25 replies to this topic

[J cobbers]

About a month ago my girlfriend bought Firefly on DVD because we were interested in watching Serenity when it came out. We were both really impressed by the series and were very excited about the film. It does not dissapoint. If you have seen the show, for the love of god go see this movie.

[Suave]

I hadn't seen FireFly and I still loved Serenity.

With my body.


It really was a good movie.

[rusty]

I own the Firefly DVD set and it is the best sci-fi I've ever scene. I'm looking foreward to seeing Serenity, but it takes a while for new movies to get to theater's here.

[Jangadance]

Serenity was an extremely fun cowboy-inspired space fantasy movie... It reminded me of A New Hope, which is definately a good thing. See it.

[Suave]

Serenity was an extremely fun cowboy-inspired space fantasy movie...  It reminded me of A New Hope, which is definately a good thing.  See it.

Yeah I was catching Solo references left and right. Also Luke's Tatooine home being diddled by Imperials. I was catching vibes from that too.

Edited by Suave, 06 October 2005 - 02:44 PM.

[J cobbers]

Yeah I was catching Solo references left and right. Also Luke's Tatooine home being diddled by Imperials. I was catching vibes from that too.

Mal does come off as a Han Solo type of guy doesn't he. I guess that makes River Luke (cause she's got special powers), Book is obi wan (old and mysterious) Jayne could be Chewbacca (big o'l badass) Simon as C-3P0 (all prim and proper) Kaylee as R2-D2 (cause she gets stuff fixed and likes to hang with Simon) Inara and Zoe split the two sides of leia, and Wash, well I don't know who fits him best....

In case you didn't guess it yet I'm a huge dork

[Ronster]

I liked how all the guns looked western-civil war-ish.
P.S. That pysho girl kicked major ass!!!

But I didnt like how everything was in Japanese, the wrighting and letters for those who have yet to see the movie.

[Drano]

everything was in mandarin.
Since it understood what they were saying, it was amusing to me how they butchered it up ( totally understandable though).


I think the reason for the chinese and cowboys was josh whedon's guess at what the circumstances in the future would be. What with a culture of 3 billion people may have a small impact in things to come.
And the cowboy thing... Universal expantion, would not be too much unlike westward expantion.


Wash could be Lando !

Edited by Drano, 08 October 2005 - 02:33 AM.

[tenesee23]

Wow, now that I think of it, it is very much like Star Wars. Awesome movie though, I saw it last week.

[Der Exilen]

Yeah I was catching Solo references left and right.  Also Luke's Tatooine home being diddled by Imperials.  I was catching vibes from that too.

Mal does come off as a Han Solo type of guy doesn't he. I guess that makes River Luke (cause she's got special powers), Book is obi wan (old and mysterious) Jayne could be Chewbacca (big o'l badass) Simon as C-3P0 (all prim and proper) Kaylee as R2-D2 (cause she gets stuff fixed and likes to hang with Simon) Inara and Zoe split the two sides of leia, and Wash, well I don't know who fits him best....

In case you didn't guess it yet I'm a huge dork

gah! no,no,no. you're raping the gorramn thing! solo,yes. stop comparing the damn movie to the sell-out wars movies. for one,firefly died because people like you didn't see it,and went and saw flightplan instead. secondly,i hate people who say "Well this is like this and that"

it's like comparing it's a wonderful life to pulp fiction. the fiction is a work of art,and it's a wonderful life had absolutely NO production value whatsoever.


go suck a lightsaber,and give the movie it's dues by seeing with real eyes,and not what corporate america tells you to.

[Drano]

haha.

Why don't you just go and suck whatever it is you suck, and quit that elitist bullshit.

its all entertainment anyways. not something to live your gorramn life by

[Talio]

Yeah I was catching Solo references left and right.  Also Luke's Tatooine home being diddled by Imperials.  I was catching vibes from that too.

Mal does come off as a Han Solo type of guy doesn't he. I guess that makes River Luke (cause she's got special powers), Book is obi wan (old and mysterious) Jayne could be Chewbacca (big o'l badass) Simon as C-3P0 (all prim and proper) Kaylee as R2-D2 (cause she gets stuff fixed and likes to hang with Simon) Inara and Zoe split the two sides of leia, and Wash, well I don't know who fits him best....

In case you didn't guess it yet I'm a huge dork

gah! no,no,no. you're raping the gorramn thing! solo,yes. stop comparing the damn movie to the sell-out wars movies. for one,firefly died because people like you didn't see it,and went and saw flightplan instead. secondly,i hate people who say "Well this is like this and that"

it's like comparing it's a wonderful life to pulp fiction. the fiction is a work of art,and it's a wonderful life had absolutely NO production value whatsoever.


go suck a lightsaber,and give the movie it's dues by seeing with real eyes,and not what corporate america tells you to.

