What would you like to see explained/explored in the FF movie? by TragicStory

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

What would you like to see explained/explored in the FF movie?

POSTED BY: TRAGICSTORY
UPDATED: Monday, August 4, 2003 06:08
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Saturday, July 26, 2003 11:27 AM

The Inara background would definatly be up there. Not to mention how Mal got enough cash to buy Serenity.

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"Societies are supported by human activity, therefore they are constantly threatened by the human facts of self-intrest and stupidity." --Peter Berger

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Saturday, July 26, 2003 1:01 PM

NIGHTTRAIN

This is probably the most obvious choice, but I definitely want to see more of river's story. Who or what these blue hand guys are. I'd like to know what was done to river, and why. And there would also be lots of room to throw flashbacks in the movie of Simon's backstory. We could see more of how he came to rescue river. Also, we could see how he got in with that resistance group that he helped fund in exchange for their help with River. Thats the stuff i'd like to see.

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Saturday, July 26, 2003 1:07 PM

SPACEANGLER

Who the hell is Book?
And who the hell was John Doe?

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Saturday, July 26, 2003 2:43 PM

SHEPHERDOFHERMAS

I would like to see Inara and Book's relationship - touched on in the Serenity pilot - fleshed out a bit more.

(no that really isn't what I meant.)

The vote of my household however would be for Kaylee to save the day and prove to be the Hero of the Ages.... I have no problem with such an idea (although I hate being outvoted) but I think there is a lot of energy in Inara and Book's backstory, and it could tie in to everything from River's liberation to working to destroy the Alliance from within.

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Saturday, July 26, 2003 3:39 PM

JUTIN

I believe that we don't need to know how Mal got the cash for Serenity. That's probably what he'd say anyways. I think that what happened to River at the "Special School" was explained thoroughly too. What the movie should be about is the blue hand guys and Book's past and the jeopardy that Simon and River put the crew of Serenity into. I'm a firm believer in "Less is More", we certainly don't want an "X-Files" movie (giving away half of the mysteries in 2 hours). The movie should wrap up a few things from the series and open doors to new things that would make us all sign another petition demanding a sequel. I'm sure Joss is right on top of all this. We has never given away anything too quickly. The movie should give us all one hell of a thrill. And please pick up with Inara's leaving Serenity... what's going on with that?!?

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Saturday, July 26, 2003 10:59 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hi guys.

I sure don't want to see the Blue Hand guys in the movie. Too much to catch up on, there. I really don't want to see Simon's sister hyped up much, either. Again, you can't do it without explaining it. I don't want the movie to have to explain much.

The Vin Diesel movie Pitch Black is a good example of a Sci-Fi movie with a ship and a crew that needs precious little explaining. You see who the people are. Anything you need is received in dialogue in a minute or two. On with the plot.

THINGS I WANT TO SEE?

1) I want the issue of universe size to be established and not pussy-footed around. Is it many stars, or just one? This is important to me because it raises story issues, not technology issues. If Serenity has to pass through some kind of gate, then that is a possible interception point by Alliance personnel.

2) I want a Sci-Fi story that happens to involve the Serenity crew. Sure, we'll learn about Serenity and her crew in the course of the story by watching how they react to things. We do NOT need a story that massively moves along their various character plots much. This is entertainment for us, and entertainment and introduction for everyone else.

I want the story to have universal appeal. It should be interesting whether it happens to Mal Reynolds or Captain Picard or Han Solo or Horatio Hornblower. In other words, a good story. We are fortunate enough to have good characters. We need a good plot. Something anyone can latch onto. Then the Serenity folks can just be 'plugged into' the story. They will, by their own nature, make any story more interesting. I just think the story should be there with or without them.

Shows like Star Trek have been relying way too much on our love for the characters and not nearly enough on weaving an independantly good yarn.

--Anthony

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Sunday, July 27, 2003 10:22 AM

HKCAVALIER

The last thing I want to see is some attempt to continue much at all of the story arcs we've seen on the show, 'cause that would mean rehashing a lot of what has already been done beautifully in the series so the uninitiated will know what's going on. I suppose they could make a story about River's time in the Acadamy and her brother's rescue and all but somehow that just doesn't have "blockbuster" written all over it. Does anyone really want a movie that's just for the fans?

So the story has to be epic and strike a chord with people who didn't watch the show and were turned off by the "cowboys in space" things. A story about the reavers sounds good if they go into a lot of depth about it, like where they come from, how it all started, what their "culture" is like. I'd love it if they explored the mainstream 26th century culture as well. I'd love to find out more about the companion temple priestesses, f'rinstance.

