Serenity (2005 film)
- For other uses, see Serenity.
| Serenity | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Joss Whedon |
| Written by | Joss Whedon |
| Produced by | Christopher Buchanan David V. Lester Barry Mendel Alisa Tager |
| Starring | Nathan Fillion Summer Glau Adam Baldwin Chiwetel Ejiofor Gina Torres Alan Tudyk Morena Baccarin Jewel Staite Sean Maher Ron Glass |
| Music by | David Newman |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates | September 29, 2005 (Australia) September 30, 2005 (USA) October 7, 2005 (UK) |
Running time | 119 min. |
| Languages | English, Chinese |
| Budget | $39,000,000 |
Serenity is a film written and directed by Joss Whedon. It is set in the universe of the cancelled Fox science fiction television series Firefly, taking place six months after the events of the last episode [1]. Like the television series that spawned it, Serenity is a science fiction Western, using elements of both genres. The film was released in the US on September 30, 2005.
Set 500 years in the future, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a transport and cargo ship. Their lives of petty crime are interrupted by a psychic passenger who carries a dangerous secret.
Story
Template:Spoiler The resources of Earth have been depleted, and humanity has moved to another star system and terraformed many of the planets. All the planets are controlled by the supposedly peace-loving yet still rather authoritarian Alliance. But a frontier justice still holds sway farther from the "core planets", where outlaws like the crew of Serenity can scrape out a living if they keep clear of Alliance forces and the Reavers, savage and cannibalistic humans who dwell beyond the outer planets and raid the Alliance worlds around the rim.
In order to earn her continued passage onboard Serenity, a fugitive from the Alliance, the telepathic River Tam (Summer Glau), accompanies Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), Jayne (Adam Baldwin), and Zoë (Gina Torres) on a mission to steal the payroll of an outer planet security company financed by the Alliance. During the robbery, the crew narrowly avoids capture by a Reaver raiding party when River is able to telepathically sense their approach. Wash (Alan Tudyk), the ship's pilot (and Zoë's husband) brings the ship to intercept the crew's surface vehicle, saving the crew from a grisly fate.
River's brother Simon (Sean Maher), the crew's doctor, angrily reacts to the captain's willingness to put his younger sister in such grave danger. Captain Reynolds responds by suggesting they leave at the next planet they land on, Beaumonde, where the crew expects to sell their loot. Simon agrees to the arrangement. The Tams do indeed disembark at Beaumonde, but while the captain haggles with the buyers, River suddenly starts attacking people in the same bar that the captain and Jayne are patronizing. Despite being a 90 pound (41 kg) girl, she manages to incapacitate everyone, including Jayne, and is about to shoot Captain Reynolds when Simon arrives and shouts a phrase in Russian, causing her to fall asleep.
Simon explains to the captain that, during her captivity by the Alliance, she was trained and conditioned to become an assassin. The only thing that can stop her after this conditioning has been triggered is the "safe-word" he uttered. Despite knowledge of this new danger and his anger at not being told about the possibility of carrying a potential living weapon, the captain allows Simon and River to continue traveling on Serenity.
The crew contacts Mr. Universe (David Krumholtz), a reclusive techno-geek who dwells with his robotic wife on a planet surrounded by an opaque ion cloud. After watching the security camera footage of the bar on Beaumonde, Mr. Universe discovers that River's outburst was triggered by a subliminal message in a seemingly harmless cartoon advertisement that had been broadcast all over the Alliance during the previous weeks. He tells the crew that before her attack, River had whispered the name "Miranda." He also notes that the footage has been viewed by someone else with high Alliance clearance.
