Caught By Surprise by RiveR6213

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Caught By Surprise

POSTED BY: RIVER6213
UPDATED: Thursday, October 20, 2005 06:33
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VIEWED: 1712
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Wednesday, October 19, 2005 6:02 PM

Hello FireFly fans!
I'm new to this forum.

I wrote two reviews of the show on two different days so please bare with me okay?

Review #1

I've never even heard of the show Firefly and I used to be a big science fiction fan; i'm not even certain how I missed seeing this show back in 2001-2002.

Anyhow, yesterday I was bored with my job and the people there, so I left early and walked around downtown Seattle. I went into a movie theater without even bothering to see what kind of movie was playing.

I bought the usual popcorn and drink from the usual uptight, teenaged vendor, who also looked like they werent amused with the way things were shaping up in the world.

I went into the movie section and sat down; by the way, I was depressed and fed up with the world and the people in it, as you can gather by my disposition in writing this.

After what seemed like about a year of coming attractions, the movie started. What the hell was this?? This movie caught my interest right from the opening scene, and I was on the edge of my chair throughout whole movie.

Later, after I got home, I googled Serenity and found out that it had been on television, and it had been a series called FireFly, but after 14 episodes it got yanked off the air; I could not understand this, but I was gonna find out WHY it got yanked!

I got into my car and went to the mall and purchased Firefly, the Complete Series. I got home and watched all of them, and I just finished the last one this morning.

My 1st impressions of the series is that its kind of a cheesy, spagetti western with space and frontier planets as its back drop, but its a VERY likeable kind of cheesy.

The stories are all well written

The characters are all likeable, and they grow on you fast. I also have to admit, the woman who plays the ships "companion" is so beautiful, and the Engineer Kaylee is so perky and bubbly, and Zoe is so couragous, strong and beautiful.

Mal is a strange captain, but I like him a lot; there is this hardness to his character that is funny yet painful. I don't know how to explain him.

Book says that he is a shepard, but something tells me that during that war with the alliance, he was a general in that alliance and that he saw too many people die, which is why he's a shepard.

I like Simon a lot. I like the fact that he went after his sister and got her away from those governmental creeps; Simon is a brave and courageous guy.

I loved River in the series and I really loved her in the movie; my hero!

Wash was so funny, he made me laugh long time.

Jayne was the only person on the ship I didnt like; the should have spaced hiz azz.

The stories were all good and well balanced, matter of fact, the stories were very engaging despite the (obviously) low budget of the show, so I'm really confused as to why it was yanked off the air??!!!

Everytime a series comes along thats really great, it gets cancelled and replaced with stupid crap like Buffy the vampire Slayer!

End

REVIEW #2

I rewatched Firefly the Complete Series again. I can't seem to get this show out of my mind, which, to myself is an indicator that its a good show.

Most shows I watch, and then I quickly forget about it... not this one.

I'm trying to figure out why its so likeable; By all reason it shouldnt be.

I finally came to the conclusion that its likeable because its "comfortable" and what I mean by that is, it has a cuddling up with a good book with a mug of something hot on a cold day feel to it.

It also has a little bit of something for everyone, and the story leaves enough holes in it that allow the viewer to try to fill in the rest; A mystery to be solved. You really start to look forward to the next episode.

Its comfortable like Bonanza, The original Star Trek, or The Virginians were to an older TV audience of days past.

Its comfortable like watching the development of the characters on STNG or Babylon 5; Its comfortable like a warm fire in the fireplace on a cold and snowy night during winter.

All the actors have personalities that make you wonder about them, and think about them; The actors personalities quickly grow on you. The Captain, The Companion, That lovable engineer, Wash who pilots the ship, and his strong, and beautiful wife Zoe, and also Simon and River, who are on the run because some wacked governmental scientists wants to turn her into a super weapon.

Also, the show maintains a sexual tension (unspoken) between the Captain and the Companion, or the very obvious love attraction that the Engineer has for the Doctor.

And the mystery continues with the Priest and his unspoken past relationship with the government, or Jayne, who seems to want to sell the crew out at the moment when better money is offered. Things like this make us wonder and want more.

The stories are very simple plots, but each one always takes a suprising turn with the "gotcha" approach attached, which makes the show appealing; It leaves the viewer feeling smart and part of the action.

Each episode has a way of envoking a certain amount of empathy from the viewer; The writers and the directors did this job very well...they make you CARE about the characters; You CARE about what happens to them. The more the show progressed, the more the crew takes on a family-like feel to them; This is also why its very popular.

