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I just saw the first episode of Firefly...

post #1 of 44
Thread Starter 
and I can't wait to delve into the rest of this short series. I rented the first disc at Hollywood and I am seriously considering buying the set. I understand why you Firefly fans are so rabid over these episodes....they just have the "IT" factor.

I once was lost but now I am SHINY!!!!



BTW: This little blurb off of Target.com best describes the series, IMHO.

Quote:
After you've seen all 14 episodes of Firefly contained in this smartly packaged DVD set, you'll be begging for more. The sad irony is, series creator Joss Whedon's ambitious science-fiction Western (Whedon's third series after Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) was canceled after only eleven of these 14 produced episodes had aired on FOX, and its demise was woefully premature. Whedon's generic hybrid suffered an inaugural setback when network executives preferred an action-packed one-hour premiere ("The Train Job") over the intended two-hour pilot "Serenity" (oddly enough, the final episode aired), which provides a better introduction to the show's concept and splendid ensemble cast. Obsessive fans may debate the quirky, semi-fallible logic of combining spaceships with direct parallels to frontier America (it's 500 years in the future, and embattled humankind has expanded into the galaxy, where undeveloped "outer rim" planets struggle with the equivalent of Old West accommodations), but Whedon and his gifted co-writers and directors make it work, at least well enough to fashion a credible context from the incongruous culture-clashing of past, present, and future technologies, along with a polyglot language (the result of two dominant superpowers) that combines English with an abundance of Chinese slang.

What makes it work is Whedon's delightfully well-chosen cast and their nine subtly-developed characters (a typically Whedon-esque extended family), each providing a unique perspective on their adventures aboard Serenity, the junky but beloved "Firefly-class" starship they call home. As a veteran of the disadvantaged Independent faction's war against the all-powerful planetary Alliance (think of it as Underdogs vs. Overlords), Serenity captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) leads his compact crew on a quest for survival. They're renegades with an amoral agenda, taking any job that pays well, but Firefly's complex tapestry of right and wrong (and peace vs. violence) is richer and deeper than it first appears. By the time we've gathered tantalizing clues about Blue Sun (an insidious mega-corporation with an as-yet mysterious agenda), its ties to the Alliance, and the traumatizing use of Serenity's resident stowaway as a guinea pig in the development of advanced warfare, it's painfully clear that Firefly was heading for exciting revelations that never came to pass. Fortunately, Whedon was developing a Firefly movie as this DVD set was being released in January 2004, so the ultimate fate of Serenity's crew remains to be seen. In the meantime, these 14 episodes (and enjoyable bonus features) offer everything you'd expect from the creator of Buffy: action, drama, humor, hints of romance, suspense, fine acting, film-quality direction, dazzling special effects, and ample proof that Fox made a glaring mistake in canceling the series.
Just call me a Browncoat recruit ready to serve.

BUT....I still hate Angel and Buffy. Sorry folks, one out of 3 ain't bad in this case.
post #2 of 44
Savor watching the series for the first time. You can't get the first time back. You'll want more but damn Fox. Just 245 days till the movie.
post #3 of 44
Even with the movie coming out, I find watching the show to be bittersweet.
post #4 of 44
Welcome to a great ride.
post #5 of 44
Must......resist...watching...............show.... .......

Ahh hell i'll pick it up when my job resumes and I get the paychecks coming in.

Sci-fi western!?
post #6 of 44
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darth_Chocula
Sci-fi western!?
Y'know, like STAR WARS. Or WESTWORLD. Or GALAXINA.
post #7 of 44
Yeah Star Wars roots do lay in the western........

I haven't seen Westworld yet, tempted too since I finally found out what that bit from the simpsons was from....where Skinner is tracking Bart and Bart cuts the bridge..........when I was young I thought Terminator for some reason............but dammit, I must see Westworld.
post #8 of 44
Thread Starter 
I think what worked for me in this regard is that I was this:

I was home sick and began watching alot of Sci-Fi to pass the time (BSG, SG1, DW re-runs). Then mY friend and I jumped to a couple of good westerns when he came by (Magnificent Seven, High Noon, Good Bad and the Ugly). So, when I hit this up for some knowledge, it was like "Holy crap! It's two genres that I love...COMBINED!!!"

And the marriage began! Long Live Serenity!

