Joss Whedon's star-crossed TV space-western Firefly comes full circle this week with the DVD release of its feature film follow-up, Serenity. Thanks to devoted fans, the poorly marketed and quickly cancelled series did so well in its DVD release that Universal gave Whedon a green light to bring his crew of ragged, wisecracking space outlaws to the big screen. And now, just months after leaving the theaters, they're shrunk onto a shiny little disk you can watch at home on your TV - where, incidentally, you can also catch the original series in rotation on the SciFi Channel.
And Whedon - who declares he's not interested in making things people will like, only things they'll love - has served up another lovefest. The film has all the story, drama, and character development a fan of the show could want as well as enough action, humor, and special effects to entertain neophytes. The cast, whose closest thing to a star is Ron Glass of Barney Miller fame, is charming and talented; though good-looking, they seem real enough to convince as fringe members of society. The dialogue is taut and witty, the direction fast-paced without being too busy, the action thrilling and the computer effects seamlessly integrated with the live-action photography.
On the surface, the Serenity universe could hardly be more different from the world Whedon created for his two earlier (and far more successful) TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel, which aired for seven and five years respectively. Like Serenity, those shows focussed on scrappy teams of adventurers, but the Buffyverse was infested with supernatural creatures and dominated by mystical powers, demons, magic, religious iconography, gothic romanticism, and a past that reached powerfully into the present. The Serenity "'verse," by contrast, is dusty and messy, peopled by thieves, prostitutes, suck-ups, disgruntled veterans, and garden variety assholes, and it's all about now: today's heist, tomorrow's bar fight, next week's adventure. And although as with most futuristic epics there is a backstory, it exists mostly to explain what made our heroes outlaws.
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Article comments
1 - -E
I love this movie and if I don't get it for Christmas, I am buying it the day after! Were there any bonus things on the DVD?
2 - Jon Sobel
The only extras were what I mentioned in the final paragraph of my review. However, my review copy was not the final packaged version, so there may be more on the release. (Or not.) Actually I'm a little sick of seeing Joss Whedon yak about his work in interviews. I just like the work. :-) (I miss Buffy...)
3 - Eric Berlin
I love Whedon commentary tracks almost as much as his work (which is saying a lot). Great job on this Jon, you summed up a lot in a short space.
I loved this film, but it's bittersweet in the sense that Whedon is deeply missed in television-land. With his right-hand man, Tim Minear, having brilliant work (Wonderfalls) and very good work (The Inside) shelved way before its time, it's no surprise that he hasn't made any signs of coming back (sniff).
At least there's Marty Noxon doing fine work (I imagine) over on Veronica Mars!
4 - Jon Sobel
Yes, Eric, I agree, Joss is missed in TV-land. Several of my fellow-Buffy-fan friends have gotten into Veronica Mars, but I haven't had a chance to give it a chance. I guess I'm a one-show kinda guy; after Buffy went off the air, no TV drama really caught my fancy until House, which is right now my only must-see. (I liked and followed Angel but it was never that same kind of must-see for me. Except for the Eliza Dushku episodes... mmm... Faith...)
5 - Eric Berlin
I actually just checked out House this week (due very much to the fact that I read that Joss Whedon digs it -- shows you what a geek I am!) and liked it. I'm averse to hospital dramas, so I was surprised at how strong it was -- particularly the characters.
V Mars is very very good, one of the best shows on TV. I talked about it last night on Subject2Discussion, if you're interested, amongst about 15 other shows.
It took me a while to latch onto Angel but once I did, I absolutely loved it. So I see someone's a Faith fan, eh? You ever watch that show where she worked in the morgue and had some supernatural powers? I couldn't really get into it as I recall. Tru Calling? Think that was it.
6 - Jon Sobel
Yes, I was one of the three or four people who watched "Tru Calling." It was a misbegotten concept: the premise made for plots that were too complex to allow for enough audience engagement with the characters. Also the writing wasn't great, and the quality of the acting - aside from the leads - was painfully bad. But I watched quite a few of the episodes because I love Eliza Dushku *that much.* (Did you know she played the daughter in True Lies?)
7 - Eric Berlin
What? I got distracted thinking back to one of those final Buffy/Faith eps...
8 - Eric Berlin
Final Buffy/Faith fights, I should say !