In a Joss Whedon interview some years back, Joss explained the two deaths as being necessary because they were all hoping, at that time, that the movie would generate enough interest to restart the series. The two actors who died were, at that time, unable to commit to going back to the series due to other contract commitments. So he thought this was the best way to deal with that. The suddenness of Wash's death, with no time to come to grips or grieve, is probably a reflection of what real battle is like. You see someone close to you die and you have to keep moving or die yourself. Also, I've never heard anyone else ever think that Mr. Universe somehow transferred his dying consciousness into his love bot. Really...it was just a recording he made before he died.
I was at a small con and Alan and Ron were jokingly complaining about being killed off. Without missing a beat, Nathan replied, "Hey! We had a meeting. We took a vote. Two people didn't show up . . ." 😁
Imagine waiting for this movie and finally seeing it in theaters and then you get the scenes where the main characters died. I got a bit emotional. With regards to the fight scene with Mal, I always thought that based on how he pinned the guy's arms back and applied a jerk of pressure he dislocated his shoulders and then he was able to pin him back against the rail because he couldn't move his arms.
After this movie came out, "Aim to Misbehave" and "Can't Stop The Signal" became the main slogans for Browncoats (Firefly Fans), so many great lines and such an amazing movie. But it still left us wanting more even to this day. Also, the greatest challenge that they faced was they head to make the movie accessible even to people who hadn't seen the show, hence the little crash course on the universe in the young River scene at the beginning. And honestly I feel like they did a pretty good job.
"Thank God they made that movie!" I couldn't agree more. The movie warped up many things. But there were a couple stories that would have been realized in the series that wasn't covered in the movie. Book was one of them but also Inara. Inara has a huge story that was never revealed. Joss spoke about it at a con. I won't say in case you don't want to know. But it's out there. Well done guys, it was a great watch through!
For anyone considering posting the “How do reavers clean their spears joke”, let me quote Alan Tudyk from “A Knights Tale”: “ It’s called a lance. HELLOOO!”
It was so funny seeing Joe comment that you want to get "I aim to misbehave" on a t-shirt as that's the very line that is all over Firefly related products. Such a great line. Such a great show. And such a great reaction series. I've loved being on this journey with you all.
Forgive me if I repeat myself. Mal's journey from cross kissing soldier to thief always pissed off to have a conscience, to the end where he is a soldier again - although dying ain't exactly plan A - is essentially the heart of this series.
What Mal did to The Operative in their final combat was to dislocate both of his shoulders so that he could not pull out the sword that pinned him to the railing.
River's fight scenes were all Summer; they're what happens when a trained dancer spends a few months training with stunt fight coordinators. Apparently they kept discovering new things that Summer could do and incorporating them into the fight scene; "Did you know Summer can kick a person standing behind her in the head?"
Great reactions. The Miranda story line was supposed to be at end of season 2. Book's death was to help Mal believe in something. Wash's death was to show how dire the situation was. It was also said that Alan and Ron couldn't commit to additional movies. Season 2 would of explored Book's back story and the Blue Sun Corporation. When River was ripping labels off the tin cans, the labels were Blue Sun. Jayne's shirt in Ariel was a Blue Sun shirt. The movie had some pay offs, but I would suggest the comics/graphic novels and books/audiobooks.
Here's the thing: The experiment for the Pax was in development before the Independents waged war. If it had been a success, the Pax would have been added to the atmospheric processors of any world suspected of disputing the Alliance. Imagine all the Browncoats becoming Reavers and the complacent purple-bellies falling prey. After the message came from Miranda, the Alliance had to truly fight the Independents on actual battlefields.
This movie was a bit of a double whammy, because it opened in Sheffield the day my mother died. It was unexpected - she had dementia, but there'd been no sign her life was close to the end - and it literally happened during the phone call to tell us to come because they were worried about how she was that day. My wife was the one who heard the news, and decided to keep it from me until we'd seen the film so I could at least enjoy it fully, but then we couldn't get in; and I didn't understand why she was so upset. You can guess I wasn't dry-eyed watching it later in the week, particularly the end. I thought it was a great movie, but I also felt it could have been even greater with the plot spread out over a season or two. Like you, I am _so_ glad we got it, though!
What a story. Brave to share. Reminds me of having a blowout & changing my tire on the highway roadside after watching my mom die. Brutal still after 35 years.
Thank you for sharing your story. The emotions in this movie and your life would also made us not dry eyed for a while. And as someone who has dealt with dementia in the family, im so sorry. Mikey
It's been an honor revisiting the tragedy of the spectacular Firefly show with you, guys! Glad you enjoyed it! Looking forward to your Buffy reactions (again, the first season can be tough but it's one of the best shows ever imo). Also seconding Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. It's a low budget Joss Whedon love project but hilarious and entertaining with great actors, in the form of 3 ~15 minute episodes. 😊
"I think they did a lot better job leaving it a mystery." For my two cents, ignore everything anyone tells you about what the show was "going to do" or what the "real story behind xxxxxx" was. Once art is out in the world, the audience can decide what it means. This world is too rich to be reduced to a list of _planned_ plot points.
Blooper reel, DVD commentary tracks, graphic novels, tabletop roleplaying games (separate licenses for television show and movie but totally interlinked, by Margaret Weis Publishing), novels, and ongoing comic book series...
It felt so wrong to laugh at Kaylee's declaration of her intent to live, so soon after seeing Wash get killed. But Joss Whedon knew that's what the audience needed. Just one more piece of evidence that he's a GENIUS.
Now that you've finished the show, it's safe to tell you. Each member of the crew represents an aspect of Mal's personality that he's lost. Book represents his faith, Kaylee represents his innocence, Inara represents his ability to love, Zoe represents his loyalty, Wash represents his humor.
The reason the movie doesn't disappoint I think is because everyone loved being part of the show, and they were going to make sure this was great. However, I'm still not over Wash's death XD Your reactions to Firefly and Serenity were so much fun to watch. I'll definitely be around for your journey through the Buffyverse!
That moment when the Operative pulls out his sword and Mal comes up with a screwdriver is the story of Mal's life. There was a foreshadowing of that moment in the pilot episode when Mal says "Everyone has the advantage over us. Thats what makes us special."
To answer some of your questions, the Reaver secret was originally going to come out as a third season finale to the Firefly show. Mr.Universe was going to be introduced in the next episode after Objects In Space, Objects in Space was just going to be the mid-season finale, not for the entire show. Also, Between the first and third seasons, Zoe and Wash were going to get divorced, and originally by the time of the Reaver secret, they were going to be dating again trying to mend their relationship. The reason Mr. Universe, Wash, and Book were killed off is because Serenity was going to be the first of a trilogy, but the fans didn't go out to theaters but waited for the DVD release instead, so no trilogy, all of the actors were asked if they wanted to be in a trilogy, those that said no we're killed off in this movie. That's why Wash, Book, and Mr. universe die in this one.
Sorry, I heard and saw it a little differently. Just like for the TV show, the marketing department completely fumbled the rollout of the movie. They had a number of early screenings of the movie that the hard-core fans came out and enjoyed, which decimated the first full weekend release numbers, because so many people had already seen the movie. Since new release, movies live or die by their first weekend box office numbers, any sequels were doomed.
@@lukeball4937 Yes. You are accurate! There were so many pre screenings, why bother to go see it again once it opened? Wash and Book were killed off because they had too many commitments to continue with more movies.
@@LaBlueStateGirl it seems that everyone went on to working consistently afterward, but man, Alan Tudyk really got busy. That guy does a little bit of everything.
Kaylee's "Horny" background was revealed in the episode "Out of Gas", where she joined the crew of Serenity. Malcolm interrupted her and Bester (the ship's mechanic at the time), having sex in Serenity's engine room. However, when Bester incorrectly informed Mal that the ship could not be fixed, Kaylee quickly proved him wrong, she spotted the problem when she was lying on her back! Then she repaired the grounded Serenity virtually on the spot. Impressed with her mechanical ability, Mal immediately offered her Bester's job. Kaylee happily accepted, and left her family (and Bester) behind to join the crew.
