# So, I finally got around to watching Serenity... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2007, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983 "2007-01-06T22:56:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/1 "2007-01-06T22:56:05Z")
I’ve never watched _Firefly_, as (AFAIK) it’s never been on TV here. I’ve heard lots of doper talk (mostly positive) about it, and the movie _Serenity_; I keep seeing the DVD of _Serenity_ in the shops at quite a reasonable price, but I kept putting off buying it in case I might just be wasting my money. Anyway, I managed to borrow it off a friend and I just finished watching it. I can’t fault it. It’s really just a perfect action SF movie for me - realistic and gritty enough to be believable, speculative and fantastic enough to be engaging; funny enough to be entertaining, serious enough to keep me watching intently. The guy who lent it to me said the plot didn’t really make any sense, but I can’t say I noticed - maybe he wasn’t paying proper attention. So… I like it. You were right all along. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/2 "2007-01-07T00:06:27Z")
[I also finally got around to watching Serenity/Firefly](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=389253&highlight=serenity) The plot makes more sense once you see the series Firefly which is equally good. I watched Serenity first so was also a bit confused. The most obvious point of confusion being that I don’t already know the backstories and histories of the characters they were introducing. One bit about the series I do like is how they poke fun at a lot of the conventional action movie fare. For example In one episode, they try to escape a ship chasing them by darting in and out of a dangerous canyon, Death Star trench style. They’re just about to congratulate themselves on “loosing” their pursuers when they realize that the they simply watched their made dash from the safety of 1000 feet above them ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/3 "2007-01-07T00:36:47Z")
I found there were enough references in the movie to work out the backstory; the intro says a few things about how the solar system got colonised and it becomes readily apparent that there’s some kind of heavy-handed government and the Serenity crew aren’t on side with them. What more does one need to know? - most movies expect you to hit the ground running and this wasn’t any different. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/4 "2007-01-07T00:38:17Z")
BTW, I especially liked “Are we crashing again?” ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/5 "2007-01-07T00:42:46Z")
I am in the same boat. I liked it when I finally watched it - liked it a lot - but it still didn’t measure up to all the hype! Funny and witty and a little different. Still, I’me asy and dont’ ask for much more. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/6 "2007-01-07T01:04:14Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] I am in the same boat. I liked it when I finally watched it - liked it a lot - but it still didn’t measure up to all the hype! Funny and witty and a little different. Still, I’me asy and dont’ ask for much more. [/QUOTE] IMHO, the Firefly series was far, FAR better than the movie. The series deserved the hype. The movie – not so much. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/7 "2007-01-07T02:31:24Z")
Viewed as the 2-hour Big-Screen _Firefly_ Series Grand Finale, I would say that _Serenity_ was not my favorite episode ever, but it certainly wasn’t my least favorite “episode” either. I do think the movie works better if you’ve seen the series first. There are some things in the movie that inherently have more emotional punch if you’ve seen the series first. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/8 "2007-01-07T05:25:22Z")
The pilot episode _Serenity_ would have been a great movie-they could have just released that. Then -oops!-TV spin off- and put the show back on the air. Yes, the sky is magenta and puce in my world. ---
**Author:** ![badkittypriestess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8baadc/32.png) [@badkittypriestess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badkittypriestess)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/9 "2007-01-07T06:36:56Z")
I couldn’t stand it when my hubby would be watching Firefly. I’d come downstairs and then make a bee-line back upstairs because he was watching it. He would watch it over and over again! I finally one night sat down and watched it and by Og I fell in love with it! I watched them all and then we went and saw Serenity in the theater when it first came out. OMG Mal is hot! Not to mention Wash too. I knoiw the hubby thinks the women are hot and I guess I’ll agree. 😃 If it weren’t late here I’d pop it into the DVD player and curl up in bed and watch! Maybe I will get outa bed and go it. Not too tired to watch it, CSI Miami was a bust and I don’t watch Without a Trace. Firefly here we come. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/10 "2007-01-07T08:14:17Z")
I am such a nerd. Even after all these viewings, I get more upset by The damage done to Serenity[/SPOILER]than I do by[SPOILER]Wash getting shish-ka-bob’d Serenity wasn’t the best episode of them all, way too much action and not enough of what got me into the series to begin with, but still good stuff. “Hell with this, I’m gonna live!” ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/11 "2007-01-07T17:02:41Z")
[QUOTE=msmith537] One bit about the series I do like is how they poke fun at a lot of the conventional action movie fare. [/QUOTE] Yeah, the movie has some of that, too–cracks me up every time. Mal: "Now, if you don’t hear from me within an hour, I want you to take this ship … and come rescue me. Zoe: “What? And risk my ship?” ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/12 "2007-01-07T17:15:37Z")
And of course _Serenity_’s little shout-out to the “Special Edition” of _Star Wars_: [spoiler] The Operative: I’m alone and unarmed… Mal: Good. _BLAM!_ Course it didn’t work out quite as Mal intended, but it was still a great scene.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/13 "2007-01-07T18:23:12Z")
Welcome to the club, here’s your kool-aid 🙂 – IG ---
**Author:** ![Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Licentious_Ectomorph)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/14 "2007-01-07T18:48:31Z")
[QUOTE=Tenar] IMHO, the Firefly series was far, FAR better than the movie. The series deserved the hype. The movie – not so much. [/QUOTE] TOTALLY disagree with you. I saw a few episodes of the series, which my SO loved, but I thought they were a crashing bore. When I finally agreed to watch Firefly, I thought it kicked ass. ---
**Author:** ![Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Licentious_Ectomorph)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/15 "2007-01-07T18:51:04Z")
[QUOTE=Licentious Ectomorph] TOTALLY disagree with you. I saw a few episodes of the series, which my SO loved, but I thought they were a crashing bore. When I finally agreed to watch Firefly, I thought it kicked ass. [/QUOTE] That should be “When I finally agreed to watch _Serenity_…” ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-finally-got-around-to-watching-serenity/386983/16 "2007-01-07T20:22:14Z")
From Firefly [Mals fighting some goon] Zoe: Wait! The captain needs to handle this himself… Mal: NO! HE DOESN’T!! Zoe: Oh…[shoots goon]