Fearing Alliance pursuit, the crew takes refuge in the Haven mining colony with Shepherd Book (Ron Glass), a priest who once traveled with Serenity's crew. Book warns Mal that the Alliance agent pursuing River is likely to be an "Operative," and very dangerous. Shortly thereafter, the captain receives a call from Inara (Morena Baccarin), another former passenger. Their conversation is awkward but pleasant enough — with no arguing — leading Mal and Zoe to the conclusion that it's a trap, but they decide to visit Inara anyway. Mal's fears are realized; Inara is held hostage by a ruthless and nameless Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor). The Operative offers to let the captain go on his way if he turns River over to him, but thanks to Inara's quick thinking, she and the captain escape the Operative and return to Serenity, which takes off undetected.
Another of River's outbursts shows the crew the meaning of "Miranda". It is the name of an outer rim planet, which had once been inhabited but was thought to be wiped out in a terraforming accident. River had subconsciously learned something mysterious about the planet when she came in telepathic contact with a member of the Alliance Parliament during her training. Traveling to Miranda to learn more would require crossing through what is now Reaver territory, which the crew members agree would be suicide, so instead Serenity returns to Haven and Shepherd Book.
On arrival, however, the crew discovers that the outpost has been ravaged by Alliance forces, and its inhabitants killed. Mal finds Book, who has shot down the attacking ship. However, he has been mortally wounded and dies in Mal's arms. Several other outposts that had harbored Serenity in the past have also been destroyed. Captain Reynolds receives a message from the Operative claiming responsibility, and promising more of the same until River is turned over.
Mal comes out and orders that Serenity be remodelled to look like a Reaver ship, which involves warpainting and mutilating the hull, making a dangerous modification to the engine, arming the weaponless cargo vessel with the settlers' cannon and tying bodies of the dead settlers to the prow. Everyone protests, but Mal furiously informs them that they can either do what he says or leave the ship now.
Serenity, now painted red and looking far more menacing, leaves for Miranda. The ship moves through a whole mass of Reaver vessels, and after an agonising wait, finally reaches the other side without incident.
Upon reaching Miranda, the crew discovers a normal, terraformed planet, with an earth-like environment which is completely habitable. The strange part is that the sprawling cities that dot the planet's surface are empty. Inside the buildings and cars are badly decomposed corpses, with no apparent cause of death. There are no signs of violence or disease. It is as if the people simply died.
The crew discover a log recorded by an Alliance research and rescue team after the disaster. The log recounts what has happened: the Alliance administered the chemical substance G-23 paxilon hydrochlorate, or simply "Pax", to the populace. It was supposed to remove aggression and thus render the planet free of violence. An unfortunate side effect was that the populace had stopped working, or eating, or caring about anything. They simply gave up on life and died in their newfound nonaggressive state. However, there was a small minority of the populace (approximately a tenth of a percent, thus given the planet's original population of 30,000,000 approximately 30,000 individuals) for which the drug had the opposite effect. They became extremely aggressive and mentally unstable, mutilating their own bodies, and killing the researchers who had come to investigate. They eventually left the planet and formed into the much feared Reavers. Thus, the Alliance was actually responsible for the creation of this menace.
Everyone is sickened by this revelation, but none more so than Mal. This was exactly the sort of thing that the Browncoats had been fighting to prevent: the Alliance's belief that they can make people "better"; that everyone must conform to them, regardless of the cost or consequence. For the first time in years, Mal is moved by something greater than himself; a belief, something he thought he'd lost in the Battle of Serenity Valley.
"This report is maybe twelve years old. Parliament buried it, and it stayed buried 'til River dug it up. This is what they feared she knew. And they were right to fear, 'cause there's a whole universe of folk who are gonna know it too. They're gonna see it. Somebody has to speak for these people. Y'all got on this boat for different reasons, but y'all comin' to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. 'Cause as sure as I know anything I know this: they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground, swept clean. A year from now, ten, they'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more running. I aim to misbehave."
