@@terrellking5119 i doubt u actually would know bad acting from good. Your also the first person ive ever heard that that from. He played the part almost perfectly but he does that with every role
@Monster Mash lawful neutral. He isn't out for self-interest. But he obeys his superiors because he has faith that they are right and/or represent the best way forward. Later he becomes true neutral when he realizes he needs to start being accountable for his misdeeds in the name of parliament.
"you're fighting a war you've already lost" *Operative takes one bomb to the throat* Mal: "yeah well I'm known for that" He's such a well written character, the Niska torture scene was epic too.
Zoe having absolute faith in Mal having already succeeded followed by a hard cut to him face down and bloodied was a perfect representation of their relationship.
I know it was supposed to be funny but when Mal squared off, Screwdriver vs Sword, I just knew if there was anyone who would win through with those odds, it'd be Malcom Reynolds. Big Damn Hero.
@@Jay16Mar Yep, it was short and extremely well written, all the writers' best ideas went into it and their work never had the time or opportunity to deteriorate. In another universe, Firefly was never axed, it became highly popular, was renewed for new seasons repeatedly... but it ran out of good ideas around season 3, at which point the main writer quit, and the show ended up being cancelled after season 4 under a new writer received terrible reviews from viewer and critic alike.
"I'm gonna show you a world without sin." Given the context of those words, that's probably the most ominous reference to a sinless world there's ever been.
The world had been innocent, even beyond the reference to a world trying to have no sin it still works as a line showing what was done to an innocent world.
And Earlier when the Operative says "There's a lot of innocent people being killed in the air right now." Mal responds "You don't know how true that is." The operative thought the alliance fleet were innocent, but sadly the real victims in orbit were the reavers, as Mal would show him.
@@danielhaire6677 what do we have when we lose everything we hold dear? ...nothing? NO...we still have ourselves... The Operative may have lost faith in the Alliance, but it's clear that his confrontation with Mal had left him with something new to hold onto. faith in HUMANITY, perhaps???
Watching this for probably the hundredth time and what comes through this time is Mal’s masochism and utter disregard for his own body. It’s not quite a death wish but he’ll keep coming at you until you kill him.
To be fair, medical technology is far more advanced. As long as he survives, nearly any damage *is not permanent.* That makes a big difference. Those stab wounds (including being run through with a sword) were completely healed with no long-term effects in a few days - he was loading supplies on Serenity with no sign of pain. The Operative had his spine possibly broken, but by the same time Mal's wounds were virtually gone, he was back to normal as well. A broken spine was not a long-term issue. Mal even once had a cut-off ear reattached in Senerity's tiny basic med bay by Simon. As for Simon and his basic medical supplies, Jane got shot in the torso a few times in this same battle, and Simon was able to stabilise him with a portable medkit, along with Zoe's deep sword cut across her back. Either of those would have required a full truma team with current medical technology. I've had some minor injuries in comparison, but that still bothers me decades later. And a serious motorbike accident that broke all the bones in one leg (and put my heel bone through my ankle and out the top of my foot) that qualifies me for disabled parking - it was years before I could walk again unaided. In the Universe of Senerity, I would have jogged out of the hospital in a few days to a week tops and been back on a (new) bike. That makes a difference. There are no consequences as long as you don't die then and there from catastrophic injuries. Extreme sports (with a good helmet) must be popular.
Operative, having just stabbed Mal in the chest: "Do you know what your sin is, Malcolm?" Mal "Ah hell, I'm a fan of all seven" headbutts Operative. A man who makes no pretenses about being a good or bad man, just a man who does his best. Love this.
One thing I’ve always loved about this is the nerve cluster being moved is the perfect encapsulation of why the operative, and ultimately the alliance, loses the fight. Because of the alliance methods he’s taught to kill people from a very structured point of view with no regard for independent thought. He simply follows his training/does what is told - rinse and repeat. Mal as the opposite has lived through the hell of war and survived, representing that life is messy and chaotic - not perfect like the alliance’s dogma dictates. Just such good screenwriting.
Shrapnel moved the nerve bundle. I love that. Mal's war wound made a skilled attack powerless. Is this a comment on the Vulcan Nerve Pinch? Imagine Spock's surprise!