Hey guys, great journey! On to the bloopers, deleted scenes, and what you can't react to - comics, & novels. - What did Mal do to the Operative when he crunched his back? Mal dislocated both his shoulders. - Why do some fans believe The River Tam Sessions reveal movie spoilers? Because River says the word "Pax" in her ramblings. Any new viewer might catch it and ask "What is Pax?" Now here is the issue. Only by fans saying "It's a Spoiler!" are new viewers going to be alerted that Pax is somehow a spoiler. You can't know it is a spoiler without the warning. It's similar to 2 kids talking about Santa. The first kid is excited that Santa is coming and the second kid says "I don't believe in Santa". Now they are disagreeing about Santa. This is not a spoiler unless someone with credibility steps in and yells "Hey second kid! That's a spoiler!". - Why did Book & Wash die? because the actors had other contracts to fulfil and would not have been able to be in Serenity 2 & 3. They were not slated to die if Firefly had its 5 seasons. Yes, Whedon hoped to make a Serenity trilogy. Originally, he had 5 seasons of Firefly in mind with 3 major story arcs. The first major story arc is what we saw in Serenity - the reveal of how Reavers were made and why the Alliance wanted River Tam so badly. The Reaver story arc was originally intended to be seasons 1 & 2 of Firefly according to Joss Whedon. I'm guessing the comic books and novels will give us story arcs 2 & 3. Unfortunately, Joss Whedon only had control of his franchise up to a certain point. Ownership changed hands which means somewhere along the way his ideas were pushed aside & new story ideas were introduced. NON-SPOILER COMICS & NOVELS TALK: - Inara left Serenity because she realized that was the only way to stop her romance with Mal. At the end of Serenity, she rejoins the crew. This means she is now open to grow the romance. So why did Inara not want romance with Mal? Also, why did she originally halt her career goal and join Serenity in the first place? The Official Firefly Novel #5 titled "Firefly - Life Signs" deals with these Inara questions. It takes place in time between the events of "Objects is Space" and the movie "Serenity".
You're right! We didn't have it spoiled bc we never realized was pax was even as Mike wore the pax shirt.... We shall be checking out the books and comics as much as we can! Thank you
Did you notice that River was ready to engage the Alliance troops when they broke through? After all, attempting to engage a telepath in combat, you are in trouble.
I love that they focus on her tending up & you know she’s gonna wreak all kinds of havoc if it happens. Also, that scene, where the doors open & River is standing there, like an absolute badass, is one of my all-time favorite images in cinema.
Thing is . . . River is a telepath and she just fought a load of reavers. Which means she was exposed to all their hostility, hunger, and goodness knows what else. _And_ her amygdala was stripped (c.f. Ariel) so she can't ignore any of it. By the time the Alliance troops break through, she was probably a hair's breadth away from becoming a reaver herself. So yes, she would have won - but at what cost to her humanity?
River had an overloaded memory and a lack of amygdala to govern it. (Have you ever seen Johny Mnemonic?) Once the memories were exposed, it allowed her to better process current stimuli.
There have been reactors who wore a T-shirt with "I Aim to Misbehave" on it sent by a patron, not knowing what it meant until Mal said it. When Joss Whedon was told he could make the movie, he was hoping there would be more movies like there was in Star Trek. He asked the entire cast if they would be willing to make more movies. Alan Tudyk and Ron Glass said they had prior commitments and couldn't do anything beyond Serenity. Book and Wash had to die. FYI The set of the city on Miranda wasn't a set they made. It was shot at a high school with weird super modern buildings in the LA area. Also, River is psychic so she knows the minds of any attackers and knows how they will attack her. Summer trained every day for two months with the stuntmen before shooting on the movie began. The stunt coordinator was amazed at Summer's ability and decided to film her fight scenes with long single shot scenes with up to 20 moves at a time rather than quick cuts as is done in most other fight sequences. He said that the 13th take of her fight scenes was faster than the first take. This comes from her dancing backround. Like you said, her fighting was just like dancing. She always loved to dance. FYI Most of the backround information is on the DVD bonus features, but not Book's past. His history is in a hardback comic that I have. He is NOT a reformed Operative, but he was a very capable and high ranking Alliance Officer who had plenty of field (space) experience. One more thing. On the DVD under "deleted scenes" when the Operative is talking to Mal at the end of the movie and the Operative says "There is nothing left to see", he turns and looks at the word "Serenity" painted on the side of the ship and says "Serenity. You lost everything in that battle. Everything you had, everything you were. How did you go on?" Mal looks at him and refuses to answer, saying "If you're still standing there when that engine starts, you never will figure it out". Then Mal walks back on to the ship as he says "What a whiner!" The operative has had his entire belief system shattered and doesn't know what to do. Perhaps he will join a monastery, ya think? You can watch it here at the last section: th-cam.com/video/fiF2TUhYkbE/w-d-xo.html
Oh geez, I almost felt sick getting to the end, I knew you guys were going to be bummed. Now you have definitely joined all us Browncoats in our trauma and wishing. Good news is, you can always rewatch because I still see things I missed in the all the times I've watched.
I think between the allusions they made to Book's history throughout the show and especially in this when he was talking to Mal about how the Operative would come at them gives us a good enough skeleton of his history. It's pretty clear that he was an Operative like the antagonist in this movie. After doing so much off the alliances dirt he became broken and retired to the monastery to try to balance out the bad he had done. It is very similar to Fred Johnson in The Expanse but it feels like the Alliance still held him in high enough regard that in the episode "Safe" when he gets shot they treated him like a VIP.
It makes sense that Book would retain a high security clearance even after he left the Alliance. He still knows their secrets. (It's possible he even knew about Miranda 🤔) That would be all the doctors needed to give him VIP treatment.
This was my theory too, but the graphic novel "A Shepherd's Tale" has a different backstory. I still think originally Joss Wheadon intended for Book to have been a former Operative that was now trying to repent.
Another good reaction. Sorry to see it end. A lot of us have been mourning Firefly for years. The reason Book and Wash were killed off is it was a cost of getting the movie made. They were the only two who didnt sign for future movies (if this one had been successful). The producers wanted to lock the cast into relatively low-paying contracts to keep the profit margin high for sequels. Joss Whedon had to kill them off in this one.
Alan Tudyk had other upcoming projects so he couldn't commit to making more movies or anything else related to Firefly. Joss has said that when he realised, because of this, he might have to kill off "Wash" he decided to do it at a time when it would heighten the tension to the point the audience would think everyone else might also be about to die.
There were rumors during post-production that Josd was so upset by studio manipulation, he determined to kill off ALL of the characters he loved so much, so the studios couldn't damage them anymore. About the time Simon gets wounded, all of us fans believed that the rumors were true...
Now you just need to imagine the operative guy deciding to get "reborn" and head to a monastery to become a shepherd for 20 years or so, and then decide to walk the world awhile by booking passage on a ship, not caring where the destination is, and not letting people call him "grandpa"... That is Book v2.0
Not exactly "extended content" (it was 2005, after all), but the final minute of the closing credits has a solo guitar version of the TV theme music. A gift for the people who stayed.
One of the things I left with after seeing this film in the theatre was a HUGE appreciation for Chiwetel Ejiofor, the actor who played the Operative. Watching his focused yet deadly demeanor (in contrast with most movie villains that are too over-the-top), I'm not kidding when I say that his performance's stillness gave me shivers. I thought he played it brilliantly. And what I liked about the Operative is that -- in my view -- I don't think he knew the secret about Miranda before he saw it on Mal's recording. I feel like he saw his duty as an Operative to protect and serve the Alliance, and that means protecting its secrets as well (whatever they are, it's not his business to know - it's his business to protect those secrets and keep them safe - that's his sole purpose and job). He was so strong in his convictions about being the good solider, doing his duty unfailingly, without question, that he was willing to do whatever it took to achieve his directives, even if it meant slaughtering an entire village of people. But when he was confronted with the truth about the Alliance and their secret project on Miranda, his eyes were wide open. He had no choice but to watch it and see the reality of the group he'd sworn his allegiance to, and like Mike pointed out -- he doesn't believe anymore. So he tells his men to stand down, and he ends up leaving the Alliance, telling Mal he'd never see him again. To me, he's seen the truth and he has switched alliances, so to speak. But he's also done some horrible things in the name of that Alliance, things he's going to have to make peace with, so he walks away from it all. I think it's such a fascinating story for an antagonistic character, and I was glued to my seat, watching every scene he was in. I also love the parallels between him and Mal. They both needed something to believe in. The Operative loses his convictions once he sees the truth about the Alliance, so he loses his beliefs. But in a strange way, it brings him back to a level of humanity, by walking away from what he thought were his beliefs. At the same time, Mal regains some of his own. He'd clearly been struggling since Inara left, getting a bit harder and angrier and laser-focused, losing some of his humanity in the process (even going as far as to "leave another man behind" with the Reavers), but in the end he stood back up and found what he needed. He found what was important to him, enough to die for (and he almost did die!), and that brought him a humanity he hadn't probably felt in a long while. Maybe even since the war.
So glad for this movie. Great reaction, very happy to go on your Firefly/Serenity journey with you. Losing Wash is still the hardest loss. This show/movie ages so well. My feelings watching this in a theater when it came out were pretty much the same as yours. Looking forward to the bloopers and bring on Buffy!
they packed so much into this movie, i could get behind a new show where the captain is leading the new rebel navy and jane takes over serinity as captain lol the move mal did to the assassin i think dislocated both arms, if anyone has had a should dislocate understands the numbing pain associated with it, imagine that but double shoulders with even more compounded pain. the fact he could radio in was shocking even to mal haha
When this first came out I saw it opening night so no spoilers were available and was hurt when Book died and devastated when Wash bought it but slightly relieved when River said my turn and on edge until the stand down order. The end was an Epilog to the movie and gave it closer with a hint of further adventures. Too bad it did not happen.
