Serenity that I had the chance to get to know them, and identify with them more.
And why did it have to be them, out of all the characters on that movie that I could have stood to see die, the one that I would pick for the chopping block would have been Inarra. I don't know why, I just identified with her the least.
The movie was a great conclusion to the overarching plot of firefly, however, I (like most fans) as much as I wanted a conclusion, I want a continuation. I don't know why I feel cheated, but I do. I wanted more of the panorama of the Firefly verse and the way the crew fit into it.
Posts: 208 | Registered: Sep 2007
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posted
This may help a bit, as will the bridge comic. The bridge comic will also answer your questions about the hands of blue guys, if I recall correctly. There's another comic in the works, apparently. Not sure what the release date on it is, but there are certainly people here who will be able to.
Book has always seemed like a more peripheral character to me than the others, and as such I wasn't terribly upset when he died. When it happened I thought "Oh, okay, token meaningful death. Now everybody else is safe. When Wash died suddenly the movie was moved out of the expected, safe territory. If a character as central as Wash could die, that meant that any of them could, and that it was entirely possible that all of them would.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Book was actually one of my favorite characters in the series. There was one episode he was left out of entirely as I remember, and I was sorely diappointed, even if it did happen to be one of my favorite episodes.
Posts: 208 | Registered: Sep 2007
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posted
It's especially sad when Wash dies, because of Zoe. I was watching "Heart of Gold" the other day and I almost cried when Zoe and Wash start talking about maybe having a baby some day.
Posts: 930 | Registered: Dec 2006
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posted
Book dying meant people could relax, Joss' "obligatory" death was over. Wash's death was horrifying and sudden, and that left audiences watching the last 15 minutes with no clue whether anyone would make it out alive or not (especially as so many of them kept getting injured). While it was terrible for a continuing storyline, it made for an amazingly powerful film.
Whedon didn't know if he would ever have a chance to work in this universe again, so after writing a huge "kitchen sink" script with more scenes for everyone and no deaths, he rewrote it to serve as a closing story for Firefly and a much more dramatic movie.
The first comic mini-series includes the hands of blue guys, plus another familiar face from the show, and explains why Book is no longer on the ship. The 2nd comic miniseries out now (1st issue came out last week) is before that one, and is much more like a regular episode of Firefly. And there's another comic on the way later this year or next about Book.
quote:Originally posted by Chris Bridges: Book dying meant people could relax, Joss' "obligatory" death was over. Wash's death was horrifying and sudden, and that left audiences watching the last 15 minutes with no clue whether anyone would make it out alive or not.
I never thought of it that way before.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
I firmly believe that Zoe is pregnant with Wash's child, and if Joss ever gets to finish telling Serenity's story, we will see Jayne stuck with babysitting duties at least once.
Another difference between Wash's and Book's deaths is the way in which they died. Book got a traditional, slightly lingering death with last words and all. Wash was suddenly and abruptly killed, and that was it. No goodbyes. I hate that he's dead, but I also think it made for a better story. By the time Kaylee started to lose feeling and Simon got shot, I was convinced that the entire crew was going to die.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Shigosei: By the time Kaylee started to lose feeling and Simon got shot, I was convinced that the entire crew was going to die.
I think the only thing that kept me from reaching that conclusion was Kaylee's "To hell with this! I'm gonna live!" Or rather, the compelling motivation behind it.
posted
I saw Serenity before I saw Firefly. Going back and watching the show has just given me a greater appreciation for the film. They're both quite good.
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004
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posted
I just felt that the film was rushed, so I didn't care much for the deaths or the parts from the series that weren't in it. My experience is that movies that follow series aren't that good anyway, but this one seemed botched even by those standards. Probably because there was no way to actually pack what was left unclear from the series in one movie.
Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I thought the film was excellent, but I hadn't seen the series first. I was absolutely in love with every character by the end (well, except maybe Book -- didn't really get to know him). Everything is horrible going downhill and then River decides to claim her ninja powers instead of flee from them.
It was also great to see Mal and the Operative face down. I thought it was a nearly perfect movie.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
I think Wash's death left me stunned enough not to appriciate the rest of the story. I was still mourning Wash.
Going back and watching it again, of course, I can enjoy the climax and River kicking butt... It's just, on first viewing, Wash's death was both distracting and numbing.
I never liked Book. His death didn't bother me at all.
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