Like in Halo, Sgt. Johnson's explanation for surviving the flood was some kind of permanent injury from handling so many plasma grenades during a specific engagement.
Mal said he wouldn't kill the Operative, but...I think he did something far worse. He took one of the Alliance's greatest assets and inflicted upon him exactly what he felt that day at Serenity Valley.
And by forgoing blood-lust, revenge and leaving the operative alive he saved his crew with an act of mercy. If he'd killed the operative then the op wouldn't have been able to give the stand-down order to the Alliance troops that broke through the wall.
I only really appreciated it now, but Mal is actually matching the operative, who is supposed to be an exceptional fighter, but its not training, its all brawling and street fighting and dirty tricks vs the operative's perfect form and skill and training. Mal has never had a lesson in his life he's just had to fight so often, and the operative can't beat him, because Mal really does have more belief, and the operative has never fought someone who truly believes, because the Alliance is so corrupt and hypocritical. Interesting
you don't know he never had a lesson in his life. mal definitely isn't fighting purely like a brawler in his two tangles with the Operative and certainly knows some stuff. true street brawling wouldn't last a minute against a guy like that; mal has skills
Mal is ex military. They train hand to hand in just about every military branch i'm aware of. Plus he fought a lot of close quarter action against the alliance... plus he likes to pick fights in bars. His best fighting trait is he uses elements of opportunity, and his sheer endurance to pain. For example, during their first fight he uses part of a bed sheet to block the operatives eyes and get in a few good hits.
@@OpenMawProductions not just training - real wartime experience is the best form of instruction. And likely the operative, as a skilled assassin who usually strikes with the element of surprise hasn't had as much actual experience in a straight-up fight. If your an assassin, you're doing it wrong if your opponent is still alive after 10 seconds. But it doesn't prepare you for when you have to go toe-to-toe.
funnily enough Nathan Fillion (mal) plays cayde in destiny 2 and for caydes last appearance Nathan was doing a uncharted short film so they had Nolan north (nathan drake) come in and do Caydes lines
Classic Rogue vs Monk 1v1. Rogue can throw some hands, but Monk has his number until the Rogue bluffs him into thinking his Stunning Strike worked and gets a crit on his Sneak Attack.
Man.. The Firefly universe has so much untapped potential in entertainment media. I mean just video games, RPGs in particular would’ve been awesome much less other stuff. I wish we could’ve saw it become something more but at the same time that’s what made it special.
Season 2 was good, but I dunno if Whedon could actually have pulled off a third season. He keeps maturing his characters and then having them suddenly revert to the same old flaws to create dramatic tension. For example. Kaylee might overcome her fear of violence, temporarily, but then fall apart just to create a cliff-hanger. Whedon can't write a Simon who has truly and finally overcome his class bias, and is still an interesting character.
there's two ways to choreograph a fight between someone with a sword and someone without: the someone without either avoids every strike and manages to disarm the other, or they get stabbed as is almost inevitable. always glad joss went with the latter approach. it's not like it's mal's first time, anyway
Bonus points for having Mal attempt to avoid being stabbed also be the only way that would work - pin the damn sword arm so it can't swing or stab no more.
It’s also nice to see Mal acting like the experienced fighter he is. He waits for and dodges the opening slashes and then sneaks in close so he can have a hope of using the screw driver
Mal - Devotion Paladin Zoe - Champion Fighter Wash - Artificer? Jayne - Berzerker Barbarian Inara - Glamour Bard Kaylee - Artificer Simon - Life Cleric Book - Order Cleric River - Great Old One Warlock
I like them. A bit curious about Devotion Paladin for Mal though. I looked up the details on it and the first of the tenets is don't lie and cheat, which I think is just hilarious given Mal. But given what the oath goes for and what Mal does, I can see it. I just like the idea of Mal chooses not to use his powers after the battle of Serenity. God I love this character.
@@bodenking Granted. I mean, he's definitely a paladin. Maybe Vengeance. I mean, he lies and cheats when he needs to, but only for the sake of a greater good (at least in his mind).