There are some things to look for in a rewatch of the series. Blue Sun is a megacorporation that has an incredible amount of influence in the Alliance. The black ops project that River was put through was sourced from the government sponsored school that Blue Sun ran. Thus, River has an extreme dislike for Blue Sun. The canned food she tears the labels off of have a Blue Sun logo, and when River slashes Jayne across the chest, he is wearing a Blue Sun t-shirt and she says "he looks better in red". I also have a theory that before the show got cut short, Shepherd Book was intended to have had a backstory in which he had been an agent, like the agent the crew was contending with in this movie, and that he lost faith in that cause in a similar way, prompting him to quit and join a monastery looking to repent. That isn't what the graphic novel reveals, but I'm still convinced I'm right.
Interesting regarding the school and River as well as the mega Corporation thank you, also definitely would have agreed book would have probably had either some flashback or or some info
I have waited 20 years to hear someone else say that... "not what the graphic novel says, but I'm still convinced I'm right." For sooooo long I thought I was the only one who was adamant that Book was a former Operative whose faith in the Alliance, conviction in his cause and purpose, was broken and sought redemption through restoring his faith in something else and doing good with it and for other... which is why, when he fell in with the crew, he recognized a quasi-kindred spirit in Mal. Someone who broke and had lost his faith when he and his men were abandoned at the Battle of Serenity Valley by the Independent High Command when they called a ceasefire to negotiate terms of surrender. The fighting went on until it trickled out... then they were left without food, water or medical care. He watched his men die. From battle, from starvation, from sickness and infection from their wounds. It broke him and he turned his back on God. Shepard saw that and readily identified with it and wanted to help heal him as he had found healing himself. As Shepard Book said to River during the series: "you don't fix faith, it fixes you." I truly believe he was speaking from experience and not just about mankind's hubris in applying our grossly limited logic to scripture and in a feeble attempt to make sense of the divine.
They were hoping to do a couple more movies. That's why they offed Book and Wash. Neither could have done more movies. Ron Glass was having medical problems and Alan Tudyk had other commitments. Unfortunately this movie didn't do well enough at the box office, so no more movies. Alan Tudyk has a series on Peacock you might like. It's called Resident Alien and is a comedy. They have 2 seasons in the can and are working on the 3rd season. I think it's pretty good, you should check it out.
The reason for the crate of Inara's property being still on board of Serenity was to explain her personal weapon, the Power Bow. Both Morena and Nathan used it as a demonstration of keeping a reason for her to return.
Regarding Inara having a bow in the stand off against the Reavers: When she's on the call with Mal the two of them stumble over words about how Inara still had some of her things on Serenity. That she 'didn't mean to leave them' and Mal for some reason saying 'I didn't look or anything'. The weapon was one of those things left behind. Also according to Morena and Nathan: Inara absolutely left those things behind on purpose including things that still held her scent, and Mal absolutely would mope around on Inara's shuttle holding onto some of them.
Everyone else is handling the Firefly details, so I decided to skip that and say how much I have enjoyed your responses to the episodes and especially the movie! I wasn't sure if I was going to stick around at first, but then your absolute delight while watching won me over. I especially loved laughing along with you guys during the movie! Please don't expect that much from season 1 of Buffy! The man that made Firefly is in there somewhere, but he hadn't really learned his craft yet, so please give him some time to grow. The show gets better. Also, please consider watching Angel along side of Buffy when you get to season 4 of Buffy. Believe me, when Buffy season 7 has ended, you will be so glad to still have one more season of Angel to watch, trust me! Love you guys!
I’ve always enjoyed Mal’s position of always choosing to not kill people unless he was certain that there would never be a situation in the future where they might prove useful. Note the “what’s of use” comment from the Doctor. He’d rather have an enemy with a purpose he recognizes than have to deal with vengeance-seekers he’s never met.
@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192there’s a difference between fighting a bunch of madmen with melee weapons, and some supposedly trained soldiers with guns. The guys with guns don’t need to get close to shoot you.
River's final fight with the Reavers was put together by Summer Glau and the musical director as a 'pas de deux', which is a type of ballet performance involving two people. They blocked out the entire dance and then the stunt coordinator worked out points in the dance where the Reavers would intersect with Summer's path and get one shot by River.
It's been explained that they were intending to do multiple movies, but both the actors to Wash and Book couldn't commit to more movies (you know, actor stuff with scheduling and so on) so rather than having them just disappear between movies they opted to kill them off, and boy was Wash death effective in raising the stakes! as Y'all said during, "is anyone gonna come out of this?" that was the intent of that scene. River isn't a one trick pony, what she says doesn't have to pertain to the Reavers, but upon repeat viewings most if not all of her lines really do make sense, since we now share her non linear sense of time. Like in "safe", she says "daddy will come and bring us home", meaning Mal will come and bring them back to Serenity. exactly what happened. As always, This has been a blast following along with you guys, and I am as saddened as you to see this journey over. Here's to many more amazing reactions!!!!
Hey guys. I got so caught up with Christmas Eve, that I forgot to watch this yesterday. It was a very nice present to watch it on Christmas morning. Love you guys. Stay shiny
The whole time, I’m watching Mike’s shirt, with *PAX* all across the front, wondering if any of the three of you would notice the reference in the movie.
I wish Joss Whedon was a little less committed to his "kill your darlings to raise the stakes" motto, but it's awfully effective. Suddenly it seems very possible that EVERYONE will die. I think Mal dislocated both of the Operative's shoulders.
They did his backstory in a graphic novel. Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale Book was born Henry Evans, a boy who was raised by an abusive father. He ran away from home and began life as a petty criminal before being recruited by the Independence movement and moving out to the Border Worlds. Long before the Alliance begins the Unification War, forward-thinking Browncoats assign Evans to be a long-term mole. He sheds his old identity by killing a random passerby and stealing his identification card, becoming Derrial Book. His Browncoat superiors keep tabs on him by surgically removing one of his eyes and replacing it with a camera. He joins the Alliance military and quickly moves up in rank. Becoming an officer, Book intentionally leads a risky operation that results in a humiliating defeat for the Alliance. He is forced to retire from the Alliance military. It is implied that the Alliance covers up the loss, therefore not officially punishing Book. Homeless, he visits a soup kitchen and finds God while contemplating a bowl of soup. He takes refuge at an abbey where he becomes a shepherd before leaving on Serenity to become a missionary.
Jayne may be an asshole, but he cares more about the rest of the crew than he'll ever admit. We see this right from the first episode when he's outside the medical centre watching Kaylee being operated on.
I watch a lot of Firefly reactions, but usually from the bigger channels. I enjoyed yours as much as anyone. Good stuff guys... and Buffy is awesome, so will be back again.
It's Christmas Eve and the movie, "Serenity" is playing to end our journey through the "Firefly" universe. I suspect that Browncoats and "Gravity Falls" fans have been wishing for a return to Persephone and the state of Oregon, respectively, for some time. Let us visit the video cemetery and the Bill Cipher statue, to greet the new year and whatever agenda clueless Hollyweird is pushing in 2024. Play it again, Escape Key: th-cam.com/video/gUn-eN8mkDw/w-d-xo.html
@@732ReviewCrew This phrase: "Don't be sad because it ended, be glad that it existed/happened." Also: Every time a TH-cam viewer falls in love with "Firefly," a Fox TV executive falls off the Nakatomi Plaza building.;)
Now you are ready for Nathan Fillion's infamous joke: How do reavers clean their spears? They put them through the Wash. As I told you be careful what you wish for; Joss is a master of giving it to you and making you regret it.
Final post Love. You can learn all the math in the 'Verse, but you take a boat in the air that you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
I always thought when Mal tells Book "you'll have to tell me that story one day." In reference to Book's back story, And then Book saying "No I don't." Was a poke from Whedon about not being able to resolve Books storyline.
One of the hardest things for me to do was sit through most of the film, lol. BECAUSE... someone accidentally spoiled for me what happens to Wash. I didn't know how it would happen, I just heard the end result of it. So I sat through every scene, wondering and worrying if this was when it was going to happen, or this was when it was going to happen, or maybe now... I felt anxious and stressed out the whole movie! It was taking so long, I thought maybe I'd heard wrong or that someone was messing with me, so I started to slowly let my guard down, staying just a little bit wary. When it finally did happen, it was still a shock because - like you all noted - it happened SO fast and then we didn't get any time to grieve. We had to move on from it like Zoe did and deal with it later. It still breaks my heart. Wash was and will always be one of my favorite Firefly characters. Wash and Kaylee. (Though, really, it's hard to choose, because they're all such interesting characters!) Thank you again for watching this series! I'm so glad you liked it, and I'm already subscribed and so ready for your reactions to Buffy. Can't wait!!
