Serenity NOW!

[Kinoko]

Christ, guys. You got me all interested in this movie then you keep mentioning Buffy and Angel. I mean, are you promoting this thing or what? If so, keep quiet about those other pukey shows ^_^

If this movie is like Buffy, I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to pass.

[Janik]

My brother-in-law told me repeatedly while it was on that Firefly was a good show, but I never got around to watching it, and then it got cancelled

A month or so ago the Space channel (a Sci-fi channel here in Canada) ran a "Joss-athon" with all the Firefly episodes, and I caught several. Now I know why everyone who saw Firefly while it was on lamented its cancellation. It was very entertaining. It's a western - in space!!! 

I will definitely see the movie...

[Vince Twelve]

I really wish people would stop branding this show with "From the creator of Buffy and Angel" because that turns off a huge audience (myself included).  Buffy had a huge following, but from the two or so episodes I had seen, I couldn't stand it.  I almost let my distaste for the creator's previous work prevent me from ever seeing this show.  But I'm glad I eventually came around and tried out Firefly, because it's fantastic.

So, from someone who didn't like Buffy or Angel, rest assured, this show is a different beast.

And I think the marketing (both commercial and grassroots) organizations would quit relying on "from the creator of Buffy" because it really is driving away just about everyone who isn't already part of said grassroots marketing organization.

[Kweepa]

Buffy was a fantastically popular show, so using "from the creator of" really only turns off the small number of people who tried and didn't like Buffy/Angel. I'd say it was more of an asset than an albatross.

I watched the film last night and it exceeded my expectations - I was hoping for at least an extended episode. I liked it a lot.

[Las Naranjas]

Try adding "From one of the writers of Toy Story" then, who doesn't like Toy Story?

You could also mention Alien Ressurection, but that inspires strong emotions in people as well for some reason.

But then again, who doesn't like Buffy, although Angel is crap.

[Snarky]

Eh, for a different point of view, here's a copy of a post I made to the AG Forums:

The universally good reviews make it tempting to go see Serenity, but I could never figure out what was so great about Firefly. I felt it had some of the blandest characters ever in a sci-fi show, awkward "cowboy style" dialogue mixed with awkward interjections of Chinese and awkward fake swearwords, and some extremely questionable casting (Nathan Fillion? Gimme a break!). Overall, it showed a remarkable lack of ambition in its scope.

I didn't have patience for more than a couple of episodes when it originally aired, and giving it a second look in advance of the movie it compares extremely unfavorably with Battlestar Galactica.

[Vince Twelve]

Doesn't everything compares unfavorably with Battlestar?  The first season of BSG was one of the best seasons of anything ever.  However, the second season felt a lot more loose, disjointed, and slow.  I would say that Firefly (which is really a completely different kind of SciFi... like apples and space oranges) as a whole was more entertaining than the second season of Battlestar.  In my opinion anyway.

[MillsJROSS]

Arguing which show, Battlestar Galactica (the new one) or Firefly, won't get anyone anywhere. They're both entertaining. I enjoy'd Firefly a bit more, but not enough more to make that much of a difference. Anyway, we all know Babylon 5 was the best scifi show on tv.

I saw the movie, and to me, it was pure entertainment. I enjoyed the little references to the show from time to time, and  the movie had me on the edge of my seat.

As far as branding Joss Whedon with Buffy and Angel, I believe they were fairly popular shows. I myself didn't watch them while they aired because I thought the whole premise of the shows were silly. But someone sat me down and forced me to watch some of them, and I got hooked. If they weren't your cup of tea, that's fine, but there's probably a bigger fanbase for those shows than Serenity/Firefly.

-MillsJROSS

[Potch]

Yes, as a fan of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, I will say that Firefly is nothing like Buffy and Angel, save for the same witty dialog and compelling story telling.

INcidently, in defense of Buffy and Angel, I have gotten no less than 25 people hooked on the shows, many of which had seen one or two episodes, thought they were dumb, and said they hated them.  ONce they watched the show from the getgo, and saw how she stories and characters evolved over time, they actually loved the show.  Just recently I got a friend hooked on the show.  My friend is a writer, and despises television.  He basically thinks that all television is the devil.  I loaned him the first two seasons of Buffy, and after a few episodes, he was hooked.   ANyway, sorry to go off on a tangent.  I have to defend what I think is one of the best written shows of all time. :-)

[Snarky]

I think it's meaningful to compare Battlestar and Firefly because BG shows up the way Firefly pulls its punches in all aspects of the show.

And Battlestar's season two isn't over yet. It's only on a mid-season break. Though not as tight as season one, I think it's still parsecs ahead of Firefly.

[Sam.]

Sudden thought:
Anyone else in the North West UK interested in this? If so, do you fancy arranging an AGS outing to go see?

yes me! it can be a team hasselhoff outing too!

[Redwall]

I think it's meaningful to compare Battlestar and Firefly because BG shows up the way Firefly pulls its punches in all aspects of the show.

And Battlestar's season two isn't over yet. It's only on a mid-season break. Though not as tight as season one, I think it's still parsecs ahead of Firefly.

Certainly "Pegasus" was, though I think episodes like "Final Cut" and "Flight of the Phoenix" were pretty weak.

Also, yeah, Firefly. Sweet.

[Vince Twelve]

But BSG takes its self very seriously.  It's serious sci-fi.  Firefly is just meant to be a fun romp.  You can't really say that it pulls its punches just because it doesn't have robots getting raped.

On a side note, Gaius Baltar is a more interesting character than any on Firefly.  I love that guy.  I just wish he would get more screen time.

