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Serenity is almost here!

Posted by Richard on September 25, 2005

I blogged about Joss Whedon’s first feature film, Serenity, a few weeks ago. I noted that Firefly, the short-lived TV series on which Serenity is based, had a strong libertarian streak and some rabidly loyal fans (myself included):

If you’re a fan of Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel), you know what to expect — intelligent scripts full of clever repartee, interesting and quirky characters, fine acting, and engaging storytelling. …

I can’t recommend
Firefly strongly enough, and I’m not alone. At Amazon, over 1500 customer reviews give it an average of 5 out of 5 stars. …

And of course, go see
Serenity when it comes to a theater near you at the end of the month. Talk is that if it does well, there may be two more feature films and/or a new TV series.

It’s less than a week until the Friday, Sept. 30, opening, and I may not have to wait that long — I have a chance to see it a few days earlier on Tuesday evening. If it happens, look for my review that night or the next morning. Meanwhile, check out Sara Stewart’s story in the NY Post (reg. required; use BugMeNot), which begins with a marvelous quote that tells you why some of us are such fans of Whedon:

September 25, 2005 — I’VE done it," Joss Whedon says gleefully. "I’ve made a movie where there’s a discussion about the human condition during a hovercraft chase!"

And check out the Serenity movie site (Flash version is cool, but click the HTML version if you don’t have broadband), where you can see the trailers and some clips, learn more about the film and cast, download screensavers, etc. — and buy your tickets! Here’s a poster and the synopsis of the film:

Joss Whedon, the Oscar® – and Emmy – nominated writer/director responsible for the worldwide television phenomena of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL and FIREFLY, now applies his trademark compassion and wit to a small band of galactic outcasts 500 years in the future in his feature film directorial debut, Serenity. The film centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family –squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal. 

And here’s a message from Joss that I liked:

Hi I’m Joss Whedon. Before we begin this special screening, I have a little story I want to tell you. It’s about a TV show called Firefly. Firefly went on the air a few years ago and was instantly hailed by critics as one of the most cancelled shows of the year. It was ignored and abandoned, and the story should end there. But it doesn’t, because the people who made the show and the people who saw the show—which is roughly the same number of people—fell in love with it a little bit too much to let it go, too much to lay down arms when the battle looked pretty much lost.

In Hollywood, people like that are called unrealistic, quixotic, obsessive. In my world, they’re called Browncoats. Now whether you watched the show on TV or saw the DVDs—or whether you never set foot in the Firefly universe before tonight—the fact that you’re here means that you’re part of something, something that is a little bit remarkable. This movie should not exist. Failed TV shows don’t get made into major motion pictures—unless the creator, the cast and the fans believe beyond reason. That’s what I have felt, and that’s what I have seen in the DVD sales, the booths at the cons run by fans, the web sites and the fundraisers—all the work the fans have done helped make this movie.

Believe me when I tell you that Firefly was special — and I’m sure Serenity will be special, too. With any luck, I’ll have more to say in a couple or three days. But you don’t have to wait — go ahead and make plans to see it next weekend!

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One Response to “Serenity is almost here!”

  1. zombyboy said

    “Firefly” was exceptional–and when I got to the end of the movies on DVD I was almost depressed when I realized that I wasn’t going to get to find out what happened to so many of these characters.

    I guess the only good part of cancellation is that we got a superb movie out of the whole deal.

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