Serenity (Widescreen Edition)
by Joss Whedon
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nathan Fillion, Raphael Feldman, Ron Glass, Yan FeldmanDirector: Joss Whedon
Brand: NBC Universal
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), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 2.35:1
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 (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: I've read all of the reviews here
Summary: 5 Stars
More accurately I've read every page of reviews here and carefully read each and every one with on or two stars. As you can see by what I rated the movie I don't need anybody telling me how good it is, but I do need some perspective on what isn't good about it.
I did not find that perspective, while several people were kind enough to tell me, "IT SUCKED" few elaborated and most of those that didn't tell the truth. I'm not accusing anyone of lying here, but when someone points out that the princess is stereotypical when there is no princess (nor royalty of any kind) it seems a bit odd. When people talk about the two factions ruling humanity and there are not two factions, that seems odd to me.
When someone went into great detail about how the movie was unrealistic because of heat shield failure never taking into account that there is no mention of a heat shield in the entire movie that was a little strange. This isn't limited to people here, a professional reviewer made reference to a nuclear war that never happened.
The list goes on, and here's the point: You have to pay attention to this movie. I understand that it can be nice to have a movie playing in the background, but this isn't the movie to do it with because it looks like everyone who's tried somehow managed to remember things that didn't happen.
If you want some help getting your bearings move a little bit down the post and I'll give you some background in case you miss it, though I don't see how you can if you are paying attention.
There were also a couple of "rabid fans" who felt let down or betrayed, and about three reviews that actually gave reasons why the person didn't like it that applied to the movie. I think the problem was that they had the wrong ideas going in.
This movie is not about gigantic antiseptic spaceships with flashy lasers. (It is actually about people, nine of them to be exact.) It is also not about the people who captain such great ships, the characters are on a small old ship, they don't have gigantic state rooms because they couldn't afford it. In fact when the movie starts they're in a bad place trying not to worry about whether they can afford to keep the ship in repair and whether they'll be able to buy food.
Some of the planets are still in the process of being settled which means there are not yet incredible buildings with blinking lights, but instead people working off the land until they can afford the blinky lights.
In this movie you will not find aliens or evil empires.
You also won't find stock characters, just like with real people if you try to fit one of the characters into a convenient category you will fail. If you don't believe me then try, watch the movie, find the category you think fits best for each character, then watch it again with that in mind. The stereotype won't fit because no one is that simple in either real life or the movie.
Someone complained that he didn't know whether to think of one character as funny or tough, they were trying too hard to pigeonhole the character, real people are both funny and tough. Real people make jokes when bad things are happening also.
About five minutes ago I told someone I didn't want to call Serenity the "best" movie because best is so subjective of a word, however it is the only one in nay genre that made me want to go out and tell people about it. She said that's the highest complement you can give, maybe she's right, maybe she's wrong, but it is important.
If you want to understand how good the movie is, without watching it, you can't look at box office returns or sales figures, not matter how good or bad they are (I don't know which they are), you need to look at how it effects people. Look at how much people care about this movie, the people didn't magically do that on their own, it is because the movie is that good.
There is a reason that we get reports of 90 year old women coming to and loving a movie that most would peg (incorrectly) as something for 15 year old boys. (Don't get me wrong the 15 year olds like it too.) There's a reason that fans come from all ages in between, that fans are not limited by their politics or nationalities, that fans are not even limited by genre.
People who say, "I hate sci-fi," love this.
People who say, "I love sci-fi," love this.
People in between love it too.
If you want my advice go out and buy it, make sure you get widescreen.
If you want more rational advice here it is: If something can create fans who care so much, if it can appeal to people, male and female, from all age groups, if it can do all of that isn't it worth at least renting to see how it managed that?
The rational thing, the logical thing, is to go out and give it a chance. Rent it, give it your full attention, watch it at least twice to know whether or not you really got it the first time around, and if you like it come back here and buy it. If you don't like it please come here and say why, and please, if you cite examples, cite ones that are really from the movie.
The thing coming from someone who's already seen it is this: I can honestly say that I believe that if you do that you will come back here and buy it. Maybe write a review better than mine while you're at it.
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I said that I'd try to help you through the back-story because some people seem to get it confused even though I think it is very clear. The problem is that this will take a lot of words and not do the movie any justice.
The earth could no longer support the all of the people on it and the major technological and economic powers teamed up to jump ship as soon as a new home could be found. That new home was a solar system full of worlds and moons that could be teraformed.
As happens in real life here on earth some people prospered and others didn't, those that prospered were on the "Central Planets" and they formed an interplanetary parliament called the Alliance with the goal of bringing light, order and democracy to all worlds, as in real life other people didn't like the idea of people from some foreign land (planet) telling them what to do and there was a war. Outnumbered and outgunned the Independents (also known as Browncoats) lost.
The Alliance, while a progressive government trying to spread such things as equal rights, healthcare, civilization, and enlightenment, is out of it's depth in the outer planets, they lack both the manpower and the understanding needed. Like all governments it also has it's secrets.
The movie gets all of this across very quickly and, in my opinion, clearly.
It also introduces the rumor of Reavers, brutal feral like humans (again, there are no aliens in the movie) who some believe don't really exist and others believe that, while sophisticated enough to pilot and maintain space ships and capable of working together flawlessly, have degenerated to the point that they do not merely rape and murder but also eat people alive and use their skins as clothing.
The movie manages to say all of this (well some of it is shown instead of said) seamlessly and in a non-contrived fashion in less than ten minutes.
After you have all of that covered it moves on (again seamlessly) and you see one of the things lurking in the underbelly of the largely benevolent government. Experiments are being done on an innocent girl and while the purpose is unclear you lean that they have made a psychic and a "living weapon" out of her. The fact that there can be a psychic is probably the only thing that requires significant suspension of disbelief. But since the movie doesn't force hyperspace, transporters, or any such thing on you it's a fair trade off.
The girl is rescued by her brother and the movie continues finally moving into the present tense as a government operative reviews footage of the escape.
The worry is that as a psychic who was shown off to important officials she has picked up classified information that not even the operative himself is cleared to know. His job is to keep secrets, not know them.
Where the girl, River, is, is on a ship that could actually be lived in, though a couple of people in the movie call it crap. In my mind this was a refreshing change, while I have no problem with the ships in most sci-fi I really can't imagine people actually calling them home, this one is different. The ship is Serenity and its crew does jobs both legal and otherwise.
That is really all you need to know by way of back story and I don't want to spoil anything, I should say again that the characters can not simply be laid out, they are neither stereotypical nor copied so I can't just say who they are or even who they are like, you have to see it. If I were to try to write a short description of any one of them it would turn out longer than everything I have written so far, the amount that you can pick up from an expression lasting only a couple of frames is incredible.
By now you probably already know if you're going to see it or not. I hope you do, I really think everyone should get a chance to see something this good. I registered (reregistered to be more accurate) just so I could tell people about it.
Summary of Serenity (Widescreen 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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