DVD Collectors Online

Serenity, a review by Rick

Rating: (Hard to believe for those of you who, when you watched it, your eyes glazed over  )

OK - a little late to the party but I finally finished Firefly and watched Serenity (again). It was good to fire up the old HD-DVD player. The video was perfect I thought. The sound was a bit strange though. It was a movie I had to keep turning up in the soft parts and then down in the loud parts. It was one of the 1st HD-DVDs I bought and was only recorded in 5.1 I guessing listening to so many 5.1 HD formats lately I've become spoiled. I'll have to check the Blu-ray version and see if it has a less compressed soundtrack. If so I guess I'll be triple dipping on this one 

Overall I enjoyed the movie even more this time than I had previously. Perhaps it's because I've been watching a lot of the actors play other roles and it was good to see them in the role where I originally watched them. With that in mind I'm going to focus a bit on the actors and their characters as compared to the movie itself since there really is nothing I can add that hasn't been said already by others, and more eloquently than I could say it.


Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds. What a great job of casting for the role of Captain Mal Reynolds. I wonder if the role was designed around the actor. Very well could have been knowing the relationship with Fillion and Whedon. I also enjoy Fillions role as the detective Richard Castle. The two roles are completely different but his underlying personality in both is the same. In Castle he is a playboy who has everything he wants and needs and you get the impression he never had to work very hard for it. He is happy to take orders from Detective Beckett (although so would I  ) as well as from his daughter and his mother. As Captian Reynolds he is the man in charge. Granted he does have some of the same type of interactions with the ladies of Firefly he does with the ladies of Castle but in the end it is Captain Reynolds who calls the shots. My favorite role of his is of course the great Captain Hammer. "Haven't I seen you at the gym... wait a minute, I don't go to the gym!"  As Whedon said in the commentary (not "Commentary, the Musical" which in itself was brilliant if you ask me) "nobody does smarm like Nathan". So.. back to Captain Reynolds (I know, I ramble on sometimes ) The character of Captain Reynolds was a bit more intense in the movie compared to the TV series. Fortunately this was something they addressed and I give Whedon credit for that (he was very good at adressing things that weren't quite right in Buffy and Angel too). After the opening heist scene he and Zoe were discussing the escape. That scene in itself was enough for me to see we were dealing with a different Mal but they knew it. although he did tell Inara when she made a comment about seeing all of his sides "if we go to war I promise you you will see something you haven't seen before" Again hinting at his intensity. Unfortunately I just watched the Firefly episode "The Message" where the had a few flashback scenes to the war where he was his typical Firefly self.
It wasn't a big deal. As has been pointed out movies are different than TV shows and the characters are developed differently. I like what they did with Captain Reynolds and am glad they did it for the movie. Nathan Fillion is someone who I will watch for in the future. In fact I follow his tweets. Most of them I get a chuckle out of. 


Jewel Staite as Keylee Jewell Staite is perfect as the cute naive young lady who has a gift for engines. They just "talk to her" I believe is what she says in an early episode. She never quite pulled off the role in Stargate Atlantis of the Doctor. Someone who reaches the rank of a lead doctor for a facility like that one would be more confident and agressive iin their personality. In order to make her character work they should have brought her in as an assistant first and then promoted her with a "we have faith in your abilities and know you can do this" kinda thing when they lost Fr. Beckett ( ).  It would have made her character much more believable as you could watch her grow. As Kaylee she was awesome. The Firefly episode where she accompanies Mal to  formal party was great. The other women snubbed her but after a while it was her who had all the men in the place surrounding her and hanging on her every word. She played the simple girl so good you almost believe she was raised that way. There was a scene in another Firefly episode where they were in a store. She saw something she thought was pretty and wanted to get it for Simon. Simon then comes in and is appalled by it. I think it was good they addressed the never happened love affair between Simon and Kaylee in the movie. I love the line " I ain't had nothin twixed my nethers for over a year that wasn't battery operated"  Jayne liked it as well 
We know they kept Simon and Kaylee apart in the TV series so they could hopefully continue the sexual tension for a while. I'm sure they would have eventually got together but they couldn't have just done that in the 1st 13 episodes. Had the series been pickled up you would have lost a lot of opportunity for the back story of their relationship. Again I give Whedon credit for addressing it for the fans of the TV show. The way they address it was perfect too and brought a smile to my face. We'll get to see Kaylee and Simon together again in an upcoming episode of Warehouse 13 on SyFy. It will be interesting to watch. I don't think the actors had that much chemistry together but their characters did (if that makes sense to anyone but me  )


Gina Torres as Zoe With the exception of her role in Angel she basically plays the same part (at least from what I've seen her in). She is good at it but her role in Firefly was nothing spectacular. I wont go out of my way to watch her but certainly wouldn't not watch something because she is in it. I liked Standoff a couple of years ago but again, her role could have been played by anyone.


