Before watching the movie Serenity, I thought it would be a good idea to watch the television series Firefly as the film was actually a continuation of that storyline. As this doesn't seem to appear on TV that often (that I've noticed at least) the only choice I really had was to buy the boxset. After a short period of searching I found it at Amazon for a very reasonable price, bought it, watched it and now I'm ready to share my thoughts on the "special edition" DVD boxset….
---The Series---
Firefly is a little gem of a sci-fi series, direct from the brain of Buffy and Angel creator Joss Whedon. Set 500 years in the future, "the earth that was" has been abandoned, mankind has spread across the universe ('verse), terraforming and colonising moons as they go. Those moons near the centre of the 'verse have embraced technology (and the wealth that goes with it), and centralised government while those nearer the rim have taken a far more pragmatic approach to life, with a lawlessness akin to the Wild West.
As the series begins a civil war between The Alliance, whose aim to unify all world's under one government, and the Independents, who would rather more localised government (ok I know that's simplifying things, but you get the idea) is drawing to a close and it looks like The Alliance is going to get things all it's own way. In the aftermath of defeat, Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds self-promotes himself to Captain of the Firefly class Spaceship, Serenity, and along with his mismatched crew will take any job, (legal or not), just too keep food on the table and fuel in the tanks while generally avoiding the notice of The Alliance. When he takes three passengers aboard he finds his life has suddenly become far more complicated……..
Now that's all the plot detail I'm going to give, it was all I knew before I began watching and believe me if I tell you anymore then I will be spoiling the series for you. So what else can I tell you about, well firstly I can tell you that as with all of Joss Whedon's creations, Firefly
not only has fantastic stories, but also has an extremely strong montage of characters. There are nine main characters (no I won't be telling them about them, watch the DVD and you'll meet them for yourself), each of which has their own part to play in the show, however these are not you're usual "good guys", they have their flaws and it's these that make them even more believable. Each of the actors does a fantastic job of bringing their character to life, with no one of them hogging the limelight for the whole episode. What is especially nice, is that unlike Buffy and Angel, none of the characters is a "super-hero" type, they are all perfectly normal people, and I guess this makes them even easier to relate to.
Along with the strong characters, there is a really strong atmosphere to the programme. This is a Sci-fi come Western, and one in which there is a wonderful cultural assimilation, all of the settings, are a fantastic mix of old and new, American and Chinese. The characters will be chatting away in English when all of a sudden they curse in Chinese, I love this, you know exactly what they mean but there's no bleeping. The music and costumes follow the same theme, and although it really shouldn't work, it does. It's amazing how one scene can feature a wonderfully futuristic city, and then the next scene looks like it came straight out of Western, and yet there's no point where I felt this isn't right.
As far as special effects go, my personal feeling is that if you don't notice them, then it means that the sfx guys have down a good job. Now when I tell you had to think about whether there were any special effects, then that should tell you that they were good. Of course there were computer generated models, most notably Serenity herself, but I didn't really notice them. This was, in part, due to some wonderful work where it appeared that the "camera" was shaking and juddering as it followed the ship. The final element that makes the programme what it is, is the fantastic score, from the brilliant title music (which WILL stick in your head), to some very haunting background music, everything fits in perfectly with the series.
The only problem I can really find with the series is that it was cancelled after a paltry 14 episodes (including the pilot) and there wasn't really time for the stories to be fully played out or all the questions to be answered. But there's always hope that after the success of the big screen follow-up that the networks will pick the series back up and allow all the gaps to be filled in.
---The Boxset---
Of course a boxset is far more than the series (or film) that it contains, and as huge fan of Joss Whedon's other works, I have really been spoilt, not only by the quality of the programmes, but also the presentation of the boxsets, and the special features they contain. When I first looked at this boxset, I was slightly disappointed with the actual presentation, I really, really like the book formats that Buffy and Angel came in, and was hoping that this could take pride of place among those collections. Sadly, the series is actually presented in a quadruple DVD case, which is similar to those that I buy for my homemade DVDs. Other than the case I can really find only one other fault with the presentation and that is that the little booklet that comes with it could have held far more information, a few character backgrounds would have been nice, and the fact it needs to be removed from the case to get to disc one means, I can see it getting tatty fairly quickly.