Agreed a small caveat is those you can understand their side of it too. Consider Lex Luther, a genius yet too much of a psychopath to be relatable. The operative is dogmatic but at least he is doing it in the preservation of peace albeit oppression but still peace.
Firefly was the greatest phenomenon that was never really given the chance to truly happen. This show had the potential to run for 10 seasons or more had it been marketed properly.
They were writing for the show ‘Angel’ at the same time. The main character, Angel was a vampire whom they regularly had suffer such wounds. When writing fights, they sometimes forgot which protagonist they were writing for. They tried to cut around the shots of Mel’s impalement to try to minimize it.
Most sword wounds, even puncturing relatively vital organs, are not immediately fatal. Sometimes it can take hours or days to die without medical attention, even from an ostensibly mortal wound. The abdominal aorta is the zone to worry about. Outside of that, yes, Mal can keep fighting.
It's really hard to write a villain far more advanced in hand to hand combat than the protagonist losing to him convincingly. Usually they just suddenly get worse at combat and just fail at dodging/blocking obvious telegraphed attacks usually because the protagonist is really angry now...and anger somehow downloads decades of combat proficiency into him within seconds like The Matrix. But this was a really cool way for Malcom to best The Operative AND look cool and equally capable in combat.
I like that this was an even and realistic fight. State of the Art Military Training vs. Street Fighting and One-Liners. It was like something out of "Lethal Weapon 4" (1998).
It's a shame they didn't tie that nerve cluster wound to the sword fight he had in the series where he was stabbed in that very same place. They missed an opportunity for a callback and some irony.
Except, in this case, it wasn't talking that cost him. From his point of view, the fight was won. He was slightly more leisurely than he could have been because he assumed he'd won, but overall, he was still fairly efficient.
For anyone who hasn't seen the whole movie, when the operative hit Mal in the back, it was supposed to paralyze him by striking a nerve cluster. That's why he stopped fighting to grab his sword and started talking.
Fun point about the failure in the novel was that the Operative had actually read about that injury in Mal's file, but hadn't considered it being moved or that he might need a change of strategy.
As the other comments said, would've been a short fight, and it would've destroyed the Operatives mystique. River would've mopped the floor with him in about 20 seconds.
tempting to read into the notion that the alliance ultimately led to the operative's downfall, as it was their shrapnel that resulted in mal's nerve cluster being moved. but it's probably just good old plot convenience, and who can complain at that
@@royce9018 You truly believe Mal was the superior fighter just because he won the fight? If I cave a BJJ experts skull in with a baseball bat does that make me the better fighter? The entire fight Mal is barely keeping up. It’s like watching a marine fight a Navy Seal. The only thing going for Mal in this fight is the stubborn will to see his mission through. That’s it. Trust me, the operative was way better. He lost because he underestimated Mal just like he had several times before this. It wasn’t that Mal is the more skilled fighter. It’s that the operative is crippled by his own hubris. You’d do well to remember that friendo.
@@chand911 yeah it was. What, because Mal won he was the better fighter? He landed some decent blows? Malcolm was barely surviving for most of the fight. If the operative hadn’t been so goddamn cocky he would’ve won. To quote a famous henchman....”next time you have a chance to kill someone. Don’t hesitate.” But that was the weakness of the Operative from the beginning. He constantly underestimated Mal. He may attack laterally but he thinks linearly.
@@concordetconstabulary219 The Operative is a better trained fighter. Mal however has experience, grit and cunning. In a real fight, those matter as much, and sometimes more, than just training. Mal's technique is sloppy compared to the Operative but his timing is solid and he takes advantage of opportunity and his surroundings. I wouldn't call it one sided. If it was, Mal wouldn't have gotten nearly as many hits in.
Incredible movie, never heard of Firefly until the reruns. Now I own the Firefly series, one of only two series I have ever purchased. The other is Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures; funny stuff.
Probably the closest thing would be a shot to the liver. You won't literally be paralyzed but you might just feel like it. Kinda like that elbow to the throat.
"Your fighting a war you've already lost" Given the current socio-political climate in the states, I wonder if this is why networks were afraid of this show...