Alan Tudyk as WashAlan Tudyk = Steve the Pirate.  Nothing more needs to be said.


Summer Glau as River Tam. I've now seen her in Firefly, The Unit, Terminator and Dollhouse. Regarding Firefly/Serenity I think it's a shame they had to go to her kick-ass role in Serenity so quick. I enjoyed her role in Firefly better as their was tiny hints here and there of what she was but we also got to see her re-discover the world (like the dancing scene in whatever episode of Firefly it was). I know the character could have developed over a couple of years into the role they had her in in Serenity.The Serenity River is completely kick ass and 100% awesome. I liked everything about her. Fromthe final fight scene to her sobbing as all of the thirty million pls voices are saying nothing but are all inside her head (just how does that work anyway  ). I have to say though my favorite role for Summer is that in Terminator: TSCC. She is perfect at being a terminator. I still haven't seen the final few episodes... have to do something about that. 


Morena Baccarin as Anara Morena Baccarinis a beautiful, talented actress but she needs to grow her hair again!  I'm sorry but the short hair she has in V doesnt' cut it. At least do like she did in Stargate SG-1 and put it up. The whole 'companion' thing I still find bizarre. If there ever was something like that I could see it being just how Anara is. She is... heh - i was just about to write "she is the perfect companion"....  But she is!. Get rid of the Firefly definition of companion and just think of what it means today. She would be a great companion! I throughly enjoyed her character in Firefly as well as Serenity. Unlike many of the others they didn't do much with her in the movie different than the TV show. They did show her trying to help Mal in the fight when he came to rescue her. I can't recall her doing that before. And her solution to help them escape was a side of her you hadn't seen before but it was something you could easily believe was always there.
I have to wonder what Whedon's intent was when he had Anara leave the ship in Firefly. Was she just going to be gone a few episodes? Was fate going to keep bringing her and the Firefly crew back together over the course of time? It seemed too early for her to leave for good that's for sure. Even her relationship with Captain Reynolds was a bit rushed in the TV show I thought. They had only know each other for a few months. As a trained companion I don't think she would have been as taken by someone as she seemed to be with Mal. Although her part in the "Mrs. Reynolds" episode was  so... never mond. I guess she was smitten by her smarmy captain.

OK, who's left. *click on preview*  Holy crap am I babbling on or what! 


Ron Glass as Shepherd Book I watched him in the 70 as a cop on Barney Miller. I was surprised when I saw his name as a cast member in Firefly. He played his part well in both the TV show and the movie. I loved the scene in the TV show where River saw him with his hair down.  In the movie they seemed to show more of a relationship between he and Mal then you saw in the TV show. There were very few scenes in the TV shoe (that I can remember) where the two of them talked. Of course this doesn't include the MR.s Reynolds episode where the shepherd kept repeating the same thing  I didn't have a problem with the Serenity relationship but. like some of the others, it just felt rushed. Yea yea, I know. They had to rush it. It's just a shame that there is yet another example of what would have been developed naturally over time had the show not been cancelled. (I do sound bitter still, don't I  )


Sean Maher as SimonProbably the easiest of the cast to replace. They could have put someone else in for the movie and I don't think it would have mattered. I don't know if it is the actor himself or the character but I never did connect with him. He didn't pull off the "i'm better than you" part of his character he seemed to show in the early episodes. There were hints of it here and there (like the scene in the store I mentioned earlier) but it wasn't consistent. Sometime he looked down on the crew while other times he showed his gratitude and then there were times when you couldn't tell what he thought. Even when he helped with the heist at the hospital he was back and forth I thought. It is unusual for a Whedon character to flounder around so much so it leads me to believe it was the actor. 