Okay, first off, Drano. If you're going to insult someone at least do it well.

Second off, "It's a Wonderful Life" is a classic fantastic movie that is copied all the time. Saying it's got no production value is retarded because exactly what would there be to produce? Back then you could tell a story without having to result to flashy special effects and cheesy visuals. Look at the Star Wars prequels. They definitely had production value, but perhaps too much. I garantee if it had the writting and acting that "Wonderful Life" did and if you had an ounce of class, you may see otherwise.

I'm not seeing this movie until it comes to DVD for two reasons. One, it's Star Wars meets The Fifth Element meets Cowboy beebop. In other words, unoriginal. For once I'd love to see someone make a true to life science fiction film again. Oh wait, they did. It was called AI and it was great. Too bad your normal 18-35 year old male with a small penis controls what shows on the movie screen so the chances of an actual good movie going up again is slim to none. Seriously, with the demographic saying shit like "Wonderful Life" had no production value, it's a wonder they're not just showing CGI porn in theaters these days.

Talio.

[NinjZ]

Seriously, with the demographic saying shit like "Wonderful Life" had no production value, it's a wonder they're not just showing CGI porn in theaters these days.

Do marionetes(sp?) count?

[Langley]

It was called AI and it was great.  Too bad your normal 18-35 year old male with a small penis controls what shows on the movie screen so the chances of an actual good movie going up again is slim to none.  Seriously, with the demographic saying shit like "Wonderful Life" had no production value, it's a wonder they're not just showing CGI porn in theaters these days.

Talio.

Like always, I agree with your point of view totally, but I disagree with aspects of your argument.

Your normal 18-35 would have loved E.T. if it had come out last week, same with Empire Strikes Back, or 2001 a Space Odyssey.

AI wasn't all that great. It had an interesting message, it was thoughtfull, but it put me to sleep. It was also 'cgi porn' in a few portions of the movie, it was literally cgi porn. Most of AI was just as overproduced as any other summer blockbuster.

There are good movies being made that don't over-copy existing works. Did anyone see Pirates of the Caribbean? Sure, people compared it to Indiana Jones, but I didn't see any religious relics, whips, nazis, or WWII scenarios anywhere in there. There may have been some aspects of POTC that were similar to other movies, but the important thing was that the director and writer wove it all together in a way that prevented you from thinking about that while watching the movie.

Same goes for special effects. POTC had lots of 'em, in the form of awesome undead skelliton pirates, but throughout the movie there was no point where you felt like they were saying, "hey look what we can do with CG!" You werent thinking about any of those things while watching the movie, they were just parts of the story.

Finally, for anyone talking about It's a Wonderfull Life, that movie doesn't even apply here. First, it was made at a time when new movies were being pumped out every week at the big production companies. Secondly, it was widely ignored by the public when it came out. It wasn't untill many many years later that it became popular when it was shown on television on Thanksgiving day.

Too Long, Didn't Read version/conclusion:
Good movies are the ones that take from other movies and other mediums in a very generall way that prevents the audience from thinking about it. This is called 'creativity'. No one ever sucessfully does anything completely new. They may add something no one has ever done before, but it always has to be fleshed out with existing hooks, jokes, themes, selling points, and plot devices.
Likewise, good movies are the ones that use special effects as a tool, not the focus of the movie. In 1975, people were sitting in theatres saying, "HOLLY SHIT IT'S A FUCKING HUGE-ASSED SHARK LOOK OUT MOTHERFUCKER!" They weren't saying, "Wow, that looks so Real." That's because you didn't get a really good look at the shark, and once you saw it, they used the actor's terror to convey how freaking scary it was. At the time, that was a big effect.

Edited by Langley, 17 October 2005 - 11:54 AM.

[J cobbers]

gah! no,no,no. you're raping the gorramn thing! solo,yes. stop comparing the damn movie to the sell-out wars movies. for one,firefly died because people like you didn't see it,and went and saw flightplan instead. secondly,i hate people who say "Well this is like this and that"

it's like comparing it's a wonderful life to pulp fiction. the fiction is a work of art,and it's a wonderful life had absolutely NO production value whatsoever.

go suck a lightsaber,and give the movie it's dues by seeing with real eyes,and not what corporate america tells you to.

Okay, first off, Drano. If you're going to insult someone at least do it well.

Second off, "It's a Wonderful Life" is a classic fantastic movie that is copied all the time. Saying it's got no production value is retarded because exactly what would there be to produce? Back then you could tell a story without having to result to flashy special effects and cheesy visuals. Look at the Star Wars prequels. They definitely had production value, but perhaps too much. I garantee if it had the writting and acting that "Wonderful Life" did and if you had an ounce of class, you may see otherwise.