@@GoblinKnightLeo Bro, the time-slot was part of the sabotage. They gave it one of the worst time-slots a show could have; Friday night at 6... Before changing it to 1 or 2 AM. At the time there was still hints that this cultural discourse was comming, for those who knew what to look for. Amd given that the media (aka; the networks) are actively egging on both sides with biassed opinions being presented as fact, spreading misinformation, and creating "fake news" to stir up the populace, I think it's safe to say they knew before most what was comming.
@@Thescott16 The other issue was the time slot they put it in was the same time slot as Star Trek Enterprise. I didn't watch Firefly until it was on DVD because at the time I felt that I would rather watch a mediocre Star Trek show than take a chance on a new Scifi show.
"...In the states". Sounds like another 'armchair quarterback' from "across the pond"! "Judge not lest ye be judged." The network money people dumped the series based on "market research". The fans went crazy & by the time the network brass realized they screwed up (again) it was too late to bring the series back. The only thing they could do was make "Serenity". To my knowledge, it's the only time a network agreed to make a movie based on the demands of the fans.
I think he just dislocated his shoulders - if any bones were broken he wouldn't have been able to just stand there talking to him at the end of the movie.
Question, because we can’t tell even after playing it back 5 times watching it. Did he dislocate both his arms at the shoulders or did he break both of them? And when I say we, I’m referring to my wife also.
@@maggalvin1339 Paralyzed people can't walk though. The Operative is seen walking as he is talking to Mal next to Serenity at the end of the film. He wasn't paralyzed here, his shoulders were dislocated and rendered useless and Mal subdued him by latching his sword to the handrail.
"Your fighting a war you've already lost"
"Yeah well I'm known for that"- Sums up his character and the series.
And my life.
"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."
Yeah I love that line as well
The Operative was a brilliant antagonist.
Michael Donne like hell he was
Early was the best villain the show ever had. Saffron was great too.
@@terrellking5119 i doubt u actually would know bad acting from good. Your also the first person ive ever heard that that from. He played the part almost perfectly but he does that with every role
@Monster Mash lawful neutral. He isn't out for self-interest. But he obeys his superiors because he has faith that they are right and/or represent the best way forward. Later he becomes true neutral when he realizes he needs to start being accountable for his misdeeds in the name of parliament.
@@Bshwag ( . )( . )
Mals throat elbow hit and backbreaker were two of the most satisfying attacks on a villain ive ever seen in a movie
He actually dislocated his shoulders
@@hashslingingslasher9786 yup
His face after he did it!!😂😂😂
That 'crack' sound is so gratifying, and then the sniveling astonished look on the guy's face :)
Let's not forget that AMAZING headbutt and his epic
"I'm gonna have to go with wrath" retort.
Mal's most important line in the movie-"I'm going to show you a world without sin"...and with that, he crushes the operative's belief...
You cannot stop the signal, Mal is the most important line
No, the entire speech is his best. ."Someone has to speak for these people." Hit me in the feels way harder than "I aim to misbehave".
That elbow to the throat gets me every time. I love it!
Me too, haha
"you're fighting a war you've already lost"
*Operative takes one bomb to the throat*
Mal: "yeah well I'm known for that"
He's such a well written character, the Niska torture scene was epic too.
Me too!! Watch in 0.25x speed, it's Epic!
@@jamesanderson5544 "You wanted to see the REAL me?" says guy covered in blood and his eyes red holding a torture device. Damn that was good.
@@jamesanderson5544 Oh no Mr. Reynolds, you died!
"Ah hell. I'm a fan of all seven." One of the best one Liners in history.
TheHoon57 "Do that, and you best make amends with your dear and fluffy lord" is a close second
What no love for "by my pretty floral bonnet I will end you"?
"I didn't make you angry, did I?"
"Yes, I've read a poem. Try not to faint."
"Well I'm known for that" is my favourite
One of my favorite end battle scenarios ever. Mal was spitting pure fire with every retort.
Zoe having absolute faith in Mal having already succeeded followed by a hard cut to him face down and bloodied was a perfect representation of their relationship.
Yes. She's not wrong, He's been face down and bloodied before, and got back on his feet to finish the job. She's seen it before.
Down.......but never out.