Imagine seeing this in the theater and people are actually crying after Wash dies. I've heard of one person who had to be taken out of the theater because they totally broke down.
Universal Pictures bought all the rights to the FF universe, so they naturally wanted to clear the way forward for the possibility of multiple sequels. Part of securing sequels was making certain that all characters would be available for future films. So part of the deal was that Universal required that each main character actor either had to sign a 3 film contract…OR have their character die in film 1. Alan Tudyk (likely due to Resident Alien) and Ron Glass could not sign the 3 film contracts…so their characters had to die in film 1.
Mal Dislocated the operative's shoulders. That's why the operative couldn't remove the sword that was pinning his arms around the railing. Given how dirty the TV series was done, it's a minor miracle they managed to get a film out on the big screen. It was a little bit of closure, at least.
As for Book... In the pilot episode, we seen him disarm and knock out the agent that was trying to capture River and Simon... We seen his use of his "ident" card to get immediate medical care on the Alliance cruiser when he got shot next to the cattle in the show... We seen him identify bullet wounds as coming from a specific sniper rifle when Mal and Wash were kidnapped by Niska's men, then later in the episode we seen him hip-firing knee caps with insane fluency during the rescue... Finally in the movie, when Book was talking about the Alliance sending an operative after Mal, Mal mentioned that Book will need to explain his background to Mal someday... Book simply said, "No, I don't..." Because Mal (and us the viewers) already have a pretty good idea as to his true background; he was an operative or something quite similar. You can find out more in the books and such if you decide to look into them.
If you want the Shepherd's story, there is a comic book of the same name that will answer your questions. The comic book will also give you a look into the future of the characters.
Alright, one last post, Mal dislocated the shoulders of the Operative. He didn't break the back or neck. That maneuver pulls the shoulders out of socket. Combine that with the shot to the throat (Just like the bounty hunter did to Mal in "Objects in Space") and you can't really do anything.
I'm so glad they were able to give us at least some closure. There have been too many shows Ive liked that ended early, usually on a cliffhanger. To quote cpt renyolds in the series regarding even getting being abke to get this movie: "we have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty"
When the big damn movie came out it leaked a character dies so thought it was safe after Book (RIP Ron), also when you went through the closing credits i thought you were going to catch the nice easter egg at the end... i did have a buffy comment, but at the end of the vid you mentioned you hadn't seen buffy.
Most of what River says makes a certain kind of sense in retrospect, but there are really only two things she says in the series that make me think she is referring to the Miranda secret. One of them is the very first thing she ever says, and the other is in the episode "Safe."
“Shoot him in the face, please” Mal was trying to. If you watch closely, The Operative was blocking his head with his arms, cuz he’s wearing full body armour
I'm pretty sure that The Operative's ending is deliberately meant to echo Sheppard Book. The person he was is destroyed, and he has to travel the 'verse I search of meaning and truth. The exact details of his past are, well, a closed Book. If you've ever seen Legend of Korra, you'll understand Wash's Leaf on the Wind idea - small, light and able to flow around obstacles just by flowing with the eddies and twists of the wind current. River, I think, has been mostly suffering from secondhand PTSD from the horrific things she's seen through others, the 'old men with blood on their hands, they never touched it but they're dripping with it' - Riveralways makes total sense, if you understand her perspective.
@732ReviewCrew I haven't read it, though I've read the synopsis, but I'm not sure that's the case, I just meant thematically. I'm not much for comics, though I've made an exception for The Expanse Dragon's Tooth series, as I'd love for them to revisit the last 3 books in a few years, even if it's as a movie like Serenity.
29:08 Which is EXACTLY the point and the reason that Whedon to decided to put his death in the final act. Shepherd Book was basically expected, and something that most non-fans can brush off without much thought; he isn't part of the main cast and crew, on the ship for the rest of the movie, and he doesn't even get mentioned early in. You say ok, they killed an old friend of Mal's and this is his turning point, that is the instigating act (because if you haven't watched the show, you don't know that he has only known Book for 8 months, the same amount of time he has known Simon and River; it plays much more like they have known one another for several years). But Wash has been on the ship from the beginning, he is one of the first two people you meet once you turn from the Operative to Serenity and her crew, it FEELS like he should have plot armor that guarantees the heroes of the show are going to survive. When he dies, so suddenly and after a heroic job of getting the ship down with everyone inside still safe, and we don't even have a moment to mourn like we did with Book, we have to go straight into battle mode...that ratchets up the tension. When Zoe gets shot, and then Kaylee, and then Simon, then the feeling is that our heroes are dropping like flies, we're going to lose one or more of them. Even when Mal is fighting with the Operative, you can't help but remember that even though Wash got the ship down, he completed his task, he still died, so there is every chance that Mal can get the message out, but still be killed. The whole last act is a nail biter, and in the theaters I can tell you that a collective audible gasp went up when Wash died, I was hearing sniffles all around me as we all cried, but otherwise there was NO noise. We were riveted to the action. I HATE that Wash had to die for that to be the case, but his death definitely served its purpose.
Forgot to mention in the bar before river does her thing. You can hear a bit of the news saying that the only survivors of the reaver attk during the robbery hid in the vault.
![ตีสิบเดย์ [FULL] | เปิดใจ "อาจารย์ เบียร์ ฅนตื่นธรรม" นักสนทนาธรรมสายดุดัน!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vqaBI_mnoDk/mqdefault.jpg)
In a Joss Whedon interview some years back, Joss explained the two deaths as being necessary because they were all hoping, at that time, that the movie would generate enough interest to restart the series. The two actors who died were, at that time, unable to commit to going back to the series due to other contract commitments. So he thought this was the best way to deal with that. The suddenness of Wash's death, with no time to come to grips or grieve, is probably a reflection of what real battle is like. You see someone close to you die and you have to keep moving or die yourself. Also, I've never heard anyone else ever think that Mr. Universe somehow transferred his dying consciousness into his love bot. Really...it was just a recording he made before he died.
I was at a small con and Alan and Ron were jokingly complaining about being killed off. Without missing a beat, Nathan replied, "Hey! We had a meeting. We took a vote. Two people didn't show up . . ." 😁
I think it was bullshit. I can😢commit to a "potential" second film, so kill me. When he could actually be available at the time. Or for a third film.
Got it! And Oops at mr universe, it became clear it was a message when the operative showed up and activated it
Joe - "Both of the engines just got ripped off"
Mike - "At least they're still alive"
Me - Cringing, knowing what's about to happen.......
Yeah, I had to sigh & shake my head when I heard that😞
Imagine waiting for this movie and finally seeing it in theaters and then you get the scenes where the main characters died. I got a bit emotional.
With regards to the fight scene with Mal, I always thought that based on how he pinned the guy's arms back and applied a jerk of pressure he dislocated his shoulders and then he was able to pin him back against the rail because he couldn't move his arms.
That makes a lot more sense than the operative recovering so quickly from a broken back. 👍
Yeah, Mal totally dislocated his shoulder(s).
We were nerds working in IT and 8 of us watched it during lunch as soon as it came out.
That makes a lot more sense ty
After this movie came out, "Aim to Misbehave" and "Can't Stop The Signal" became the main slogans for Browncoats (Firefly Fans), so many great lines and such an amazing movie. But it still left us wanting more even to this day. Also, the greatest challenge that they faced was they head to make the movie accessible even to people who hadn't seen the show, hence the little crash course on the universe in the young River scene at the beginning. And honestly I feel like they did a pretty good job.
They did a great job!!
Me too, using the logo as Earth that was in the teacher's story was a particular love of mine
"Thank God they made that movie!" I couldn't agree more. The movie warped up many things. But there were a couple stories that would have been realized in the series that wasn't covered in the movie. Book was one of them but also Inara. Inara has a huge story that was never revealed. Joss spoke about it at a con. I won't say in case you don't want to know. But it's out there. Well done guys, it was a great watch through!
For anyone considering posting the “How do reavers clean their spears joke”, let me quote Alan Tudyk from “A Knights Tale”: “ It’s called a lance. HELLOOO!”
It was so funny seeing Joe comment that you want to get "I aim to misbehave" on a t-shirt as that's the very line that is all over Firefly related products.
Such a great line.
Such a great show.
And such a great reaction series. I've loved being on this journey with you all.
I was going to say that he'd have no problem finding that shirt.
Viewers are probably now going to send him dozens.
@@MrDeathpilot haha. You're so right.
right when he said it, I smiled, knowing he would have no problem making that happen.
Thank you for joining us! We have to get Joe a shirt
Forgive me if I repeat myself. Mal's journey from cross kissing soldier to thief always pissed off to have a conscience, to the end where he is a soldier again - although dying ain't exactly plan A - is essentially the heart of this series.