I'm not seeing this movie until it comes to DVD for two reasons. One, it's Star Wars meets The Fifth Element meets Cowboy beebop. In other words, unoriginal. For once I'd love to see someone make a true to life science fiction film again. Oh wait, they did. It was called AI and it was great. Too bad your normal 18-35 year old male with a small penis controls what shows on the movie screen so the chances of an actual good movie going up again is slim to none. Seriously, with the demographic saying shit like "Wonderful Life" had no production value, it's a wonder they're not just showing CGI porn in theaters these days.

Talio.

For the Record I have Seen this movie in the theater's 3 times already and my girlfriend and I have the DVD's, comics and the RPG. I'm no sell out, Hell I'm dressing up as Jayne for Halloween. Firefly tanked on Fox because Fox really didn't want the show and didn't support it. They aired 'Train Job' first instead of the Pilot, they showed the rest of the season out of order and gave the show a crappy and shifting timeslot.

I like your anaylsis Tailo, and you should buy the DVD when it comes out, but this is also a moive that needs to be seen on the big screen. Wait for it to come out in a cheap theater if you like, but see it in a theater you'll be happy you did.

As for it being a cross of Star Wars/5th Element/Coyboy bebop, I will agree it has elements of each, but it is also its own unique take on the future. There is a saying that there really are only 5 different stories, and you can argue that Star wars, 5th element and cowboy bebop are nothing new and totally unoriginal as well. While the characters have parallels to Star wars, they are not carbon copies either, but it's still fun to point them out and discuss them.

Wash, is probably the most unique character, and definatley can not be compared to Lando, he more like a Zander type from buffy, mostly useless until the ship needs to be flown. River as Luke is imperfect, mostly because she is emotionally unstable, less naive and a girl. Simon as 3PO is also imperfect, Simon being human and not someone's property gives him the ability to stand up to the other characters (namely Mal). Kaylee has too much of a sex drive and is not nearly as mischivious as R2, Jayne is no where near the level of intelligence and lack the nobility of Chewie. Further Jayne often is in conflict with the other characters, where Chewbacca is more a team player/ sidekick. Inara has too much sex and too little combat ability to fit Leia. Zoe is different from Leia in that she is more of a follower than a leader, more likely to take orders than to give them.

Ultimatly I think that Book as Obi wan and Mal as Han are the strongest ties between the movies, but again are not carbon copies, more like a reimagination of the architype represented by Han and Kenobi.

Another notible difference in Firefly is there is no Faster than light travel, no magic, and no aliens. The closest thing to the force or magic is River's abilities as a 'reader'. Rever's are men, granted they are really really crazy batshit insane sadistic canables but still they are human. The only evil forces in Serentiy comes from humaninity's own hubris and flaws, which is perhaps were it is most like Cowboy Bebop.

My last point to Der Exilen is that the original Star Was trilogy was great, simply awesome and didn't begin to suck till Lucas started messing with it. I own the original version on VHS before he messed with it in the special edition or the DVD set with stupid Haden Christiansen as Anakin at the end of Jedi. I agree that Lucas totally sold out for the prequils, but don't hate on the origials. Cause if you do you are a Yi Dwei Da Buen Chuo Roh, who can't appreicate something that set the standard that Firefly and Serentiy aimed for in the first place.

Ok I'm done with my fanboy rantings, I told ya'll I'm a dork.

[baghead]

Seriously, with the demographic saying shit like "Wonderful Life" had no production value, it's a wonder they're not just showing CGI porn in theaters these days.

Do marionetes(sp?) count?

Team America...? anything but Classic...more creepy than funny....but good one NinjZ

Edited by baghead, 17 October 2005 - 01:31 PM.

[Talio]

Okay, first off, there is no more "movie theater magic". I don't need, nor want to see anything on the big screen. The only things I see in the theaters now are stuff I don't want to wait for. At home, I have better picture, better sound, more comfortable seats all completely devoid of teenagers, sticky floors or some fucktard kicking my seat and answering his cell phone. I'm not a kid anymore, movie theaters are no longer social events nor justifiable date locations. Just thought I'd get that out of the way.

Second, my point about AI was that it was actually science fiction, not science fantasy. Science fantasy is starting to piss me off. Now I don't know anything about Serenity, but if it takes place in a different universe then our own, well then, I'm not really interested. I'll just pick RENT the DVD. None of this buying shit.