There's a joke about the Operative hitting a nerve there somewhere, but like him, I'm not quite finding it.
Take your like and go to hell.
That's what she said.
Yeah he lost the nerve to shrap medal. So the move did not work on Mel
Oof
I know it was supposed to be funny but when Mal squared off, Screwdriver vs Sword, I just knew if there was anyone who would win through with those odds, it'd be Malcom Reynolds. Big Damn Hero.
Ain't he just?
Ever the underdog.
Doesn't give up. You don't stop fighting Mal unless and until you're certain he's dead.
'fighting a war he already lost', against a superior enemy, and coming out on top... finally after all those years. Sums him up well.
McGuyver would also have a shot, just saying.
Do you know what your sin is Mal?
Aw hell, I'm a fan of all seven. But right now, I'm gonna have to go with wrath.
One of the shortest lived best sci-fi shows of all time.
Right there at the top of the list with The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr. :)
I think the fact that it's so short has actually made it better as it's aged.
@@Jay16Mar Yep, it was short and extremely well written, all the writers' best ideas went into it and their work never had the time or opportunity to deteriorate.
In another universe, Firefly was never axed, it became highly popular, was renewed for new seasons repeatedly... but it ran out of good ideas around season 3, at which point the main writer quit, and the show ended up being cancelled after season 4 under a new writer received terrible reviews from viewer and critic alike.
"I'm gonna show you a world without sin."
Given the context of those words, that's probably the most ominous reference to a sinless world there's ever been.
The world had been innocent, even beyond the reference to a world trying to have no sin it still works as a line showing what was done to an innocent world.
And Earlier when the Operative says "There's a lot of innocent people being killed in the air right now."
Mal responds "You don't know how true that is."
The operative thought the alliance fleet were innocent, but sadly the real victims in orbit were the reavers, as Mal would show him.
Showed the Operative a world without sin and in so doing broke the Operative's faith. Which was the Operative's most defining trait.
@@danielhaire6677 what do we have when we lose everything we hold dear?
...nothing?
NO...we still have ourselves... The Operative may have lost faith in the Alliance, but it's clear that his confrontation with Mal had left him with something new to hold onto.
faith in HUMANITY, perhaps???
Watching this for probably the hundredth time and what comes through this time is Mal’s masochism and utter disregard for his own body. It’s not quite a death wish but he’ll keep coming at you until you kill him.
"You cannot control a free man, a man who's mind is free. The most you can do is kill him."
To be fair, medical technology is far more advanced.
As long as he survives, nearly any damage *is not permanent.*
That makes a big difference.
Those stab wounds (including being run through with a sword) were completely healed with no long-term effects in a few days - he was loading supplies on Serenity with no sign of pain.
The Operative had his spine possibly broken, but by the same time Mal's wounds were virtually gone, he was back to normal as well.
A broken spine was not a long-term issue.
Mal even once had a cut-off ear reattached in Senerity's tiny basic med bay by Simon.
As for Simon and his basic medical supplies, Jane got shot in the torso a few times in this same battle, and Simon was able to stabilise him with a portable medkit, along with Zoe's deep sword cut across her back.
Either of those would have required a full truma team with current medical technology.
I've had some minor injuries in comparison, but that still bothers me decades later.
And a serious motorbike accident that broke all the bones in one leg (and put my heel bone through my ankle and out the top of my foot) that qualifies me for disabled parking - it was years before I could walk again unaided.
In the Universe of Senerity, I would have jogged out of the hospital in a few days to a week tops and been back on a (new) bike.
That makes a difference.
There are no consequences as long as you don't die then and there from catastrophic injuries.
Extreme sports (with a good helmet) must be popular.
Operative, having just stabbed Mal in the chest: "Do you know what your sin is, Malcolm?" Mal "Ah hell, I'm a fan of all seven" headbutts Operative. A man who makes no pretenses about being a good or bad man, just a man who does his best. Love this.
One thing I’ve always loved about this is the nerve cluster being moved is the perfect encapsulation of why the operative, and ultimately the alliance, loses the fight. Because of the alliance methods he’s taught to kill people from a very structured point of view with no regard for independent thought. He simply follows his training/does what is told - rinse and repeat. Mal as the opposite has lived through the hell of war and survived, representing that life is messy and chaotic - not perfect like the alliance’s dogma dictates. Just such good screenwriting.