The plan is to reveal this secret to all the worlds by using the transmitter equipment belonging to Mr. Universe. Unfortunately, the Operative has predicted this, and is already waiting at Mr. Universe's headquarters, along with an Alliance fleet. When just about to leave Reaver territory, Serenity opens fire upon a Reaver ship. The ensuing chase by all the nearby Reaver warships causes the previously lone Serenity to emerge from Reaver space flanked by a large force of deadly Reaver ships, while the Alliance fleet was waiting near the Reaver space with the intention to destroy Serenity. There is a massive battle between the Alliance fleet and the Reaver fleet, as Wash steers Serenity towards the planet with both the Alliance and the Reavers trying to destroy them as well as each other. During the attack, the Operative's ship is destroyed, but he flees the battle in an escape pod and follows the crew to the surface.
Serenity is followed by a Reaver ship, which fires an electro-magnetic pulse at them, disabling power. Wash is able to restore emergency power at the last minute and effect a crash landing. While Serenity suffers massive damage including having one of its engines torn off, it looks like the crew is out of danger. As everyone begins to relax, a Reaver harpoon suddenly smashes through the window, impaling Wash who dies instantly. Unfortunately for Wash, the cockpit was the only point that the Reaver harpooners could attack from the outside. There is no time to mourn and Mal pulls Zoë away from Wash's dead body just as another harpoon is fired into the cockpit. Fleeing Serenity to continue their assumed mission of getting the word out, the crew decides to set up a last stand in a small corridor to hold off the Reavers and give Mal the time he needs to make way to Mr. Universe and transmit the message.
Mal arrives to find Mr. Universe has been killed. However, before he died, he was able to leave a pre-recorded message with his robotic wife which informs Mal that there is a secondary transmitter in another area of the complex. Meanwhile the crew is losing ground to the Reavers and is forced to retreat when Zoë and Kaylee are injured. The Operative arrives on the planet and runs into the robotic wife, who repeats the message, informing him where the secondary transmitter is. The crew try to close the blast door, but it stops leaving a small opening. This buys them some time, but when the doctor is shot by a stray bullet, there is no one to tend to the injured. He tells them he needs his medical bag which he left in the preceding room. River leaps through the blast door, throws the medical kit back in, closes the door and is swarmed by the Reavers.
Mal reaches the second transmitter and finds that it is inconveniently located on a platform surrounded by a large drop. He is about to attempt to reach the platform when the Operative shows up. They have a stand-off, which results in Mal being quicker on the draw and shooting (but not killing) the Operative. Mal then proceeds to try and reach the transmitter, but the wounded Operative follows him. There is a fight between them with the Operative using a pressure point which is designed to completely disable his opponent — it fails, and has no effect on Mal due to nerves severed in an old war injury.
Mal does not kill the Operative, and instead disables him with a similar move and leaves him trussed up to watch the recording from Miranda. Returning to the crew, he is informed that River was trapped on the other side of the blast door with the Reavers — presumably killed. The door opens to reveal that, instead, River has killed all the Reavers. As she finishes, the Alliance troops enter, but instead of giving permission to shoot her, the Operative orders the squad to stand down.
After the crew buries the bodies of their friends Mr. Universe, Shepherd Book, and Wash on Haven, the crew patches up Serenity in a repair yard on the planet Persephone. Just as they are ready to leave, the Operative makes his own exit, promising Mal they will never encounter each other again. In the payoff to a subplot from both the series and the film, Simon and Kaylee finally make love. Zoe tells Mal that "she's tore up plenty, but she'll fly true," and Serenity heads back into outer space, with Mal in Wash's seat at the helm, and River acting as his copilot. The final shot shows the ship flying off triumphantly into the distance, until a random piece of metal flies from the back of the ship and hits the camera, prompting Mal's final, inquisitive line of "What was that?".
Cast
Production
Jane Espenson, one of the writers of Buffy and Firefly, announced in June 2003 at a Buffy convention in the UK that Whedon was writing a script for a Firefly movie. Actors Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin confirmed this on the official Firefly forum, as did Whedon in several interviews. Universal Studios acquired the rights to Firefly.