And Anara (sp) is very HOT!!!!
post #9 of 44
I was lent the set and saw it for the first time a few days ago. I think I watched a disc a night. It's pretty incredible. I was introduced to the Whedon'verse back in November and now I own all seven seasons of Buffy, three seasons of Angel, and going to be finishing it up with Firefly. Too bad about that cancelation - just goes to prove that Fox executives have no soul whatsoever. "Numfar, do the dance of sorrow..."
post #10 of 44
Well, considering the show is sort of like the Adventures of Young Han Solo, I'd say any well-rounded (taste-wise) sci-fi fan can jump into Firefly and enjoy it. Wait until you get into the later discs....
post #11 of 44
"Our Mrs. Reynolds" and "Jaynestown" are brilliance, particularly the latter in the way it takes a fairly comedic approach to a pretty complex idea and yet makes it dramatic. Great, heady stuff.

As for me, it's well known around here that I'm a super-Whedon fanboy. I think Firefly is the best thing he's done yet.
post #12 of 44
Oh boy. 'Out of Gas,' 'Ariel,' and 'Objects in Space' are gonna knock your socks off. I'm also really partial to 'The Message.'

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rath/Brendan
As for me, it's well known around here that I'm a super-Whedon fanboy. I think Firefly is the best thing he's done yet.
While I think Angel is Whedon's strongest work purely because it lasted five seasons (and got better as it went along), Firefly was easily Whedon's strongest start. To see it have a 22-episode season, arc and all... boy, that would've been brilliance.
post #13 of 44
Shit rented.
post #14 of 44
Consider yourself lucky that you get to see them for the first time IN ORDER, not all out of sequence as when it aired.
*sigh* fucking Fox.
post #15 of 44
Can someone explain how their guns work? There's no hammer yet they make that noise from when you pull back on it.

the first episode just keeps going and going....and it's great.

"Anyone makes one move i'll..."
*BLAM*
post #16 of 44
I too wonder how the guns work. They look like contemporary weapons yet make a typical futuristic weapon "blast" when fired. What do they use as bullets and why contemporary weapons?

Not that I really care, the show is fucking awesome regardless.
post #17 of 44
I too love this series. I haven't been able to watch it too much lately, because I become absolutely obsessive dreaming about plot twists and character development. I was planning on watching the series again in late March...but now I am going to resist and wait until September.

My latest craze has been buying the series as presents for the most unlikely viewers. I have yet to meet one that has not been impressed.
post #18 of 44
I always assumed that the guns fired metal-based bullets using advanced technology, with lasers or shit. Kind of like how the Star Wars blasters fire laser slugs or the Star Trek phasers did.
post #19 of 44
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darth_Chocula
"Anyone makes one move i'll..."
*BLAM*
That was what made me fall in love with this series. He shot the fucking horse.
post #20 of 44
i'm on episode 3 where they go in the ghost ship.......

That was awesome when he kicks that guy into the turbine......

when he was making that dramatic speech I just sat there going

"Huh, I guess he's going to be tracking them down during the seaso*ZZZZZZZZZZZT*..............nope"

Lovin' it, rented the whole series, each rental has two discs so it was a matter of picking up both as well as the movie Devin assigned to the movie club thread.

uh oh, they found human remains.........
post #21 of 44
I too was introduced to this series recently via rental. And i love it. I've been a buffyverse fan from the beginning (especially Angel, which was the greatest show in television history in my opinion), but never caught this while it was on the air. I always though the ads made it look kinda silly and it was on at a bad time for me. But i recently thought of giving it a chance and haven't regreted it since. I'm looking forward to the movie.
post #22 of 44
Be sure to take the time to listen to the commentaries, or at least the one for the pilot. They are all fairly informative, funny with a touch a of bitterness and sadness.
post #23 of 44
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rath/Brendan
That was what made me fall in love with this series. He shot the fucking horse.
That scene and the line in my sig made me go out and buy this boxset.

That's right, I OWN IT!!! ALL 14 SHINY EPISODES!!!!