I saw the sadistic side of the Operative in the nerve cluster attack.
Shrapnel moved the nerve bundle. I love that. Mal's war wound made a skilled attack powerless.
Is this a comment on the Vulcan Nerve Pinch? Imagine Spock's surprise!
Like in Halo, Sgt. Johnson's explanation for surviving the flood was some kind of permanent injury from handling so many plasma grenades during a specific engagement.
This film is still socially underrated.
*socially* underrated? what does that even mean; it's not talked about at dinner parties?
This show was so good
And he did show him. Opened the arrogant fools eyes. I love his line I AIM TO MISBEHAVE.
Mal said he wouldn't kill the Operative, but...I think he did something far worse. He took one of the Alliance's greatest assets and inflicted upon him exactly what he felt that day at Serenity Valley.
Showed the Operative a world without sin and in so doing broke the Operative's faith. Which was the Operative's most defining trait.
"It is a far greater victory to make another see through your eyes than to close theirs forever."
He killed the Operative, but not the man.
And by forgoing blood-lust, revenge and leaving the operative alive he saved his crew with an act of mercy. If he'd killed the operative then the op wouldn't have been able to give the stand-down order to the Alliance troops that broke through the wall.
One of the best villans, knows hes bad but does what hes got to do to make the world a better place.... better worlds
The greatest evils are done by those who think it's for a greater good.
Brilliant movie, did the show justice. A cracking sign off for the fans
I can totally see him being Nathan Drake
he's like nathan drake if he actually lost for once
IKR against Nadine
And you will. He teasing it in his instagram.
Yes, they made a fan film that was released today.
indeed. he's too old now. hollywood sux.
I only really appreciated it now, but Mal is actually matching the operative, who is supposed to be an exceptional fighter, but its not training, its all brawling and street fighting and dirty tricks vs the operative's perfect form and skill and training. Mal has never had a lesson in his life he's just had to fight so often, and the operative can't beat him, because Mal really does have more belief, and the operative has never fought someone who truly believes, because the Alliance is so corrupt and hypocritical.
Interesting
you don't know he never had a lesson in his life. mal definitely isn't fighting purely like a brawler in his two tangles with the Operative and certainly knows some stuff. true street brawling wouldn't last a minute against a guy like that; mal has skills
Mal is ex military. They train hand to hand in just about every military branch i'm aware of. Plus he fought a lot of close quarter action against the alliance... plus he likes to pick fights in bars.
His best fighting trait is he uses elements of opportunity, and his sheer endurance to pain. For example, during their first fight he uses part of a bed sheet to block the operatives eyes and get in a few good hits.
@@OpenMawProductions not just training - real wartime experience is the best form of instruction. And likely the operative, as a skilled assassin who usually strikes with the element of surprise hasn't had as much actual experience in a straight-up fight.
If your an assassin, you're doing it wrong if your opponent is still alive after 10 seconds. But it doesn't prepare you for when you have to go toe-to-toe.
Commander Vimes of the Citywatch.
Ser Fakking Bronn of the Blackwater
Fighting juste, is not good!
@@hakansoderholm6514 💚 Vimes
This man looks, sounds and has the perfect charisma for uncharted
He did do a uncharted short film
funnily enough Nathan Fillion (mal) plays cayde in destiny 2 and for caydes last appearance Nathan was doing a uncharted short film so they had Nolan north (nathan drake) come in and do Caydes lines
The fight gives me Uncharted vibes
Classic Rogue vs Monk 1v1. Rogue can throw some hands, but Monk has his number until the Rogue bluffs him into thinking his Stunning Strike worked and gets a crit on his Sneak Attack.
Excellent analysis.
Thank you for this post. I D&D nerded out on 👍🏾 😂
You've got it pal 👍🏼
Man.. The Firefly universe has so much untapped potential in entertainment media. I mean just video games, RPGs in particular would’ve been awesome much less other stuff. I wish we could’ve saw it become something more but at the same time that’s what made it special.