Langley, of course we see eye to eye, and the point that you're arguing against mine is moot. I know full well that old movies hold up, I was just trying to find a story that actually used plot and acting to portray the story rather then a bunch of flashy explossions and violence. I love violence as much as the next guy, but watching some of these space shooters just doesn't do it as much for me anymore. I'm sure the movie is fantastic, but I'm not going to the theaters to see a movie that was made merely becuase a bunch of dudes that can't get laid petitioned. Frankly, no matter what the reason, it's a Fox reject, which is saying alot.

I will say that my tastes for movies has been jaded for sometime. Violence doesn't do it for me anymore, I've seen the most horrific and hardcore there is. Unless it's got Gunkata or torture, the violence does very little. Special effects and space have both become redundant. If I never see a movie cast in space it will be too soon. It was cool when I was a kid, but even now I realize I liked Star Wars more for the Jedi and locals rather then the space travel. If you're going to do space travel, lets get really creative. Lets make a planet that doesn't look like it was shot on earth. Even Star Wars does this. It's either dessert, city, forrest or snow. All of these exsist on Earth. When people start doing shit I haven't seen before, I'll start watch space operas again.

Understand, I'm not bitching at Hollywood. I don't care what they make. There are a ton and a half of movies out there I really like and a ton I've never seen. If they never make a good movie again, I can be entertained until rapture. Besides, it was proven to me that good movies can still be made. Superb movies can still be made. Lord of the Rings really assured me of that. Enough time and effort can prove to make three of the best movies ever made and show to be hugely profitable. I saw "Emily Rose" this weekend. It was good. So there are decent movies out there, and I'm sure if I saw Serenity, I'd probably like it, but I just don't care. It's just another space opera.

Talio.

[J cobbers]

Eh, I guess you'll see it when you see it then. I hope you like it when you do.

[joeyaglr444]

They could have showed a bit of Psyco girls potential 2 fight scenes with her they should have shown a bit more. Though the jokes were funny, that black guy reminded me of wayne brady a bit a tad more...dangerous.

[Der Exilen]

(finally having finished reading a thesaurus)

it's a wonderful life,even for the time it was created in had a very small production budget (roughly the price of a small car in today's terms) and although it is a classic;the shooting and decision making could have been FAR better.

continuing,i actually ended up paying a lot of money to 'change people's minds' by paying half of thier ticket rather than watching them see horrible movies like "flightplan"

if you have time time,instead of seeing doom,just play doom3. it's the same thing.


---edit begins now---

pulp fiction is a classic. not because of the horrid blood scenes,or because of the "needle scene" but because of the way tarantino lines the script. it's perfect;like you're sitting with three or four good friends. monty python's holy grail is a perfect point for my classic list simply because it's so smattered across current culture without most of us even knowing it. (the bridge of death level in fallout;T shirts;hand grenades with big crosses saudered to the tip)

given the way the movie industry is headed,i'd say movies like star wars are headed the way of my 1980 chevy. straight to the scrapper from hitting a tree. the problem is not the viewer,it's the industry. utilizing focus groups,confused producers,all lead to these big hollywood movies that use massive budgets. personally,i think serenity was a breath of fresh air,simply by the way it could make us say "hey,that was a bit different." AND THEY KILLED WASH AND SHEPARD! (you bastards!)

and if you really think that "Sex sells" works,it's simply because 80% of my demographic is so mind-numbingly gullible. more importantly,they don't listen to the 20% because they have been trained by society not to listen to us. gullible,complacent wallets with eyes. just the way everyone wants them.

now if you don't mind,i'm going to fly a black flag.

Edited by Der Exilen, 30 October 2005 - 02:31 PM.

[Ronster]

Yeah, I heard Doom the moive was horrible. Most games made into movies are.

[Der Exilen]

i have some opnions as to how to add the movie to my worst list. right up there between "gigli" and "love don't cost a thing"


it was so bad,that when i went home i took some thermite and lit the reaction on my toe,just to see if there was anything as psychologially horrible as watching the movie.

well,my foot looks like a steak but on the bright side i did prove my point!

[Drano]

Wow if i had known that this thread would have turned out so long winded, i would most definately have come up with a decent insult.


...Some of the things we waste our time and energy on... i dont know...whatever.

[Der Exilen]

.....my head hurts. as a recruiter for browncoating (that is,serenity/firefly fans) i can tell you that the series and movie have seen some kind of appeal to everybody. for the least,the series has these moments where you just kind of go..."Well,that was odd." which the movie did not have. feeling a "Solo vibe" kind of makes me want to wrall all over the floor because although K3-064 "serenity" is a junker like the falcon,we need to give her some dues and BRING BACK THE SERIES!

[Jangadance]

It sucks how in life, there are bound to be other people that like the same thing you do. And, chances are they will make you feel like a moron by association.


Der Exilen, give it a rest, no one wants to listen to your poorly organized rambling.