What Mal did to The Operative in their final combat was to dislocate both of his shoulders so that he could not pull out the sword that pinned him to the railing.
Got it not broken back then!
River's fight scenes were all Summer; they're what happens when a trained dancer spends a few months training with stunt fight coordinators. Apparently they kept discovering new things that Summer could do and incorporating them into the fight scene; "Did you know Summer can kick a person standing behind her in the head?"
Love that!
you guys should watch DR horrible's Sing a long Blog... Nathan, NPH, written by Joss and his brother... amazing!
Bad horse!
Yes, please!
Great reactions.
The Miranda story line was supposed to be at end of season 2. Book's death was to help Mal believe in something. Wash's death was to show how dire the situation was. It was also said that Alan and Ron couldn't commit to additional movies.
Season 2 would of explored Book's back story and the Blue Sun Corporation. When River was ripping labels off the tin cans, the labels were Blue Sun. Jayne's shirt in Ariel was a Blue Sun shirt.
The movie had some pay offs, but I would suggest the comics/graphic novels and books/audiobooks.
Here's the thing: The experiment for the Pax was in development before the Independents waged war. If it had been a success, the Pax would have been added to the atmospheric processors of any world suspected of disputing the Alliance. Imagine all the Browncoats becoming Reavers and the complacent purple-bellies falling prey.
After the message came from Miranda, the Alliance had to truly fight the Independents on actual battlefields.
This movie was a bit of a double whammy, because it opened in Sheffield the day my mother died. It was unexpected - she had dementia, but there'd been no sign her life was close to the end - and it literally happened during the phone call to tell us to come because they were worried about how she was that day. My wife was the one who heard the news, and decided to keep it from me until we'd seen the film so I could at least enjoy it fully, but then we couldn't get in; and I didn't understand why she was so upset. You can guess I wasn't dry-eyed watching it later in the week, particularly the end. I thought it was a great movie, but I also felt it could have been even greater with the plot spread out over a season or two. Like you, I am _so_ glad we got it, though!
What a story. Brave to share. Reminds me of having a blowout & changing my tire on the highway roadside after watching my mom die. Brutal still after 35 years.
Thank you for sharing your story. The emotions in this movie and your life would also made us not dry eyed for a while.
And as someone who has dealt with dementia in the family, im so sorry.
Mikey
It's been an honor revisiting the tragedy of the spectacular Firefly show with you, guys! Glad you enjoyed it!
Looking forward to your Buffy reactions (again, the first season can be tough but it's one of the best shows ever imo). Also seconding Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. It's a low budget Joss Whedon love project but hilarious and entertaining with great actors, in the form of 3 ~15 minute episodes. 😊
Thank you for joining us!! Dr horrible we can look into, I believe Mikey has seen that
one of the most spectacular space battles ever filmed, and one phrase that cannot be forgotten: - a whole world dead for no reason!..
"I think they did a lot better job leaving it a mystery." For my two cents, ignore everything anyone tells you about what the show was "going to do" or what the "real story behind xxxxxx" was. Once art is out in the world, the audience can decide what it means. This world is too rich to be reduced to a list of _planned_ plot points.
Blooper reel, DVD commentary tracks, graphic novels, tabletop roleplaying games (separate licenses for television show and movie but totally interlinked, by Margaret Weis Publishing), novels, and ongoing comic book series...
It felt so wrong to laugh at Kaylee's declaration of her intent to live, so soon after seeing Wash get killed. But Joss Whedon knew that's what the audience needed. Just one more piece of evidence that he's a GENIUS.
Thats not laughing. Thats CHEERING!
dislocated both shoulders
Now that you've finished the show, it's safe to tell you. Each member of the crew represents an aspect of Mal's personality that he's lost. Book represents his faith, Kaylee represents his innocence, Inara represents his ability to love, Zoe represents his loyalty, Wash represents his humor.
Does Jayne represent: nativity, selfishness or selfpreservation?
And Simon represents: forgiveness or compassion?
🤔🤔🤔
You think Mal has no loyalty??? His whole character is that he will do anything for his crew.
@@MarijnvdSterre i misspoke, I should have said loyalty to a command structure.
@@RoGueNavy Hmm, I don't think we will agree. But I will not be (more of) an ass about it.
Have a great day \o
Interesting!
I saw this in the theater on opening night. When Book died, the audience gasped. When Wash died, the audience screamed in outrage.
I don't blame em
The reason the movie doesn't disappoint I think is because everyone loved being part of the show, and they were going to make sure this was great. However, I'm still not over Wash's death XD
Your reactions to Firefly and Serenity were so much fun to watch. I'll definitely be around for your journey through the Buffyverse!
LOL, I can't watch these Serenity reactions without bawling my eyes out.
That moment when the Operative pulls out his sword and Mal comes up with a screwdriver is the story of Mal's life. There was a foreshadowing of that moment in the pilot episode when Mal says "Everyone has the advantage over us. Thats what makes us special."
Such a great moment and good foreshadowing we missed!
When you watch the gag reels, make sure you watch the ones from the series and the movie.
To answer some of your questions, the Reaver secret was originally going to come out as a third season finale to the Firefly show. Mr.Universe was going to be introduced in the next episode after Objects In Space, Objects in Space was just going to be the mid-season finale, not for the entire show. Also, Between the first and third seasons, Zoe and Wash were going to get divorced, and originally by the time of the Reaver secret, they were going to be dating again trying to mend their relationship.
The reason Mr. Universe, Wash, and Book were killed off is because Serenity was going to be the first of a trilogy, but the fans didn't go out to theaters but waited for the DVD release instead, so no trilogy, all of the actors were asked if they wanted to be in a trilogy, those that said no we're killed off in this movie. That's why Wash, Book, and Mr. universe die in this one.
Sorry, I heard and saw it a little differently. Just like for the TV show, the marketing department completely fumbled the rollout of the movie. They had a number of early screenings of the movie that the hard-core fans came out and enjoyed, which decimated the first full weekend release numbers, because so many people had already seen the movie. Since new release, movies live or die by their first weekend box office numbers, any sequels were doomed.
@@lukeball4937 Yes. You are accurate! There were so many pre screenings, why bother to go see it again once it opened?
Wash and Book were killed off because they had too many commitments to continue with more movies.
@@LaBlueStateGirl it seems that everyone went on to working consistently afterward, but man, Alan Tudyk really got busy. That guy does a little bit of everything.
@@LaBlueStateGirlNah. The fans went again and again. It just didn’t attract the wider audience enough.
Kaylee's "Horny" background was revealed in the episode "Out of Gas", where she joined the crew of Serenity. Malcolm interrupted her and Bester (the ship's mechanic at the time), having sex in Serenity's engine room. However, when Bester incorrectly informed Mal that the ship could not be fixed, Kaylee quickly proved him wrong, she spotted the problem when she was lying on her back! Then she repaired the grounded Serenity virtually on the spot. Impressed with her mechanical ability, Mal immediately offered her Bester's job. Kaylee happily accepted, and left her family (and Bester) behind to join the crew.
Best introduction ever haha, never saw it coming
Hey guys, great journey! On to the bloopers, deleted scenes, and what you can't react to - comics, & novels.
- What did Mal do to the Operative when he crunched his back? Mal dislocated both his shoulders.
- Why do some fans believe The River Tam Sessions reveal movie spoilers? Because River says the word "Pax" in her ramblings. Any new viewer might catch it and ask "What is Pax?"
Now here is the issue. Only by fans saying "It's a Spoiler!" are new viewers going to be alerted that Pax is somehow a spoiler. You can't know it is a spoiler without the warning.
It's similar to 2 kids talking about Santa. The first kid is excited that Santa is coming and the second kid says "I don't believe in Santa". Now they are disagreeing about Santa. This is not a spoiler unless someone with credibility steps in and yells "Hey second kid! That's a spoiler!".
- Why did Book & Wash die? because the actors had other contracts to fulfil and would not have been able to be in Serenity 2 & 3. They were not slated to die if Firefly had its 5 seasons.
Yes, Whedon hoped to make a Serenity trilogy. Originally, he had 5 seasons of Firefly in mind with 3 major story arcs.
The first major story arc is what we saw in Serenity - the reveal of how Reavers were made and why the Alliance wanted River Tam so badly. The Reaver story arc was originally intended to be seasons 1 & 2 of Firefly according to Joss Whedon.
I'm guessing the comic books and novels will give us story arcs 2 & 3. Unfortunately, Joss Whedon only had control of his franchise up to a certain point. Ownership changed hands which means somewhere along the way his ideas were pushed aside & new story ideas were introduced.
NON-SPOILER COMICS & NOVELS TALK:
- Inara left Serenity because she realized that was the only way to stop her romance with Mal. At the end of Serenity, she rejoins the crew. This means she is now open to grow the romance.
