Serenity Screener - spoilers
POSTED BY: KevinIanBeaumont
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 24, 2005 22:13
VIEWED: 27743
PAGE 7 of 9
Jiltedtoo, can I ask you another question? Since I'm running an RPG campaign of my own, continuity with the Firefly 'Verse is important...
IS it a one-solar-system 'Verse, or do they clearly have FTL travel in the movie? Is that resolved?
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I was at the screening in Chatsworth and found this site while searching for reviews of the film to see what other people thought. I am a serious Whedon fan and a bigger Firefly fan who has been lurking here since Tuesday. I went with my girlfriend and another friend who had seen 2 episodes but not a fan. He gave the movie an 8 out of 10. I'll tell you this, anyone who is a fan will not be disappointed. It is everything you could ever imagine it being and a little more. What got me to post are some other posters questioning the film. It's already solid. If I have one complaint it would be that it feels like it has 2 or 3 endings but I can't imagine much being taken out. Maybe some nipping and tucking to cut it down 10min, but that is about it.
What one has to question is can the marketing people turn a solid film into a blockbuster? It has the potential to be a great success if they can get people who know nothing about it into theaters.
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The death of a character - or in this case, plural - doesn't surprise me. It's Joss. It's expected. In my mind, anyway.
What worries me is the difference between tv show characters dying and movie characters dying. In Joss' shows, you get the chance to fall in love with the characters week after week through the seasons, which makes their death really more... personal... emotional... I think is what I'm trying to say.
So, what I'd like to know from those of you who saw the screener is this:
If you had never seen Firefly, was there enough time and development through the film to get the audience to care enough about Wash or Book that their deaths could make the intended emotional impact? Or would they just be seen by the general public as meaningless cannon fodder, like the cliché red-shirted newbie on Star Trek away missions? Especially with so many characters to keep track of....
Maybe it'll be too hard for you to make an unbiased assessment. I'm sure I'll be crying like a little sissy girl, but those will definitely be biased tears because I've had the time to grow to love each of those characters. (Except Simon 
.)
I love Joss' work cuz, frankly, he can make it hurt so good. But I find the general (American) public not so wanting of that kind of thing, which makes me fear for the success of Serenity (even though it's gonna be the best movie ever 
).
无 党派 人士
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So, here's the weird thing - I agree and disagree with you.
I agree that it is Joss's story and that anyone who is a fan knows that he doesn't play fair with characters that we come to love.
Where I disagree with you is that when Joss looked at softening Firefly -well, Mal - or not getting it on the air, he compromised. And that is what current fans are going to expect to see on the screen. I think this is a reasonable expectation. If he can convince us that there are good reasons for this darker tone (on-screen), then we'll be okay with it. I guess you know whether or not that is the case. (Can I say I hate you and your fellow screener viewers?
But to make it dark just because he can, well, storytelling is a two-way street. As much as it might frustrate him, that's the way it is, and not everyone is going to want to go down that path with him. It wouldn't be the first fandom to split because of a turn in creative direction but I'd hate to see it happen to Firefly.
I actually became a Joss fan because of
Buffy season 6, which is just about as dark as they come. I'm not opposed to him leaving me emotionally battered but there has to be some kind of pay-off. Which for Firefly (IMO), would be Mal getting closer to some kind of healing and this is not what I'm sensing from the spoilers.
So, as much as I love wisecracking characters, it's the ones like Book that the verse needs. MAL needed Book in the story we know so far, whether he admitted it or not. (Okay, I like Book just for himself, too. And his hair.
terry
p.s. I'm actually curious now if Angel's cancellation intensified Serenity's already darker tone.
Quote:
Originally posted by tlacook:
Terry,
[snipped for space]
I know this sounds cranky but, someone has to stand up for the integrity of what Joss is doing. It is his story and I have yet to see very many neatly wrapped up happy endings come from Joss.
What exactly are people expecting?
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Terry,
The payoffs are there. None of the darkness is "just because Joss can". It all serves a purpose and causes character growth. In Mal and in others.
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I feel much better now. Thank you.
Of course, now I feel kind of silly worrying about Mal, who is a figment of Joss's imagination when all is said and done. But what can you expect from someone who got all choked up at Spike's poetry reading?
I was also more worried than I thought about HBO/Showtime/big screen syndrome. For example, JMS was about as hot as Joss when B5 was going strong. Then later came Jeremiah, an interesting concept that was just too, well, vulgar for me to invest in, especially to pay for the privilege. And I did sub to Showtime for a while just for that show.
I'm not a prude but the f-word (or c-word or gratuitous nudity) has no appeal for me. I tolerate it if balanced by good writing and acting but give me good old bloody, smegging, frelling hell anyday. :-) (The Chinese cussing gives me headaches to try to type out.)
terry (who is now trying hard not to think about the River angle. kick-ass girls, ho hum, haven't we been there, done that?)
Quote:
Originally posted by tlacook:
Terry,
The payoffs are there. None of the darkness is "just because Joss can". It all serves a purpose and causes character growth. In Mal and in others.
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Not like this, we haven't...
hee hee
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Quote:
Originally posted by Hell's Kitten:
If you had never seen Firefly, was there enough time and development through the film to get the audience to care enough about Wash or Book that their deaths could make the intended emotional impact? Or would they just be seen by the general public as meaningless cannon fodder, like the cliché red-shirted newbie on Star Trek away missions? Especially with so many characters to keep track of....
Hard to say, honestly I can never get enough of Wash or Book and the problem with such a good ensemble cast is that 120 min isn't enough time for all of them. I'll say Books screen time is limited, but memorable. I think what needs to be more developed is the relationship between Wash and Zoe although even if it's left the way it is things would be "ok." You can rest asured nobody in the cast is meaningless cannon fodder.
Regarding River: She is spectacular through in through in so many ways. It will blow your mind.
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Quote:
Originally posted by BruisersMom:
I wondered if anyone else noticed that Joss's shows just get dark and serious after a while and that he gets rid of the really fun characters. I also wondered if anyone else is as turned off by Joss's shows when they make that turn as I am. I didn't buy the fourth season of Angel or the seventh season of Buffy because they were too dark and serious and now Mal is dark and Wash is dead in Serenity. Inara is gone and Book is dead. That only leaves Kaylee around to lighten things up. Does anyone else find a problem with that situation cropping up in a Joss show again?
Okay, I almost feel blasphemous saying this, but yeah. I only watched the last few seasons of Angel on and off because of work, but I would often think, "Why can't someone get a break around there".
I think there needs to be a few happy people on board. I know sadness is more dramatic, but since we all live a little vicariously through our favorite characters, it really sucks when the crap just piles on and on...and on like that.
Who knows, Maybe Kaylee and Simon will get married and have some cute, fat fugitive babies. That would make me happy.
First you want to kill me, now you want to kiss me...Blow
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