Managed to score a pass to tonite’s sneak preview showing downtown. Whedon put together an excellent film. The dialogue, the performances, the thrills, and a powerful story – it all was there. Not to say there weren’t a few flaws – there’s a stretch in the middle with like three expository scenes in a row (at least they’re funny) and I can see how someone unfamiliar with the series might not get all the nuances of one particular character relationship (although it isn’t one of the central relationships of the film). But that’s all quibble – once that slow stretch ends it hits on all cylinders for the rest of the movie. And Whedon is able to do things with a movie budget that are lightyears beyond what he could have shown on the series.
Bottom line – this is the best movie I’ve seen all year.
Have you previously seen Firefly? If not, did you feel there was adequate explantaion of the whos and the wheres?
I’m a big Joss fan myself, and that is the one issue that gives me concern.
I’ve seen the movie alreaady, but I sure plan to be there again this weekend!
I have seen Firefly. Most recently, I watched about a half-dozen episodes this weekend. I know a couple people who didn’t watch Firefly who loved the movie, and the girl sitting next to us tonight did also. I think that the movie does a great job of establishing what a new viewer needs to know (with one rather minor exception I alluded to in the OP), but of course I can’t be sure of that. But there’s a lot of stuff in there (action and thrills, if nothing else, plus some great jokes) that ou don’t need to be a Firefly fan to appreciate, so I’m sure you don’t have to be a fan to like the movie.
I haven’t seen any of Firefly (yet) except for the pilot, but I couldn’t be more excited about the movie. I have faith in Joss Whedon to introduce the audience to anything they need to know without expecting them to have seen the show first.
We saw a screening a few weeks ago and a friend was with us who’d never seen the show. He loved the movie and immediately borrowed our DVDs, which he then watched all of over a period of two or three days.
Neither of those are what I’m talking about. I don’t want this to become a spoiler thread (at least not til after this weekend) because I don’t want to drive people away from the movie. But it really isn’t a big deal.
Not to get too cryptic, but I’ve seen it too, and I’m pretty sure I know which relationship Cliffy alludes to. It is left quite vague and not terribly well developed, but it’s of minimal importance given that it’s tangental to the focus of the film.
I loved it. Loved it. I’ll be seeing it again sunday (Darn “friends” made plans for friday). I think anyone who could enjoy action sci-fi will enjoy it, and Firefly fans (except for a disgruntled minority) will be knocked on their asses. In a good way.
Mal and Inara. I think this is the one place the movie relies on previous knowledge of the characters to make their scenes mean something, instead of merely using that knowledge to enhance what’s shown on screen. But it’s not a big deal, because that relationship is peripheral to the action in this film. I imagine it’ll take center stage in one of the sequels, knock on wood, but if so there’ll be time to go through it then.
I reiterate, not a big deal. And if you disagree, so be it. A great movie regardless.
Ok, I can see that. But I think enough is implied that a new viewer understands the basics of their relationship. There’s a scene that was cut that involves (spoiler, but not really)
Inara and another companion discussing her relationship with Mal (or the lack thereof). It was cut because it’s all talk and no action, and not completely vital to the plot. It’s funny though, and I imagine it will be on the DVD.
Haven’t seen the movie yet (only 3 days!) but from the trailers, it’s seemed pretty obvious that that particular relationship gets a lot less play in the movie than it did in the brief TV run of the series.
Agreed. I haven’t seen the film. However, some friends did, and they said that while the fans did fill them in on some details, they would have enjoyed it even without knowing such stuff.
How could anyone miss that? The whole crew listens in on their first conversation and moans and throws crap at the screen when Mal says “Kaylee missed you” as opposed to “I missed you” or something equally sappy.
Already posted on the spoiler thread, but I thought I’d just reiterate that I’d never seen a full episode, hell, I’m not even a big sci-fi fan (though I do like Whedon’s stuff), but I loooved this movie. And not just because Nathan Fillion is mega dreamy.
I know a couple people who didn’t watch Firefly who loved the movie, and the girl sitting next to us tonight did also. I think that the movie does a great job of establishing what a new viewer needs to know (with one rather minor exception I alluded to in the OP), but of course I can’t be sure of that. But there’s a lot of stuff in there (action and thrills, if nothing else, plus some great jokes) that ou don’t need to be a Firefly fan to appreciate, so I’m sure you don’t have to be a fan to like the movie.