No Serenity for Me at Present

I saw Serenity, too. I couldn't have been more happy with it. I recall Sam Konkin, almost three decades ago, declaring the original Star Wars film the first and greatest libertarian sci-fi movie ever. I wish he were alive today to see Serenity.

I saw Serenity very early Friday morning at a special showing which started just after midnight. I thought the movie was excellent, the best movie I've seen in quite a while.

The audience was not as pleasant as the movie. It was composed of two types of people: Browncoats and jerks. Of course, the Browncoats were "well behaved," the jerks were not. It took a little away from the experience.

My "clan" went to the special showing because of unrelated events that couldn't be rescheduled. We plan on seeing it again, soon.

As for the "I can kill you with my brain" comment from a Firefly episode, here are two possibilities: 1) it was a joke to "scare" Jayne (that's how I took it at the time I watched the episobe); 2) perhaps it was true, but only for Jayne or people like him in some way.

Like you, I don't understand why "they" didn't use the TV series theme song, but that didn't matter that much to me. It might be because of money, they didn't have a big budget. (Maybe Fox has some hold on the theme song.) Maybe the next Firefly movie will have a bigger budget. I think this one is going to be a popular hit which should help.

Just a question about Scott Bieser from Cheyenne, Wyoming: Is this the same guy I roomed with at the Univ of Texas at Austin in the 1970s?

I saw it Friday afternoon and mostly liked it.

Serenity herself has had a refit! With some pretty substantial changes, including an added bulkhead in the control room and major changes to the controls; also a number of changes to the cargo bay and engine room which I will leave to the sharper-eyed. (My favorite props, the "are they equipment? Are they lockers?" thingies in the control room are now just outside it, and do seem to have stopped being occasional lockers).

Major weirdness for me: the ship still looks incredibly like the kind of places where I work. So maybe Bigtime Television Engineering wasn't such a bad choice for a space cadet born in the wrong century....

Yes, some of the spoilers (and there are three, one of them much, much bigger than he other two and so far not mentioned any any libbish cretique I've seen) were hard, hard hits, but they did make the movie work by raising the tension almost unbearably.

As for the lovely theme from the TV series, doesn't anyone stay for the credits? It's right there, minus vocals, a very nice, new performance. (Yeah, darn it, no lyrics. What, after the entire movie, the studio thought they were too overt?)

A good movie, far above the usual SF film. Better than "Destination Moon" or "2010," for pity's sake. We don't get SF cinema this good very often (nobody's done Heinlein justice, ever!), so enjoy it.

--Herself

There were a lot of things I liked about Serenity, and few things I didn't. Perhaps the biggest thing I didn't like is that if it's a SF movie, the science is almost non-existent -- which is a good thing, given how idiotic scientific stuff was presented in the TV series. Still, it kicks Star Wars' ass in the pro-freedom theme department.

I can see what you're saying about the River quote, Tom ... it's been far too long since I've watched the series. Hope your next trip to see it is under better conditions.

Herself, I don't mind staying for credits, but the people I'm with usually do seem to mind ... Maybe I'll get to see it again and not miss the song. I'm not sure what you have in mind for the third, unmentioned "spoiler", but am intrigued.

Mr. Hamilton, if you're serious about finding out if "our" Scott Bieser is your Scott Bieser, it's easy enough to find him online. He's even been known to talk about himself from time to time. I know there's an eddress for him at the first link ... hope you find your friend.

R.R. - More than likely. Funny we should re-connect on Sunni's blog. Going to private e-mail.

Many good impressions about the movie. I think my favorite moment is when they cruise through the killing grounds of the Reavers, and Jayne is hugging his gun like a child's blankie while pacing back and forth. This man is scared of nothing, except these monsters.

Whedon shows remarkable economy in his dialog, as many statements have double or hidden meanings, such the Operative's words about innocent people dying in the skies above. Mal did not say it outright, but many of those innocents were Reavers, perverted by their own government. The same with Zoe's comment that "She's torn up, but she'll fly true." This was as much about her as it was about the ship.

I could go on. I've read the shooting script, and I'm glad the role of editor still exists, as many small scenes and phrases ended up being chopped, all for the better. My biggest gripe is the whole Mr. Universe thing. Sure, there's a broadband send button just waiting to deliver the message. Huh? A crazy, but probably necessary plot device to add tension and wrap up the story.