Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his unlikely crew hard burn through a science fiction outer space unlike anything created before. There are no aliens. People live like cowboys on terraformed outposts and moons.
The ship is an old bucket called 'FIrefly' and it is in the galley and on the bridge of this insalubrious vehicle that much witty interaction takes place.
The captain is capable of ferocity and has lost his faith in God when his prayers go unanswered at the Battle of Serenity where the Union defeated his 'browncoat' rebel forces. At the same time the actor, Nathan Fillion (didn't I see him as an evil preacher in Buffy?) has plenty of funny lines which he delivers poker-faced.
There is a mercenary with the unlikely name of Jayne, a preacher with a past, a doctor with a mad genius sister, a cute female engineer, a pilot who I last saw as a squire in 'A Knight's Tale' threatening Chaucer with pain, and a 'companion' (prostitute) who lends a guise of respectability to the often illegal activities of the crew!
This series was ill-fated. Fox cancelled it. Joss Whedon hopes to see a feature film made out of 'Firefly' and I'm sure I do too. But otherwise, after fourteen wonderful episodes this is all there is, and it's all here on this DVD collection.
The combination of cowboys with Colt 45s and rustled cattle with the high tech world of space-travel in a multicultural future where everyone can speak Chinese as well as English is vastly different to the Star Trek universe and the Star Wars type of movie, but it's compelling stuff..
It puts me in mind of the 'Farscape' series which was also very intelligently written and slightly mad. The sense of almost soap opera loyalty to the much-loved characters with which the viewer soon bonds is the same - only in Firefly they are all human and far more realistic.
Joss Whedon wrote 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Angel' so if you liked the humour and crazy doings in those series then this is probably going to be something that would appeal to you.
It may be on a spaceship but the writer is still Joss Whedon and he's God when it comes to combining gripping seriousness with hillarious one-liners.
In fact, I think of Joss Whedon's stories - these excellent fourteen included - as a vehicle for great comic writing. His characters are loveable too - people you come to care for.
Fox have got this so very wrong by cancelling. You might get higher ratings with populist programmes employing a safer formula, but this series was breaking new ground and appealing to a huge, loyal fan base which understandably campaigned fiercely to keep it on; it was also so good as to guarantee it a place in sci-fi history, and a place in the DVD collection of intelligent and discerning folk with a lively sense of humour.
If that's you you'll go nuts over this.
Shiny.
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Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Science Fiction - Director: Hiroyuki Yamaga - Original Language: Japanese - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Ayako Kawasumi, Fujiko Takimoto
first of all, two things - Malcolm REYNOLDS and JaYne, but, aside from that, good review (well, how could I think badly of anything even remotely Firefly-related)
you can't stop the signal
AdamCristos 30.09.2004 20:21
Ah but there is more to come ...... "Serenity" .... a feature length film is out 2nd quarter 2005 :) ....... More firefly goodness
Sep 10th, 2004
(Sep 14th, 2004)
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