So why did Inara not want romance with Mal? Also, why did she originally halt her career goal and join Serenity in the first place? The Official Firefly Novel #5 titled "Firefly - Life Signs" deals with these Inara questions. It takes place in time between the events of "Objects is Space" and the movie "Serenity".
You're right! We didn't have it spoiled bc we never realized was pax was even as Mike wore the pax shirt....
We shall be checking out the books and comics as much as we can! Thank you
Did you notice that River was ready to engage the Alliance troops when they broke through? After all, attempting to engage a telepath in combat, you are in trouble.
I love that they focus on her tending up & you know she’s gonna wreak all kinds of havoc if it happens.
Also, that scene, where the doors open & River is standing there, like an absolute badass, is one of my all-time favorite images in cinema.
Yes! She would've won too we all know it
Thing is . . . River is a telepath and she just fought a load of reavers. Which means she was exposed to all their hostility, hunger, and goodness knows what else. _And_ her amygdala was stripped (c.f. Ariel) so she can't ignore any of it. By the time the Alliance troops break through, she was probably a hair's breadth away from becoming a reaver herself. So yes, she would have won - but at what cost to her humanity?
River had an overloaded memory and a lack of amygdala to govern it. (Have you ever seen Johny Mnemonic?) Once the memories were exposed, it allowed her to better process current stimuli.
"I start fighting a war, I guarantee, You'll see something new."
Well, we saw somethin' new.
He won that war too..
There have been reactors who wore a T-shirt with "I Aim to Misbehave" on it sent by a patron, not knowing what it meant until Mal said it. When Joss Whedon was told he could make the movie, he was hoping there would be more movies like there was in Star Trek. He asked the entire cast if they would be willing to make more movies. Alan Tudyk and Ron Glass said they had prior commitments and couldn't do anything beyond Serenity. Book and Wash had to die.
FYI The set of the city on Miranda wasn't a set they made. It was shot at a high school with weird super modern buildings in the LA area.
Also, River is psychic so she knows the minds of any attackers and knows how they will attack her. Summer trained every day for two months with the stuntmen before shooting on the movie began. The stunt coordinator was amazed at Summer's ability and decided to film her fight scenes with long single shot scenes with up to 20 moves at a time rather than quick cuts as is done in most other fight sequences. He said that the 13th take of her fight scenes was faster than the first take. This comes from her dancing backround. Like you said, her fighting was just like dancing. She always loved to dance.
FYI Most of the backround information is on the DVD bonus features, but not Book's past. His history is in a hardback comic that I have. He is NOT a reformed Operative, but he was a very capable and high ranking Alliance Officer who had plenty of field (space) experience.
One more thing. On the DVD under "deleted scenes" when the Operative is talking to Mal at the end of the movie and the Operative says "There is nothing left to see", he turns and looks at the word "Serenity" painted on the side of the ship and says "Serenity. You lost everything in that battle. Everything you had, everything you were. How did you go on?" Mal looks at him and refuses to answer, saying "If you're still standing there when that engine starts, you never will figure it out". Then Mal walks back on to the ship as he says "What a whiner!" The operative has had his entire belief system shattered and doesn't know what to do. Perhaps he will join a monastery, ya think? You can watch it here at the last section: th-cam.com/video/fiF2TUhYkbE/w-d-xo.html
Wow thank you for this I'll share it with the guys. Book 2.0? Please..
Well done guys, you are all Browncoats now. I love your passion and insights into the plot, you would be awesome players in any D&D game
We love dnd! Mike and Mikey both dm occasionally for regular and star wars 5e
@@732ReviewCrew Have you tried the Expanse RPG? it would be great to see you three play that.
Oh geez, I almost felt sick getting to the end, I knew you guys were going to be bummed. Now you have definitely joined all us Browncoats in our trauma and wishing. Good news is, you can always rewatch because I still see things I missed in the all the times I've watched.
Mal dislocated the Operative's shoulders, which is why he couldnt move his arms to take the sword out
Q: How do Reavers clean their spears?
A: They run'em through the Wash!
I think between the allusions they made to Book's history throughout the show and especially in this when he was talking to Mal about how the Operative would come at them gives us a good enough skeleton of his history.
It's pretty clear that he was an Operative like the antagonist in this movie. After doing so much off the alliances dirt he became broken and retired to the monastery to try to balance out the bad he had done. It is very similar to Fred Johnson in The Expanse but it feels like the Alliance still held him in high enough regard that in the episode "Safe" when he gets shot they treated him like a VIP.
It makes sense that Book would retain a high security clearance even after he left the Alliance. He still knows their secrets. (It's possible he even knew about Miranda 🤔)
That would be all the doctors needed to give him VIP treatment.
This was my theory too, but the graphic novel "A Shepherd's Tale" has a different backstory. I still think originally Joss Wheadon intended for Book to have been a former Operative that was now trying to repent.
Got it! He must've been discharged honorably then to retain his permissions.
Another good reaction. Sorry to see it end. A lot of us have been mourning Firefly for years. The reason Book and Wash were killed off is it was a cost of getting the movie made. They were the only two who didnt sign for future movies (if this one had been successful). The producers wanted to lock the cast into relatively low-paying contracts to keep the profit margin high for sequels. Joss Whedon had to kill them off in this one.
Alan Tudyk had other upcoming projects so he couldn't commit to making more movies or anything else related to Firefly. Joss has said that when he realised, because of this, he might have to kill off "Wash" he decided to do it at a time when it would heighten the tension to the point the audience would think everyone else might also be about to die.
@@PaulMDove2And they doubled down on that when Kaylee got hit, and then Simon...
26:55 collective head tilt!
Congratulations, guys, you survived the Book-Wash-pocalypse! 😭🚀😭
We hate it 😢
There were rumors during post-production that Josd was so upset by studio manipulation, he determined to kill off ALL of the characters he loved so much, so the studios couldn't damage them anymore. About the time Simon gets wounded, all of us fans believed that the rumors were true...
Simon really had us nervous...
Now you just need to imagine the operative guy deciding to get "reborn" and head to a monastery to become a shepherd for 20 years or so, and then decide to walk the world awhile by booking passage on a ship, not caring where the destination is, and not letting people call him "grandpa"... That is Book v2.0
The bruises on Mal's face in the final fight are real. He took so many takes to get it just right, this is what happened.
The commitment from Nathan is amazing
Not exactly "extended content" (it was 2005, after all), but the final minute of the closing credits has a solo guitar version of the TV theme music. A gift for the people who stayed.
I don't believe for a second that this was the only reason they were after River.
no doubt. she was more than a repository of secrets - a genius, a telepath, a trained assassin and god knows what else.
One of the things I left with after seeing this film in the theatre was a HUGE appreciation for Chiwetel Ejiofor, the actor who played the Operative. Watching his focused yet deadly demeanor (in contrast with most movie villains that are too over-the-top), I'm not kidding when I say that his performance's stillness gave me shivers. I thought he played it brilliantly.
And what I liked about the Operative is that -- in my view -- I don't think he knew the secret about Miranda before he saw it on Mal's recording. I feel like he saw his duty as an Operative to protect and serve the Alliance, and that means protecting its secrets as well (whatever they are, it's not his business to know - it's his business to protect those secrets and keep them safe - that's his sole purpose and job). He was so strong in his convictions about being the good solider, doing his duty unfailingly, without question, that he was willing to do whatever it took to achieve his directives, even if it meant slaughtering an entire village of people. But when he was confronted with the truth about the Alliance and their secret project on Miranda, his eyes were wide open. He had no choice but to watch it and see the reality of the group he'd sworn his allegiance to, and like Mike pointed out -- he doesn't believe anymore. So he tells his men to stand down, and he ends up leaving the Alliance, telling Mal he'd never see him again. To me, he's seen the truth and he has switched alliances, so to speak. But he's also done some horrible things in the name of that Alliance, things he's going to have to make peace with, so he walks away from it all. I think it's such a fascinating story for an antagonistic character, and I was glued to my seat, watching every scene he was in.
I also love the parallels between him and Mal. They both needed something to believe in. The Operative loses his convictions once he sees the truth about the Alliance, so he loses his beliefs. But in a strange way, it brings him back to a level of humanity, by walking away from what he thought were his beliefs. At the same time, Mal regains some of his own. He'd clearly been struggling since Inara left, getting a bit harder and angrier and laser-focused, losing some of his humanity in the process (even going as far as to "leave another man behind" with the Reavers), but in the end he stood back up and found what he needed. He found what was important to him, enough to die for (and he almost did die!), and that brought him a humanity he hadn't probably felt in a long while. Maybe even since the war.
Nathan Fillion's joke. How do the Reavers clean their spears? They put them through a Wash.
Too soon!!!!
@@732ReviewCrewI saw it on opening night and it is still too soon
@@jspettifer yup. ALWAYS too soon.
Shout-out to Sarah Paulson for her remarkable performance in this film.
