I'm sorry, I just didn't see the drastic difference in character that you saw. I've seen several fans react the same way, which (I think) is marked by the difference in how we view the show. I saw it as an innovative Sci-fi show with awesome plot and great characters--and I see the movie as the same. Both should be supported for what they are, which is why I shared them with all of my friends.
The characters didn't change drastically. If anything I thought Simon was a bit looser than usual. The biggest change that *I* saw was that Kaylee lost weight. o.0

I respect your comments albeit not in agreeance, totally. I can see some of your arguments and some of the replies already addressing them, but you are entitled to your own opinion. I found myself, in my own humble opinion, seeing lots more conflict amongst the crew than I expected. I also found myself clinging to the safety of weekly televison - you know the feeling of everything will be OK because they will be back next week. Same gorram time, same gorram channel. But in the bigger picture of things, I understood a lot of the changes, even if they are sometimes hard to swallow.

What I sincerly hope is that us browncoats don't start lashing out at one another because of a difference of opinion and, agree or not, fight the good fight for a sequel. If no sequel comes, I find myself OK with this film being the end (I do know that there WILL be a series novels coming soon in 2006) as there was a bit of closure.

Finally the site is working well enough for me to post a rebuttal.

I will admit, after calming down after the movie and reading your comments I appreciate the concept of the movie slightly more. But first, let me say, those of you who posted Anonymously I should disregard your statements, because they can't have much merit. I need to say, however, I didn't ever say the movie was bad because of what happened, and I never said the characters _should_ have been one-dimensional. Next time read what I say completely before you react. As much as I absolutely love the Firefly series, I refuse to ever think that these were the same characters that were in it.

As for the music, it just wasn't Firefly music at all. Period. There is no argument there ... did you hear a bassoon? a fiddle? No. That's a fact.

Now, as I was saying the more I think about it I think the story had some merit and it was intriguing. I was blinded from the very start of the movie because of the change of characters. I couldn't get past that just for the movie. Maybe I can bring myself to watch another time.

As for my actively bringing the movie down, I was quite brash when I said I hope the movie flops and I apologize, because as much as the movie turned me off, I can't stop running the episodes through my head and quoting them to the oblivious masses of every day people.

Nonetheless, I refuse to stand behind Joss Whedon so relentessly Zoe-like that I will refuse to find flaws in a movie that struck me so poorly from the beginning.

On a side note, is it weird that Zoe-like sounds a lot like "stoic"?

Anyway, my conclusion is this, what is left for there on the show? The intrigue of Shepherd Book's past? Gone. The tension between Simon and Kaylee? Gone. The tension between Inara and Mal? Gone. The great affection between Zoe and Wash? Gone. Fear of the Reavers? Gone. Fear of the Alliance? Gone. Do you see where I am going with this? ... why does it eat at me so?

Well, I could not agree with you more. The characters were non-existent or too dark. This was definately not Firefly! But then Joss's writing has always been dark. If you look at the Firefly episodes I think he only wrote 2 or 3 of them; all of which were on the darker side. Maybe he should have had Cheryl Cain and Jose write the movie under his direction. Because, let's face it, the guy does have vision.

My only hope at this point is that the movie does well enough that they bring the TV series back or a line of novels would be great as well.

oh dear. i'm sorry you didn't care for it- and i quite understand where you're coming from, but please! this movie had to be different- (i cried from the feeling of manipulation after) and people liked it that way. i brought two newbies and they both wanna see the whole series now! cheer up, mate!

I didn't dislike it as much as you did. I had a lot of problems with it. I'm still trying to work those out. I know I'm going to see it again tomorrow night. But one thing a lot of my friends who seemed to universally adore it, keep saying is that I have to remember it's a movie, it's going to be different. And OK, I can see where they are coming from. But to my way of thinking, you shouldn't have to make apologies for a great movie.

I think a lot of your points are valid, but what it really boils down to is that Firefly was a television show, a medium that allows slow development of plot and character, whereas a movie has to move fast and character development has to take a back seat unfortunately. But I disagree that the characters had changed that much. It is made apparent that they have been going through some very hard times and that sets people on edge, and with Inara leaving Mal is even more bitter. I think it obvious that some of this tone was Joss' original intention, so it should come as no surprise that FOX balked on that.

I doubt if there is a Browncoat that wouldn't prefer to have the series back, but hey, we lost that and the BDM is what we have now. Either support it or not, but don't actively bring it down either. Any further story we get from the 'verse may be closer to what you were hoping for.

Too much use of the words "us" and "we" in your commentary. I can say with certainty that no one "fan" can speak for every fan.

Aside from that, it's always interesting to read an opposing view. We've apparently been watching different things, you and I.

While I liked the movie better than you did - and I had been reading spoilers so I didn't have the same horrified reaction - there is some truth to what you say. We needed more than that brief interlude on Haven to get the sense of community and family. 10 minutes more might have made all the difference.

In one recent interview, Joss even says clearly that Serenity _isn't_ Firefly and he still loves Firefly more. What is sad is that Joss didn't trust the masses to get it, so he eviscerated Serenity to make it palatable. I understand but I don't comprehend... the talk was there was no studio interference so that was either a polite lie or Joss did this voluntarily. Either way, I almost think I would have preferred not to have a movie.

Instead of a movie, maybe just a line of novels, ala Trek Pocket Books. Those were better than any movies because the characters could just go on their way without having to save the universe for the 87th time. And it isn't like their aren't enough talented writers in love with the Firefly 'verse.

In novels, we wouldn't have had that ill-fitting score. It wasn't awful, it just wasn't Serenity. It lost the both the eastern and western flavor. Not sure what it was, even. In fact, if some enterprising (hah - no pun intended) fan took the series music and integrated into the movie ala The Phantom Edit, I think I might come close to loving the movie.

terryo - still processing...