Secretly, of course, I want the heavy-handed lefty movie about how the Alliance and the American Empire are the same gorram thing and the terrible cost of mixing commerce and universal government, some of that "absolute power corrupts absolutely" and a lot about how it sucks to be poor in either timeline. But Joss is gonna have to keep that stuff on the DL if this is gonna be a huge hit and bring back the series.

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

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Sunday, July 27, 2003 12:10 PM

MANIACNUMBERONE

It all depends; if this movie is going to be the stand-alone ending of Firefly, then I want them to explain just about everything, but if (by the good fortune) there is more to come, I want the movie to just continue in the general storyline, but have it be bigger and better of course, 'cause it's a movie.

Come to think of it, after the movie is a 3 to 4 hour dvd, wouldn't a director's commentary on everything be shiny?

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Sunday, July 27, 2003 3:55 PM

WHOODAHN

I think the thing I would like to see the most on this movie is me as an extra! A local yokel, Alliance, ex-Alliance, dead body, I don't care.

Just give us the word and the Browncoats will invade Canada!

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Sunday, July 27, 2003 11:47 PM

TRAGICSTORY

Quote:
Originally posted by WhooDahn:
I think the thing I would like to see the most on this movie is me as an extra! A local yokel, Alliance, ex-Alliance, dead body, I don't care.

Just give us the word and the Browncoats will invade Canada!

I must say, that is the best answer so far!

Touche!

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"Societies are supported by human activity, therefore they are constantly threatened by the human facts of self-intrest and stupidity." --Peter Berger

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Thursday, July 31, 2003 12:32 AM

THEOBSOLETEMAN

As a rare someone who absolutely loved the oft-maligned Alien Resurrection, which as some here may recall Joss wrote, I trust his ability to write an intelligent and exciting theatrical SF film.

But to give some input on the matter at hand, I want to know more about:

- The Blue Hand Guys, and their connection to the Alliance (which I suspect may be just as subversive to the Alliance as any outright rebels).

- Book's backstory (I suspect a former Alliance officer of high rank, who resigned and entered the monestary when he could no longer live with what he was doing).

- Inara's backstory (She supported the Alliance--so why's she on Mal's ship, when she could be living comfortably?).

- As Anthony said above, a more clear explanation of what sort of universe the show takes place in. No Treknobabble needed, just tell us: One system? Many systems? Another galaxy? FTL drive or not? Just the rudimentary SF basics.

-

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Thursday, July 31, 2003 12:40 AM

THEOBSOLETEMAN

Quote:
Originally posted by HKCavalier:
Secretly, of course, I want the heavy-handed lefty movie about how the Alliance and the American Empire are the same gorram thing and the terrible cost of mixing commerce and universal government

I don't disagree with you, but it's interesting that you see the show's politics as leftist, as others have commented on what they see as a right-wing, libertarian, anti-government agenda to the show. There was even a link on this site for awhile (it may still be there) to a right-wing website in Texas where the author praised the show's libertarian politics.

But then I guess that brings up the question: Is libertarianism (and anti-authoritarianism) right wing or left wing? Generally, it seems to offend status-quo folks on both sides of the political fence. And certainly the George Bush Republicans are no libertarians--they're practically the Alliance incarnate when it comes to personal freedom.

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Thursday, July 31, 2003 3:04 AM

TARO

I'm with you on the explaining the universe thing. All this talk about being on the Rim, what does that actually mean? How many planets have they terraformed? Propulsion systems, fuel, FTL, communications systems, why they were talking about the Reavers having an 'unshielded' ship and that being suicide, plenty to work with there.

More about Inara's story, why she abandoned the House and how she ended up out on the Rim. What can River sense, how much control does she have over her abilities? And definitely Book, who I'm sure is atoning for some serious war crimes.

The tricky part of course is going to be keeping fans happy - giving them something new - and bringing in a new audience. It would be a mistake to rehash the history, you'd bore the uninitiated and the fans alike. Strong story that carries the characters along in its tide, that's what we need.

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Thursday, July 31, 2003 4:02 AM

TRAGICSTORY

OK, just as a side note: Who would you like to see as a cameo?

