Serenity | 
| Director: Joss Whedon
Actors: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin
Studio: Universal Studios
Buy New: $14.99
Rating:  1470 reviews
Sales Rank: 1601
Genre: Science Fiction
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 120 Minutes
ASIN: B000I9TY4G
Theatrical Release Date: September 30, 2005
Release Date: November 20, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Synopsis:
A passenger with a deadly secret. Six rebels on the run. An assassin in pursuit. When the renegade crew of Serenity agrees to hide a fugitive on their ship, they find themselves in an action-packed battle between the relentless military might of a totalitarian regime who will destroy anything or anyone to get the girl back and the bloodthirsty creatures who roam the uncharted areas of space. But, the greatest danger of all may be on their ship. |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1465 more reviews...
 Even better than the series October 1, 2005
Brian Reaves (Anniston, AL USA)
943 out of 1005 found this review helpful
This is one incredible movie. No, you don't have to be familiar with the series to enjoy it, but the familiarity will make several moments in the movie that much more tragic. The action here is incredible, and unlike several of the Star Trek movies, the characters don't deviate from their series personnas. The emotional impact of several scenes is so intense it was hard to stay seated (a crash landing sequence can almost give you motion sickness). This brings a satisfying end to the storyline the original series had started. It's a shame the show never got to tell this story in its entirety. You can see where some parts of the movie are rushed in a way. Something that could have been stretched over weeks in a series had to be handled in minutes, and that robs it a little. But you have to applaud Whedon for being able to tie up all the loose ends he started with just two hours. Shame on the network for cancelling this, but congratulations to Whedon for giving the fans--both old and new--the ending the show deserved. Heroes will shine, and some will fall, but Serenity will live on.
Now bring the show back!
Outstanding Space Opera October 1, 2005
Mark R., Whittington (Houston, Texas USA)
634 out of 683 found this review helpful
A wonderous vision of the future started in the all too short run of the TV series Firefly continues in the big screen version of it, Serenity. The TV show and movie is about the crew of a star ship that is as much unlike the USS Enterprise as it can get. It's a ranshackle freighter skippered by Mal Reynolds, a man part Han Solo, part Jesse James. He was on the losing side of an intersteller civil war against the Alliance, a buraucratic, oppressive government that seems to consists of people who believe quite fervently they know better than other people how they should live their lives. Captain Reynolds and his motley crew, including his former second in command from the war, her husband the pilot, an engineer who is as cute as she is sharp with the hyper drive, a muscle bound mercenary in a constant state of mutiny, a preacher, a courtesan, and a doctor and his troubled (to say the least!) sister eck out a thin living doing odd jobs out on the frontier, some of them not exactly legal. They bicker and at times almost come to blows. Especialy due to the fact that the doctor's sister is wanted by the Alliance government for having been "enhanced" and damaged by a top secret government labortory.
Oddly enough, this crew might well save the human race among the stars. The story is a paean about how the unlikeliest people can become heroes and how the right of individuals to live free if an absolute. I hope there will be many more films in this "verse."
A criminally underrated conclusion to a criminally underrated series June 6, 2007
trashcanman (Hanford, CA United States)
293 out of 322 found this review helpful
If you're already aquainted with the greatness of Joss Whedon's cult television series "Firefly" then this is a no-brainer. "Serenity" is the best science fiction film since "The Matrix" and for true fans of the series, it is a literal dream come true. Essentially, this film is not so much a stand-alone popcorn affair so much as it is the greatest series finale in history. It's emotional, funny, action-packed, full of quirky characters both familiar and new, and just plain cool to boot. There is also a deep philosophical argument explored as the costs of personal freedom and government control are contrasted in a brilliant manner. Would you choose to live the life of a criminal if it was the only way you could be free? Does a government have the right to take any step necesssary to keep it's citizens under control and happy?
