'Serenity' Listed as One of the Most Unfortunate Movies Titles Ever
POSTED BY: cbsteve
UPDATED: Wednesday, March 5, 2008 20:16
VIEWED: 32125
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I do think that thee guy does have some valid points. But some of those names there are absolutely fine. They were not the factor that was lacking.
I did not watch Firefly for about a year because of the name. I did not watch Serenity in the cinema as I had not watched firefly, and the name "Serenity" did nothing for me.
I know people who have not watched "Dexter" and "House" because of their names.
As for a better name, I can't think of one. Could be because "Serenity" grows on you as a name. (Just like the music in Firefly. The first time, my reaction was not all too good.)
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NBZ said "I did not watch Firefly for about a year because of the name. I did not watch Serenity in the cinema as I had not watched firefly, and the name "Serenity" did nothing for me."
Yeah, I had the same response. I had never heard of Firefly because I was living overseas when it was on. I did heard about "Serenity", but I never saw it till it came out on DVD. Someone told me it was based on a Joss Whedon TV show. When I asked what it was about, he just said, "Something about a brother and sister hiding on a spaceship." "Wait," I said. "Didn't Joss Whedon do some silly show about a high school girl killing vampires?" "Yeah, that's the guy." "Well, I think I'll wait for this movie to come out on DVD." And that's about it. I had never watched Buffy or Angel or Firefly so I had no idea what this guy was about. Now I have a lot of old TV programs to catch up on. Thankfully I did find a more enthusiastic fan of Firefly and she turned my head in the right direction. So here I am hauting the Firefly fan site every day for the last five months.
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Nah. Films like "Serenity", "Blade Runner" and "Brazil" flop because of the instant gratification culture of the movie business which expects movies to make back their money in the opening weekend, and dumps them if they don't. That only works for popcorn fodder that can be entirely summed up as "(Insert Big Star Name) and lots of shit blowing up" and where the trailer is usually better than the film.
Anything with a bit of substance that can't be pigeon-holed doesn't stand a chance. You can't get "word of mouth" marketing going if the film is only in the cinemas for two weeks.
I'm sure that "Blade Runner" must have paid for itself eventually, and who knows how much Serenity took on DVD? The fly in the ointment was that "Serenity" probably shifted twice its weight in "Firefly" box sets - but that probably ended up in Fox's pocket rather than Universal's.
If, in 25 years' time, they're just releasing the "Serenity - Ultimate Directors Cut RNA memory implant box set" the maybe Joss will be vindicated.
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Quote:Well, I was 21, and I instantly loved it- so much so, that until Serenity came out, it was my favourite film of all time. The voice over is not awful- it lent a 40's film noir feel to the flick, and the reason it was commercially unsuccessful was that the 'hero' got beat up by EVERYBODY and it rained all throughout the movie.
Originally posted by cbsteve:
I was around when "Blade Runner" first came out and saw it in its first run, when they still had that awful voiceover by Harrison Ford. Many peole wnet to see Blade Runner because it starred Harrison Ford, Han Solo of Star Wars. we all expected the same thing, sci/fi space battles and laser blasts. What we got was this deep thinking man's sci/fi which I couldn't appreciate at the time because I was 16 years old.
December is Blade Runner month Chrisisall
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Agree with Chrisisall on that one - Blade Runner for its time was mindblowing and I like both versions - with voiceover and without.
It was my standard of excellence for Sci-Fi until I got hooked on the BDM. As for title - Serenity doesn't give much away, but a more sensational subtitle about "9 people against the 'verse" or somesuch thing might have brought in people who didn't find it their cup of tea and spread bad word of mouth. Joss writes for discerning fans - damn him!:-)
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"Black Hole Banditos"
Umm... yeah, I have to say that sounds like a really really bad porno... but it made me giggle!
I think Serenity is a fine name, but then, I'm not your general Hollywood fodder.
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In a way I kind of agree with the article. Don't get me wrong, I think Serenity was a perfect title for the movie, but I have wondered if the sort of ambiguous title might have turned off people who weren't familiar with the show. I'm not saying it would have been huge, but I think that it might have made more of an impression. Because frankly, the movie is perfect. Storytelling, acting, special effects, direction. All of it was perfect. It's really surpising to me that the movie did not do better. But think about it. If you've never heard of Firefly, never seen the trailer. If you're looking online at what movies are playing and see a movie titled "Serenity" are you going to think: "This is a sci-fi action movie"? Probably not.
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lol, how is "Browncoats" more specific as to what the movie is about? hahaha. People would have been like, "A movie about brown coats, how gay" haaha
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Serenity: Firefly class? I don't see why people are getting butt-hurt. Other than his comment that the title made him think of "nap-time", his article was not insulting the movie and he was right. I mean, Serenity was the right title for the movie, but like he said: Star Treck, Star Wars, Alien; people know what they're going to see there. Adding something about "Firefly Class" or "reavers" to the title does nothing for people who never saw the show.
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Sure it was a stupid title, it only had meaning to those who already knew the series - to the rest it was something soppy or a bladder weakness product ( http://www.serenity.com/ ) but then jossy boy instinctively sets himself up for minor success.
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