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"Societies are supported by human activity, therefore they are constantly threatened by the human facts of self-intrest and stupidity." --Peter Berger

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Thursday, July 31, 2003 7:01 AM

JOHNNYREB

O.k. I would like to see more frontier/western aspect to the story. That is what got me hooked in the first place. Bar fights, shoot outs, horse chases, run-away wagons, etc. As a cameo? I would like to see someone who will be a tipped hat to either genre--Clint Eastwood, Western; Patrick Stewart, SciFi; James Garner, Western; Harrison Ford, SciFi. You get the picture.

Viva Firefly!

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Thursday, July 31, 2003 7:35 AM

STILLSHINY

Could you imagine Kevin Spacey as some whacked out guy high up in the Blue Hand ranks. Just spouting "riverisms" while claiming that he's perfectly sane, in fact he's the only sane on the rest of the verse is crazy. Kind of a cross between "Jack from shining", "Brad Pitt in 12 monkeys" & "Crowe in Beautiful mind"

my kind of creepifying..

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Thursday, July 31, 2003 8:14 AM

WHOODAHN

Quote:
Originally posted by TheObsoleteMan:
- Book's backstory (I suspect a former Alliance officer of high rank, who resigned and entered the monestary when he could no longer live with what he was doing).

I agree with you. I suspect that Book was not the only former high ranking Alliance officer that joined a monestary. I would have liked to seen Book either covertly or openly go to some of his old buddies and use them to help Serenity.

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Thursday, July 31, 2003 12:21 PM

KASUO

1) Show how the Sino-Anglo Alliance came to be -- perhaps showing some sort of negotiations going on from several people who look like diplomats from different worlds. Also, show those people who disagree with the formation of the Alliance and the tensions that built up from that.

2) Show some battles, perhaps some space battles between Alliance cruisers and whatever the Independents had (yeah, this is all a special effects orgy but it would be nice to see what happened). Also show what those air tanks looked like at Hera.

3) Perhaps a re-introduction of Serenity's crew, not necessarily what we saw all ready but something new to add to it rather than re-writing it.

3a) Seeing a bit of Mal's life on Shadow.
3b) Showing Simon's work as a surgeon on Osiris and his eventual dealings with the underground group who helped rescue River.
3c) More on River's life at the "academy", including the kinds of experimentation they were performing on her.

4) Show Reaver society (if you can call it that) and how it turned into what it was. For example, showing early settlers who drifted too far or attempted to settle on one of the first terraformed planets that had "problems", perhaps attempts to settle on naturally habitable planets but being completely isolated.

"Let's moon 'em!"

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Thursday, July 31, 2003 5:37 PM

TALRIUS

One word, Reavers. Not some explination on how they became what they are. Just Reavers. H.P. Lovecraft said it best, "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."

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Friday, August 1, 2003 1:27 AM

DRAKON

"But then I guess that brings up the question: Is libertarianism (and anti-authoritarianism) right wing or left wing?"

Heinlein said it better than me: "Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire."

This business about left and right are the ashes of a previous epoch, when there existed a class structure, with the left siding with the prols and the right with the monarchs. But both are really who should rule whom, and the new boss is the same as the old boss.

Libertarism does not really fit into either left or right. Both left and right are, in their extreme forms authoritarian governments. Libertarians, in general, just want to be left alone and leave everyone else alone.

"my kind of stupid."

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Friday, August 1, 2003 5:16 AM

JAVIDRHO

Since a FF movie will be only 90 minutes to 2 hours long (about the same length as the pilot) there is really not very much time to explore all of the great things discussed here so far.

Also, we have to consider that the movie will have to attract more than just the current core fans (if there were enough fans to float a movie by themselves, then there would have been enough fans to give the show higher ratings) Not enough people saw the TV show to have a continuation of the series. That worked on long-running shows like X-Files, where everybody knew the characters.

The Firefly movie would have to start at the beginning, I believe, and I would personally be very happy if the movie turned out to be a retelling of the Serenity pilot. I really love that pilot and a movie version would be able to expand on it (more Reavers, more interplay between characters, more everything). Maybe throw in elements from other episodes, like the "Out of Gas" flashback of Mal getting his ship.

I personally don't need anything explained, other than the simple question of one solar system or more. If more than one system, we need FTL travel and that opens up a whole can of worms. I hope that it is one solar system with just a dozen or so planets. That makes things real simple, which is how this show ought to be.

BTW - I am a scientist, and up until FF came along, I needed everything in a show like this to be explainable (technobabble or otherwise). That is what really separates science fiction from fantasy (at least in book form). For some reason, I like FF purely for the characters. Go figure...

