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Posted By: ZimNova Oct 30, 2004 - 06:36 pm

So I finally got the extra stratch to buy the Firefly complete series DVD 4 disk set.
Wow. I've watched *Serenity* maybe 6 times on VHS tape and the DVD is so much better it's almost beyond description in terms of quality.

Fox definitely had dren for brains in not airing the 2 hour (1.25 Hr. without commericals on the DVD, Woo Hoo) *Serenity* original pilot as the series premiere!
Would it have made a difference to the fate of the series? We'll never know but in the extra's features (*Here's how it was, the making of Firefly*) one can sense the disappointment in Joss Whedon's voice as he talks about how he delivered the pilot to Fox and the "suits" were not happy with that product.
As a result Joss & Tim Miner whipped up, literally in a weekend, the shooting script for *The Train Job* so thay could use that episode as the series premiere to please Fox.
I'm convinced that with a few exceptions, (ABC's *Alias* as an example), the major networks don't have a frelling clue and it's up to the cable net.'s to provide intelligent viewers with a choice as to quality programming.

The pilot itself takes us into the universe of Firefly starting with the rebels defeat against the Alliance at the "Battle of Serenity Valley".
See the extras to watch the original opening scenes.
War ain't changed much in 500 years and was still intense, bloody, brutal and the losers were truely the lost as the story goes.

After that we go aboard "Serenity" to meet the main cast members after a brief introduction to the dangers of running against the Alliance as "salvagers" trying to erk out a living on the fringes of "civilized" space.
This really sets the series up as we see former heros reduced to picking the bones of war damaged space ships to try to keep flying.
That's the series premise: Try to keep flying at whatever cost.

Along the way we meet the rest of the regular cast members who may not be all that thay appear to be (remember G'Kar's warning to Capt. Sinclair at the beginning of Babylon-5?).

I won't go into the rest of the story as most readers will have already seen this episode but I was struck by three things during the premiere.

1) The characterizations of the main cast were well handeled.
Mal & Zoe from the "BoSV", Book as the "lost" preacher whom has a mysterious past, Simon Tam & River on the run from the Alliance, Kaylee the heartfelt & heartland Chief Engineer, Wash the expert pilot, now married to Zoe, Jayne the mercenary muscle, Inara the "companion" and ticket to many worlds and Capt. Mel Reynolds whom holds the entire crew together sometimes with questionable means but never-the-less gets the job done.

2) The story is first rate.
We see the conflict between the Alliance and our crew.
We also saw the terror upon meeting the "Reavers".
Those scenes were of the best of SF stories with all the dread implied as we never saw the Reavers, only the fear on the faces of the crew of Serenity.

3)The CGI/EFX.
OK, name me a better show (Farscape excepted) who are doing work of this caliber?
Sure Enterprise & Andromeda are doing fine CGI/EFX but it's mostly effects for effects sake not a background to the story being told.
Firefly uses CGI at a minimum, to futher the story, not to be "the story" in terms of effects.

Overall I rate the series premiere, as intended by Joss Whedon, *Serenity* an 9/10 based on story, casting, acting and the whole concept of Firefly which was original and unique.
A series that died a premature death thanks to the Fox broadcasting network.

Posted By: ZimNova Nov 01, 2004 - 05:12 pm

Ah, I forget to add.
Joss on the extras (*Here's how it was, the making of Firefly*) specifically refers to the fan support the series received as it was struggling with the ratings numbers on Fox (being pre-empted by the BB playoffs etc.) and that gave everybody envolved in the production a lot of hope.
The TV biz is a tough roe to hoe and making a successful SF series is a difficult task, in and of itself, in this era of "reality" TV and such dren.

False hope as it turned out. But we tried.

Without saying as much, one could see while doing the interviews for a 20th Century Fox DVD release Joss could not diss Fox, he did manage a nod to the fans for the upcoming Universal Studios feature film release of *Serenity*.

Tim Miner was not so subtle.
He flat out thanked the fans for the support that lead Universal (plus the strong DVD sales of *The Complete Series*) to green light the feature film *Serenity* comimg in April 2005.

Bottom line is, even after anyone watching the Complete Series on DVD is fullfilled, there will be more.
"Browncoats" like "Scapers" can make a difference in the entertainment industry and we are livin' proof that dreams can become real!

Posted By: Hyperion Nov 02, 2004 - 04:11 am

Can somebody tell me when this series is on and what channel it's on I am interested

Hyperion

Posted By: Sindatur Nov 02, 2004 - 05:59 am

Hyperion, it was only on for about a half season (last year?). It got cancelled in it's infancy with a few episodes unshown (That are included on the DVD Release). There's a Theatrical Movie being made to tie up some of the stories that got left hanging.

Posted By: Hyperion Nov 03, 2004 - 04:18 am

Ahh ok I see.

TY

Hyperion