Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Recreation Commons => Topic started by: Elok on November 01, 2016, 07:07:37 PM

Title: Firefly
Post by: Elok on November 01, 2016, 07:07:37 PM

I've been rewatching this series while the wife and kids are out of town on a road trip.  It rewards a second viewing; there's lots of subtle stuff in there to appreciate.  Even the bonus features are worth a viewing, and I usually find those nauseatingly self-congratulatory.

Firefly was, in a way, like our generation's Star Trek: a deeply weird, thoughtful sci-fi show that the studio suits never liked but the fans adored.  Both were cancelled at the first excuse.  And they have the common backbone of following a starship and its crew on their voyages.  But it's radically different from Star Trek in tone, style, mood, what-have-you.  This future is dirty and dystopian.  The technology is surprisingly low and mundane.  People are still very much flawed, and the stories revolve around their flaws and their weakness rather than any highfalutin philosophical notions.  What do you folks think of it?

NOTE THAT I HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE SERENITY YET.  PLEASE DON'T SPOIL IT.

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 01, 2016, 07:47:22 PM

Seen the movie, but not all of the show.  -I rather like the premise of living with losing a civil war; lady chickens grow teeth more often than you see any even-handed/sympathetic portrayal of that in popular entertainment...

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: Spacy on November 01, 2016, 08:01:19 PM

Movie is well worth it.  Don't even need the show to enjoy it (though it does help a lot).

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: E_T on November 01, 2016, 08:23:52 PM

One of the reasons I don't like watching FOX too much is due to them canceling this show...

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: ColdWizard on November 01, 2016, 10:17:10 PM

I find the actors' pronunciation of Chinese to be generally awful. Which is the only flaw in the series.

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: Elok on November 02, 2016, 01:41:05 AM

Quote from: BUncle on November 01, 2016, 07:47:22 PM

Seen the movie, but not all of the show.  -I rather like the premise of living with losing a civil war; lady chickens grow teeth more often than you see any even-handed/sympathetic portrayal of that in popular entertainment...

I hope you've at least seen up through episode 6 ("Our Mrs. Reynolds," feat. Christine Hendricks).  Nearly blew out a lung laughing during that'n.

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: gwillybj on November 02, 2016, 01:44:22 AM

I absolutely Loved the series and went into a little funk when it was cancelled. I haven't seen the movie yet.
The Suits need to ignore the Critics and listen to the Fans.
Even if Firefly had been moved to 2:00 a.m. and continued, I would have watched it faithfully.

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 02, 2016, 01:45:23 AM

All I recall for sure is that the space hooker was really good-looking...

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: Elok on November 02, 2016, 02:11:47 AM

You can buy all fourteen episodes in one four-DVD set.  The quality is sometimes uneven (I can't watch Heart of Gold without rolling my eyes), but at its best the series is marvelous.

At this point, it's been almost fifteen years.  The actors might now be a bit old for the parts, even if Fox got the rod out of its butt and let Whedon bring it back.  And even the fandom has faded; it was never as big as ST.  Still, there's always hope, I guess.

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: E_T on November 02, 2016, 02:47:19 AM

Quote from: ColdWizard on November 01, 2016, 10:17:10 PM

I find the actors' pronunciation of Chinese to be generally awful. Which is the only flaw in the series.

If the language has changed enough to where Chinese and English has merged somewhat, what makes you so sure that the pronunciation hasn't also changed, and hence they are doing it correctly??

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: E_T on November 02, 2016, 02:51:23 AM

Quote from: Elok on November 02, 2016, 02:11:47 AM

You can buy all fourteen episodes in one four-DVD set.  The quality is sometimes uneven (I can't watch Heart of Gold without rolling my eyes), but at its best the series is marvelous.

At this point, it's been almost fifteen years.  The actors might now be a bit old for the parts, even if Fox got the rod out of its butt and let Whedon bring it back.  And even the fandom has faded; it was never as big as ST.  Still, there's always hope, I guess.

You really need to see the movie...

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: Elok on November 02, 2016, 03:31:05 AM

Yeah, probably.  I'll talk with the wife to see what all we can bundle to get free shipping on Amazon.

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: Mart on November 02, 2016, 12:42:24 PM

I am not sure, if this has been said here yet, but the movie "Serenity" is compressed story, what the writer of the series meant to happen in several seasons to come. When the show was cancelled, he decided to tell/complete the story in the movie. And this is great, however, we get only these like 2 hours something.
The movie is definitely worth watching - in my opinion.

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: ColdWizard on November 02, 2016, 02:45:22 PM

Quote from: E_T on November 02, 2016, 02:47:19 AM

Quote from: ColdWizard on November 01, 2016, 10:17:10 PM

I find the actors' pronunciation of Chinese to be generally awful. Which is the only flaw in the series.

If the language has changed enough to where Chinese and English has merged somewhat, what makes you so sure that the pronunciation hasn't also changed, and hence they are doing it correctly??

It varies by character. Which could reflect the nature of the exposure each has had, in theory.

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: Unorthodox on November 02, 2016, 09:33:05 PM

Both the movie and the series are on Netflix still, I believe. 

It's one of those shows I like to put on in the background while doing something.  Seen them all a few times, but good enough it doesn't bother me. 

Quote from: BUncle on November 02, 2016, 01:45:23 AM

All I recall for sure is that the space hooker was really good-looking...

eh.  Preferred the mechanic. 

The whole concept of the space hooker was a little odd for me.  Especially when you get to the episode Fox refused to air with a whole space cat house. 

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 02, 2016, 11:03:24 PM

The mechanic -Jewel something- is one of those sort of ladies you see a lot on TV - showbidess is pretty incompetent at casting "average" looks.  -Yeah, she's hot. ;nod

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: Elok on November 03, 2016, 04:01:47 AM

Staite.  Jewel Staite.  And Heart of Gold (the whorehouse one) was easily the worst episode.  I mean, I watched it on the second go this week, but only because I was seriously bored.  When you see a guy attacking a brothel with a laser pistol while riding a hovercraft, you can't help thinking that maybe they were starting to run out of good story ideas towards the end there.  The other clue being "War Stories," where Inara hires a female client and gives her a back-rub onscreen in a scene that reveals nothing about her character or the plot.

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: Unorthodox on November 03, 2016, 12:25:34 PM

The other action in 'war stories' is fairly decent though.  The 'companion' does a whole lot of nothing for the whole series as far as I can tell.  Theoretically, her being on board lets them get into places they otherwise wouldn't be able to, but I can think of one, possibly 2 times it was relevant. 

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: Lord Avalon on November 03, 2016, 06:18:12 PM

Quote from: Elok on November 01, 2016, 07:07:37 PM

Firefly was, in a way, like our generation's Star Trek: a deeply weird, thoughtful sci-fi show that the studio suits never liked but the fans adored.  Both were cancelled at the first excuse.

Actually Star Trek was saved from cancellation in its second season due to a fan letter-writing campaign. And it got a third season before finally getting the axe.


I enjoyed Firefly a lot, so of course Fox cancelled it too dang soon.

Title: Re: Firefly
Post by: Elok on November 04, 2016, 03:34:53 AM

Quote from: Unorthodox on November 03, 2016, 12:25:34 PM

The other action in 'war stories' is fairly decent though.  The 'companion' does a whole lot of nothing for the whole series as far as I can tell.  Theoretically, her being on board lets them get into places they otherwise wouldn't be able to, but I can think of one, possibly 2 times it was relevant.

Sure she does something.  She gets into angry arguments with Mal, for whom she provides a really messed-up love interest.