# Serenity (Open spoilers a plenty! You've been warned!)) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serenity-open-spoilers-a-plenty-youve-been-warned/324011 "2005-09-29T13:49:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 28
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serenity-open-spoilers-a-plenty-youve-been-warned/324011/541 "2005-10-25T03:18:45Z")
I did notice that when Mal shot “Room for one more?” guy in the head, the Reavers immediately dropped him like they’d lost interest, so yeah, that’s why they didn’t shoot River. They also don’t care about their own lives. I do wonder, however, why they’re not all dead of radiation sickness. I mean, they’re still human and their ships are unshielded. Probably when they start feeling sick they just raid and grab another ship. I loved River fighting, especially the bar fight. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serenity-open-spoilers-a-plenty-youve-been-warned/324011/542 "2005-10-25T05:12:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And I doubt you’ll get much disagreement about Book’s deathbed speech, either… I think we can all agree that that particular cliche needs to be given a decent burial, at a crossroads, with a stake through its heart. Yeah, but like I said earlier, what other director could make you laugh on purpose twice during a dramatic death scene? Compare with the scenes from Return of the King Denethor the Human Fireball!and Matrix Revolutions Trinity managed to make daytime soaps look like fuckin’ Shakespearewhere the audience was laughing their asses off because it was extra cheesy with a side of cheese. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serenity-open-spoilers-a-plenty-youve-been-warned/324011/543 "2005-10-25T05:22:46Z")
To be fair, I should point out that I _did_ get the impression that the Serenity and her crew would probably make for a good TV show. I’m considering getting the DVD from Netflix. It’s just that as a stand-alone movie it had serious shortcomings. I did notice the plastic dinosaurs and what looked like either a hula girl or a palm tree (it was hard to tell given the split second it was on screen) early in the movie. I thought that was a nice touch, and showed the ship as being a _home_ and not just a mode of transportation. I didn’t connect them to the pilot directly though. Just out of curiosity **Lute** , can I get a cite for the thing about the founder of judo? I know that with training you can do impressive things even against multiple opponents, but I’m rather skeptical about tossing people around like that (at least in a real fight). ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serenity-open-spoilers-a-plenty-youve-been-warned/324011/544 "2005-10-25T11:36:50Z")
Definitely get the DVDs. I liked the movie, but it’s definitely lacking… the movie is all plot, while the series has much more time to be about characters. You won’t regret checking out the series DVDs. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serenity-open-spoilers-a-plenty-youve-been-warned/324011/545 "2005-10-25T18:26:01Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > Just out of curiosity **Lute** , can I get a cite for the thing about the founder of judo? I know that with training you can do impressive things even against multiple opponents, but I’m rather skeptical about tossing people around like that (at least in a real fight). [Jigoro Kano](http://judoinfo.com/kano4.htm) weighed about 100 pounds and tossing people about is what one does in Judo. One uses the momentum of one’s opponent against them and bigger dudes have more momentum to use. I don’t recall seeing River throw people around like she was B.A. Baracus, unless she did her style fits with Judo. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serenity-open-spoilers-a-plenty-youve-been-warned/324011/546 "2005-10-26T00:10:30Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > [Jigoro Kano](http://judoinfo.com/kano4.htm) weighed about 100 pounds and tossing people about is what one does in Judo. You reckon he was killing them? With a big stick? And thirty or forty guys at once? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![threeorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@threeorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threeorange)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serenity-open-spoilers-a-plenty-youve-been-warned/324011/547 "2005-11-04T11:03:49Z")
I finally saw it Tuesday (after a month of struggling to remain unspoiled) and I loved it. Like the OP, I too, was surprised by Book’s death and shocked by Wash’s. The film felt like a two-hour series finale, even while leaving some unfinished business for a potential sequel. I can now safely read the previous 100,000 posts in this thread, and maybe reply to a few. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serenity-open-spoilers-a-plenty-youve-been-warned/324011.md?page=27)