[Snarky]

Firefly-heads have been going on about how the characters are so badass and anti-heroic, pushing people into jet engines and what have you. But by way of contrast with BSG, it's plain to see that they are extremely conventional, vanilla-flavored good guys.

As for the lack of robot rape, I think that kind of things was what they were going for with the Reavers. Unfortunately, the cannibalistic barbarians of Firefly aren't nearly as scary as the ""good guys in BSG.

Yes, Firefly is more of a fun romp, but it has pretensions of substance. It doesn't usually fulfill them.

I'm a big fan of Joss Whedon's other work, but Firefly left me cold. Partly it may just be that it's not what I look for in a science fiction story (my tastes have always run towards literary science fiction more than lightweight sci-fi), but I also think that there are major problems with the execution (the writing and the acting).

[MillsJROSS]

I think what Firefly represents is just pure entertainment. I don't believe there's any substance, nor does there have to be. Maybe it's just me, but when I watch tv shows, I don't necessarily always wants substance. I think what Firefly does bring, though, is witty dialog. Yeah, the characters are conventional...but so what? They're entertaining, and I find the acting to be just fine.

As far as BSG's concern I watched a good bit of the episodes when they showed them all together before the second season, but have had no inclination to watch further. They were good shows, but to me it's a bit too much dramaish. The characters had depth, but the show was like "Hey, look at me, my characters have depth," and just pummeled me with it for the whole show.

But we could probably argue and argue, and our oppinions of Firefly and BSG wouldn't change. But those who haven't seen the movie, go and watch it and form your own oppinions.

-MillsJROSS

[Ashen]

There were two films out this year I was really looking forward to this year, Serenity and Hitchhikers Guide. With Hitchhikers, every new thing I heard made me more nervous ("They've cast who?", "What new character now?", "Well, that's not what Marvin looks like," etc), but the final film,  I really enjoyed.
Serenity, everything seemed good - same cast, same crew, all positive reviews coming out, I went in with hopes high - and I was distinctly underwhelmed. Not that is wasn't good - it was, very - it was probably just the victim of my high expectations. The first niggle was in the first few minutes, when they flat contradicted something that had been set up since the very first episode (a minor something, and I can see why they did it, but it set my inner geek on edge). (I won't post spoilers - if you spotted it, you spotted it, and if you didn't, it doesn't matter. PM me if you're really that geeky.)

Another thing was, it was a little too ... big for me. Something I liked about Firefly was it was smaller stories - not save the world/unvierse/human race, not destroy the evil empire, just find a job, look after your crew, and keep flying. Again, I can see why that would necesarily work for a film, especially one that wanted to attract new fans, but I thought it was a let down.

Did I like Serenity? Yes, a lot. Did I love it? No. Would I recommend you just go see the damn film and make up your own mind? Yes, absolutely, and I'll almost certainly go see it again before passing final judgement. (And I still want them to make more films - Firefly at less-than-its-best is still a shitload better than most stuff out there.)

Oh, and on the subject of BSG (I've avoided comment 'til now since, while my friends know how to react to me flinging random abuse, people on the 'net might get the wrong idea): While I agree with Mills that the two aren't totally comparable, you could pretty much take everything Snarky has said, reverse it and get my opinion on the subject. I liked the BSG mini-series and really wanted to like the series, but stopped watching after a few episodes in sheer boredom, and have never really been able to get into it since.

[Scummbuddy]

Im about to get the season one dvds from blockbuster, but can anyone tell me when the movie fits in the timeline, or if it does at all?

I REALLY enjoyed the movie. I had high hopes and was very much happy when it was all done with. I really hope my 10 bucks helps get me another two movies. I want to see more from the cast, and luckily, I have a whole season to watch.

[Snarky]

The movie is set after the end of the series, by a few months, maybe a year. There are a couple of inconsistencies between the show and the movie, mainly some changes to the backstory in order to tell the story more clearly, but other than that it fits into the same timeline.

Yeah, even though I didn't like Firefly, I did go and see Serenity. I didn't like that either.

[chapter11studios]

Snarky, I think it's great you gave Serenity a try, even though you didn't like Firefly. Gotta commend you for that. Of course, I think Serenity's the best scifi adventure movie of the--well, ever, actually.

[Kinoko]

Wow, you people that said it's the best sci-fi adventure... I have to wonder just many sci-fis you've actually seen/read.

I just saw Serenity. It was one of the only things I wanted to see this year, and boy was it one of the hugest disappointments I've had this year too (and heck, I came to Japan!).

Sorry but it was Buffy ALL over, with some Angel thrown in for good measure, and then dusted off with 'Friends'. Then someone coated it in the essence of Evenesence (however that band's name is spelt).

It was somewhat entertaining, but I kept waiting for it to take off and it -never- did. The dialogue made me want to strangle the characters. The dialogue was like watching an episode of Friends ... but in Space. The characters were ... and I don't bitch about this sort of thing a lot because I usually find people say it for the hell of it without really considering whether it was such a bad thing ... but it was so cliched. The characters, the plot, the dialogue. The story wasn't interesting at all!

One thing that struck me was that they put a lot of dead ends into the movie. What was the point of the girl again? It seemed like she went the whole movie just for that last scene which was... well, what was even the point, besides a blurry fight scene? Seems like the movie was over before all that happened.

I could go on, but yeah... dis-a-ppoint-ment. It was okay, but not worth seeing again. I'm just glad I didn't waste any money seeing it (or too much time downloading it!).