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Finally got to see it today. They killed Wash! That was just too sudden for me. But then realistically, not everyone gets to give a death speech. (And why is it my favorite characters (in any universe) are always the ones that get killed?)
Supposedly, River's knowledge about Miranda was what made her a threat to the government. And now that that's been made public, she's not as much of a threat anymore. But somehow, I don't believe that the blue hand guys are in any way connected to the official government, and they are most certainly still after her. So I don't think her troubles are anywhere near over.
So, did anyone else notice the "C57D" on the pod and the R&D ship in the dead city? Interesting nod to "Forbidden Planet" there. In case you're unfamiliar, it's the designation of the hero's flying saucer.
Being a total tech head, I did notice a lot of minor changes to Serenity itself, most noticeable of course were the legs (that eventually got ripped off) and the spots they extended from. The engine room had a lot more equipment, the cargo bay walls were different (I'm pretty sure they were straight, not curved), etc. etc. etc.... But one cool thing was it looked like they actually rebuilt the set as one big structure, rather than the cargo bay in one place and the upper decks in another as in the series. Unless they put in a sneaky cut I didn't notice.
Also, they finally put to rest the nature of the Firefly universe. Apparently it's one star system with dozens of planets and hundreds of moons. To me, that's more consistent with the series than multiple star systems.
Did anyone notice they had sound in space this time? I predicted that they would do this for a feature film. I don't really have a problem with that, especially since it would make more pleasing to a casual moviegoes who might not have seen the series.
quote:But one cool thing was it looked like they actually rebuilt the set as one big structure, rather than the cargo bay in one place and the upper decks in another as in the series. Unless they put in a sneaky cut I didn't notice.
Looked like there might have been a cut in the camera blur when Simon was following Mal to the infirmary. At least, that's what I was guessing when I saw it.
quote:Did anyone notice they had sound in space this time?
The explanation given by Whedon for the sound in space was the fact that that planet was surrounded by an "ion cloud" or somesuch. Matter, thus sound.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
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That is an incredibly long single shot. Almost too tricky, but it did tie the ship together nicely.
So I noticed on my second viewing tonight that River is wearing the same (or a very similar) hospital green gown (with the dental bib straps) when she fights the Reavers as she is at the very begining in the hologram of the breakout. She wears something similar in her vision of Miranda through the viewpad. I'm not entirely sure what the significance of this is, but I can't imagine that it happened by accident.
Registered: Sep 2000
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B.J.: The Blue Hand guys are dead. At least the two we've seen up until now. There may be more. But the first two died in the comic book mini-series, if I'm remembering rightly. And apparently they *were* independant contractors working for the Alliance. It was after their failure to grab River that The Operative was called in.
I desperately want to like Serenity. But the entire last half hour or so -- from the ship crash onwards, was way over the top, and I felt like my reactions were being deliberately and obviously toyed with. "Look! They killed Wash! Now Zo�'s about to die! No wait, maybe it'll be Kaylee instead! Or Simon! Or River! Aw, screw it." Even considering they were fighting the Reavers, I thought the violence far exceeded the level of the TV series, and again made the whole situation far too dire.
I can't help but feel that the decision to kill Wash seems like a huge "Fuck You" to the fans who made the whole movie possible in the first place. On a logical level, I know that Whedon almost certainly wouldn't do something like that, but I still can't help but see a message like this: "See, we're bringing this story that you love back, but we're going to screw it over so much that you'll end up wishing that there never was any movie in the first place!"
However, I definitely enjoyed almost all of the movie before the moment when they killed Wash. Sure, Mr. Universe was a too-convenient Deus Ex Machina, and I'm not sure I like all the ret-conning of the rescue of River from the Academy. But all of the characterization and interactions just felt right. Like the lack of an argument with Inara signaling that the call was a trap, and Mal and Zo� coming to the same conclusion simultaneously. But other than that... well, the explanation of where the Reavers came from made sense, so that's one big thing in the movie's favor right there.
(Though dammit, the idea of 70+ habitable planets and moons in one single star system located somewhere within 10-15 light-years of Earth is quite ludicrous in my mind. I don't care if Galactica did the same thing... That just rubs me the wrong way.)
Finally, I really, really hate the suggestion at the end that River is now going to be just fine and stable now that she's outed the secret about Miranda and the Reavers. The series clearly showed multiple times that it wasn't just some hidden knowledge, but also the abuse and medical experiments that caused her severe emotional scarring. I certainly buy that she might have learned about the secret during her time at the academy, but I don't buy that that was the one thing causing her distress.
I hate to say it, but it seems that my very first reaction to the news of Serenity was correct -- that the 'Verse would not completely survive the transition from TV to movie theaters, and would leave me feeling unhappy about what got changed. So, my motto for this depressing review? "You can't take the sky from me, but you can still fuck with it while I'm not looking!"