Also the fact that the FireFly's universe has an old world feel to it even though its 500 years from now makes it much more appealing

The only character I DIDNT like in FireFly is Jayne. If it were up to me, I would spaced his azz long ago.

The movie was very good (I enjoyed it much more than Star Wars III) and after I watched the TV series, I totally understand the movie now.

The captain in Serenity is a very determined, strong man with a set of behaviors that are likeable, but a little unyielding. I also liked the Doctor better in serenity than I did in Firefly; He seemed stronger and wiser than he did in the series.

River I totally loved in the movie, she was still mysterious, but you totally understood what her story was at the end; The actress played her part very well. The Engineer (who I think is so cute) wasnt as plucky in the movie as she was in Firefly, which diminished her character for me a little.

The Companion's role was also somewhat diminished in the movie as well as the Pilot; Only his wife maintained consistency of character from the tv series, and that woman has strength, intelligence and beauty, so she's sort of hard to ignore.

Also, once again I say that even in the movie Serenity, they should have spaced Jayne.

I suspect that there will be another series of FireFly because of what happened at the end of the movie. I'm not going to say what it was that happened, because I dont want to spoil it for anyone who havent watched it yet.

Anyway, I give the Movie Serenity, and the TV series FireFly two thumbs ups!

Good Points:

1. Good plots
2. Good character development
3. Good visuals
4. Great invoking a feeling of old west
5. Great invoking feelings of empathy
6. Great job in maintaining the TV series structure in Serenity

Bad Points:

1. Character Diminishing of 3 actors
2. They didnt space Jayne

P.S. I'm not certain what button was pushed in me with Firefly, but in short order I have become an addict of this whole Firefly/Serenity universe, and I will make it a point to go see the movie 4 times.

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Thursday, October 20, 2005 1:14 AM

DONCOAT

Hi, RiveR6213, and welcome to FFF.net!

Thanks for your reviews, it's always nice to hear from people who have just discovered this obsession. Interesting perspectives, too, especially as they come from someone who hasn't hung around the forums reading other people's ideas first.

There have been quite a few posts here recently from people just like you, who discovered Firefly by seeing Serenity first, then watched the DVDs. For many of us, of course, it was the other way around. Some long-time fans don't like the movie too much (I'm not one of those). It's interesting that you liked the movie but had mixed feelings about the series at first.

You might be interested to know that the character Jayne is one of the most popular among the show's fans. He certainly has a lot of rough edges, but give him a chance. You might see his positive side if you look a bit harder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ain't about you, Jayne. It's about what they need.

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Thursday, October 20, 2005 1:19 AM

JARON95

Quote:
Originally posted by RiveR6213:
Everytime a series comes along thats really great, it gets cancelled and replaced with stupid crap like Buffy the vampire Slayer!

LOL

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Thursday, October 20, 2005 5:30 AM

RIVER6213

Thank you very much!

To Jaron95, what's so funny?

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Thursday, October 20, 2005 5:34 AM

CYBERSNARK

We're amused because Joss created Buffy (and its spinoff Angel) before Firefly.

And yeah, I hated Jayne at first too. After a while though, he starts to grow on you, like that annoying guy from high school that you're surprised to find you miss. You start seeing the layers and complexity that are Joss' trademark.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Thursday, October 20, 2005 5:55 AM

SHINY

Why do I get the feeling you don't like Jayne? ;p

Great reviews! Welcome home!

---

Serenity is coming. 9/30/05.

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Thursday, October 20, 2005 5:57 AM

GERSHOM

Hiya,

I know what you mean about Jayne - he's not a nice guy and he's not trying to be, BUT every so often something happens - you see his genuine pride in the new hat his ma knitted him, the discovery that he sends money home, the fact that he did give all his money to help buy Mal and Wash out from the baddies even if he wasn't happy about it, the fact he went on the rescue mission when there was no percentage in it for him (same as when he agreed to go into Reiver territory in the film) etc. - and you realise he isn't one dimentional, you see him playing guitar or brushing a prostitutes' hair or he says something profound and you realise - heck, he's a member of this crew because he deserves to be, he earns his place by taking the risks and because well he's Jayne.

He's a selfish boor, but he's maturin' admittedly slowly....

"Every heist, he's gotta start yelling my name..."

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Thursday, October 20, 2005 6:33 AM

ODDNESS2HER

You might want to give 'Buffy' and 'Angel' second looks. The elements you love in 'Firefly' and 'Serenity' are even more present in Joss' first two series, since he had 7 and 5 seasons, respectively, to develop them.

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