"Half of writing history is covering up the truth" is just one of the memorable observations made by our heroes over the course of this journey. The plot centers around insane genius River and her older brother, Simon, who rescued her from a mysterious government facility where she was being experimented on. Part of the genius of the series (and this film) are the insane rantings of River, which begin to make sense if you pay attention. "Old men, covered in blood. It never touched them but they're drowning in it" may seem nonsensical to some, but it is a rather poetic yet eerily accurate representation of both the government officials in her universe, and in ours. The events taking place in this future are vaguely familair as plot devices, but what makes them brilliant is the way they relate to what's happening in our society. Anyhow, back to the plot: River and Simon joined the crew of Serenity, the ship captained by Malcolm Reynolds, a true hero who isn't afraid to break the rules if it means doing the right thing. Serenity's crew includes an endearing assortment of contrasting characters that all get their moments to shine in the film: Jayne the hardcore mercenary, Kailee the loveable mechanic, Mal's old war buddy Zoe, and her pilot/comedian husband Wash are all well represented. Having left Serenity since the original series, Book the minister and Inara -Malcolm's love interest who happens to be a well-respected prostitute (not to mention unbelievably gorgeous)- turn up along the way as well.
The style of the universe that our heroes inhabit is still a mix of all of the cultures of "Earth-that-was", primarily american and asian, with cursing in chinese being an amusing device for letting characters express their disapproval realistically and emphatically without getting an "R" rating in the process. If you've never seen "Firefly", do not hesitate; go buy it this very moment and see what you've been missing out on, then I can guarantee that this film will blow you away.
If you are just looking for a spectacle like "Star Wars", legendary action sequences like "The Matrix", or just some light sci-fi fare, you will be disappointed. This movie is both epic and personal, hilarious and heart-breaking, deeply thoughtful yet fun. It represents the fulfillment of a promise from it's creator and is a miracle unto itself that came about simply because the fans refused to let his brilliant creation die just because of a bad decision by a biased television executive. The story behind the film is almost as uplifting as the film itself and serves to justify those of us who support the things we love, even years after they've "died".
Not fitting into any particular established pop culture mold -not unlike the characters themselves-, "Firefly" and "Serenity" may have flown in under the public's radar, but for those of us who know what great entertainment is capable of, this is the stuff we live for seeing and we're happy to keep it our little secret.
A highly welcome new edition of a unique and marvelous film June 23, 2007
Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA)
216 out of 239 found this review helpful
Despite a lack of box office success at the time of its initial release, SERENITY has gone on to be a consistently strong seller on the DVD market. Much like the DVD of FIREFLY, it never topped the Best Seller lists (except at Amazon.com and other on line sellers), but like the series box set it has continued to sell to both old and new fans, gradually building an audience. I'm aware that some people feel that the film is not intelligible without having seen the series first. I saw the series several times before seeing the film in the theater, so I am unable to address this. I will say that my sister and one of her sons saw the film on DVD and loved it. They then got the FIREFLY set and became big fans of the series as well. My point is that not everyone finds the film hard to follow if they haven't seen the series, but I do believe that the film is best viewed as a wrap up of FIREFLY.
In a way, Joss Whedon has broken a promise. This is a good thing. At the time of the initial DVD release he stated that there would not be a later DVD release. This was in response to complaints that Universal (a studio I have warm feelings for because their logo comes up every time I pop my BATTLESTAR GALACTICA DVDs into my player) is fairly notorious for double-dipping, i.e., releasing a DVD and then a few months later releasing an expanded version of the DVD, perhaps to release an even more expanded or "director's cut" version a few months after that. Many studios engage in this practice, but Universal seems to be the worst of the bunch. But this release comes largely as the result of fan requests. There actually was a two-disc version of SERENITY released in Australia (which I took the effort to track down on eBay, though I can only watch it on my computer using AnyDVD to get past the regional coding) with a different set of extra features available on this new release. I'm delighted that SERENITY is finally getting the 2-disc treatment in the US as well. Fans of the TV show never got all the FIREFLY that we wanted so each additional exposure to Mal and his crew is like water to someone dying of thirst.
