DouglasRobert

Never bought the original version and never watched the TV series it's based on. Is this worth a blind buy?

MrE

Start with FIREFLY. While the movie is self-conained, it also expands & wraps up the series.

ShaunoftheDead

I've never watched the series either before I saw the movie. The movie is without a doubt one of my most re-watched movies in quite some time. That and my namesake that is.

It really is so well done. I since got the series, but the movie is much more addictive.

Shannon Nutt

Here are the official specs:

Serenity: Collector's Edition (2-disc)
MSRP: $26.98
DVD-9
Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio: Dolby 5.1, DTS, Spanish 2.0, French 2.0

Bonus Material:
- Deleted Scenes with Commentary by Joss Whedon
- Extended Scenes
- Outtakes
- Take A Walk On Serenity
- The Green Clan
- Joss Whedon Intro
- We'll Have A Fruity Oaty Good Time!
- Feature Commentary with Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau and Ron Glass
- Feature Commentary with Joss Whedon
- A Filmmaker's Journey
- Future History: The Story Of Earth That Was
- Re-lighting The Firefly
- What's In A Firefly?
- Session 416
- Sci-Fi Inside: Serenity

bboisvert

If you do a search on Firefly on these forums, I think you'll find that the general consensus is that it's one of the best blind buys in history.

Yeah, the TV show is pretty darn great (as is the movie).

DGibFen

Looks like most everything from the first disc is on this one.

resinrats

Asking on an internet board about if Firefly/Serenity worth buying is like asking if the sky is blue.

Matthew Chmiel

Not going to lie, those are some weak specs.

1. I was looking for an extended version of the film. The first two preview screenings of the film had extended scenes (which have only appeared on the R4 two-disc special edition) along with scenes that had to be trimmed for the PG-13. I thought that cut worked slightly better than the theatrical cut.

2. All of the extras from the previous release are making an appearance.

3. All of the additional extras from the R4 two-disc special edition are making an apperance with the exception of the one-hour Q&A session.

4. New commentary and the original Sci-Fi Channel documentary.

5. Was hoping for a little bit more in terms of extras... oh well...

Mr. Salty

It also adds a DTS track, which is enough for me to rebuy.

mrwilson

matthew, what extended scenes are on the R4 set that aren't on the R1? I have it but didn't notice that. Although, I don't own the R1, just the HD-DVD.

LKirven517

is there a release date for the 2-Disc Version?

Matthew Chmiel

Disc two has four extended scenes -- the major scene being had the crew watching Mal talk to Inara when she called the ship (which was in the preview screening). The other extensions include when the crew meets Fanty and Mingo and some additional material in the companion training house.

None of this footage has been seen in R1.

Well, I take that back.

Some footage from the companion training house made it's way online to promote the DVD back in 2005.

visitor Q

Usually I'm in this camp, but the DD track is pretty damn stellar on its own ... not to mention dynamic (in audio terms) and imaged quite well. It's going to be a tough sell on the rerelease. .. well, for me anyway.

And I was just a virgin on the Firefly series until about a week ago. Wow .. what an absollutely excellent series. It so makes the film more sensible. .. though, I actually find the series much stronger than the stand alone film. But at least Whedon could give out a finale considering no season 2 is on the board ... or is it????

Ranger

August 21, 2007.

Still doesn't look like I'll be double-dipping.

Mr. Salty

It isn't.

Jay G.

The specs are only weak in comparison to the R4, which isn't surprising considering that the R4 was already a 2-disc SE. The specs are extremely sweet for anyone who has only had the R1 though, and the addition of a cast commentary and DTS along with the other extras not on the R4 makes this a nice upgrade even for those with the R4.

Joss Whedon doesn't agree with you. In fact, this came up during its first release on DVD, when Universal asked Joss if he wanted to create an extended "unrated" cut for DVD and he said no, the theatrical cut is his preferred cut. Now, I'm all for extended cuts as an optional extra, but since so many people think extended cut = director's cut, that Joss is happy with the theatrical cut, and that the scenes are going to be on the disc anyway, I'm fine without it.

The Q&A was nice, but I'm not sure it's absolutely essential. Plus, it gives us with the R4 an exclusive to console us, aside from the alternate cover art and neat metal slipcase

You forgot about the "Session 416" viral videos, which are exclusive to this release as well.

The "extended scenes" are really just that, extended versions of what made it into the film. It's mostly footage that exists in the film, with a few bits of added dialogue.

For mrwilson, the extended scenes on the R4 are:

• Fanty & Mingo (2:15)
• Mal & Inara Wave (2:15)
• Mal & Operative In Companion Training House (0:49)
• Mal & Inara Shuttle Improv (0:50)

The only real new scene is a bit of improv with Mal and Inara in the shuttle that only proves how valuable scripted dialogue really is.

The extended scenes are anamorphically enhanced, which is nice. And don't get me wrong, it's cool to see what little breadcrumbs of new material are scattered throughout these versions of the scenes, but in comparison to the deleted scenes on the R1, the extended scenes are somewhat underwhelming.