And Joss Whedon singing his own song on the extras....I haven't seen it yet, but that sounds funny.
post #24 of 44
Quote:
Originally Posted by JuddL
I too wonder how the guns work. They look like contemporary weapons yet make a typical futuristic weapon "blast" when fired. What do they use as bullets and why contemporary weapons?
They have laser weapons, but it's made clear in one episode that the hand-held lasers are too expensive to own and maintain. In the episode "Heart of Gold" the hand held laser is shown and portrayed very realistically (unlike a Star Wars laser, in which you can "see" it's motion, a real laser will appear "on" then "off"). Even Alliance hand weapons are based some sort of sonic blaster. Bullets are far cheaper, (although the crew does get low on bullets too, from time to time), and like horses, it's easier to dump settlers on planets with low-tech guns then arm them with lasers. Serenity does not have laser cannons (as far as we know), but the Alliance ships do. I think this approach is more realistic and a refreshing change from the "ZAP ZAP" lasers in Sci-Fi.
post #25 of 44
Mal: You know, they say mercy is the mark of a great man.
[Slightly stabs the man]
Mal: Guess I'm just a good man.
[stabs him again]
Mal: Well, I'm all right.

I have to buy this now.

EDIT: WITCHBURNINGS IN 2500!

The mind explodes at the introduction of the thought.....

Wild and Crazy guy: She's a witch!
Mal: But she's our witch *Readys shotgun* so cut her the hell down!
post #26 of 44
Just delving into this series again myself after catching the series when it aired on sci fi.

The DVDs are so nice to have but their is so much sadness on show with regards to the extras and commentaries...

Just finished watching episode 3 and I forgot about the guy reavering himself up....very freaky. I do think we need some novelisations doing pronto just so that the story can be continued as I have a suspicion the movie isn't going to answer too many questions.

Firefly the series also got mauled at 'Television without Mercy'

Kinda painful to see really

Firefly Mauling
post #27 of 44
I popped in because I'm considering purchasing the DVD. Geuss I will.

HOWEVER, its not "Television Without Mercy" its Television Without Pity. Also, they didn't "maul" the show. If you look at the premise of the site - AND the boards AND the fact that networks consider it a good thing to get ep recaps on TWOP, the site is meant to be sarcastic. From their FAQ:

"Our mandate is, more or less, to give people a place to revel in their guilty televisual pleasures. In most cases, we have a complex love/hate relationship with the show, and this site is a way for us to work through those feelings. If we plain hated a show, we wouldn't pay it any attention at all. (Becker, are your ears burning?)"

I'm a huge supporter of TWOP and hate when people take their snark at face value.
post #28 of 44
Prala, the show's like chocolate, please buy it.

[snark]Anara's hot? When did that happen?[/snark]
post #29 of 44
Quote:
Originally Posted by prala is just for jk
I popped in because I'm considering purchasing the DVD. Geuss I will.

HOWEVER, its not "Television Without Mercy" its Television Without Pity. Also, they didn't "maul" the show. If you look at the premise of the site - AND the boards AND the fact that networks consider it a good thing to get ep recaps on TWOP, the site is meant to be sarcastic. From their FAQ:

"Our mandate is, more or less, to give people a place to revel in their guilty televisual pleasures. In most cases, we have a complex love/hate relationship with the show, and this site is a way for us to work through those feelings. If we plain hated a show, we wouldn't pay it any attention at all. (Becker, are your ears burning?)"

I'm a huge supporter of TWOP and hate when people take their snark at face value.
And yet oddly I don't see the joke or point of the site. FireFly was one of the most critically well received shows of the year when it was released so how could it be classed as a guilty pleasure....

Also it doesn't really help the shows reputation when the site is the third hit from a google search and goes onto single out every little niggle in the show...

On other news, just finished watching Jaynestown and to be perfectly honest it is something of a weak link so far. While not terrible it certainly isn't as entertaining as Shindig, or just as good as Bushwack'd.
post #30 of 44
TWOP reviews shows like West Wing and ER and Gilmore Girls, all enormously acclaimed shows. "Spare the snark, spoil the network," as they say.

Not to mention that they're often laugh out loud funny.
post #31 of 44
But I don't understand why they are snarky.......

Spare the snark, spoil the network is all well and good, but all it does is put people off of seeing shows which you could class as being 'good'.

Maybe I'm too set in my ways to understand this revolutionary mindset.

An example

Quote:
Blah blah "used up" blah blah blah.

We open in yet another dusty, smoke-filled bar with Chinese lanterns as decorations. I bet they just used the bar set from "The Train Job" and shot it from a different angle.
This is not constructive criticism what so ever. They are just pointing out the fact that TV shows have a limited budget......also the reviewer seems fixated on the western speak for no real reason.
post #32 of 44
"The adventures of young Han Solo."