On March 2, 2004, according to an article in Variety, the movie was officially greenlighted to enter production with a $40 million budget. Principal photography started on June 3, 2004. Joss Whedon said that the film would be released as Serenity, in order to differentiate it from the TV series. The 9 principal cast members from the television series (Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk, Gina Torres, Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin, Nathan Fillion, Ron Glass, Sean Maher, and Summer Glau) all returned for the movie. On September 17, 2004 Joss Whedon announced on the official site that shooting had been completed.
Marketing campaign
Sneak previews
In addition to traditional advertising methods, Universal sought a few unique approaches to promoting the film. Hoping to generate buzz through early word-of-mouth, Universal launched an unprecedented 3-stage campaign to sneak-preview the movie in 35 US cities where the television series had earned high Nielsen Ratings. The first stage of screenings was held in 10 cities on May 5, 2005. The second stage, held on May 26, 2005, added an additional 20 cities and was also the source of controversy when individual theatres began selling tickets before the official announcement was released, leading some shows to be sold out before being announced. The third round of screenings, with an additional 5 cities, was held on June 23, 2005. The screenings proved a success, with all three stages selling out in less than 24 hours, the second-stage screening in DC sold out in a mere 22 minutes and the second screening in Phoenix sold out in 8.
Australian audiences were the first outside North America to get preview screenings. After an exclusive Sydney test screening, Melbourne held a public screening on July 21, 2005. This was followed by a film festival screening on the Gold Coast on July 22. Public preview screenings were held in Adelaide and Sydney on August 1, and Perth on August 4. Further screenings were held in Victoria, Tasmania, and Queensland in late August. A showing of the finished film billed as the "Gala Premiere" was held at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on August 22[2], followed by an interview with Whedon the next day[3], and preview screenings across the United Kingdom and Ireland on August 24, in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Dublin. Several of the screenings in all the countries featured the attendance of Joss Whedon and the film's cast, followed by a Q&A session with the audience. Whedon also attended two Q&A sessions after sold-out screenings of the finished film in Melbourne and Sydney on September 12 and 13.
Viral marketing
Universal also utilized a viral marketing campaign, producing five short videos that were released on the internet between August 16 and September 5. These short films, known as the "R. Tam sessions," depicted excerpts of counselling sessions with the character River Tam while she was being held at a "learning facility" known only as "The Academy". The counsellor in these sessions is played by Joss Whedon himself. Taking place before the events of the film or the television series, the videos shed some light on the experiments and torture "The Academy" conducted on River. They "document" her change from a shy child prodigy to the mentally unstable character of the television series. The clips can be found in this quicktime movie. (The site's FAQ states that it was not involved with the making of these videos in any way.)
On October 5th, 2005, Universal also made the first nine minutes of Serenity available online. A browser plugin allowed the viewer to see the opening of the film in full-screen broadcast quality (bandwidth permitting). The clip was removed a few weeks later.
Critical and popular reception
Serenity received mostly positive reviews from film critics, with a "fresh" rating of 80% from the movie review website Rotten Tomatoes, which compiles reviews from a wide range of film critics. Ebert & Roeper gave the film "Two Thumbs Up," and The San Francisco Chronicle called it a triumph,[4] while The New York Times described it as a modest but superior science fiction film.[5]
However, some reviewers felt the film was unable to overcome its television origins, and did not succesfully accomplish the transition to the big screen. USA Today wrote that "the characters are generally uninteresting and one-dimensional, and the futuristic Western-style plot grows tedious" while Variety declared that the film "bounces around to sometimes memorable effect but rarely soars".
Despite critical acclaim and Internet buzz, Serenity performed modestly at the box office. Although several pundits predicted a #1 opening[6][7] [8], the film opened at #2 in the United States, taking in $10.1 million its first weekend, spending two weeks in the top ten, and totalling a box office gross of $25.5 million [9]. Movie industry analyst Brandon Gray described Serenity's box office performance as "like a below average genre picture" [10].