FIREFLY/SERENITY will, I believe, be viewed as critical, along with BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, in redefining film and TV Sci-fi. The two shows (and I do think of SERENITY as the final act of FIREFLY) established a new aesthetic for Sci-fi by bringing a new sense of realism along with a rejection of what could be called Magic Science for plot resolution. By Magic Science I am thinking of all those situations in a host of movies and TV episodes (STARGATE SG-1 specialized in this) where a very imaginative physics is utilized to get the heroes out of a dangerous situation. Our heroes might be caught in a time warp that can only be overcome by reversing the polarity of the warp drive engines, or, uh, something. Neither FIREFLY nor BSG engage in such shenanigans. Their solutions to problems always seem very much like the kind of solutions that we would utilize. In other words, both shows eschew scientific gimmicks. The two also refuse to employ that old stock in trade, the alien. There simply are no aliens on either FIREFLY or BSG. The Reavers are very much a human creation, as are the Cylons. Furthermore, both strive for more realistic visuals. Although SERENITY employs more traditional film techniques (thanks to highly regarded cinematographer Jack Green), both these series largely used hand held cameras (especially BSG, which uses exclusively high def video). FIREFLY pioneered the technique, later employed magnificently by BSG, of employing "zoom" in CGI shots. In both shows one will see a spaceship and then the "camera" (which doesn't exist) zooms in, going briefly out of focus while the visual field is adjusted, for a closer look. Not surprisingly, the special effects outfit that originated this for FIREFLY, Zoic, later provided special effects for BSG. (In fact, they couldn't resist putting Serenity into the BSG Miniseries. If you watch the first scene in Caprica City, where the camera first looks up through a skylight and then lowers down into what turns out to be the office of Laura Roslin's doctor, Serenity can be seen as the only ship going from right to left.) And both shows introduced retro elements to provide a unique look. FIREFLY is influenced by a 19th century Old West look in clothing and weaponry, along with a number of Oriental elements, while BSG often uses design from the forties and fifties (e.g., the phones on the show were taken from a WW II submarine). In the past, new Sci-fi TV series set in space basically had to define themselves against the aesthetic of the Star Trek shows. In the future, they are going to define themselves against the recreation of Sci-fi brought about by FIREFLY and BSG.
FIREFLY and SERENITY, as well as BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and ANGEL, can in many ways be viewed as a product of Third Wave feminism. (Anyone doubting the centrality of feminism in everything that Whedon does--and if you doubt it you simply haven't been paying attention--should go to Youtube.com and search "joss whedon equality now speech" and listen to the speech he gave following an award they gave him.) While TV Sci-fi has long been a means for representing nontraditional roles for women, Whedon has been instrumental in taking this to the next level. Buffy Summers was created specifically to be a feminist cultural icon and there is no question that Whedon succeeded. She might not fit the ideal criteria set forward by Second Wave feminism (or, rather, the caricature of the Second Wave feminism--contrary to the stereotype, most of the major Second Wave feminists wore make up and bras, liked men while hating patriarchy, and were heterosexual), but by Third Wave practice (which is generally viewed as more pro-sex, less PC, more experimental, brasher, and less concerned with victimization than with self-assertion) she is perfect. Whedon loves empowered women. While comics have long had female super heroes, until the nineties there were shockingly few genuine female heroes on TV or in movies. We never thought twice about Batman or Superman or Rambo, but we had to wait a long time to see a strong female hero like Ellen Ripley in film and even longer for Dana Scully, Xena, and Buffy on TV. Why were only men allowed to be fantasy heroes? Some seem to find Buffy objectionable without noting that there never has been a super soldier like Rambo. Following Buffy (who seems to have been the influence on future heroic women, rather than Xena) came a host of empowered women. So it is no surprise that in SERENITY we find that Mal Reynolds's second in command is the tough-as-nails and stoic Zoe, who is just as hardened and combat ready as any of the men. Despite decades of films showing women collapsing at the death of men close to them, we aren't surprised when Zoe postpones mourning the death of her husband. There will be time to cry later, right now there is fighting to be done. And River Tam is one of Whedon's most compelling heroines. River's fight is not just against external monsters, but also against the attempt that has been made to turn her into a monster. A genius and child prodigy, River had been programmed and engineered to becoming an assassin, but was freed by her brother Simon. At the heart of SERENITY is the question whether River will become the killing machine they intended her to be or will she become a person. As Mal asks her, "Are you just a weapon?"
