When you walk out of every new movie shaking your head and wondering why you bother to keep coming, when you can’t understand why you pay such high prices for cheap snacks so you can sit surrounded by rude people to watch inferior entertainment, it is almost cathartic to see a movie like “Serenity.”
It’s science fiction, set 500 years in the future in the aftermath of a galactic civil war in which the powerful Alliance won over the underdog Independents. A brilliantly gifted young girl, tortured and surgically altered by an unknown group, is rescued by her brother and hidden on a smuggler’s ship captained by an honorable man who continues to fight for his independence long after the war is over.
It’s a western, since frontier planets don’t enjoy the sophisticated plenty the way the core planets do. Blankets and horses and revolvers are just as easy to transport and maintain as they always were, and in this universe not everyone can afford blasters.
It’s a comedy, and a hilarious one. Even in the most stressful sequences — especially in the most stressful sequences — you’ll find yourself laughing until the tears come.
It’s an action thriller. Gun battles, fights, space battles, and tense action against the odds. No matter how jaded a movie-goer you are, you will spend the last 15 minutes of this movie on the edge of your seat openly anxious about what will happen next.
It’s not much of a romance, although it has some moments.
Mostly what it is is a character study of 9 people, placed in the toughest situation of their lives. You see their options, you see their choices, and you see what happens next, and damn if it isn’t exciting.
Based on the TV show Firefly, blah blah, created by Joss Whedon, blah, blah, revived by fans, blah blah. Don’t let the hype and the stories about motivated fandom scare you off. It’s not a cult flick. It’s what science fiction fans always wanted when they grew up: A movie that doesn’t need excuses to enjoy.
The DVD includes:
Also an easter egg. On the main index page, click left on your remote and when you when you see a spot on the menu highlight, click “enter” to see a feature on the Fruity Oaty Bar commercial that includes the whole thing, uninterrupted and maddening.
Buy: Widescreen | Fullscreen | VHS | UMD
This is a great movie. I found it channel surfing one night, so I decided to watch it. Keep in mind I have not seen the firefly series before. But after seeing this I’ll be buying the season soon enough. Anyway, this show rocks! Great oneliners, battles, gunslinging, spacebattles, coreography, all that and more. The characters are colourful, likeable; and it’s a great story that could be understood if you’ve never seen the series. It’s a great flix, if you want to sit down and go for a ride, this is the show. Hope they make more…
The best bloody great movie that I’ve ever seen.
Thanks you JOSS WHELDON…I love you.
Best movie in the verse, Have to watch tv show to get full effect.
I watched my PAL, Region 2 version directly after watching Firefly. What struck me was how high-pictched the characters’ voices were, especially in the opening Serenity scene with the crew. Was part of the film sped up? I realize part of this perception may stem from the heightened, frantic pace of film, which it needs to be to fit in everything, but it also felt as though things were actually, literally sped up, too. Did anyone else get this? I never saw it in the theaters, so I don’t know if that was any different.