Season 2 was good, but I dunno if Whedon could actually have pulled off a third season. He keeps maturing his characters and then having them suddenly revert to the same old flaws to create dramatic tension. For example. Kaylee might overcome her fear of violence, temporarily, but then fall apart just to create a cliff-hanger. Whedon can't write a Simon who has truly and finally overcome his class bias, and is still an interesting character.
@@rileymclaughlin4831 True but Fox never even gave him a chance to try. They set him up to fail.
there's two ways to choreograph a fight between someone with a sword and someone without: the someone without either avoids every strike and manages to disarm the other, or they get stabbed as is almost inevitable. always glad joss went with the latter approach. it's not like it's mal's first time, anyway
Bonus points for having Mal attempt to avoid being stabbed also be the only way that would work - pin the damn sword arm so it can't swing or stab no more.
I'm surprised Mal can even fight that good after he was stabbed in the gut with a sword!
"I'm going to have to go with wrath".
this show had some serious acting chops
The whole movie is a masterpiece!
I like how when he jams the sword down it makes a metal noise, but when it gets knocked aside it sounds like a stick hitting the ground.
Why is no-one acknowledging Mal's choice of weapon & how he used it perfectly
Nothing matches both characters like Mal with a screwdriver and the operative with a sword.
It’s also nice to see Mal acting like the experienced fighter he is. He waits for and dodges the opening slashes and then sneaks in close so he can have a hope of using the screw driver
He clearly learned something from his duel with Atherton Wing.
I see Cayde and Ikora have known each other for quite a while.
Mal - Devotion Paladin
Zoe - Champion Fighter
Wash - Artificer?
Jayne - Berzerker Barbarian
Inara - Glamour Bard
Kaylee - Artificer
Simon - Life Cleric
Book - Order Cleric
River - Great Old One Warlock
I like them. A bit curious about Devotion Paladin for Mal though. I looked up the details on it and the first of the tenets is don't lie and cheat, which I think is just hilarious given Mal. But given what the oath goes for and what Mal does, I can see it. I just like the idea of Mal chooses not to use his powers after the battle of Serenity. God I love this character.
@@bodenking Granted. I mean, he's definitely a paladin. Maybe Vengeance. I mean, he lies and cheats when he needs to, but only for the sake of a greater good (at least in his mind).
Mal isn't a paladin, but he was once.
Seeing what River does to the reavers in this movie I’d say Hexblade.
Wash or Kaylee could both be rogues....in their own ways.
Mal: I'm going to show you a world without sin.
He shows him a lifeless world.
Exactly. That's the point
0:38 "I'm a fan of all seven". Just badass.
Yeah well I'm known for that....LOL gotta love it.
such a small under valued line. You can barely hear it over the operative choking, but it pretty much sums up Mal's entire character so perfectly.
Mal was not the best because he was better. But because he wouldn't give up no matter what and he was ruthless when he had to be.
The operative was one of my two favorite villains, the other being Hans Gruber in DieHard. I love intelligent, educated villains.
Agreed a small caveat is those you can understand their side of it too. Consider Lex Luther, a genius yet too much of a psychopath to be relatable. The operative is dogmatic but at least he is doing it in the preservation of peace albeit oppression but still peace.
We can all agree, I think, that Firefly was an anomaly that changed our lives. Yeah?
Firefly was the greatest phenomenon that was never really given the chance to truly happen. This show had the potential to run for 10 seasons or more had it been marketed properly.
No. Never seen it, so it didn't change my life.
@@thewildbruce5612There’s still time.
I'm not sure how that sword through the midsection managed to miss anything vital, but hell, that's a spectacular fight scene. Ten sins off!
halleck3 are you gonna go with wrath?.
Imagine if it was the same place Mal was Gut Shot in out of Gas. Lost all feeling in that area already.
They were writing for the show ‘Angel’ at the same time. The main character, Angel was a vampire whom they regularly had suffer such wounds. When writing fights, they sometimes forgot which protagonist they were writing for. They tried to cut around the shots of Mel’s impalement to try to minimize it.
As long as it didn't hit a major blood vessel, Mal could have kept trucking for a good while.
