We finally made it to see Serenity last night at 1015. How did it compare to the preview we saw many months ago? WOW! It was better paced, streamlined, simply wow. Characters did things that would be expected of them unlike in the preview.
The major confusion we have is this.
On amazon.com you will find Firefly in the top 10 DVD sales. Wait. At this very moment amazon.com has the complete series higher than I’ve ever seen it before. “Sales Rank: #4 in DVD”
What’s ahead of it?
1. Cinderella (Disney Special Platinum Edition)
2. Star Wars, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (Widescreen Edition) — Release Date: November 1, 2005
3. Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) — Release Date: October 18, 2005
4. Firefly the Complete Series (2002) — Yes, the release date was September 20, 2002. This series is #4 in the top DVD sales and it was released back in 2002! The show is that good. It’s not all hot air. The show is/was damn good.
Where does the movie stand in the box office? Well, as of this moment the estimates place Serenity in the 9th position with just under 5 mil pulled in from the weekend.
Um… Huh?
Is everyone ordering the DVD series, watching it, and then planning to go see Serenity? If so, great, but hurry up! Studio execs look at the numbers of their project – aka the movie. These are the guys that have rights to the DVD sales:Mutant Enemy Inc., 20th Century Fox Television, Fox Television Network. So, yes the sales are helping the cause, but it is not helping the film. So… Browncoats, get some people into the theater! Who-Rah!
This is, biases aside, one of the best films I’ve seen all year. Thank goodness it was released. It’s been painful going to the movies. Wallace & Gromit, History of Violence, and Jarhead all have peaked my curiosity as well. Phew. A few good movies? My bank account hopes so.
Watch the first 9 minutes of the film here: CLICKITY-CLICKITY
My friend and I didn’t care for Serenity very much when we saw it. We thought the film had some really good moments and the opening certainly grabbed our attention, but overall I’d give it a C- (that’s with taking into consideration the budget). I understand that the film is based on a series which I am not familiar with and I feel like the movie has no backing without the people who watch the show- as if the filmakers didn’t care to open up to the “non- firefly” world. The characters weren’t developed well, certain action sequences took to long whereas scenes that could and needed to be longer and developed were cut short, and the writers were often superficial and used too many cliches. I admit to nice moments, moments I cared about the characters and where I saw a lot of potential, but the movie was very unsuccessful in my opinion. Unfortunately, the poor qualities outweigh the good and it’s not worth the money for the theaters.
Thanks for your comment… anonymous… I have to disagree with you on the dialog. It’s not cliche at all in fact.
Cliche is defined as: A trite or overused expression or idea.
Hoban ‘Wash’ Washburn: This is gonna get pretty interesting.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Define “interesting”.
Hoban ‘Wash’ Washburn: Oh, God, oh, God, we’re all gonna die?
That, as well as the rest of the dialog, is far from cliche.
The character development was actually pretty profound, though not as impressive as seen in the series.
Mal finds something to believe in and carries it through to the end of the movie where he had nothing at all to believe in. And River became SO much throughout the movie. If you watch the series you’ll see that you learn little to nothing about her.
The movie is based on two people – Mal and River. Everyone else needs to take a back seat because it’s their story. It’s more Mal’s story but River is integral.
If you get an hour or so watch “Out of gas” and “Objects in Space “. You will NOT be disappointed.