[Kamikaze]

Just got back from a 16:10 showing of Serenity. It was worth every cent of the $6 for the ticket.

I haven't seen a movie that isn't comedy get so much laughter from the audience. Every gag in that movie was intelligently done. It's also a great movie for non Firefly fans too. My GF went to watch it with me and she enjoyed it despite of the fact that she's never seen the series.

Oh, and the special effects are amazingly well done. Star Wars is absolutely no competition.

[WMCoolmon]

AGH NO NOW I KNOW ITS FUNNY

ZOMG SPOILERZ!!1111

..although I already knew that from the previews.

"I don't wanna explode!"

[Liberator]

So i'm still curious about one thing about one thing:

I was led to believe that there was something special about the ship beyond the pecularities of her crew, did I get it wrong again?

[Ford Prefect]

I don't think there's anything unusual about the ship. In fact, the show tends to focus on how lovably crappy the Serenity is-- similar to the Millennium Falcon, except with no weapons.

[Kamikaze]

The Serenity's an ancient transport with no weapons. What makes her special is that it's Mal and his crew's ship.

[Jetmech Jr.]

Just saw it. Absolutely BRILLIANT. Totally worthy of the Series. And the end just opens itself right up to a new season. Heres hoping.

My only gripe is that

Spoiler:

my 2 favorite characters died. Poor book. Poor Wash. That was no way for such a great character to die. The 'sudden giant spike of death' is reserved for second class characters, no poor, poor Washburne.

The Reaver/Alliance Battle Opening was the stuff of dreams.

Spoiler:

The Alliance Fleet expects to ambush Serenity. They come right out of the nebula thingy, and 10 seconds later, and gigantic Reaver Fleet comes popping out on their tails. PWNed.

I loved the Reaver twist.

And yes, Star Wars has nothing on Serenity.

Spoiler:

River=The Anti-Reaver.

The assassin guy was great. He was Psychotic, yeah, but he was incredibly likeable. I liked his accent, for some reason.

[LtNarol]

Originally posted by Jetmech Jr.
My only gripe is that

Spoiler:

my 2 favorite characters died. Poor book. Poor Wash. That was no way for such a great character to die. The 'sudden giant spike of death' is reserved for second class characters, no poor, poor Washburne.

[/b]

I concur.

[Mefustae]

...Just got back from seeing it, and that is one well done movie, although to get a lot more out of it, at least see (download?) the first two episodes/pilot of the series, it'll give you some background that will go a long way. But it works just as well as a standalone movie...

Originally posted by Jetmech Jr.
My only gripe is that

Spoiler:

my 2 favorite characters died. Poor book. Poor Wash. That was no way for such a great character to die. The 'sudden giant spike of death' is reserved for second class characters, no poor, poor Washburne.

[/B]

I couldn't agree more...

...Honestly, my absolute favorite part of the movie...

Spoiler:

when River absolutely goes to town on several dozen Reavers with nothing but an Axe & Scimitar, and then  standing there with blood dripping of her weapons as the Alliance breaks down the wall...well, that and the Alliance/Reaver Battle of Endor...

My advice, if you haven't seen it yet...go now...

[Liberator]

going Sunday afternoon

[WMCoolmon]

Spoiler:

I loved it. I don't see what you guys are complaining about. It fit the film perfectly.

Perhaps what I was most disappointed with (but very slightly) was that Innarra(sp?) didn't really have a point in being there. Firefly has always been pretty good about giving each character some kind of distinct role...in the movie they seemed blurred a bit.

But there was a lot of stuff to put in there.

Wash dying the way he did was, well, brilliant. Whether people have seen the series or not, I think it was definitely something that made you feel. You don't expect it. It's final. It's painful. And it's not cliche'd. For me, at least, it helped set the tone of the rest of the movie.

The entire deal with the Reavers, though...very nice. Flying through the nebula, even though you know they're coming, they still jump out. Right before it happens, there's this "This is gonna be grand" feeling.

And the audience clapped, which is very rare for the movies I've seen. Nice to know that it's not just people who've watched the series that love it.

