I finally watched it last night. I enjoyed it. I watched the tv series in full (which is a rare occasion since i usually pass on tv) and thought it was a fun little show. Movie was put together real well, and finished the story off well. Not even close to favorite of the year, but a good watch.

I've watched this four times now (once in the theater, 3 times on DVD) and I love it. Love. It.

Just saw it, all i can say is "wow".

Serenity is awesome!!!

Finally got around to renting this. I enjoyed it, not the greatest, but it was entertaining. I've never really followed any of Whedon's other creations, including the Firefly series, and I don't know if this was enough to convert me, but I may check out the whole series now.

One thing I recognized while watching this, Universal had no idea how to market this movie.

I watched both the "Firefly" series and "Serenity" yesterday and all I can say is that I was really pleased with the series and the movie. I wish I would have bought the series sooner.

I'm happy the way "Serenity" finished off the series, tying up the loose ends of the series while creating other plotlines.

for "Firefly" and "Serenity".

you watched them all in one day?

thats like, a lot of time.

Been a big fan of the series and movie for a while, but quite simply you hit it on the head. It wasnt that the movie wasnt marketed, but that it was marketed poorly. When I first saw the preview I was excited because I had seen the show and wanted to see it, but I also thought a what a poor job the trailer did getting across the tone of the movie to people who knew nothing about it. Oh well. Just my piece.

I just might have to track down Firefly and get it since I've heard so many good things. I might have goofed but I rented Serenity and watched it first.....perhaps that's why I was a little lost at first

Overall though without seeing the series I thought the movie was very good.

Yup. Had the day off and it was well worth it IMO.

Even better news: 'Serenity' is on the list as one of the first batch of blu-ray titles Universal is issuing!

I get to re-buy it again in just a few months!

Would it be too optimistic to hope that theyll take this oppportunity to use half-decent cover art?

(also, ummmm, when's the Buffy "Chosen Collection" being reissued in hi-def?)

I am re-watching all of the Firefly episodes this week in preparation to watch the Serenity DVD I got for Christmas. My wife and I finally got around to watching it in the theater at the tale end of it's release (despite wanting to go opening night) and I regretted not re-watching the TV episodes.

I hadn't watched the TV episodes since I got that box set a couple years ago for that Christmas. I still think it's a damn fine show and that it got screwed by Fox. It's one of the few shows that I can watch attentively from start to finish despite seeing them before and knowing the stories and such. I was actually able to find the back issues of the Serenity prequel comic series at a local shop and look forward to reading those as well. Hell, I'll probably end up bidding on props and such on Ebay before it's over. I'm hooked the same way my wife was hooked on Buffy & Angel.

I thought the series was brilliant. But I was disappointed in the movie, which I just saw on DVD a couple of nights ago. The movie was a nice popcorn summer action sci-fi flick, but with none of the spirit and character interaction that made the series so great.

Universal is releasing Serenity on HD-DVD not Blu-ray in March of '06. Universal is only supporting HD-DVD (for now I guess).

I know what you mean but i wouldn't say there was none of the spirit and character interaction. It was just a little more spaced out because there was so much story to work through. There are some really great character scenes, especially near the end.

I watched Serenity on DVD after missing it when it was in the theaters.

I really enjoyed it. I've watched sections of it over again and worked my way through all the special features including Joss Whedon's feature commentary. In the process, I've thoroughly abused Blockbuster's "No Late Fee" policy.

There were a couple of effects shots that looked a bit cheesy but overall they did an excellent job with a limited budget. (The effects that come to mind are Serenity's landing gear extension on a planet landing and the obvious crane-held feel of some parts of the mule chase scene.)

I thought they did a good job bringing people up to speed on the various characters but you can only do so much in two hours. One of the nice things about the Firefly series is that they were able to take their time in providing background on the characters.

At the same time, I felt that they backtracked on some of the character development so that they could plow some of the same ground in the feature film. Firefly seemed to end with a "We are Family" theme while Serenity seemed to have a "Maybe we're not a family right now but we will be within two hours" theme. But things like this might be difficult to avoid in order to put a feature film together.

I do like the fact that they finished up some of the Firefly plot lines.

Here's one recommendation on watching Serenity at home. If you have a surround sound system, make good use of it. The first time through we limited the volume so as not to rattle sleeping children out of their beds. In re-watching some of the scenes with our surround system fully engaged, the audio improvement was jaw dropping. The "Trigger" fight scene and the final battle near the blast doors were especially excellent.

I'll be buying a copy of Serenity along with Firefly.

Bob

I felt that way too. Especially how Mal and Simon interacted in the beginning. On one hand, they probably felt they needed to give newbies some background. On the other hand, I'm wondering if I missed something in between the series and the movie that was covered in the comic books.

Yes, the interactions between Mal and Simon were definitely "off" relative to how Firefly ended. That's a very good example of the disconnect.

Also does anyone know why the Firefly theme song wasn't used in Serenity?

Bob

IIRC, the song plays during the closing credits.

The play between Mal and Simon is "off" to show how "off" things have become with the crew. Book is gone. So is Inara. Now Simon & River are leaving. The air is much different from what it was at the end of the series. So it's not surprising to see the whole situation not sitting well with Mal when people he would consider family are gone or are considering to leave.

Plus it'd be boring to see nothing change. You need the arc.

To add to that:

It is a very subtle acoustic guitar solo, in a different key and slower tempo than the original. It finishes off the end credits after a suite of David Newman's score that played throughout.

At first, I had to rewind the DVD just to make sure I was really hearing it.

Thanks,

Yes, I thought I heard an acoustic version somewhere during the film. I'll look for that after I buy the DVD. I guess I expected the Firefly version with the vocalist at some point.

Bob

And thanks also to TimeandTide

I agree that an arc is needed.

A sequel to Serenity is also needed where certain characters are resurrected.

Bob

I'd guess the rights to the song are still owned by Fox.

That's an interesting idea. Although you might think that Whedon would have those rights since he wrote the song.

Bob