Picture quality throughout the season (and the majority of the special features) is exceptional, the Widescreen format means that you don't miss a single piece of the action, and even though there are many, many dark scenes there's not a hint of graininess. The sound quality doesn't quite make the same high standard as the picture, I find that the volume is very low and I have to turn my TV up way above the usual volume level. I was also disappointed that there was only a 2.0 surround sound option available, after having watched this using a quasi- 5.1 system I can tell you that it would definitely have benefited from the upgraded sound.
As far as special features go, for the most part the ones in this set are special, with a fairly in-depth making of, which I really enjoyed watching, which was then followed by a look at the show's 10th character, Serenity herself, what really did shine through in both of these was the cast and crews love for the programme, as did the seven commentaries. None of the commentaries where actually that in-depth, but seemed to focus more on sharing memories, and pointing out actors that had made appearances in Buffy and Angel. What I did actually like about the commentaries is that you could (if you wanted) have them come up on the screen as sub-titles while you watched and listened to the episode.
The deleted scenes feature was far more interesting than is the norm, and after watching the four clips I felt I'd found out a little more about the characters background, especially Mal's, and was far more able to understand why he reacted the way he did. These were on the most part deleted because of time restraints rather than because they didn't add anything to the programme, and personally I feel a couple of them should have been replaced into the relevant episodes.
I wasn't actually all that impressed with the other features, the gag reel was too short for my taste (although it did raise a few smiles), the Alan Tudyk's audition tape really didn't add anything to the enjoyment factor, Joss Whedon's singing the theme tune was, too be frank, terrible (I'm so glad he doesn't sing it on every episode) and his "impromptu" tour of the set (so impromptu that he took a film crew with him) was simply pointless as Firefly had been covered in far more detail in the 10th Character feature.
All in all the actual boxset was of reasonable quality, with a functional rather than artistic presentation and a few outstanding features that definitely outweigh the rather mediocre shorter features.
---My Opinion---
Being a huge fan of Buffy and Angel I bought this boxset with great expectations, and I was not disappointed. The series is fast paced, with a wonderful mix of drama, action and humour, there are some real laugh out loud moments along with others that bring a tear to the eye. In keeping with the 12 rating, there is not the same level of violence or horror as either Buffy or Angel, and I personally feel that this rating is perfect. As for who I'm recommending this to, well if you're a fan of either of the two above named series, then I'm pretty sure you'll like this. If you're not a fan then I'll still recommend it, as my husband has watched and enjoyed it without getting too lost. This really is sci-fi made accessible……and if you can find it for under £20 then I would suggest you snap it up (even if it doesn't have the best presentation in the world)
---Technical Bits---
Rating : 12 Feature Running Time : 625 minutes Region : 2 (PAL) Picture : 16:9 Sound : 2.0 Surround Languages : English Subtitles : English for the hearing impaired.
Production Year: 2004 - Science Fiction - Director: Alex Proyas - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, Chi McBride, Alan Tudyk
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
Much praised and much missed after its premature cancellation,Fireflyis the first SF TV ... more
series to be conceived by Joss Whedon, creator ofBuffyand cocreator ofAngel. Set five centuries in the future, it is a show where the mysterious personal pasts of t...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
All 14 Series EpisodesFive hundred years in the future there's a whole new frontier, and a ... more
crew of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity is eager to stake a claim on the action. They'll take any job, legal or illegal, to keep fuel in the tanks and food ...
Five hundred years in the future there's a whole new frontier and the crew of the ... more
Firefly-class spaceship Serenity is eager to stake a claim on the action. They'll take any job legal or illegal to keep fuel in the tanks and food on the table. But th...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Much praised and much missed after its premature cancellation,Fireflyis the first SF TV ... more
series to be conceived by Joss Whedon, creator ofBuffyand cocreator ofAngel. Set five centuries in the future, it is a show where the mysterious personal pasts of t...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Excellent script/writing, fantastic characters, and a good overall "look" and "feel" to the show. Disadvantages: There is only one season of Firefly
Advantages: Excellent script/writing, fantastic characters, and a good overall "look" and "feel" to the show. Disadvantages: There is only one season of Firefly
![Firefly - The Complete Series [DVD] [2003]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78518679.jpg "Firefly - The Complete Series [DVD] [2003]")
Nov 19th, 2005
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