Y'know, I really like that description. A friend pressed these disks into my hands several months ago, and I enjoyed them far more than I'd expected. They're fun & inventive, & they're worth watching if only to see the guy from Barney Miller trade quips with the guy from My Bodyguard.

And Mal would definitely shoot Greedo first.
post #33 of 44
Finished watching the set, I think my very favorite episode has to be where Mal and Wash get captured and they get into an argument while being tortured.....

Gotta pick it up ow, just too good, disc 3 has my favorite episodes.
post #34 of 44
"Screw you!"
"Get in line."

SHOCK.
post #35 of 44
Disc 3 is rather significant with the good episodes I will give it that.....

Out of Gas, Ariel and War Stories are (if my memory serves me) some of my favourite episodes. Although the Message is pretty cool, and objects in space would be good if it wasn't so damn depressing (what with it being the last episode and all)..
post #36 of 44
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raiftel
But I don't understand why they are snarky.......

Spare the snark, spoil the network is all well and good, but all it does is put people off of seeing shows which you could class as being 'good'.
You're not supposed to read TWOP to find out if you want to watch these shows--you're supposed to read them after you see the episode. It makes the summaries that much funnier, because you have a frame of reference.
post #37 of 44
and another thing ...

As a pilot, I usually find the portrayal of pilots in film & tv to be rather annoying. Flying can be hard work. When you're doing something challenging, you don't have time to squirm around, crack wise, or shout "Yahoo!"

When Serenity's pilot is working, he's really working. Sure he has to drama things up a little, since it is entertainment, but he's one of the few onscreen pilots who actually comes across like someone who really drives planes for a living.

I like that.
post #38 of 44
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankCobretti
and another thing ...

As a pilot, I usually find the portrayal of pilots in film & tv to be rather annoying. Flying can be hard work. When you're doing something challenging, you don't have time to squirm around, crack wise, or shout "Yahoo!"

When Serenity's pilot is working, he's really working. Sure he has to drama things up a little, since it is entertainment, but he's one of the few onscreen pilots who actually comes across like someone who really drives planes for a living.

I like that.
Aside from the glacial chase in 'The Message' where he just goes a little psycho and does all the cliche pilot things....

I am now starting to see the point of TWOP, I don't really do geek love, but for some ungodly reason I have become the archetypal fanboy for Firefly....
post #39 of 44
I agree that disc 3 is my favorite.

War Stories is just fantastic writing all around. Well, it s all good all around, but some of my faovrite moments....

Kaylee's intro in Out of Gas was so good.

Mal's talk with Jayne in the airlock at the end of Ariel.

My favorite thing about Firefly: Almost everyone who goes into it expecting meh, ends up pleasantly surprised.
post #40 of 44
I am delving through the episode on DVD now (after enjoying Serenity), and all I can say is "damn you FOX, damn you to hell!"

Ariel, IMHO, is one of the five finest sci/fi television episodes I have ever seen, and easily in the top twenty of television shows, ever.

Out of Gas and War Stories, also brilliant.

Why was this show cancelled? I'm almost wishing I've never heard of it.
post #41 of 44
I love them all, but I will never get over Jaynestown. It is too good. I could watch the expressions from the rest of the crew and Jayne himself over and over and over again.
post #42 of 44
I really won't be too surprised if Whedon decides to make TV movie sequels to this franchise just like he plans on doing with the Buffy/Angel series. I guess this franchises future depends on DVD sales now.
post #43 of 44
Quote:
Originally Posted by Will al'Thor
I love them all, but I will never get over Jaynestown. It is too good. I could watch the expressions from the rest of the crew and Jayne himself over and over and over again.
You related to Tam and Rand?
post #44 of 44
Rented this series over the holidays and was very pleasantly surprised.
After seeing the movie first I really wasn't expecting anything from this doomed show, but reading the thread I decided to rent the first disc.
I watched the rest of the series in the next 4 days. Easily one of the best TV shows I've ever seen, next to The Sopranos simply because there are more eps. I don't think I've ever met a cast of characters so likeable and the dialogue between them is great. Much more comedy than expected in a sci-fi too (I love the "Kaylee's dead" part in "Serenity"), which is always nice.

My faves are "Out of Gas", "Our Mrs. Reynolds" and especially "Objects in Space" which was really bittersweet being the last episode and IMO the best. Loved the part where Jubel ntimidaes Kaylee, just came outta no where and the acting on both ends was top-notch. Definetly gonna buy the DVD.
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