Those screams get me every time
So glad for this movie. Great reaction, very happy to go on your Firefly/Serenity journey with you. Losing Wash is still the hardest loss. This show/movie ages so well. My feelings watching this in a theater when it came out were pretty much the same as yours.
Looking forward to the bloopers and bring on Buffy!
"I'll take it!" "I wanted more..." "I hate it here!!!"
Sarah Paulson’s monologue explaining what happened on Miranda is quietly powerful.
Especially at the end. It's chilling.
Did you notice Zoey wore a slinky dress? Word of actress NOT JOSS, she was pregnant.
"If I start fighting a war, I guarantee you'll see something new." 🔥
they packed so much into this movie, i could get behind a new show where the captain is leading the new rebel navy and jane takes over serinity as captain lol
the move mal did to the assassin i think dislocated both arms, if anyone has had a should dislocate understands the numbing pain associated with it, imagine that but double shoulders with even more compounded pain. the fact he could radio in was shocking even to mal haha
When this first came out I saw it opening night so no spoilers were available and was hurt when Book died and devastated when Wash bought it but slightly relieved when River said my turn and on edge until the stand down order. The end was an Epilog to the movie and gave it closer with a hint of further adventures. Too bad it did not happen.
Thanks. Really appreciate you young men sharing your Firefly / Serenity journey. Excellent job!
They’ll try again and I aim to misbehave…
There are some things to look for in a rewatch of the series. Blue Sun is a megacorporation that has an incredible amount of influence in the Alliance. The black ops project that River was put through was sourced from the government sponsored school that Blue Sun ran. Thus, River has an extreme dislike for Blue Sun. The canned food she tears the labels off of have a Blue Sun logo, and when River slashes Jayne across the chest, he is wearing a Blue Sun t-shirt and she says "he looks better in red".
I also have a theory that before the show got cut short, Shepherd Book was intended to have had a backstory in which he had been an agent, like the agent the crew was contending with in this movie, and that he lost faith in that cause in a similar way, prompting him to quit and join a monastery looking to repent. That isn't what the graphic novel reveals, but I'm still convinced I'm right.
Interesting regarding the school and River as well as the mega Corporation thank you, also definitely would have agreed book would have probably had either some flashback or or some info
I have waited 20 years to hear someone else say that... "not what the graphic novel says, but I'm still convinced I'm right." For sooooo long I thought I was the only one who was adamant that Book was a former Operative whose faith in the Alliance, conviction in his cause and purpose, was broken and sought redemption through restoring his faith in something else and doing good with it and for other... which is why, when he fell in with the crew, he recognized a quasi-kindred spirit in Mal. Someone who broke and had lost his faith when he and his men were abandoned at the Battle of Serenity Valley by the Independent High Command when they called a ceasefire to negotiate terms of surrender. The fighting went on until it trickled out... then they were left without food, water or medical care. He watched his men die. From battle, from starvation, from sickness and infection from their wounds. It broke him and he turned his back on God. Shepard saw that and readily identified with it and wanted to help heal him as he had found healing himself. As Shepard Book said to River during the series: "you don't fix faith, it fixes you." I truly believe he was speaking from experience and not just about mankind's hubris in applying our grossly limited logic to scripture and in a feeble attempt to make sense of the divine.
They were hoping to do a couple more movies. That's why they offed Book and Wash. Neither could have done more movies. Ron Glass was having medical problems and Alan Tudyk had other commitments. Unfortunately this movie didn't do well enough at the box office, so no more movies. Alan Tudyk has a series on Peacock you might like. It's called Resident Alien and is a comedy. They have 2 seasons in the can and are working on the 3rd season. I think it's pretty good, you should check it out.
I agree about Resident Alien, it is a fun show & Tudyk is great in it.
Alan Tudyk was also wonderful in the first season of Doom Patrol.
Cant stop the signal
The reason for the crate of Inara's property being still on board of Serenity was to explain her personal weapon, the Power Bow. Both Morena and Nathan used it as a demonstration of keeping a reason for her to return.
Got it!
Regarding Inara having a bow in the stand off against the Reavers: When she's on the call with Mal the two of them stumble over words about how Inara still had some of her things on Serenity. That she 'didn't mean to leave them' and Mal for some reason saying 'I didn't look or anything'. The weapon was one of those things left behind.
Also according to Morena and Nathan: Inara absolutely left those things behind on purpose including things that still held her scent, and Mal absolutely would mope around on Inara's shuttle holding onto some of them.
Ahhhhhh good to know thank you! Also of course Mal would mope secretly with them
Everyone else is handling the Firefly details, so I decided to skip that and say how much I have enjoyed your responses to the episodes and especially the movie! I wasn't sure if I was going to stick around at first, but then your absolute delight while watching won me over. I especially loved laughing along with you guys during the movie!
Please don't expect that much from season 1 of Buffy! The man that made Firefly is in there somewhere, but he hadn't really learned his craft yet, so please give him some time to grow. The show gets better. Also, please consider watching Angel along side of Buffy when you get to season 4 of Buffy. Believe me, when Buffy season 7 has ended, you will be so glad to still have one more season of Angel to watch, trust me! Love you guys!
Angel alongside Buffy? We shall look into this! Thank you for the info
I’ve always enjoyed Mal’s position of always choosing to not kill people unless he was certain that there would never be a situation in the future where they might prove useful. Note the “what’s of use” comment from the Doctor. He’d rather have an enemy with a purpose he recognizes than have to deal with vengeance-seekers he’s never met.
i solidly believe that if they hadnt been told to stand down River may have taken out ALL those alliance soldiers
she probably could if their numbers weren't too great. the furthest ones could just shoot her.
She was definitely ready to continue the onslaught🤣
@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192there’s a difference between fighting a bunch of madmen with melee weapons, and some supposedly trained soldiers with guns. The guys with guns don’t need to get close to shoot you.
River's final fight with the Reavers was put together by Summer Glau and the musical director as a 'pas de deux', which is a type of ballet performance involving two people.
They blocked out the entire dance and then the stunt coordinator worked out points in the dance where the Reavers would intersect with Summer's path and get one shot by River.
That's a unique way to do that! Love it thank you
Yay! Definitely sticking around for Buffy. :)
Woo!
It's been explained that they were intending to do multiple movies, but both the actors to Wash and Book couldn't commit to more movies (you know, actor stuff with scheduling and so on) so rather than having them just disappear between movies they opted to kill them off, and boy was Wash death effective in raising the stakes! as Y'all said during, "is anyone gonna come out of this?" that was the intent of that scene.
River isn't a one trick pony, what she says doesn't have to pertain to the Reavers, but upon repeat viewings most if not all of her lines really do make sense, since we now share her non linear sense of time. Like in "safe", she says "daddy will come and bring us home", meaning Mal will come and bring them back to Serenity. exactly what happened.
As always, This has been a blast following along with you guys, and I am as saddened as you to see this journey over.
Here's to many more amazing reactions!!!!
Thank you for joining us as always! We're going to have to go back and look at some of the lines that River had and then look at what they reference
Hey guys. I got so caught up with Christmas Eve, that I forgot to watch this yesterday. It was a very nice present to watch it on Christmas morning. Love you guys. Stay shiny
Thanks for joining us we hope you had a good viewing and a nice Christmas
The whole time, I’m watching Mike’s shirt, with *PAX* all across the front, wondering if any of the three of you would notice the reference in the movie.
Nope! Not at all haha
I wish Joss Whedon was a little less committed to his "kill your darlings to raise the stakes" motto, but it's awfully effective. Suddenly it seems very possible that EVERYONE will die.
I think Mal dislocated both of the Operative's shoulders.
As soon as Book died we got worried!
I think Book was a retired operative.
They did his backstory in a graphic novel. Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
Book was born Henry Evans, a boy who was raised by an abusive father. He ran away from home and began life as a petty criminal before being recruited by the Independence movement and moving out to the Border Worlds. Long before the Alliance begins the Unification War, forward-thinking Browncoats assign Evans to be a long-term mole. He sheds his old identity by killing a random passerby and stealing his identification card, becoming Derrial Book. His Browncoat superiors keep tabs on him by surgically removing one of his eyes and replacing it with a camera. He joins the Alliance military and quickly moves up in rank. Becoming an officer, Book intentionally leads a risky operation that results in a humiliating defeat for the Alliance. He is forced to retire from the Alliance military. It is implied that the Alliance covers up the loss, therefore not officially punishing Book. Homeless, he visits a soup kitchen and finds God while contemplating a bowl of soup. He takes refuge at an abbey where he becomes a shepherd before leaving on Serenity to become a missionary.
@@sifumode9460 Yes, yes, all that being said, I agree with OP. Comic is one possible explanation. My imagination gives me others.
Jayne may be an asshole, but he cares more about the rest of the crew than he'll ever admit. We see this right from the first episode when he's outside the medical centre watching Kaylee being operated on.
