Serenity (Full Screen Edition)
by Joss Whedon
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alan Tudyk, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Gina Torres, Morena Baccarin, Nathan FillionDirector: Joss Whedon
Brand: NBC Universal
Cinematographer: Jack N. Green
Writer: Joss Whedon
Editor: Lisa Lassek
Producer: Alisa Tager
Producer: Barry Mendel
Producer: Christopher Buchanan
Producer: David V. Lester
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 119 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-12-20
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Serenity (Full Screen Edition)
Movie Review: Highly Likeable Sci-Fi Flick That Is Highly Original In Its Own Sense
Summary: 5 Stars
Simply put, Serenity is the movie version of the TV series "Firefly." It puts together all the loose ends that the series left dangling after only 14 episodes and nary a season (only 11 of these episodes were aired before being cut off.) In Serenity, we can see the arc of what "Firefly" could have been, and in my opinion, much more.
Since Serenity is the movie and the culmination (?), it is only proper that it be given the cinematic touch. And yet, even on the big screen, its TV origin is still very apparent. The Firefly cargo ship Serenity is still as clunky as it was as shown in the tube. There's not much change in the costume, and even most of the sets still look like they've been picked up from the scrapyard. I am not saying this in disgust, but with affection because it is the characters that I have come to love after all. Come to think of it, there is something in Serenity that makes me think more of home than I would the Starship Enterprise. Perhaps this is one of the formulas that make the movie work. Like what I said in my review of "Firefly," great science fiction doesn't have to be high-budgeted with wall to wall CGI (although it does help tremendously.)
Most sci-fi films tend to take the genre into some mythical dimension. "Battlestar Galactica" is one such example of sci-fi that mixes myth and science in that it purports the human origin as having come from another planet (which is probably true.) "Star Wars" is another classic example in that it believes in a universal Force that is in all things, and that the right WILL triumph over the wrong. The Star Trek series, while primarily adventure-oriented, also sometimes have this tendency for the ethereal: note Spock's resurrection in the Star Trek film "The Search for Spock," or even the Voyager satellite that achieved massive knowledge and became more than just a machine in Star Trek-The Motion Picture.
"Firefly" and "Serenity," on the other hand, beg to be different. In the Whedon `verse, aliens are conspicuously absent, there are no blackholes that threaten ships, no exploding stars, no technobabble to make things more "authentic," no warping here and there, and no extinct alien civilization that leaves us mystified as to what might have caused their demise (Babylon 5.) Instead of all the above, we are given the gritty Frontier life in the outer edges of known space where the long arm of the Central law is not yet fully established. Sounds familiar? Fans of "Firefly" know that this has strong parallels with the American Western frontiers from two centuries ago. The Frontier overtones are so strong that even our heroes still carry guns, instead of the usual lasers. The captain himself wears pants that look like they came from the old American Civil War days of the 1860s.
Enough said. The plot: Simon and River Tam, brother and sister, are on the run from the Alliance, the central government of the planets five hundred years from now. River was part of a mad experiment by the higher echelons of power that turned her (and maybe even others) into a kickboxing and mind-reading assasin. The siblings are hiding under the wings of the titular ship Serenity. Their destination: as far out as they can go. The ship is captained by Malcom Reynolds (the good-looking and therefore popular-among-women Mr. Nathan Fillion,) an embittered sergeant from the Independent Faction that once fought the Alliance for, well, Independence. On their tail is a nameless Operative, a superior speciman of an assasin, out to take River back at all costs. Of course, there's much more than what I had just said. Into the storyline are thrown a mixture of interesting characters such as a Companion (a certified pleasure-giver in the sexual way,) a Christian priest, a universal hacker and the loyal Serenity crew. Plus, who can forget the Reavers, for what would the fringes of space be like without them?
Perhaps the thing that makes "Serenity" exciting is the way Captain Reynolds outwitted the frighteningly cool but ultimately disgusting Operative (played to perfection by Mr. Chiwetel Ejiofor) not only once, but thrice. As a personal opinion, I like the fight scenes between these two the best. If romance can have electricity between two characters, so can a brawl between two fighters.