Serenity's international box office results were mixed, with strong openings in the UK, Portugal and Russia, but poor results in Spain, Australia, France and Italy. Universal International Pictures cancelled the film's theatrical release in at least seven countries, planning to release it directly to DVD instead. The box office income outside the United States was $13.3 million, with a worldwide total of $38.8 million[11], slightly less than the film's $39 million budget. The film's creators and supporters are hoping that strong DVD sales, similar to those of the Firefly television series, may lead to a sequel production.
Awards
Serenity won film of the year awards from Film 2005 [12] and FilmFocus [13]. It also won IGN Film's Best Sci-Fi, Best Story and Best Trailer awards and was runner up for the Overall Best Movie[14]. Won the 7th annual 'User Tomato Awards' for best Sci-Fi movie of 2005 at Rotten Tomatoes.[15]
Future culture
Serenity is one of several films set in the future that imagines how popular culture might evolve. Others like this include: Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, A Clockwork Orange and The Fifth Element.
This future envisioned in Serenity has two political and cultural centers: Euro-American and Chinese. Characters all speak English and Mandarin, with the latter language reserved for the strongest curse words and the most affectionate diminutives. English in Serenity also has its own slang; for example, where 21st century people might say "neat" or "cool," the characters in Serenity say "shiny."
However, while the these two are the dominant languages of the film, other languages are also spoken in the Firefly/Serenity universe. The Chinese spoken in the film is, because of limitations as a result of being produced in USA, not the version of Mandarin that would probably be most spoken. For example, the Beijing derived Mandarin, but the Taiwan Mandarin includes some Taiwan-specific slang.
As well, in the Firefly/Serenity universe, the space inhabited by humans is roughly divided into the Alliance and Independent territory, until the Alliance became war-focused and wiped out some Independents.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to the film was released on September 27, 2005. It was composed by David Newman, and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony under Newman's direction. According to director Joss Whedon's sleeve notes for the album, Newman was recommended by Universal's music executives when he requested a musician capable of "everything." It is of note that the acoustic guitar version of the Ballad of Serenity, which was used at the end of the film's credits, is absent from the soundtrack.
DVD release
North America
Serenity was released on DVD and VHS in North America on December 20 2005. It quickly went to #1 in sales on Amazon.com.[16] It also spent two weeks in the top ten on Billboard's Top DVD Sales charts, peaking at #3. So far, the DVD/VHS rentals of the film have grossed around $7,650,000.
Features include:
- Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
- Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Commentary by: Writer/Director Joss WhedonDolby Digital 5.1
- Deleted scenes and outtakes
- Future History: The Story of Earth That Was
- What's in a Firefly
- Re-Lighting the Firefly
- Joss Whedon Introduction
- There is also an easter egg on the U.S. edition that features a small featurette on the 'Fruity Oaty Bar' commercial, entitled 'We'll Have A Fruity Oaty Good Time'.
Australia and Europe
On February 8, 2006, the film was released as a two-disc set in Australia (Region 4) and parts of Europe (Region 2). In addition to the supplemental material found on the North American (Region 1) release, this release contains new features.
Added material for disc 1 includes:
- A Filmmakers Journey: Journey with Joss from Script to Screen (This will be on all international DVDs, but not the US version.).
Added material for disc 2 (At present, disc 2 is exclusive only to Australia and Benelux - Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. However, other international territories may decide to release the 2nd disc as well.):
- Joss Whedon Q&A Session filmed at FOX Studios in Sydney.
- Extended Scenes.
- Take a Walk on Serenity: Cast & Crew take us on a special tour of the Serenity ship.
- The Green Clan: Feature on Cinematographer Jack Green and his team.
HD-DVD
There is also a Serenity HD DVD release scheduled for a March 2006 release.
Spin-offs
Novelization
A novelization of the film was written by Keith R. A. DeCandido, and published on August 30, 2005.
Serenity: The Official Visual Companion
Serenity: The Official Visual Companion was written by Joss Whedon, published by Titan Books, and released on September 1, 2005 in paperback. It contained the film's screenplay, along with other supplemental features such as concept art, film images, and a map of the 'verse.