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
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I don't think River was completely stabilized at the end, she was peaking in on Simon and Kaylee after all. She was better, but I don't think it was just revealing Miranda that did it. Simon getting shot seemed to do something to her, perhaps forced her to regain control. Could also have been killing all those Reavers. Also possible she got some sort of medical help in the mean time.
I have to wonder about the Pax gas in Miranda's atmosphere. I mean, the crew was breathing that stuff. Surely it's intended for long-term effect, but I wonder if perhaps that had some calming effect on River...
Registered: Mar 1999
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That reminds me of a question I had about the Reavers... how are they still around? The experiment on Miranda happened a number of years ago, right? Everyone sort of vaguely remembered it sometime in the past. The Reavers are all made up from the minority of one planet's inhabitants that reacted badly. Reavers also like to kill things and seem to be all bottled up on ships together. And they don't seem the sort to have kids. I suppose they could keep prisoners just for the purpose of breeding, but even so, it seems unlikely that infants could survive in such an atmosphere.
My point is, wouldn't they have all died off by now?
And no, I didn't get the impression that River was cured. I think she's still a nutcase, but outting that secret and releasing the trauma of holding it in and not understanding it seems to have taken the edge off.
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30,000 or so Reavers to start with, a decade or two of being around. A totally uncivilized people would die out, yeah, but they have to have some sort of society, or they couldn't build and operate ships. Have we seen Reaver women?
Registered: Mar 1999
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And on a crazy fad diet like "only the flesh of weak human cattle", surely they'd waste away to nothing without some decent carbohydrates and Vitamin C.
Registered: Sep 2000
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Highly praised in US Cannibals Weekly, by the way, though they occasionally seem to have a weird bias in some of their stories. (Angelina broke up Brad and Jen by convincing Brad to tear open his wife's abdomen and feast on her entrails?)
There does seem to be a small number of people, among the hardcore fans, who are too upset about Wash to appreciate the movie. That sounds dismissive. What I mean is, for whom, like MinutiaeMan, that act ruined the film for them. But consider the fate of every happy romantic relationship ever on Whedon's other two TV shows. It's a history filled with murder, inadvertant lycanthropy, wedding alter abandonment, and more murder. I strongly suspect that, had Firefly lasted five or seven years, it would not end with the same cast it began with.
So, basically, these people were doomed from the start, and violent, depressing death was surely a part of Firefly's very DNA, as it were. Which doesn't mean anyone has to like it; just that its presence in the movie doesn't represent a break with the series.
(An argument could be made that one of the reasons Firefly the series is so great is its limited length, I think. I mean, I'd still donate body parts for more, but there's something to be said for brevity, and for getting out before the inevitable heartbreak.)
Registered: Mar 1999
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I think the terraforming blurbs that the movie was careful to mention.. several times, goes a long way to explaining the number of worlds.. and moons. their ancesters had interstellar travel, energy weapons, and apperently, advanced planet altering technology. At one point, Mal sells a valuable laser, left over from the original settlers, so they apperently have lost some tech... It's a given, so you have to accept it, no matter how it might grind against your personal ideas of realism.. or the movie isn't for you.
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Registered: Nov 2002
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And the Lasiter, the ancient laser pistol they stole, wasn't valuable because it was the best laser pistol, but because it was (one of) the first. In "Heart of Gold" we see a modern laser pistol, and it is both smaller and sleeker than the Lasiter. (Although there does appear to be a slight battery problem.)
There's no reason to believe that people, at the time of Firefly and Serenity, aren't more technologically advanced than previous generations.
I saw the film again today, with my father, and I think I actually enjoyed it more the second time.
Registered: Mar 1999
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I never got the impression that the Reavers built the ships they operate. I think they got them from whatever happened to be in the area at the time of their creation. Then they added to their fleet by stealing other ships. How a completely chaotic society could operate a ship, though, is beyond me. Even entering destinations would be a problem, not to mention engineering. Though that would go a long ways to explain why they have no core containment and why their ships are always smoking like a redneck's lawnmower.
MIght also explain why they just sit there in orbit of the planet and only send out small raiding parties. They can't organize themselves to do any more than that.
quote:Originally posted by MinutiaeMan: My thoughts:
(Though dammit, the idea of 70+ habitable planets and moons in one single star system located somewhere within 10-15 light-years of Earth is quite ludicrous in my mind. I don't care if Galactica did the same thing... That just rubs me the wrong way.)
There seems to be some inconsistencies in that. There's two opening narrations, the one by Book says "After the Earth was used up, we found a new solar system and hundreds of new Earths were terra formed and colonized." While Mal's goes, "Here's how it is: Earth got used up, so we terraformed a whole new galaxy of Earths..." So the movie goes by Book's intro, that it's all one giant solar system.
-------------------- I'm slightly annoyed at Hobbes' rather rude decision to be much more attractive than me though. That's just rude. - PsyLiam, Oct 27, 2005.
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