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The Movie: Joss Whedon (TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer")'s "Firefly" quickly caught on with audiences, but without the kind of ratings and support that it needed, the series was suddenly cancelled by Fox a mere 11 episodes into the first season. Yet, like other shows in recent years that have caught on with a cult audience before being pulled, the buzz around the series continued to grow, even after it was off the air. "Firefly" DVD sales did quite well, and the series got a major second chance with a feature film - "Serenity". The film went forward with a smart and groundbreaking promotional plan: the public would be allowed to go to substancially early screenings of the film in the hopes that they would spread the word, and reviews were positive. While the film wasn't a smash at the box office, it did pretty well, and will certainly continue to do well on DVD as the show's fans get the DVD and share it wth others. All that said, I have to say that, as someone who did not follow the series during its brief time on the air, the movie was both easy to get into and also certainly made me quite curious to go back and see the series. "Serenity" takes place in the future, but has the look and feel of a Western. In the opening, a psychic girl named River Tam (Summer Glau) is rescued from an Alliance facility, her brother saving her from the experiments being done on her. The Alliance is a governing body with secrets, and they want the girl back. She and her brother fnd themselves on Serenity, a ship piloted by Mal (Nathan Fillion, terrific) and an assortment of characters serving as crew. However, it's not long before the Alliance and one of their operatives (Chiwetel Ejiofor, in a wonderfully icy performance) are after them, wanting to wipe out river and any secrets that she knows. There's also brtual creatures called Reavers to worry about. Despite working with a $40m budget, I think "Serenity" actually looks quite good. The effects may not be as spiffy as those of other recent big-budget sci-fi pictures, but there's one big difference here: I'm not spending the time looking at each image, picking apart what effects look good and which don't - I'm involved in the story. The story is well-written, the characters developed well and the dialogue smart and occasionally, quite funny. The events of the story are serious, and yet the humor works well to elevate the kind of "How are we going to get out of this?" nature of some of the scenes. "Serenity" is an instance of clever, imaginative sci-fi that manages to offer a wonderful mixture of effects, action, story and character. The film starts off throwing the viewer into its inspired universe and never lets up for 119 fast-paced minutes. The DVD VIDEO: "Serenity" is presented by Universal in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and, despite a few minor concerns here-and-there, the picture looks fantastic. Sharpness and detail are first-rate, as the image remained crisp and well-defined throughout, with no moments of softness. The picture remained mostly sharp and detailed, although it was tripped up on a couple of occasions by some slight edge enhancement. Aside from those hardly noticable faults, there were no other issues - no pixelation appeared, nor were any print flaws spotted. Colors remained bright and nicely saturated, with no smearing or other issues. Black level also remained solid, and flesh tones looked accurate. SOUND: "Serenity" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. This is a hard-hitting soundtrack that, while not overpowering, is certainly a pretty good assault throughout much of the running time. Surrounds kick in with plenty of firepower, consistently surrounding the viewer with an array of sound effects, ambience and score. Audio is nicely spread across the wide front soundstage, and quality is terrific: dialogue remains crisp and clear, while effects remain punchy and seem well-recorded. EXTRAS: The main supplement is an entertaining and detailed commentary from writer/director Joss Whedon. Also available are 14 minutes of deleted scenes, a few minutes of outtakes and a group of featurettes, including: "Future History: The Earth That Was" (4:30), a look at the background of the story and Whedon's inspirations for the film's world; "What's in a Firefly?" (6:30), a look at the visual effects of a main sequence and the visual effects style of the film in general; "Re-Lighting the Firefly" (9:39), a discussion of "Firefly"'s cancellation and the struggle that resulted in getting the movie going and finally, "Joss Whedon's Introduction" (3:52), a look at the actual introduction that played before the sneak screenings. Final Thoughts: "Serenity" remains a tense, thrilling and downright joyful sci-fi picture throughout. Richly entertaining and well-acted, the picture is one of the year's better films. Universal's DVD edition provides very fine audio/video quality, as well as a nice selection of supplements. Recommended for both "Firefly" fans and sci-fi fans who are just learning that "Firefly" ever existed. 
Film Grade The Film A- DVD Grades Video 91/A Audio: 92/A Extras: 82/B |