Discussion for the subject: What happened to my show, 'cause Serenity wasn't it?! by chrisisall

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Discussion for the subject: What happened to my show, 'cause Serenity wasn't it?!

POSTED BY: CHRISISALL
UPDATED: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 17:51
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Sunday, October 9, 2005 1:33 PM

Just got back from seeing the BDM again. I loved it even more the second time around. But I took a newbie with me this time. He had only seen The Pilot and The Train Job several months back. He loved it. The first thing he said when we left the theater was "awesome". I told him about the concerns some people on this thread had with the film. He said that the "intro" to the movie worked a lot better for him and probably other people unfamiliar with the series than if they had not had any backstory at all.

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The only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason!

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Sunday, October 9, 2005 2:35 PM

SPIKESPIEGEL

Had my second viewing today. Loved it more, and did find myself more satisfied with the amount of time each character got -- especially Wash, because after first viewing I'd felt he got really shorted considering he had to get killed.

Book as a former Operative would be interesting. It's not the guess I'd put money on, but if we imagine all the Ops to have this kind of faith in a better world that the dude in Serenity had, then Book's shift from psycho faith in big corporate to individualistic religious faith would be an interesting story. God, Ron Glass brought so much truth and gravity to that role, 'tis a shame ...

I too had thought that Mal asking Zoe whether the ship was gonna hold together, and her statement that it's battered but will fly true, was about Zoe, and it's exactly in keeping with how they handle their relationship.

The quiet moment missing most was something more tender between Wash and Zoe, which would've made his fate and her loss more powerful, 'specially for the newfolk. But when they're getting ready for the stand against the Reavers, Gina is so great -- in the foreground of so many shots, just grimly loading her weapon as everyone else rushes around to prep. At least as one who does know her from Firefly, I really felt her pain.

Aside: I would like to submit right now that Gina Torres is the most beautiful woman on this planet.

I did really like the last bit with Mal and Inara. They played it so well, esp. Nathan, with the chokey little voice, who's so good at conveying the inner workings that Mal won't even admit to himself, much less allow the crew to see.

If I'm this happy after the second screening, wonder how much more I'll like it after I see it a third time ...

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Sunday, October 9, 2005 6:44 PM

ANGUSTHERMOPYLE

Personally, I thought Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was the best out of the movies. It didn't take itself too seriously and was pretty funny. Star Trek TNG was much too patronising, pompous, preachy, with emotionless characters and rehashes of old plots from the original. Most of the cast made me want to chuck.

I haven't seen Serenity yet, but what I have seen (the 5 or so minutes of the beginning looked good). I couldn't really get a feel for whether it was true to the series, and hope that wasn't Serenity that was lifting Tam and River from the window, because that would be inconsistant with River being in cryogenic box in the first episode.

I appreciate the analogy though. And when you think about it: does the Buffy movie harm the series? I know they were the other way round. They were fairly different though.

I hope this movie allows Joss to continue the series and workout his vision without caviats from studios (again).

DON'T PANIC!

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Monday, October 10, 2005 3:53 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by rue:

It was not, from my perspective, as satisfying as the series, but I know I'm a sucker for the unexplained and unexplored, so that is just my personal gotcha.

Yeah, the way the series ended, there was lots of places your brain could go with it- possiblities abounded.
The movie makes your brain cease activity on certain levels, answers tend to do that, that's why questions are usually more interesting.

But I see the series, the comic (you DO have it, I assume...), and the movie as one big story-
AND I LOVE IT!!!!!!

Chrisisall, happy as a pig in

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Monday, October 10, 2005 3:57 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by captaincdc:
I loved it even more the second time around.

The best ones are like a fine wine that way, no?

Or like a onion: so many layers to peel back...

Chrisisall, food analogist

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Tuesday, October 11, 2005 4:45 PM

CASUALTY

***** SPOILERS WILL INEVITABLY OCCUR *****

OK firstly let me just admit that I've only managed to read about half of this thread (it is very long!) But sitting here at half past three in the morning I feel like I have to add a few of my thoughts to a discussion that I am sure will go on for a long time to come.