This scene is in the final film as well. The extended version just adds some more dialogue between Mal and Inara.

Really minor dialogue extensions.

The scene in question, "Inara And Sheydra," made it onto the R1 DVD. The only companion training house scene exclusive to the R4 was a little more of Mal and the Operative.

chase3001

Can we hope for a day and date HD DVD release?

Josh Z

There really isn't enough new content to compel an HD DVD re-release. The movie almost certainly won't be getting a new transfer, and the DD+ track on the HD DVD is already better than any DTS you'll get on DVD. The cast commentary track and couple of new featurettes offer no benefit from High Definition.

tylergfoster

I thought Whedon named some other specific features (including those deleted/extended scenes) that were gonna make it onto this version. Where did that speclist come from?

EvlAsh

I just hope Universal sticks with a 2-disc release and doesn't change it to a DVD-18 at the 11th hour, like they did with "Mallrats"

B5Erik

Even if the theatrical cut is Joss' preferred cut, I can't see double-dipping for the same version of the film. They really should have offered both the theatrical cut and an extended version to make this worth buying.

I'll probably pass.

Matthew Chmiel

As Josh said, the HD-DVD already has a Dolby Digital Plus track which is far superior to regular DTS on a DVD.

As much as I love the man, he may be wrong. The first two preview screenings were simply more intense and engaging than what was in the final theatrical cut. When we're introduced to The Operative, there was more blood and intense sound effects to the mix. The first battle between Mal and The Operative was a little bit longer (with additional sound effects). Then of course, the final battle had footage that had to be trimmed to get the PG-13 (such as the sword going right through Mal's body -- unlike the theatrical cut where it's only implied, alternate shots of the reaper slicing Zoe's back, Simon getting shot was more in detail, a specific character's death, etc). The preview screenings made the third act feel like a motherfucking free for all in which anything could happen at any time. That was a feeling that I fucking dug and as much as I love the movie, was sorely missing from the theatrical cut. Granted I saw the film three times before there was even a final cut -- but what can you do? Universal is amazing at milking the cash cow for all it's worth and it's upsetting that they couldn't go back and make a more extreme cut that was present at the test and preview screenings.

But a bunch of featurettes that barely run a few minutes are? The Q&A is interesting and the people who can't get the R4 set should be able to see it as well.

Not really a big deal since there were only a few of them.

Panda Phil

Oh and in case you missed it, that'd be a YES! I picked up Firefly as a blind buy and just fell in love with it. Wonderfully fun and entertaining show. Just be sure to pace yourself. I made the mistake of marathoning it and was really bummed when I suddenly realized I was on the last disk.
And just think of Serenity as a two hour final episode. (for now at least)

It's on sale fairly often at places like Amazon, so you might be able to catch it for $20.

Snowmaker

I may have to ponder this double dip.

Jay G.

You might as well point out that the HD DVD has 1080p video, which is far superior to the 480i on a DVD. Obviously anyone with the HD DVD isn't going to be looking to this release for better quality video or audio. My pointing out of the DTS was as an advantage over the existing DVDs, which would be of interest to anyone who hasn't bought into HD DVD yet.

Of course he may be. Directors often can make mistakes, as anyone who has seen a Director's Cut with a questionable change can attest to. However, I think it's better to defer to a director than to the studio heads looking to milk more money from a movie. Like I said before, I have no problem with an extended/unrated cut being made available as an option, but if Joss doesn't want even that to occur, I'm not going to get too upset about it.

I got that feeling from the theatrical cut too. It may have been slightly reduced in violence, but not in intensity. Having only seen the theatrical cut, I'm fine with the level of violence and don't really care that I'm missing out on more violent material that was cut, since I don't want more violence just for the sake of more violence, but if it's proper for the story.

Also, you don't know if the violence cut was for the express purpose of earning a PG-13, or if Joss did it before ratings considerations were even made.

That's kind of the point: what you were seeing was a work in progress. Movies go through these changes all the time, they're just not typically as visible as these were. While you list all the "negative" changes made to the film from preview to theatrical releases, there were undoubtedly some positive changes made as well

Well, I don't want to have to sit down and rate all the extras, but I'd say that "A Filmmaker's Journey" is at least one extra being included here that's more essential. It's hard to say why the Q&A is not included here, whether rights issues or space issues or what. If it is space issues, probably eliminating all the featurettes that "barely run a few minutes" wouldn't add up to the amount of space needed for the Q&A.

Another interesting theory came to me as I watched part of it the other day, and I noticed that there's a part where Joss and audience sing "Happy Birthday" to an audience member. Now, in Australia, from what I can tell, the copyright to that song has expired by now, but in the US Universal would have to pay royalties on that song if they included the extra.

No disagreement there, although its lack of inclusion isn't going to stop me from purchasing this set, and I don't think anyone else should not purchase this set based solely on that missing extra.

There were five of the viral videos, totally almost 8 minutes of original dramatic material, featuring one of the characters and actresses from the show, as well as the director in one of his few acting roles! I really cannot see how any fan of the series or movie could just dismiss these videos as "not really a big deal."