Serenity

Elenilsa

Elenilsa
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Why did this film have such a poor showing at the box office? Where are all the Firefly devotees? I mean, lots of us probably saw it more than once, which should have improved the box office, right?

Anyone see it and have thoughts on why it didn't do better? I dragged my hubby to it, assured him he could enjoy it without ever having watched a single episode......but he said it was too complicated, with too many characters to keep track of. :confused:
 
Elenilsa said:
Why did this film have such a poor showing at the box office? Where are all the Firefly devotees? I mean, lots of us probably saw it more than once, which should have improved the box office, right?

Anyone see it and have thoughts on why it didn't do better? I dragged my hubby to it, assured him he could enjoy it without ever having watched a single episode......but he said it was too complicated, with too many characters to keep track of. :confused:

Hi Elenilsa - don't know why the yanks hated it, but it's done pretty good business in the UK (I myself have watched it twice at the cinema :p )

there's already a few Serenity threads knocking about here, but here's one of them
http://www.chronicles-network.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7821&highlight=serenity

My thought's on it's (very few!) bad points are in there too - personally, I loved it - big Firefly fan, but I think in this case, the perceived 'Geek' factor worked against Joss Whedon and American audiences didn't bite - shame, but I think it'll more than make its $40m dollar budget back on DVD sales, the reviews and press were generally good and the cast would like to do another, so I don't think the franchise is dead yet, although Joss Whedon will probably do Wonder Woman before he goes back there.
 
I don't know how die-hard Whedon fans respond to his work in the UK, but it is my perception that the North American response can be a bit more fan boy in nature. Serenity, a film that feels average in execution and script but teases audiences with brief moments of inspired new genre direction, is championed by some people who were hailing it as brilliant even before they saw a trailer. Many fans out there really, really wanted Serenity to change the face of science fiction. He could have waved crap on a stick for two hours, and there would still be a voice declaring brilliance.

To be fair, I have never been a big fan of his thus far work (i.e.: the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series), and Serenity felt like it had some of the same trappings, which is harder to get away with without commercial breaks. My girlfriend, a huge fan of the Buffy series, didn't like it because the film felt far too muddled in all respects.

I gave a review-like response for this film in an earlier Serenity thread.

Winter is correct: there are a couple other threads that may have discussions in regards to the movie you may not wish to read. HERE is another example.
 
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Sorry you don't like it McMurphy. Personally I thought he did bring something new to sci-fi, especially in the Firefly TV series which I felt was better constructed than the film.

I had pretty much the same reaction to you when a friend recommended I watch it. I didn't like Buffy or Angel and had no wish to watch a 'western in space' by that writer.

The first couple of episodes are a little hit & miss but by episode 4 I knew I was hooked. The characterisation drew me in. I believed in these people. I liked the way they interacted and I liked the way the 'hero' character of the Captain didn't always get things right and often had to be helped out by his shipmates.
I liked the movie because it gave me more time with these characters - whether I would have liked it without having seen Firefly, I can never know. :)
 
I will never deny that the guy doesn't have promise. Maybe my criticisms have more to do with Joss not putting out a project that I have been able to latch on to yet. I have heard of the Wonder Woman movie deal (writing and directing, right?), and I know I am going to see that one.
 
Yes,
the film was pretty satisfying, but then again thats probably why it feels some what muddled and packed with many plot lines.
It was a good film, don't get me wrong, but it far from changed the face of sci fi as was previously proclaimed...

That's my future job! :D
 
To be fair Serenity is a good film - generally speaking better than the series - even if it did develop some of theseries underlying themes. However one of the things not tackled is the paradox of a low tec sci-fi program with a general recreation of the American West.

Whilst I can propose an explaination - lack of resources resulting in people returning to the old fashioned ways of their history - it is one dimensional.
 
I see where you're coming from Taliesin (hullo by the way!).
I rationalised it by:
a) the "frontier spirit" coming back for the outlying settlers - being on their own in the wilderness and fending for themselves - harking back to the 'wild west' days - so the settlers identified with, and imitated those times
b) a backlash of sorts to chinese culture (I get the distinct impression from the feel of the series & film that the adoption of chinese influence wasn't entirely voluntary - note that the 'civilised' inner worlds were decidedly more asian in design and mannerism)

anyway, I look forward to any further thoughts you may have :)
 
Finally got around to watching Serenity last night - quite enjoyed it.