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

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SIMON: What happens if they board us?
ZOE: If they take the ship, they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skins into their clothing
and if we're very very lucky, they'll do it in that order.

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Friday, August 1, 2003 11:27 AM

TARO

{BTW - I am a scientist, and up until FF came along, I needed everything in a show like this to be explainable (technobabble or otherwise). For some reason, I like FF purely for the characters. Go figure...}

That's FF's greatest strength. The fact that it's set in space is incidental. Good shows are always character driven, and Joss is bloody good at writing convincing characters. I liked that little aside between Zoe and Wash - can't remember which show.

WASH: But that's science fiction.
ZOE: Honey, you live on a space ship.
WASH: So?

'bout says it all really. Although I'm not a scientist, I've always had a problem with spaceships exploding in great big fireballs. FF is the first show where they've convincingly portrayed a fire on a space ship, and the very nasty consequences of loosing your oxygen that way. I'd like more of the same in a movie. Reality bites.

WASH: But that's science fiction.
ZOE: Honey, you live on a space ship.
WASH: So?

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Friday, August 1, 2003 11:44 PM

DRAKON

"BTW - I am a scientist, and up until FF came along, I needed everything in a show like this to be explainable (technobabble or otherwise). That is what really separates science fiction from fantasy (at least in book form). For some reason, I like FF purely for the characters. Go figure... "

Amen there. While not a scientist, nor do I play one on TV, I am the same way. With almost every other science fiction program or book.

"my kind of stupid"

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Saturday, August 2, 2003 10:22 AM

COLLEGEDUDE153

I just want more firefly !

I want it to deal with the characters, I heard that The Reavers might be the baddies in the movie - which would be fine !

I just want the movie to be accessable to everyone, who hasn't seen the series. I hope that just by dialogue, the audience will be able to understand the characters that we the ppl who watched the tv series know and love.

I want it to act like a 2 hour standalone episode, maybe some things could be lightly touched upon, but not too much- that it makes the movie to complicated.

I believe in Joss Whedon's ability to write and direct - I just hope the movie gets made. And if it does, more movies or a new tv series.

If a brilliant scifi movie like "Pitch Black" can be made - with great characters, Firefly should work too - especially with Joss in charge !

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Monday, August 4, 2003 4:26 AM

JAVIDRHO

Quote:
Originally posted by Taro:

'bout says it all really. Although I'm not a scientist, I've always had a problem with spaceships exploding in great big fireballs. FF is the first show where they've convincingly portrayed a fire on a space ship, and the very nasty consequences of loosing your oxygen that way. I'd like more of the same in a movie. Reality bites.
B]

While I said previously that I don't need everything explained in Firefly, it WOULD be nice to know that Joss&Co thought of all of the seemingly inconsistent things brought up on this site (ftl drive or not, one sun or more, etc) and just didn't have the time to explain them (or, more likely, didn't feel the need to).

It is really not that hard for a show to be internally consistent – they just have to care about it and make up a series bible, or tome, before the first episode airs. Then give it to all the writers and make sure they follow it. You could argue that science fiction is a lot more meticulous than fantasy, but even in fantasy, you have to be internally consistent. You don’t see Harry Potter learning an incantation for a spell, then later on, using the same words for a different spell. In other words, make up what you want, but just be consistent.

They don’t have to explain everything in boring detail, but please don’t make stuff up as you go along. That will tarnish even the best character-driven series. It is my hope that the Firefly movie will have both believable science and great fiction. That is why they call the genre “science fiction” after all, and I do think it will need both elements to be successful.

----------------
SIMON: What happens if they board us?
ZOE: If they take the ship, they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skins into their clothing
and if we're very very lucky, they'll do it in that order.

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Monday, August 4, 2003 5:58 AM

LEGALBEGAL

Hi all. I am so excited about the movie and hope to get some good Reaver moments. I want to know what Blue Sun really is when the movie comes out.

For those of you who wanted to know about the right and left of libertarianism and other things try taking a look at the new political compass it groups things into four quadrants along an X and Y axsis and makes more sense than a strait line to me anyway.

Here is the link http://www.politicalcompass.org

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Monday, August 4, 2003 6:08 AM

LEGALBEGAL

Just wanted to add that the new political compass while better than the tradition political scale is not perfect I would like to see a neutral answer. I also thought you should know where I stand since I posted this.

Economic Left/Right: -5.50
Libertarian/Authoritarian: 0.62

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