Firefly - DVD

...And so we come to Firefly – cancelled after just one season despite being entertaining, funny, dramatic and touching. Why? Maybe people just thought spaceships were old and lame. Not me!

***THE PREMISE***

It’s the future – how can you tell? SPACESHIPS! For some reason – presumably using up Earth’s resources, people have settled on many other planets, eking out their existence in impoverished communities. Some planets ...
...laser-gun firing style noise. The Firefly universe is a mixture of Blade Runner (but in a more ‘influenced by’ rather than ‘ripped off from’ way) and Western – something you might have seen if you were lucky enough to catch the genius anime series “Cowboy Bebop” on the ill-fated digital satellite channel CNX in 2003.

Apparently this blend of old and futuristic did not sit right with the network executives – but then, this was aired ... more

Sci-fi shows are hardly spread wide-rife nowadays - and not without reason. Back in the 60’s everyone got all excited about some guy treading in space dirt and FWEEEEEP! the world’s imagination-flutes were blown into. In the 70’s, space movies/shows blew up because everyone liked seeing action that could reflect their dreams and fantasies. Good timing.

And so we come to Firefly – cancelled after just one season despite being entertaining, funny, dramatic and touching. Why? Maybe people just thought spaceships were old and lame. Not me!

***THE PREMISE***

It’s the future – how can you tell? SPACESHIPS! For some reason – presumably using up Earth’s resources, people have settled on many other planets, eking out their existence in impoverished communities. Some planets have more civilised populations – and amongst them are those who wander the cosmos, making their living as best they can. 5 years after an unexplained war ends, Sgt Malcolm Reynolds purchases a ship - Serenity – and gets together a ragtag bunch of comrades to help him make money however they can – usually through a mixture of theft and sporadic violence.

There’s cute as a button mechanic Kaylee, the ‘tough guy’ Jayne, eccentric/brilliant pilot Wash and his tough/beautiful wife Zoe, plus ‘companion’ (read: high class prostitute) Inara whose shuttle is used to – entertain. The crew have taken on board three passengers who take up residence out of necessity – cleric Book (or as the show calls him, shepherd), and the brother and sister act of Simon (a brilliant doctor) and River (a brilliant freak).

On the way the crew must deal with the tyrannical Alliance trying to spoil their fun, try to avoid the mysterious Reavers, and will discover some of their passengers have a few secrets that need keeping quiet…

***RULES, SCHMULES***

The series – as freely admitted by creator/occasional writer and director Joss Whedon – deliberately goes out of its way to eschew the perceived notions of a space based drama. Hence, realism is the key. There are no glib-glob speaking aliens and no light beams coming out of the ends of guns (well - just one) – though the shots fired do have a “peeeuugh!” kinda laser-gun firing style noise. The Firefly universe is a mixture of Blade Runner (but in a more ‘influenced by’ rather than ‘ripped off from’ way) and Western – something you might have seen if you were lucky enough to catch the genius anime series “Cowboy Bebop” on the ill-fated digital satellite channel CNX in 2003.

Apparently this blend of old and futuristic did not sit right with the network executives – but then, this was aired on Fox – and high concept does not seem to be their cup of Assam. Maybe the lack of fantasticality won’t be yours either – there is, in fact, a great deal of charm to it as far as I am concerned.

The reality of the writing never says “Aha! Look at cleverness we express! You viewers equals stupid!” There is no sound in space. This show realises that. I can see how years of X-Wings and Klingon bric-a-brac flying around going “verwooosh!” might have made viewers go “guh?” I enjoyed it.

There are also some nice futuristic flourishes – holographic bar room windows, ‘smart paper’ and hovering vehicles up the wazoo (see “The Train Job” for the best one).

***THE EPISODES***

So, for your £30 you get a not-too-shabby 14 episodes, which are around 40 minutes long each – and the pilot episode, which runs just short of 2 hours. The advantage to owning the box set is being able to watch the episodes in the ‘correct’ order. When shown in the US, the pilot was not shown until later in the season – confusingly – which meant that a lot of painstaking work in setting up the key plots had to be crammed into to the ‘first’ episode. Watching the pilot certainly helps in understanding the Chinese/American language crossover (characters will spout Chinese phrases in surprise or disgust – which is very cool) and introduces elements of the characters personalities that are, perhaps, not properly realised by starting the show ‘cold’.

This wasn’t a problem when the show aired in the UK – but the Sci Fi channel did mess with the order when they showed it. You could get away with watching them higgledy-piggledy but some later episodes may not make much sense, and nor will some of the nuances displayed by characters in key scenes. Geez, I need to get out more.

