[Jason Vines]

I just returned from watching Serenity, the film starring the crew of the television series Firefly (review here), and it lived up to its word of mouth: It was the best movie of the year. Combine the action of Star Wars and the intellectuality of Star Trek, add pulse-pounding excitement, sprinkle in the humorous wit of Joss Whedon's writing, and make it all well-executed... and you've arrived at Serenity.

People who haven't watched the Firefly series will discover what's hopefully a new science fiction franchise to enjoy. They needn't have seen the show to understand the movie; everything they need to know is explained. And fans of Firefly will have what's essentially season two to entertain them, as well as answer some of their questions.

Spoiler

I like how Serenity handles the Reavers. We have only brief glimpses of them, but the crew's terrified reactions to them, as well as their inhuman yelling, make them more terrifying than if we were to see them directly. This is a credit to the acting ability of the cast and the directing skills of Whedon.

Here are some of the movie's answers to questions the show posed:

• The film never reveals Shephard Book's whole story, but it implies he worked for the Alliance as an operative/assassin before he found God.
• The Alliance experimented on River to forge her into a weapon. They succeeded.
• The Reavers didn't just "go mad" beyond the edged of settled space. I won't tell you how the Reavers became savages, though. Watch the movie to see.

Unfortunately, Serenity doesn't show us planet Earth. I was hoping we'd see what became of Earth in the Firefly universe. Whedon can always show us in another movie, I guess.

If you like smart entertainment, go see Serenity . Send Hollywood a message that we're willing to watch more than just pandering, lowest common denominator bullshit. Show them we'll gladly reward innovation, especially if it defies the boundaries of drama and comedy, intellectual science fiction and nail-biting action, as adeptly as Serenity does.

[Jason Vines]

Serenity isn't doing well at the box office: last weekend, it made $10.9 million, and this past weekend, it made $4.9 million. In total, Serenity has made only $17.5 million so far.

Considering the film's excellent critical reception, and its phenomenal word of mouth, Serenity's poor box office is astounding. Its lack of celebrity actors shouldn't matter so much as to cause the movie to bomb.

I suppose Universal Pictures relied too much on word of mouth to spread awareness of the movie. Universal should have advertised more.

If Firefly fans want a sequel, they have a job to do: Make sure their friends know about Serenity. Take them to see it if necessary. Also, of course, see the film themselves if they haven't already.

Also, for people who are reading this who might be on the fence about whether to see Serenity, here's a preview of the first nine minutes: Serenity preview.

[Jason Vines]

Here's some good news : Serenity debuted at Number One in Britain.

[Jason Vines]

Serenity will come out on DVD on December 20, 2005.

This post has been edited by Jason Vines: 17 November 2005 - 10:57 PM

[Joshua]

Serenity is my favorite movie ever... I'm definitely buying it on DVD as soon as I have the money. Only thing is, it'll lose something without the huge screens in theaters... Movies like serenity just weren't meant to be viewed on a crappy old Toshiba...

[Cymro]

First film I've ever gone to see more than once in the cinema.

[Jason Vines]

Woot: Serenity is the number one DVD on Amazon.com!

I took a screenshot.

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[Cymro]

Yet I must watch a bootleg till Febuary - GRRRRR!!!!

On the plus side, I'm finally gettin' my own copy of the series on DVD