Comics
Bridging the gap between the end of the television series and the beginning of the movie is a three-issue comic book series, also titled Serenity. The comic is written by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews, illustrated by Will Conrad and Laura Martin, and published by Dark Horse Comics. The story focuses on the crew of Serenity taking a salvage job from Badger following a botched theft on a backwater planet, and the pursuit of River by the ominous blue-gloved men seen in the television series. The story is considered part of the Firefly/Serenity canon. Each issue of the series features three different covers, with each cover featuring one of the nine main characters, each by a different illustrator, including Joe Quesada, Bryan Hitch, Tim Bradstreet and John Cassaday. The first issue was published in July 2005, and the final one appeared in September. The comics quickly sold out on release, with both the #1 and #2 issues going into second printings. Many comic book retailers reported that it was their highest selling comic those months, in part because of the multiple covers, but also because it attracted a group of customers who are not traditionally comic book buyers.
Serenity RPG
A role-playing game entitled Serenity, published by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd, was released in 2005.
Sequel rumors
Fans of Firefly had hoped that if Serenity were successful, it might lead either to a revival of the television series or a film franchise. The former was always unlikely, since Fox still owns the Firefly television rights and Joss Whedon refuses to work for Fox again. Fans' hopes for further theatrical films appear to have been partially dashed by Serenity's poor box office showing. However, on December 1, 2005, IGN Filmforce reported that Universal had expressed an interest in making a Serenity TV movie for broadcast on the Sci Fi Channel (which is owned by Universal), and eventual DVD sale. It is expected that commissioning of a television sequel would be contingent on strong DVD sales of Serenity.[17] It should be noted that Joss Whedon, in response to the many rumors and speculations, has always said that nothing will be decided until the DVD sales are known.
In February 2006, a rumor swept the internet that a number of the starring actors were seen emerging from Paramount Studios.[18] This rumor has led some to believe that a continuation of the story may be planned after all. However, Joss Whedon himself debunked the rumor in a post at WHEDONesque.com.
Trivia
- During the short television run of the Firefly series, it was not made clear whether the planets and moons depicted were located in one planetary system or many (which would suggest that Serenity's propulsion was capable of faster-than-light travel). The opening narration of the film makes it clear that the planets and moons are in one system with "dozens of planets and hundreds of moons," which implies that there is no faster-than-light travel in this universe. This is supported by production documents published in Serenity: The Official Visual Companion.
- Renowned comic book artist Bernie Wrightson, co-creator of Swamp Thing, contributed concept drawings for the Reavers [19]. Other comic book artists who contributed to the production design include Joshua Middleton and Leinil Francis Yu (Visual Companion).
- The safeword phrase that Simon uses to shut River down, "Eta kuram na smekh", is a Russian expression ("Это курам на смех"). Literally, it means, "That's for chickens to laugh at" — a Russian idiom for "That's ridiculous." [20] The sense of the phrase is "That's so ridiculous it would make a chicken laugh". Normally, it would be used to disparage something (for example, a payment) as insufficient or absurd.
- Serenity makes several references to the movie Forbidden Planet. These include the name of the failed colony, Miranda (the name of Prospero's daughter in Shakespeare's play The Tempest, upon which Forbidden Planet is based), and the two vessels labeled C57D, which was the name of the main spacecraft in Forbidden Planet.
- The name of the planet "Miranda" translates from Latin into "a thing to behold" or "a thing to marvel at". Serenity's Miranda shares its name with Miranda, one of the moons of Uranus; both are ultimately derived from Miranda in The Tempest. Joss Whedon explains in the DVD commentary track that the planet "Miranda" received its name in reference to a line spoken by Shakespeare's Miranda in The Tempest, Act V, scene I: "O brave new world, / That has such people in't!" The Alliance had hoped that Miranda would be a new kind of world, filled with peaceful, happy people. Ultimately, of course, the reference becomes ironic.
