Joss Whedon's Firefly

[mysticaldodo]

I know its been out for quite a while but has anyone watch this incredibly funny western sci fi by Joss Whedon?

I've watched 8 episodes thus far on DVD and can't wait to finish it. Too bad its cancelled. I've no idea what type of chinese language their speaking, some kind of mangled form of mandarin which is weird since its my third language.

My favourite part so far is in 'Train Job' where Mal kicks the fat dude into the ships turbine for not passing the message to Niska. You have to see it to appreciate it

One of the best series I've seen. I think I'll go get the Deadwood DVDs with my newfound gain interest in westerns.

 

[en480c4]

I'll agree... it's one of the best series I've seen. And you're lucky because you're getting into it right as Serenity has come out on DVD. It's a great complement to the series.

As is usually the case with work from Joss Whedon, the character development is amazing. He does such a great job getting the viewer invested in the characters right away.

As for the Chinese popping up in dialogue, I thought it was pretty clever... if you look carefully there's a lot of Chinese influence in the clothes and overall culture, which makes sense considering the sheer numbers involved.

 

[blessingx]

There are a ton of great Westerns out there. If you haven't seen The Wild Bunch, High Noon, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Shane, Once Upon a Time in the West, etc. do. Like country music it's really too bad the public awareness is stuck on the far lesser works. I unfortunately don't happen to think Deadwood is everything it's trying to be, but it's okay.

Firefly and the British The Office were this years great DVD finds for me. Both were just a lot of fun.

 

[Kirosia]

Yeah, I caught it when sci-fi replayed it on fridays. Really good. Saw Serenity too, and it was also nice.

 

[dhwilkin]

Really good series, and Serenity was an awesome way to cap off the series (assuming they don't do anything else w/ it).

 

[en480c4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx the British The Office

I've watched these DVD's more times than I can count. "The Christmas Special" is one of my favorite episodes of any show.

Back to Joss Whedon, I don't think he's swung and missed yet. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of the most consistant shows over 7 seasons, and its biggest shortcoming was a public who immediately wrote it off because of the title. Its ability to parallel the horrors of high school with the story of a girl who's an outsider against her will battling supernatural horrors was brilliant. Angel was a little more uneven, but I would have to say on the whole, it succeeded. Needless to say I think Firefly succeeded on every level, except ratings. I'm really interested to what he does with Wonder Woman on the big screen, as he clearly showed he has the skills to direct features with Serenity. It's unfortunate that Serenity didn't do well enough to warrant a sequel because Joss has been on record saying how he has so many more stories to tell in that universe. But I fear the $25M box office means it's dead.

 

[Yikes]

The DVD of the Series is Awesom! It includes three episodes that didn't air durring the initial run. Serenity was Fantastic if you knew Firefly, it was good if you didn't.

 

[boodi]

awe , both the series and the movie , it was a time I wasn't so happy about a serie .
and the movie easily bests out lasts SWIII episodes imo

, if serenity II / III come out wow I'll be wowing probably again .

 

[enjoi_rootbeer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx Firefly and the British The Office were this years great DVD finds for me. Both were just a lot of fun.

i highly agree. too bad serenity didn't do as well in the box office. the movie was amazing and definately one, if not, the best this year. i felt so sad when i watched the last episode of firefly, i just couldn't believe that was it. i'm really looking forward the actors next work. nathan fillion has a new horror movie coming out next year called slither. which also stars jenna fischer (pam beesley) from the office. gotta check that one out for sure.

 

[episiarch]

Loved the series (on, DVD, in the right order). Not crazy about the movie. My wife and I must have given seven or eight copies of the DVD set to friends who'd never seen the show, and made fans of just about all of them.

 

[Senn20]

I've got the series on DVD and Serenity in transit to me as we speak. Coincidentally, Jewel Staite (Kaylee) was also on Wonderfalls (another great show cancelled by the rat bastards at Fox) which I ordered on DVD at the same time. She's a cutie. Her episodes on Wonderfalls never aired though...

 

[en480c4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senn20 I've got the series on DVD and Serenity in transit to me as we speak. Coincidentally, Jewel Staite (Kaylee) was also on Wonderfalls (another great show cancelled by the rat bastards at Fox) which I ordered on DVD at the same time. She's a cutie. Her episodes on Wonderfalls never aired though...

Wuhoo! Another Wonderfalls fan. That show was fantastic!

Be careful... though it's a compliment to her acting, I have trouble liking Jewel Staite in Firefly & Serenity after she plays someone who's, well, not a very nice person on Wonderfalls. And I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying that.

 

[Senn20]

Quote:

Originally Posted by en480c4 Wuhoo! Another Wonderfalls fan. That show was fantastic! Be careful... though it's a compliment to her acting, I have trouble liking Jewel Staite in Firefly & Serenity after she plays someone who's, well, not a very nice person on Wonderfalls. And I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying that.

Whoops! I meant to say that I already had Firefly and Wonderfalls in my posession, which I've already viewed. Serenity is on its way which I haven't seen yet.

Jewel Staite is wonderful in both. I even liked her character in Wonderfalls at the end.

 

[AdamWill]

I thought Serenity did pretty well at the box office, given the low-key publicity?

AFAIK the Chinese is meant to be more or less straightforward Mandarin, but the actors' pronounciation _really_ stinks, which is why it sounds odd. I can't speak Chinese but I get to listen to it for several hours every day, so I can tell when someone's mangling it

. What I never did get is they had Chinese dialogue and Chinese signs and Chinese cultural influences, but as far as I can remember, they never did have a single major Chinese character. Duh.

Great series, though. I got done watching the DVDs the other day. Wish they'd been in real surround sound, not Dolby fake-surround. Some of the later episodes were a little weak, I felt - though the final episode, Objects in Space, is fantastic - and there's some horribly impossible scenes (the one where Jayne shoots out the "net" device made me wince - sorry, but that ship was just _not_ travelling slower than a rifle's muzzle velocity - and the way people walk around casually without tethers on the outside of ships which should have microscopic escape velocities is also very clever, though I suppose you could give them the benefit of the doubt and say the artificial gravity they have inside the ship somehow extends outside). But overall, it's brilliant. Looking forward to watching the movie again when I can afford to buy the DVD

 

[mysticaldodo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamWill I thought Serenity did pretty well at the box office, given the low-key publicity? AFAIK the Chinese is meant to be more or less straightforward Mandarin, but the actors' pronounciation _really_ stinks, which is why it sounds odd. I can't speak Chinese but I get to listen to it for several hours every day, so I can tell when someone's mangling it . What I never did get is they had Chinese dialogue and Chinese signs and Chinese cultural influences, but as far as I can remember, they never did have a single major Chinese character. Duh.

Maybe its done on purpose. The cantonese people from my place mangled some mandarin words beyond recognition. Example "shen me" becomes "se mo", completely different!

Maybe Joss Whedon thought of it that other cultures would have their way of speaking a language and speaking it but who knows?