As it was concluding a TV series there were various points I felt I'd missed - not least the importance of psychics to the Alliance, how & why River knew about Miranda, the role of Miranda in future Alliance projects, and a few other details.

Overall enjoyed it though - wasn't quite as predictable as I expected, though - Miranda was, but I expected a couple of the crew to die who didn't.

It certainly made me feel I'd missed out by not watching Firefly, though.
 
I've just seen it, and now it's one of my favourite films. In terms of characterisation it's easily the best science fiction film I've seen, and it was very innovative with some very good writing.
 
I'm with Brys on this one insofar as it's quite cleverly written and the characters are a lot of fun but not the best SF film I've personally seen. For starters I'ld have to place Kubrik's 2001 Space Odyssey and the ending esp. of Planet Of The Apes (C. Heston) ahead of it.
 
GOLLUM said:
I'm with Brys on this one insofar as it's quite cleverly written and the characters are a lot of fun but not the best SF film I've personally seen. For starters I'ld have to place Kubrik's 2001 Space Odyssey and the ending esp. of Planet Of The Apes (C. Heston) ahead of it.

Hey, I enjoyed it too but I found it more in line with one of the good Star Trek movies, like the Wrath of Khan. I required a little background. I ordered the Firefly series on DVD and for $30 I had 13 evenings of entertainment and all the background I needed. Still all in all a worthwhile movie and worth a sequel.
 
It's hard for me to separate my love for the film from my love for the TV series. But, like Steve12553, I think of Serenity as on par with (good) Star Trek films and movies like Galaxy Quest. Not quite as good as Stars Wars: Episode IV, and certainly not as good as Blade Runner, but better than 85% of most SF films.
 
Brown Rat said:
It's hard for me to separate my love for the film from my love for the TV series. But, like Steve12553, I think of Serenity as on par with (good) Star Trek films and movies like Galaxy Quest. Not quite as good as Stars Wars: Episode IV, and certainly not as good as Blade Runner, but better than 85% of most SF films.

Yep. Comfortable, intelligent, you care about the characters but not full of new science fiction concepts that will change your life. Just good stories with fun characters.
 
I said:
Finally got around to watching Serenity last night - quite enjoyed it.

As it was concluding a TV series there were various points I felt I'd missed - not least the importance of psychics to the Alliance, how & why River knew about Miranda, the role of Miranda in future Alliance projects, and a few other details.

Overall enjoyed it though - wasn't quite as predictable as I expected, though - Miranda was, but I expected a couple of the crew to die who didn't.

It certainly made me feel I'd missed out by not watching Firefly, though.
i've also jsut seen this from a background of not watching the series. miranda i think was explained in the film, the hunter was worried that river had heard of the council members by them being mentioned in the same room that she was in, however the reapers were mentioned as well, which thereofre would have given her insight? yep, i'm now looking out for re-runs of the series:D
 
Princess Ivy said:
the hunter was worried that river had heard of the council members by them being mentioned in the same room that she was in

Actually, it was them being mentioned that he was worried about, he was worried about River reading their minds - I can't remember if it is explicitly stated in the film that she can read minds, but it is definitely strongly implied in the series.
 
Is it just me - or does anyone else think the movie wasn't in the same league as the series? Don't get me wrong, the movie was very good and I'd like it all the same regardless of my feelings about the series, however, the series is just about the best thing I have ever seen! I loved that show.
 
I had no such feelings. I thought the movie was in the exact same league as the series. The only real difference is the movie didn’t leave us with quite the same warm-and-fuzzy because some of the characters didn’t make it. I always liked how the show didn’t pull punches: if you’re in a gunfight more likely than not, you’re going to get shot. That’s what happens when bad guys aim (I guess it helps to not have big white helmets that you can’t see through). My thoughts on Firefly and Serenity are the same; I don’t see them as any different because one was a theater movie. Fireflenity/Serenifly . . . oops. Shows in the Firefly ‘verse are really great with Characters, cultures and plots (yay) and embarrassingly light on science (what the hell could they possible mean by ‘the edge of space’?).

Although I think it did seem that they tried to make the movie a little less “cowboy.” Maybe they did that to please the execs. Damn execs, any good studio exec should know to stay out of the creative process where they don’t belong. These are the same guys who read the Matrix screen play and said “duh, I don’t get it.” It seems I’m not getting any better at keeping my postings on the same track. I need more Fruity Otie bars.
 

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