One of the things I love about Joss Whedon is how he continually defies our expectations. He does this marvelously with The Operator, played magnificently by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Working for the powers that be, he sees himself as a good man doing difficult but good things. SERENITY is about the monsters that society creates by the elevation of corporate interests above human interests (yeah, it is a Marxist theme, but any close watcher of BUFFY will recall the famous shot from the end of "Ann," the Season Three premiere, where after Buffy liberates workers from a demon factory, where the workers are literally worked to death, she stands with a hammer and a sickle in her hands). The Operator learns that he has unwittingly helps support powers that have created monsters, whether River or the Reavers. His redemption at the end is classic Whedon.
I don't know what the long-term future of SERENITY will be. It does not completely stand on its own like BLADE RUNNER or THE MATRIX. It will forever be tied to FIREFLY. But I believe that this should be seen as a strength rather than a weakness. Knowing the series lends this film a depth lacking in other series. For instance, knowing that Jayne isn't the trustworthiest soul helps understand some of his actions in the film (not to mention knowing he has a remarkably large collection of T-shirts). Or Kaylee's ongoing attraction to Simon and his odd reluctance to open up to her. Or the long, complicated relationship between Mal and Inara (the greatest tragedy of the film is that their relationship, which was incredibly important for the series, received short shrift--Whedon has promised that if there is a sequel to the film, which at present looks unlikely, that this will be rectified). Or what Shepherd Book's background is. All of which is to say that FIREFLY/SERENITY is unique and wonderful. Along with BSG, this series and film completely renewed my interest in TV Sci-fi.
You Can't Stop the Signal November 2, 2005
T. Stewart (Windy Valley, California)
97 out of 100 found this review helpful
It wasn't suppose to happen like this...
Back in the summer of 2001, Fox announced that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" mastermind Joss Whedon would be creating a new television show that was a cross between Science Fiction and the Western Genres... For months Fox spent millions of dollars promoting the one "sure fire series of the season" but then the problems started... the pilot was too slow, Executive Heads Clashed, and Baseball season all got mixed into the mixing pot... and in the end fans where left with an out of order, mixed up, tale of identitify (which is ironic if you think about it).
But the fans of Joss Whedon and of the character he creates would not let this be the end of the "firefly" universe, and after much fanfare, petitions, and literal Bitching; Universal Pictures did something rather uprecidented: they green lite a "big-screen' movie which Joss Whedon describes as "a thank you to the fans."
And that is exactly what the film version of "Serenity" is. On the exterior it is a fast-past, character driven, science fiction blast for everyone to enjoy, and the people that did see it did enjoy it alot. It has survived over a month on IMDB's Top 250 Movies of All Tilme List, and has recieved glowing reviews from THE NEW YORK TIMES, EBERT & ROBERT, THE SAN FRANSISCO CHRONICLE, and more... I distinctly remember a quote from the New york Times saying "George Lucas eat your heart out."
But on the interior the movie was about the salvation of people, and it was a political commentary on big brotherism, and how if things in our society today keep going down the same road are future generations won't be much different from mal and zoe.
If your a fan of science-fiction or just good storytelling this is a movie for you.
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