ANYWAY – each disc fits on as many episodes as it can – and has yer usual chapter selection deeleys and subtitles (English only). Let’s break ‘em off and have a look.

***DISC ONE ***

This features the pilot plus The Train Job (the gang must steal medicine from a train whilst avoiding the wrath of a sinister, torture loving crime lord) and Bushwacked (the gang encounter a deserted spaceship, and also a huge Alliance cruiser – both of which have their surprises).

My favourite? All of them! Serenity (the pilot) features all the things that make the show great – huge amounts of dry wit, memorable and warm characters, sudden outbursts of realistic (but never overtly bloody) violence and some cool futuristic stuff. I’m not a sci-fi fan by any means, but the effective mixture of cultures and concepts is a welcome change from the clinical, precise worlds of Star Trek (which I hate with a raging passion).

Serenity also features a commentary by Joss Whedon, who is joined by the actor who plays Mal – Nathan Fillion. Whedon gives insight and trivia whilst Fillion goofs off and goes “really”?

Similarly, The Train Job gets a talk-over by Joss, who is joined by producer/occasional write and director Tim Minear. The pair reminisce about the show and provide a similar level of insight and goofery. You can tell they love the show by watching it, but this reaffirms that understanding.

Bushwacked is voiceoverless. No matter, it would just ruin the scares. Nuff said.

***DISC TWO***

This brings you Shindig (Mal accidentally gets himself into a duel), Safe (Simon is kidnapped – and questions are raised about his sister. Meantime, Book has been all shot up and the only people who can help are the hated Alliance), Our Mrs Reynolds (Mal gets married by accident), and the hilarious Janestown (Jane is found to be a folk hero on a certain planet).

Commentaries here interrupt the action in Shindig only – and write Jane Espenson provides the bulk of knowledge here. She is joined by costume designer Shawna Trpcic and actress Morena Baccarin (who plays Inara) and the overall commentary is polite giggles, and the occasional “X was fun to dress”. “Mmmm” says another, laughing politely. By far the worst of all the commentaries. Never mind, the show itself is a good one, has a certain level of Jane Austen about it (as Espenson states).

Safe is more of a ‘serious’ episode, and happens to be the one I rewatch least – not that it’s bad or anything, but I’m always eager to get to the next part. Also - no commentary.

Anyways, next is the genius Our Mrs Reynolds. This has some great Jayne moments (it’s Jayne and Wash who steal the show for me, no matter how charismatic Mal might be), and a nice mixture of laugh-out-loud moments and twisty-turny action. No commentary.

The final episode on the disc – Jaynestown is packed with hilarity and deepens one of the other character’s relationships. I have never laughed at people standing in front of a statue so much. No commentary. Doesn’t need one – and I wouldn’t listen anyway in case I missed the “Ballad Of Jayne”.

***DISC THREE***

Kicks off with Out of Gas – where Mal is forced to make the crew abandon ship. As he runs out of air all by himself, he thinks back to the recruitment of each of his key crew members. This has a commentary by Tim Minear and director David Solomon – who point out technical flim-flam in an interesting fashion. Some very nice direction in this one – which is more than likely why they roped Solomon in for the commentary.

Then we have Ariel, which involves the crew going undercover to steal some medicine, and also helping Simon get River to a diagnostics ward, so they can determine the reasons for her strange behaviour. Takes a more serious, X-Files like turn, but is no less funny and entertaining for it. No commentary.

War Stories is third, which gives Alan Tudyk (Wash) time to shine his comic shoes as he accompanies Mal on a mission. Things go awry and the two bicker amongst themselves whilst being tortured at the hands of an old adversary. Very, very funny – and the commentary adds more chuckles and camaraderie, featuring as it does Alan himself, plus Nathan Fillion once more.

Last up is Trash, in which Mal’s wife turns up by chance, with the offer of a lucrative heist. It’s a great all-rounder of an episode. Well, EVERY episode is great all round to me – there is never any overwrought, hammy acting. Each actor fits perfectly into their role and seem to have been doing the same job for ages. But I digress. No commentary.

***DISC FOUR***

Last three episodes ever! The Message starts the rotunda of emotion spinning when Mal is sent a dead body – which carries a particularly odd message. Feelings deepen in this episode, and this is off set by Jane’s ridiculous new hat. Laughs are provided by the commentary tag team of Alan Tudyk and Jewel Staite (who plays Kaylee). Well, it’s mainly Jewel laughing at Alan’s gags, but it’s nice to hear above the bang ‘n’ crash war flashbacks that are dotted throughout the episode.