As I have mentioned in my review of "Firefly," the story of the Whedon `verse has much potential. I believe that many of you think that "Serenity" is a wrap-up of "Firefly." Excuse me for saying that I just don't think this is so. For starters, I find it very hard to believe that Mal's broadcast of the SIGNAL can even slightly affect the tight grip of the Alliance government. But the underground movement is bound to be moved for sure, and therein lies another branch of story in the Whedon `verse. And what of the Reavers? They deserve better spotlight for what they really are. If Reavers get killed all the time, why does it seem like they're not diminishing? As for River, what is the real purpose of the Alliance for her? Why the ghastly experiments to create more dangerous assasins when Operatives could have done very well? Questions, questions, and further questions......., that is the potential of the Whedon `verse that I am talking about.
Overall, "Serenity" is the worthy movie of "Firefly." It should be for it is what Browncoats fans expect. For the Firefly-uninitiated, it will still pass as a very entertaining movie. Script is crisp and no nonsense. Jokes sometimes fall lame, but otherwise good-natured. Good story pacing and always commanding attention. Mr. Whedon's efforts to avoid plot cliches are very evident. Good CGI concept especially the scene where the Alliance and the Reavers spaceships come face to face beneath the ion cloud. The "Leaf on the Wind" sequence is also nicely done, and is one of the scenes that lift "Serenity" to a grander scale. But the Chinese they blurt out!! If Shakespeare were Chinese, he'd be turning in his grave right now!!
Anyway, just sit back and enjoy this sci-fi flick. Sure, some people may not like it (a friend of mine didn't like "Firefly" but liked "Serenity",) because it really looks like a very B film. Plus, it doesn't have that mythical quality that most people yearn from the mysteries of space. But just for the film's adventure story and the love that Mr. Joss Whedon has put into it, makes the film highly watchable.
Summary of Serenity (Full Screen Edition)
A passenger with a deadly secret. Six rebels on the run. An assassin in pursuit. When the renegade crew of Serenity agrees to hide a fugitive on their ship, they find themselves in an action-packed battle between the relentless military might of a totalitarian regime who will destroy anything - or anyone - to get the girl back and the bloodthirsty creatures who roam the uncharted areas of space. But, the greatest danger of all may be on their ship. From the mind of Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel) comes a new edge-of-your-seat adventure loaded with explosive battles, gripping special effects and fantastic new worlds.Serenity offers perfect proof that Firefly deserved a better fate than premature TV cancellation. Joss Whedon's acclaimed sci-fi Western hybrid series was ideally suited (in Browncoats, of course) for a big-screen conversion, and this action-packed adventure allows Whedon to fill in the Firefly backstory, especially the history and mystery of the spaceship Serenity's volatile and traumatized stowaway, River Tam (Summer Glau). Her lethal skills as a programmed "weapon" makes her a coveted prize for the power-hungry planetary Alliance, represented here by an Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who'll stop at nothing to retrieve River from Serenity's protective crew. We still get all the quip-filled dialogue and ass-kicking action that we've come to expect from the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Whedon goes a talented step further here, blessing his established ensemble cast with a more fully-developed dynamic of endearing relationships. Serenity's cast is led with well-balanced depth and humor by Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds, whose maverick spirit is matched by his devotion to crewmates Wash (Alan Tudyk), Zoe (Gina Torres), fun-loving fighter Jayne (Adam Baldwin), engineer Kaylee (Jewel Staite), doctor Simon (Sean Maher), and Mal's former flame Inara (Morena Baccarin), who plays a pivotal role in Whedon's briskly-paced plot. As many critics agreed, Serenity offered all the fun and breezy excitement that was missing from George Lucas's latter-day Star Wars epics, and Whedon leaves an opening for a continuing franchise that never feels cheap or commercially opportunistic. With the mega-corporate mysteries of Blue Sun yet to be explored, it's a safe bet we haven't seen the last of the good ship Serenity. --Jeff Shannon
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