Definitely going to see it again.

Edit: OH! And something else I totally forgot about

Spoiler:

is the shot inside Serenity that lasts for a long time. You know, the night before, I was watching the 'Serenity - the 10th character' special and had heard that things were all one big set...and I couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't done something like that yet.

And the blend of the 'Universal' logo into the opening shot. And the way the credits were handled. And the opening shots of Serenity. Hell, from a filmmaking perspective, IMHO it was brilliant too.

Edit 2:

Spoiler:

One other small thing I didn't like: Mr.Universe being in the end scene with Wash and Book. It just didn't sit right with me.

[IceFire]

I'm going this afternoon...comments to follow.

[Ashrak]

I WANT TO GO TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Kazan]

A+++++ for concept
F--------- for execution

[IceFire]

Originally posted by Kazan
A+++++ for concept
F--------- for execution

I like reasons...

[IceFire]

So I saw it.  My review follows (minor slight spoliers but nothing that you wouldn't already know from the trailer).

Let me say first that I thought it was excellent.  Of the movies I've seen this year so far, this is probably the best non-comedy that I've seen.

The story and characters are definately what drives this thing.  I do feel that parts of that felt rushed, but what I suspect has happened is they wanted to bring to conclusion a story arc that really should have been seasons long and not tied up so quickly.  That said, the movie pulls things off excellently.  It was fast, very fast, but not stupid and it didn't spend time explaining things that shouldn't need to be explained (as many movies waste time doing).  Everything was important to the plot.  A few of the characters were a bit left out...this seems to happen in ensemble movies.  Kaylee and Mal are my favorites and while Mal got plenty of screen time, Kaylee got less.  But that happens.

CGI was flawless.  Excellently executed and the space battle I think was even better than this years Star Wars foray into that area.  Although the battle was short, and we didn't get to see nearly as much as I wanted, it was still fantastically done.  What I do miss is the track, pan, and zoom effect that was present in the shows CGI (and also in BSG).  I think this may not have worked as well on the film as it may have made people motion sick so I think I'll forgive that...

Best parts was that it was fun.  I've had a really bad couple of days and I still laughed through a good number of parts and I was overall entertained.

ALSO...the villan...best I've seen in a while.  You can actually identify with why he is doing what he's doing.  He's not just The Bad Guy(TM).

[Kazan]

the movie had an episodic feeling to it, it presumed that everyone had seen the series, it didn't tie up loose ends, Mr Universe felt like a gratitous character, etc

[Mefustae]

Originally posted by Kazan
the movie had an episodic feeling to it, it presumed that everyone had seen the series, it didn't tie up loose ends, Mr Universe felt like a gratitous character, etc

I'll agree, Mr. Universe was a character created - somewhat obviously - out of neccessity, but the ends were supposed to be loose, as it's going to either lead to a Sequel or a return of the Series (...Yay). Also, many of my friends are not Sci-Fi fans and had never previously heard of a series called 'Firefly', and they loved the movie and kept up with the story and characters as well as I did. Hell, i've seen a good chunk of the series, and I came out of the movie feeling like it had explained a lot more about the universe Serenity takes place in than had been explained in the Series (ie. the whole colonisation of a different system, the history behind the Alliance, the War Mal fought it, and the Reavers)...

[Kazan]

mefustae movies are supposed to tie up loose ends - only one or two are supposed to be left for sequals - not 90

[IceFire]

Originally posted by Kazan
mefustae movies are supposed to tie up loose ends - only one or two are supposed to be left for sequals - not 90

I'd have to say most of the loose ends were tied up.  A few left to go but I wouldn't exagerate on 90 loose ends

There are a few.  Like the story may continue in our imaginations or as  another movie or TV series.

There's lots of people who haven't seen the series (I had a few friends with me who hadn't seen it) and they liked it just as much as I did so it must have made sense.  It just makes more sense if you've seen the show.

[Kazan]

i saw two episodes of the show and it made enough sense for me to enough it, and i like the conept a lot

i just dislike the execution