Serenity

[tamaradixon]

I just read that "Serenity" will be amongst the first titles Universal releases on their new HD format. Too bad I don't own one of those players! I mean really, who does??!!

[keepittight]

I'm really curious to see this film but I'm not sure I'll like it. I loved Buffy in my early teens but went off it as I got older and the show became less fun/interesting and too soapy/serious. I've never seen an episode of Firefly -television sci fi just does not appeal to me in the slightest- and Joss Whedon's writing ticks annoy me a lot (though he's nowhere near as bad as, say, Kevin Smith). I think he has a good, expansive imagination but his dialogue is frequently terrible and his characters are often all affect, no depth, though let's face that's not exactly uncommon on TV. So is it worth getting? I just watched the first seven minutes on youtube and it seems like it could be fun but I already hate Summer and the cutesy engineer, who seems almost a parody of previous Whedon characters.

It amazes me that people are surprised that it "flopped"; I honestly thought it would completely sink without a trace and do much worse than it actually did; there was just no mainstream appeal there at all, and much as people criticise the marketing, I'm unsure as to how it COULD have been marketed, other than emphasising the solid reviews (it was named one of the ten best films of the year by the two major UK film magazines, Total Film and Empire).

[johnboysmole]

keepittight, I have never seen a single episode of Buffy or Firefly and I went with Mr. John-boy's Mole and we loved the hell out of it!

I thought it was a pretty strong storyline and the action was fun too. I've heard that some people didn't care for the social commentary and the wild-west themes and dialogue, but I liked it. It was different than what I was used to. I really enjoyed every one of the characters as well. I would watch a sequel in a minute.

I'm not really a sci-fi person either. The only Sci-Fi thing I like is Battlestar Galactica. Basically, good storytelling is good storytelling and I think Serenity is a well executed story.

[bossyboots]

I, like John-boy's Mole, have never seen a Buffy, Angel or Firefly show. I rented this on DVD on Cheap Monday nights at my local video shop and quite enjoyed it. It was campy and clunky, sure, but it kept me entertained and I didn't get too hung up on plot holes etc. I was too busy having fun.

[laconicchick]

There is a lot to be irritated about with Firefly/Serenity -- the twangy music, the ridiculous dialogue ("Gorram it"? "Shiny"? "'Verse"? Come on), the annoying characters (Book, River... I hated Kaylee at first because she's basically Willow Script V 2.0, but now she's basically my favourite character) -- but if you go into it with the right attitude I think it is easy to love. I like the series better than the movie, but the movie is more serious and has less of the whimsical character affects, I think. Everyone I've shown the series to has loved it, including the girl who hates EVERYTHING (although the movie was too scary for her -- she's 21, by the way -- and she wouldn't speak afterwards because she was too "traumatized").

[Laira]

I hated Kaylee at first because she's basically Willow Script V 2.0, but now she's basically my favourite character)

Kaylee is Willow if she'd been raised by hillbillies.