To go straight to the heart of it, coming out of the cinema I felt like I had a hole in my heart. Serenity wasn't what I wanted it to be. Now, even I'm not sure what I wanted but I know that Serenity wasn't it. Something just didn’t sit right. I waited for so long for a brief glimpse into a world full of characters that I genuinely love. My fear that keeping those characters alive in my head would damage my enjoyment of the film was horribly realised. Maybe the mere fact that I had waited so long was part of the problem. I just thought I’d present a few of the things that didn’t sit right with me.

1) On Haven after Book dies and Mal shoots the soldier, he tells the crew that he will shoot anyone who’s next words aren’t either helpful or to say they are getting off the ship. Did anyone actually believe, even for a second, that he’d do it? I didn’t. I don’t believe there is any way he would shoot any one of those people no matter what his state of mind might be. Some may say that Jayne and Simon are debatable but Kaylee/Inara or Zoë? No way.

2) Does it seem to anyone else that Kaylee was a little more, for want of a better phrase, ‘dense/stupid’? It seems that I walked away from the theatre remembering that she talked about vibrators, sex and love and not much else. She was a confusing mix of innocence and sexual innuendo all at the same time. I preferred the old Kaylee.

3) Staying on the subject of Kaylee. It seems to me that it would have taken a whole lot more than Simon’s hurried confession that he regretted not noticing her to make her feel that confident handling a gun. Yes I understand that what she was killing in War Stories would have been human beings and not Reavers but Kaylee and a gun just doesn’t sit right with me.

4) IMO the main thing that was missing from the film was intimacy, pure and simple. As I’m sure HKCavalier has already mentioned much more eloquently. In the series the relationships were formed in the quiet moments that you had to look for. An expression here, a glance there, line of dialogue that you could blink and miss. I understand that a film is different but where was the Kaylee/Inara moment when Mal arrives back from the companion house? Where was the Simon/Inara scene of him seeking her guidance?

5) Who was the kid that runs in to Kaylee’s arms when they first arrive on Haven? Was it just a plot device to try and make us feel something for her when she finds him dead later on?

6) Wash’s death. Not only was Zoë not given time to grieve because she had to move on and fight the Reavers but this also meant that we as the audience weren’t given time to either. As a consequence some of the impact is lost because there is no time for reflection.

These are just a few of the points that niggled at me as I was watching the film. I only mention them because I care about this material. If I didn’t there would be no need to analyse what could have made it better. There were plenty of moments that I thought were great.

1) Loved River’s small speech about Simon always taking care of her and her very simple “my turn”.

2) Loved Kaylee’s defiant “tell that to Inara”.

3) Loved Summer and Sean in the scene where River is chained up and her heartbreaking request that he not make her sleep again. In fact Summer Glau in general just blew me away.

4) Loved Jayne and Zoë’s almost inaudible conversation about grenades.

5) Loved that River’s feet were still so important.

And many, many more. I’m off to bed now. Having got that off my chest I feel much better! I’m going to see the movie again at the weekend because no matter what, five more minutes with these characters, in my opinion, will always be better than nothing at all.

"If nothing we do means anything then the only thing that means anything is what we do"

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Tuesday, October 11, 2005 5:51 PM

DIEGO

Okay, I don't know if anyone else has suggested this idea in the thread, but has anyone considered the mythic story-telling requirements a la Joseph Campbell?

A friend of mine mentioned that he thought Wash had to die because he was the character most connected with Serenity. It's like this, when the ship/tenth character was defiled and made into a Reaver monstrosity the only way to bring her back was to "kill her off" and resurrect her. As the pilot Wash represented the ship and he had to die when Serenity died.

Anyway, I don't know if the idea holds much water, but it is a very romantic (literary sense) explanation of narrative necessity from a different perspective.

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