Which we read was just the actor watching the scene but a camera caught it!
I watch a lot of Firefly reactions, but usually from the bigger channels. I enjoyed yours as much as anyone. Good stuff guys... and Buffy is awesome, so will be back again.
We appreciate you joining us!
One of the things I would like to have cleared up is the guys with blue gloves.
My guess is they were the minor league B Team operatives. They didn't get the job done, so the Alliance brought in the A Team operative
Agree
It's Christmas Eve and the movie, "Serenity" is playing to end our journey through the "Firefly" universe. I suspect that Browncoats and "Gravity Falls" fans have been wishing for a return to Persephone and the state of Oregon, respectively, for some time. Let us visit the video cemetery and the Bill Cipher statue, to greet the new year and whatever agenda clueless Hollyweird is pushing in 2024. Play it again, Escape Key: th-cam.com/video/gUn-eN8mkDw/w-d-xo.html
What's the gravity falls reference to firefly?
@@732ReviewCrew This phrase: "Don't be sad because it ended, be glad that it existed/happened."
Also: Every time a TH-cam viewer falls in love with "Firefly," a Fox TV executive falls off the Nakatomi Plaza building.;)
If you want more Kaylee then the actress Jewel Belair Staite went on to playing Jennifer Keller on Stargate Atlantis
Now you are ready for Nathan Fillion's infamous joke:
How do reavers clean their spears?
They put them through the Wash.
As I told you be careful what you wish for; Joss is a master of giving it to you and making you regret it.
Ah...dang that joke
Final post
Love. You can learn all the math in the 'Verse, but you take a boat in the air that you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
❤️
Almost 20yrs later and you guys reacted just like me & my friends did at the original test screening
I shared this with the guys, I love this comment
Mal just dislocated the operative's shoulders.
I always thought when Mal tells Book "you'll have to tell me that story one day." In reference to Book's back story, And then Book saying "No I don't." Was a poke from Whedon about not being able to resolve Books storyline.
One of the hardest things for me to do was sit through most of the film, lol. BECAUSE... someone accidentally spoiled for me what happens to Wash. I didn't know how it would happen, I just heard the end result of it. So I sat through every scene, wondering and worrying if this was when it was going to happen, or this was when it was going to happen, or maybe now... I felt anxious and stressed out the whole movie! It was taking so long, I thought maybe I'd heard wrong or that someone was messing with me, so I started to slowly let my guard down, staying just a little bit wary. When it finally did happen, it was still a shock because - like you all noted - it happened SO fast and then we didn't get any time to grieve. We had to move on from it like Zoe did and deal with it later.
It still breaks my heart. Wash was and will always be one of my favorite Firefly characters. Wash and Kaylee. (Though, really, it's hard to choose, because they're all such interesting characters!)
Thank you again for watching this series! I'm so glad you liked it, and I'm already subscribed and so ready for your reactions to Buffy. Can't wait!!
Imagine seeing this in the theater and people are actually crying after Wash dies. I've heard of one person who had to be taken out of the theater because they totally broke down.
I couldn't imagine the amount of gasps when he died
Universal Pictures bought all the rights to the FF universe, so they naturally wanted to clear the way forward for the possibility of multiple sequels.
Part of securing sequels was making certain that all characters would be available for future films. So part of the deal was that Universal required that each main character actor either had to sign a 3 film contract…OR have their character die in film 1.
Alan Tudyk (likely due to Resident Alien) and Ron Glass could not sign the 3 film contracts…so their characters had to die in film 1.
RIP Wash and Book
I think Mal dislocated the Operative's shoulders.
Mal Dislocated the operative's shoulders. That's why the operative couldn't remove the sword that was pinning his arms around the railing.
Given how dirty the TV series was done, it's a minor miracle they managed to get a film out on the big screen. It was a little bit of closure, at least.
Got it! Also yes, the closure was better than nothing but we miss out on the adventures in between the plot
It's Christmas Eve, make sure you stock up on batteries! Going on a year now, and supplies are getting low!
As for Book... In the pilot episode, we seen him disarm and knock out the agent that was trying to capture River and Simon...
We seen his use of his "ident" card to get immediate medical care on the Alliance cruiser when he got shot next to the cattle in the show... We seen him identify bullet wounds as coming from a specific sniper rifle when Mal and Wash were kidnapped by Niska's men, then later in the episode we seen him hip-firing knee caps with insane fluency during the rescue...
Finally in the movie, when Book was talking about the Alliance sending an operative after Mal, Mal mentioned that Book will need to explain his background to Mal someday... Book simply said, "No, I don't..." Because Mal (and us the viewers) already have a pretty good idea as to his true background; he was an operative or something quite similar.
You can find out more in the books and such if you decide to look into them.
If you want the Shepherd's story, there is a comic book of the same name that will answer your questions. The comic book will also give you a look into the future of the characters.
We'll take a peak!!
Alright, one last post, Mal dislocated the shoulders of the Operative. He didn't break the back or neck. That maneuver pulls the shoulders out of socket. Combine that with the shot to the throat (Just like the bounty hunter did to Mal in "Objects in Space") and you can't really do anything.
Got it!! Thank you
I'm so glad they were able to give us at least some closure. There have been too many shows Ive liked that ended early, usually on a cliffhanger.
To quote cpt renyolds in the series regarding even getting being abke to get this movie:
"we have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty"
When the big damn movie came out it leaked a character dies so thought it was safe after Book (RIP Ron), also when you went through the closing credits i thought you were going to catch the nice easter egg at the end... i did have a buffy comment, but at the end of the vid you mentioned you hadn't seen buffy.
Most of what River says makes a certain kind of sense in retrospect, but there are really only two things she says in the series that make me think she is referring to the Miranda secret. One of them is the very first thing she ever says, and the other is in the episode "Safe."
We are going to have to go back and look at all her lines and just see what they reference!!
“Shoot him in the face, please”
Mal was trying to. If you watch closely, The Operative was blocking his head with his arms, cuz he’s wearing full body armour
Ah!
Great name BTW
I'm pretty sure that The Operative's ending is deliberately meant to echo Sheppard Book.
The person he was is destroyed, and he has to travel the 'verse I search of meaning and truth. The exact details of his past are, well, a closed Book.
If you've ever seen Legend of Korra, you'll understand Wash's Leaf on the Wind idea - small, light and able to flow around obstacles just by flowing with the eddies and twists of the wind current.
River, I think, has been mostly suffering from secondhand PTSD from the horrific things she's seen through others, the 'old men with blood on their hands, they never touched it but they're dripping with it' - Riveralways makes total sense, if you understand her perspective.
Thank you for the clarifications! We are gonna read the Book comic soon but we also imagined he was a precursor to the operative
@732ReviewCrew I haven't read it, though I've read the synopsis, but I'm not sure that's the case, I just meant thematically.
I'm not much for comics, though I've made an exception for The Expanse Dragon's Tooth series, as I'd love for them to revisit the last 3 books in a few years, even if it's as a movie like Serenity.
The bonus at the end of the credits isn’t an extra scene. It’s the tv series theme song.
Ah. Well time to re listen
29:08 Which is EXACTLY the point and the reason that Whedon to decided to put his death in the final act. Shepherd Book was basically expected, and something that most non-fans can brush off without much thought; he isn't part of the main cast and crew, on the ship for the rest of the movie, and he doesn't even get mentioned early in. You say ok, they killed an old friend of Mal's and this is his turning point, that is the instigating act (because if you haven't watched the show, you don't know that he has only known Book for 8 months, the same amount of time he has known Simon and River; it plays much more like they have known one another for several years).
But Wash has been on the ship from the beginning, he is one of the first two people you meet once you turn from the Operative to Serenity and her crew, it FEELS like he should have plot armor that guarantees the heroes of the show are going to survive.
When he dies, so suddenly and after a heroic job of getting the ship down with everyone inside still safe, and we don't even have a moment to mourn like we did with Book, we have to go straight into battle mode...that ratchets up the tension. When Zoe gets shot, and then Kaylee, and then Simon, then the feeling is that our heroes are dropping like flies, we're going to lose one or more of them. Even when Mal is fighting with the Operative, you can't help but remember that even though Wash got the ship down, he completed his task, he still died, so there is every chance that Mal can get the message out, but still be killed.
The whole last act is a nail biter, and in the theaters I can tell you that a collective audible gasp went up when Wash died, I was hearing sniffles all around me as we all cried, but otherwise there was NO noise. We were riveted to the action.
I HATE that Wash had to die for that to be the case, but his death definitely served its purpose.
Forgot to mention in the bar before river does her thing. You can hear a bit of the news saying that the only survivors of the reaver attk during the robbery hid in the vault.
Define "interesting"...
Define "disappeared"...
(Both answers: "Oh God! Oh God!, We're all gonna die!")