Serenity

Serenity is the movie sequel to the much-beloved, ended much too soon US Fox television network science-fiction series "Firefly," with all the show's central characters, doing the same fine acting they did in Firefly.

And it's not just a sequel - it rises to the occasion to be a much better story than any of the individual episodes of Firefly.

Serenity's a luminous rebooting of Firefly, and you don't have to have seen a single episode of Firefly to enjoy it immensely. But those of us who knew and loved Firefly will love it more, because it's also more of what we loved and Fox took away from us.

Serenity, like Firefly, is a science fiction story with strong elements of westerns, spy movie intrigue, and lots and lots of spine-tingling action, and wry, irresistible humor throughout - the humor that comes from a cast that has incredible chemistry.

The plot begins with a half-western, half very high-tech bank heist which goes very much awry, then evolves into a cosmic spy drama centered on River Tam, the victim of terrible experiments on her brain committed by a secret, murderous agency of the tyrannical Alliance of Planets, which governs the colonies of a distant star settled by refugees from a dying Earth.

River Tam and her physician brother Simon are passengers on the starship Serenity, captained by Malcolm Reynolds, a Browncoat - veteran of the war between the Alliance and a confederacy of planets who resisted their overreach (along with his first officer, Zoe Washburn, who's also the wife of the Serenity's pilot).

Serenity's crew are the most entertaining bunch of smugglers and mercenaries in fiction, and why so many of us Firefly/Serenity fans wear brown coats. I won't spoil the plot for you - enjoy it for yourself. Then get a brown coat.

First off, I want to say that I loved this movie. It's got intense action sequences, a good plot,some humor, likable characters, fantastic special effects, hardly ever a dull moment,and oh yeah... it's a total babe-fest!!! I must confess I'm new to the whole Firefly universe.I don't watch much TV so I'd never even heard of the TV show. So until watched this DVD, to me,Firefly was nothing but a dumpy little American made car. I rented this movie with no expectations whatsoever; maybe that's the reason I enjoyed this movie so much. I can't speak for the fans of the series, but if you enjoy well-made sci-fi, then you'll love this cool little movie.

This film was recommended as one of the classic must-see sci-fi films, so I gave it a go. For its low budget and available visual/special effects for its time, this was an impressive endeavor, to the point where I'm now going to binge on the series. Huge props to Joss Whedon for never giving up with all the limitations he had from both Fox for the series, and Universal for this movie. The 119 min runtime was used impressively with spot-on snappy pacing. Bearing in mind I have never seen or heard of the Firefly series, the story was fluid and coherent and really well told. I was however lost with some of the dialogue and futuristic western lingo the cast were using, but I'm guessing had I seen the series first, I'd understand it better. Overall everything about this film was impressive and I now understand its following. Seeing there are many old series and films being revived, this would be a great candidate for a comeback. I just hope if it does, Whedon is given a proper budget without creative restraints.

Serenity is based on the TV miniseries Firefly, but the story is a standalone but i would recommend watching Firefly first.

Earth that was could no longer sustain the number of people there were just too many so they had to find a new solar system with dozens of planets and hundreds of moons, each one terraformed, a process taking decades to support human life to become new Earths. The central planets of this solar system formed the Alliance rules by an interplanetary parliament but the savage outer planets refused Alliance control causing a war which the alliance won.

From its great concept to the fantastic decor & aesthetics, this movie kept me engaged with a simple but decent plot, good acting with Alan Tudyk & Nathan Fillion, good dialogue, and an overall retrospace vibe that i love.

Mankind had left Earth for a new solar system with dozens of planets and hundreds of moons. The inner most planets had formed the Alliance, and conquered the outer Independent planets in a destructive war. Mal (Nathan Fillion) and his ragtag band of former rebels are living on the edge of survival. Simon had bought his way on board and rescued sister River from a government facility. She's a secret experiment with psychic powers and hidden memories of a deadly government secret.

This is the follow up to the short-lived cult TV show Firefly. Although it's not absolutely necessary to know the TV show to understand the movie, it would help to get the feel of the group dynamics. The relationships are what gives the movie its emotions. The characters are pretty easily decipherable. Nevertheless, their backstories would help.

This has the Joss Whedon touches. It has the fast talking inside jokes of a Scooby gang. That's what makes this fun. The CGI is not the absolute top rate, but he makes up for it with inventive energy. The random craziness of the big space battle is something that Star Wars can only aspire to. In fact, Mal is Han Solo. Imagine if Star Wars centered on Han Solo, and you've got this movie.