The penultimate tale is Heart of Gold, which may well break your heart if you care about the lead character enough. An old prostitute friend calls on Inara to assist with a situation. A local vagabond has knocked one of her girls up, and he is demanding the soon-due baby. Mal and crew land and help the bangtails defend their home – and the baby – from this piece of crap guy. One relationship is stretched to breaking point. Tears will fall – mine did! Also has some right-rollicking action scenes – hover ships! Horses! A laser gun! No commentary!

Last of all (until the movie comes out – filming recently began!) is Objects In Space – a cool as all hell finale, with River’s abilities finally being fully realised on screen. A nasty bounty hunter lands on the ship to make off with Rive - and as each of the crew get picked off, she attempts to thwart his plan. The commentary is provided by Joss Whedon – and it is the best commentary I have heard. He enriches the story by dropping in philosophical information, and goes into detail on the development of the episode, He even explains the use of certain camera moves, which adds a lot of enjoyment when you rewatch sans Joss.

Disc four is also home to:

***THE EXTRAS***

Which, I should point out, feature some class A sailor words – so whilst this package is rated 12 (more than likely for the show’s content) you may want to be aware that there are some ‘effs’ herein.

- THE “FILLER”

Alan Tudyk’s audition is funny and great – and you can see why he was picked for the part. Would have been nice to see everyone else’s auditions though – and maybe some who didn’t make the grade…but the latter is hardly a realistic expectation. The gag reel is funny but short – fans of Mal will appreciate the ‘end’ shot though (wink wink).

There is a very quick (under 2 minutes) ‘tour’ of the set by Joss Whedon – but this gives no information of any interest. Joss also sings the Firefy theme – and you can see why they got some bluesy guy to do it instead. Easter egg fans can keep hitting “up” on the second page of extras until the swirly thingummy on the left of the cast picture turns yellow – his “enter” to be rewarded with more musical tomfoolery – Alan Baldwin (Jayne) sings his own folk song from the Jaynestown episode. Funny but fluffy.

- DELETED SCENES

The first is short – and was intended to be the opener for the pilot. Good thing it wasn’t – it’s a little gloomy and drops you right into a situation that plays down the war – but does reveal something about Mal’s attitude towards the shepherd Book. The second explains the war – and was obviously excised because war scenes were added to the pilot’s opening sequence. Gives some depth to Zoe’s character though.

Third is a completely excised scene from Our Mrs Reynolds, which had to be cu for time purposes. Shame, as the interplay between Simon and River is pretty funny – but the rest covers the same ground as another of Mal’s speeches to his wife.

The final cut scene is literally 4 seconds of dialogue from Objects In Space, but is shown in context and so has no place on this DVD in my opinion. The few seconds of talking were shown in the TV version, but are excised from the episode presented on the disc. Very odd. I think the revised DVD version works better, but I don’t think it warrants a feature of its own. I’m sure lots of dialogue parts were changed or overdubbed. Big deal!

- MAKING OFs

Now we’re talking heads! “Here’s How It Was” is the standard making of with clips and insights into aspects of the show – some of which are covered by the commentaries, some of which is new. The best part is seeing more of the cast who made the show so great to watch. Whedon even hints at the possibility of a movie – which as I now know, is a hint no longer! The second and last feature is “Serenity: The 10th Character” – a 10 minute look at the design and inspiration behind the ship and what it means to some of the cast.

***SHINY***

This isn’t the greatest DVD package – I would have liked commentary from each of the writers & directors on every episode, and I think I covered the flaws in the extras already. Also, the subtitles are a bit ‘dumbed down’, with some of the dialogue being chopped out or altered – meaning that deaf viewers will not get to experience the show as it was truly intended. There is also the frankly appalling shortcut when it comes to the Chinese subtitles – shorter phrases are usually included, but longer outbursts are replaced with the legend ‘Galactic Language’! How lazy is that?!@#

My only other gripe is the packaging – there is no need for the slip-on cardboard case and the CD mounts are fiddly to undo.

For your money, you will get a show that never gets old. I have fallen in love with every characters, more so than on Buffy or Angel. Those shows are good, but they are about champions. This is a show about normal people in a world not dissimilar to that fashioned in the ill-fated animation Titan A.E. – but with no jabbering aliens.

It’s a grimy, meagre existence for some in the future, where the rich stay rich and the poor get screwed. There is no pompous, holier-than-thou preaching like in the Star Trek franchise, or any sickening morality lessons/whiny teenagers.

I’d much rather follow the stories of a bunch of thieves who are jaded with the world but find a family in each other’s company than some dingbat of a captain who barks orders at people in crappy outfits, explores dull new worlds and shoots at actors in prosthetics / CGI mists.

How about you?

© P$ 2004
 

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