Firefly

[Bondy007]

Anyone been watching this series, I've just watched the pilot and 1st 3 episides and it rocks!!

Wild West meets Star Wars meets Mad Max

 

[buns]

i watched it when first aired..... didnt it get cancelled or something though?

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[Bondy007]

yep it got cancelled, damm u Fox for cancelling another good show
Aparently it was commissioned after 9-11 as an "up-beat feel good" show, but as it turned out pretty gritty they (fox executives) decided to not advertise it properly and eventually moved it to the friday night death slot

But there is talk of turning it into a movie

I haven't got any of those fancy cable/sat channels so I have to download!! getting the last couple of episodes now

 

[JIimmy]

They are making a film version of Firefly. They have now renamed it Serenity due for release 2005.

 

[buns]

serenity was the name of the ship wasnt it?

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[RL123]

Yes it was. Apparently the whole cast will return apart from Book and Wash who haven't been confirmed.

 

[Bondy007]

Originally posted by buns
serenity was the name of the ship wasnt it?

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Which in turn was named after the battle of Serenity

 

[sasja]

I agree, Firefly is tv of the highest class! Especially when viewed in the correct order on dvd (Fox decided to air the second episode first, and the first last - not too smart). The huge succes of the dvd set (over 700 reviews at amazon with an average of 5/5 stars - pretty unusual for a cancelled show) has ensured the go-ahead for the movie. And you can see why - finishing the set leaves you hurting for more. Here's my own review:

Drama, action and wit - a show can't get better than this
I had my doubts about the wisdom of blending western (a genre I don't particularly fancy) with sci-fi, but as Firefly had Joss Whedon (of Toy Story, Angel and Buffy fame) at the helm I had to check it out when it became available on dvd - and I'm almost sorry I did. You get drawn into this world incredibly fast, it's over far too soon and you're left with an insatiable hunger for more. And not just me - this is one show (the only, I think) my husband and I are equally fascinated by. Here are just a few stellar aspects of this show, for those who didn't catch it on tv:

The Setting
Firefly is a small space ship, smuggling and doing odd jobs under the radar of the Alliance, the rulers of this future world. That's how the Firefly crew get to meet high and low in the different worlds. But most of the time, the ship is just traveling in the empty space between worlds, just a tiny fleck in the void. This solitude yet beauty of space is conveyed better here than in any other sci-fi series where the usual impression is that you can't turn your ship in a new direction without bumping into other space crafts or inhabited planets. It also puts the focus solidly on the interaction between the characters, which brings me to the show's strongest point.

The Characterisation
The people aboard Firefly are real people, with their strong and weak points, hopes and fears, world views and difficult decisions. Instead of self-important archetypes in colourful suits trying to save humanity from extinction by 'reversing the phase polarity of the tetrion field', you get complex and realistic characters with very present and understandable issues. The way they're disclosed to the viewer through their reactions to the different worlds Firefly visits, the problems they face and even more to each other is the show's strongest attraction, punctuated by the sparkling dialogue.

The Look
Firefly's world spans from the high tech you expect from a science fiction to the grit you know from a western and both are equally engaging and real to the watcher. The judicious use of hand held camera draws you into the world, but doesn't distract. Colours are used to great effect to signal the different worlds the crew move in - the yellow of the high noon prairie, the blue of high tech facilities and the deep empty blackness of space.

Firefly is an awesome show. I can't wait to see the movie, and my dearest hope is that the movie will spawn a series. Firefly is a thoroughly adult show with all the best things from Whedon's other shows - Buffy and Angel: The witty yet poignant dialogue, the way the characters' inner life is brought out in the main plot, the unexpected twists and turns of a great story arc. Get the dvd at your own risk - you'll be sorry when it's over!

 

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

Well I'm a Buffy fan as well as being partial to Angel when it is at it's peak. I thought Firefly was alright but not great. I watched it when it was on but if I missed an ep I wasn't angry like I would be if it was Buffy.