- The aforementioned quotation from The Tempest also gave the title to the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, which portrays an orderly but passionless society in which the populace are kept in check by means of a drug, Soma. Huxley described his novel as a "negative utopia". Like the World State of Brave New World, the Alliance in Serenity attempts to create a perfect society, but their maniplulation leads to the exact opposite.
- All the references to Forbidden Planet take place on the "lost" world of Miranda, and the logic behind this in-joke would seem to be this: in Forbidden Planet, a spaceship visits a dead world whose inhabitants had gone extinct after an attempt to use technology to improve their lives to godlike status failed, releasing their inner id, which destroyed them entirely. In Serenity, humans attempt to use technology to perfect their world, resulting in the unbounded id of the Reavers, who destroy everything.
- Science fiction author Orson Scott Card called Serenity "the best science fiction film ever." [21]
- "Pax", the chemical that the Alliance used to try to pacify the people on Miranda, is named for the Latin word for "peace". The Latin "pax" is most notably used in the term Pax Romana, the period during the rule of the Roman Empire where they pacified regions, sometimes forcefully, which had suffered from the quarrels between rival leaders. The Roman historian Tacitus, in his Agricola, quotes the chieftain of a barbarian tribe resisting Roman hegemony as saying ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant: meaning "where [the Romans] create a desolation, they call it pax (peace)".
- Summer Glau has confirmed at several conventions that she mentioned to Joss during the filming of Firefly that she wanted to be the pilot. At the end of Serenity, River does indeed become a pilot.
- The entire Firefly set had to be rebuilt from scratch, using frozen images from the Firefly DVD set. ZOIC, the CG-rendering company that produced the graphics for the series, also had to perform a complete overhaul of their computer model of Serenity, as its television model would not stand up to high definition cinema screens (and future HD DVD resolution).
- The set for the failed colony, Miranda, is actually filmed on location at Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona, California. (The building into which the Alliance ship is crashed is the DRHS Band and Orchestra's rehearsal room.)
- Leading up to the film's release, many fans on internet messageboards were known to refer to the film as the "Big Damn Movie" or the "BDM," as a play on the phrase "Big Damn Heroes," which was uttered in the Firefly episode Safe.
- According to Adam Baldwin, the minigun Jayne uses at the end of the film is nicknamed "Lux", after the message board handle - LuxLucre - of devoted fan Kerry Pearson. Pearson died of complications from diabetes. Pearson was best known for creating fan art that featured the characters from 'Firefly' in a "South Park" cartoon style.
- In the screeplay for Serenity published in Serenity: The Official Visual Companion, Mal's threat to the crew at the end of the scene when he expresses his determation to live with "I will shoot you down" was originally scripted as "I will fucking shoot you."
- In the DVD extra Future History: The Story of Earth that Was, English subtitles erroriously quote Joss as saying "And that, of course, makes me think of the Millennium Vulcan." He was actually referring to the Millennium Falcon, a famous space ship from the Star Wars films.
References
- DeCandido, Keith R.A. Serenity. August 30, 2005. ISBN 1416507558.
- Whedon, Joss. Serenity: The Visual Companion. September 1, 2005. ISBN 1845760824.
External links
- Official web site
- Official Australian web site
- Serenity at IMDb (Warning: May contain spoilers.)
- Unofficial Serenity Fan Site
- R. Tam Sessions - Session 416 - Site containing all current short videos for the Serenity viral marketing campaign
- Session 416 - Bypass the introduction into the main site
- The Pen is Mightier - A fan commentary to the R. Tam sessions
- Posts About Serenity on Whedonesque
- Serenity visual effects interview
- Serenity Shindig From the blog Catallarchy, with Serenity review, Firefly commentary, episode analysis, and miscellaneous thoughts
- Serenity in 2000 words or less (includes spoilers)
- Translations of Chinese used
Firefly franchise | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| TV series |
| ||
| Film | |||
| Characters | |||
| Comics | |||
| Other media | |||
| Universe | |||
| Related | |||