Adam Baldwin as Jayne Looking at his IMDB profile I see he has been in a lot of things I wasn't aware of, including shows I have watched (X-files and Angel). I remember seeing My Bodyguard (his first movie) when it first came out. I'm not sure why I remember it but I do. He has the distinction of playing two of my favorite TV characters now. Jayne Cobb and Col. John Casey in "Chuck" Chuck is, without a doubt, my favorite TV show that is currently running (BTW - tune in Monday nights on ABC before it gets cancelled!!!!!). Casey is a lot like Jayne. The big difference is one fights for money and the other fights for love of his country. Neither character gets hung up with relationships (they recently explained that in Chuck  ) and are both focused on the job at hand. Jayne was one in the movie that I thought was exactly like he was in the series. Perhaps it's because there really is no depth to his character. WYSIWYG! The only part in the movie where I feel they dropped the ball was when Mal gave his 'you're with me or you leave my crew stay here' speech. Jayne, who fights for money and has already said he wasn't going to die for the Tam's should have said something. A simple promise of keeping the shares of anyone killed by Mal would have made sure Jayne went along, or even one of the other characters saying if they die he can have their share of whatever would have worked. I feel it should have been addressed. Look at how he ended up being on the crew!!!! 
Adam Baldwin in real life is one of the few conservative actors out there. He really does come across as John Casey in real life. I hope Chuck does get renewed for another season and Adam Baldwin is a big part of why. If it doesn't I will certainly watch for his next show more so than any of the other characters. One more thing on him... can you imagine being in hollywood with the name of Baldwin but not being related to 'the' Baldwins. You have to wonder just how many times he's had to answer the "are you related to" question. 


I believe that about covers it. I'm glad there are no rules around here as I'm sure I would have broken a few of them with my "review". And I guess I never answered the question this topic was supposed to discuss so here goes:
Did Serenity start a sci-fi revolution for which it has never been credited?
No 

(From Serenity on March 21st, 2010)

In Love And War, a review by KinkyCyborg

Title:In Love And War
Year: 1987
Director: Paul Aaron
Rating: NR
Length: 115 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles:

Stars:
Jane Alexander
James Woods
Concetta Tomei
Jon Cedar
Richard McKenzie

Plot:
Shot down and taken prisoner early in the Vietnam Conflict, Navy Pilot Jim Stockdale is one of the few who know the truth about the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Knowing an admission would be explosive, Jim has remained silent despite eight nightmarish years of torture and inhuman treatment.

Extras:



80's TV drama about Jim Stockdale, an American POW in Vietnam who endured more than 6 years of torture while his wife campaigned stateside to expose the treatment of the prisoners.

Very good movie with James Woods, one of my favorites, in the leading role. It was interesting to see that even though he was held captive and was enemies with his torturers, as the years progressed an understanding developed between captor and captive... that both realized each other was merely acting on orders and in defense of their countries. By the time the war ended there was little or no animosity between them and they parted almost as friends.  Compelling drama!

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on August 22nd, 2010)

Babylon 5: Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Two Minbari Ranger trainer come to the station with two of their students. One of the students is attacked by a new underground boss in Down Below and the Rangers take matters into their own hands. And Garibaldi tries to figure Captain Lochley out, why she was chosen by Sheridan.

My opinion: Average episode. It didn't happen much in it.


Synopsis: The centauri regent is dying and Londo is ordered back to Centauri Prime, for he is chosen to become the next emperor of the Centauri Republic. But his transport is sabotaged and explodes. Meanwhil is Bester back and he brought a Psi Cops Bloodhound unit with him to hunt down the "blips", the unregistered telepaths around Byron.

My opinion: I never really liked Byron and his "hippie gang". The teeps that were hidden on the station during the second(?) season by the underground railroad were much more likable. Thus it felt har to sympathize with them when they were hunted down.


Synopsis: Franklin has a new job aside of being chief of the Medlabs. He catalogues the DNA and other stuff from all the races of the new alliance to find cures for their diseases and check if any of that iseases could spread to other races. But something is wrong with the profile of the Hyach. Meanwhile one of the teeps is attacked by undergorund scam and Byron lands behind bars.

My opinion: This is mostly a teep episode. And I hate Byron's kumba-ya bullshit. Did I mention that I didn't like him much?


Synopsis: The Brakiri buy a square mile of the station for one night for a ritual. Lochley sells it because she thinks that it is metaphorical. But then this part of the station is suddenly gone and the inhabitants have visitors who should be dead.

My opninion: One could qualify it as "dream episode" but it didn't felt weird. It was a cool idea and I liked to see some characters again.

It is discussed whether or not this episode belongs here. While it stands on its own the next episode "In the Kingdom of the Blind" practically continues where "Secrets of the Soul" ended.

(From Babylon 5: Marathon on February 2nd, 2008)