I just didn;t care enough about the characters and the voices of a few were too close to those of other Whedon verse characters. You could hear other characters speaking the lines in your head.

Feature film could be more like it though.

Gordon

 

[Garrett]

Originally posted by Bondy007
Anyone been watching this series, I've just watched the pilot and 1st 3 episides and it rocks!!

Wild West meets Star Wars meets Mad Max

I gave the following Head-Up on 8.5.2003

Originally posted by Garrett
Don’t forget that they are showing the very first Witchblade tonight at 8 and Firefly is on, on Monday at 8 with 2 episodes on the Sci-Fi channel.
You would have thought that the Sci-Fi channel would have put them on at better times that conflicting with Angel and Buffy tonight and Enterprise on Monday. Although those can be seem as repeats on other days.

You may have noticed two of the actors turned up in Buffy and Angel as sort of recompense for the series being cancelled.

 

[sasja]

Originally posted by Gordon @ Convergent AV
Well I'm a Buffy fan as well as being partial to Angel when it is at it's peak. I thought Firefly was alright but not great. I watched it when it was on but if I missed an ep I wasn't angry like I would be if it was Buffy.

I just didn;t care enough about the characters and the voices of a few were too close to those of other Whedon verse characters. You could hear other characters speaking the lines in your head.

Feature film could be more like it though.

Gordon

Could some of this be due to the sloppy character introduction caused by Fox postponing the real pilot? If you want to give it another shot try watching the whole series through in the right order, and maybe you'll change your mind, like this reviewer on amazon:

(...) To my shame, I saw bits of this series during its disgracefully short television run and really didn't care for it at the time. Most of the blame of course goes to the network, which stuck Firefly into an inconvenient time slot and aired the 2-hour pilot episode that establishes the premise & players as the series FINALE -- unforgivable with a show whose appeal so deeply springs from its evolving characters. Not having a feel for the people and their situations, tuning into the series left me thinking that the whole premise of the show simply revolved around the 'Wild West in Space' concept, which didn't strike me at the time as particularly clever or interesting. (...) So when Firefly was cancelled, I was only mildly disappointed.

But now, seeing the series straight through, complete and sequential, I can appreciate it for the first time, and deeply; I wish I had understood its wonderful qualities right from the start. The characters and their relationships are exceptionally rendered; the casting is perfect; the production values are top notch; the dialog with its well-timed humor is a real joy... now I'm left wanting much more! I guess I'll have to watch the series straight through again right away; I'm sure I'll pick up much more detail during a second pass. (...)

I must say I see where you're coming from with the character resemblance. One of the earlier episodes in particular, Mal was written so much like Angel it was uncanny (plus he seemed to go through some of the same dorkification that Angel underwent in season 2/3 which I wasn't a big fan of - fortunately, it didn't stick). However, any show needs to find its feet, and I think Firefly very much did in its short run.

 

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

No I watched it in right order as well. Told you I am a sad Whedon fan...but it still didn't do it for me, The mechanic girl could just as easily have been Willow most of the time.....ah well...the film should be good as Joss has some spare time on his hands now I guess.

Oh....TRU CALLING starts April on Sky!....I saw one ep of that when in US. Hopefully it gets better....I'll watch it anyway of course after all.....Eliza.....mmmmm

Gordon

 

[Bondy007]

Well done for giving us the heads up garret, I didn't realise this was a competition.

Although I haven't got the sci fi channel so have had to "source" it from other means and may well be getting the DVD's of it later

 

[Garrett]

Originally posted by Bondy007
I didn't realise this was a competition.

Did you take that the wrong way?

I was just wondered why it took sooooooooooooooo long for you to get round to watching it.

 

[Bondy007]

It took soooooooooooooooo long because I'm sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow (and my mate telling me about it was the 1st I had heard of it)

 

[Garrett]

You will have to come here more often. Pooch JD usually post some good head up's for future series about a month in advance and if he misses them I tend to do them on the day.