Most sword wounds, even puncturing relatively vital organs, are not immediately fatal. Sometimes it can take hours or days to die without medical attention, even from an ostensibly mortal wound. The abdominal aorta is the zone to worry about. Outside of that, yes, Mal can keep fighting.
Mel fighting the operative, the team holding the door, Wash cleaning spears.
It's really hard to write a villain far more advanced in hand to hand combat than the protagonist losing to him convincingly. Usually they just suddenly get worse at combat and just fail at dodging/blocking obvious telegraphed attacks usually because the protagonist is really angry now...and anger somehow downloads decades of combat proficiency into him within seconds like The Matrix. But this was a really cool way for Malcom to best The Operative AND look cool and equally capable in combat.
Best show ever, right!
Aw hell im a fan of all seven but right now I’m gonna have to go with wrath that’s my favorite part 😂
The Operative is all decked out but Mal has a screw driver and goes to work....I love this sci Fi movie so much.
I like that this was an even and realistic fight. State of the Art Military Training vs. Street Fighting and One-Liners. It was like something out of "Lethal Weapon 4" (1998).
Anchorage theatre..."Piece of shrapnel tore up that nerve cluster my first tour, had it moved." crowd went nuts!
Damn why does this feel more visceral and violent than most fight scenes I've seen?
Maybe because Malcolm had a sword run through his gut?
do you actually not know or are you just doing the modern thing of substituting "this is" with "why is this"?
0:14 my favorite
2:26 I see in the year 2517 they'll still be using logitech computer keyboards.
Now you know where to invest!
Malcolm is really badass! He's still fighting against the Operative, while having a sword stuck in his gut!
Goddamn that scene is powerful!
Best sci fi film ever .... hits all the bases. Including a delightfully skilled killer gurl. What's not too like?
That we didn't get a sequel. :(
@@JnEricsonx you 'sho right
Best sci fi film ever?! Nope. Not even CLOSE!
Best god damn movie ever.
It's a shame they didn't tie that nerve cluster wound to the sword fight he had in the series where he was stabbed in that very same place. They missed an opportunity for a callback and some irony.
Both these actors r really good n this movie was good I really liked it
At 1:16 Nathan broke his check from slamming into the floor so many times during the filming :)
Especially when you replay it over and over
The fallacy of the talking villain.
explain
It called monologing. Most bad guys do it.
Except, in this case, it wasn't talking that cost him. From his point of view, the fight was won. He was slightly more leisurely than he could have been because he assumed he'd won, but overall, he was still fairly efficient.
For anyone who hasn't seen the whole movie, when the operative hit Mal in the back, it was supposed to paralyze him by striking a nerve cluster. That's why he stopped fighting to grab his sword and started talking.
if you want to shoot, shoot!!! don't talk. 10 pls for those who knows the source.
God damn I love this movie and especially that elbow hahaha
The Operative tried his nerve pinch trick but this time it did not work and planned thanks to an old injury.
Fun point about the failure in the novel was that the Operative had actually read about that injury in Mal's file, but hadn't considered it being moved or that he might need a change of strategy.
How about a little praise for 'The Operative' - one of the cooler characters in the franchise.
I love a competent antagonist in a film. Written and acted brilliantly.
five Reavers watched this.
+1....
0:40 shouldn't have gone for the roundhouse again my dude
Great scene and it should of ended up like it was but i would of love to see the operative vs river that would of been pretty awesome
I was half expecting her to meet him sometime.
It would have been amusing and deeply satisfying to see her take him apart. :)
It would have been a very short fight.
As the other comments said, would've been a short fight, and it would've destroyed the Operatives mystique. River would've mopped the floor with him in about 20 seconds.
@@KS-xk2so agree short fight. No shot 1 on 1
The unofficial Uncharted in space movie we needed.
the best sci fi film iv seen in ages the reevers an experemint gone wrong
The title of this movie is my name 😂
_I aim to misbehave_
“Oh! Was that elbow to your throat too hard? Here, let me crack your back to make up for it. Loosen you up. (Crack) Better?”
Bet he didn't think how lucky it was that shrapnel got him when it did.
And that’s why a “full Nelson” is illegal in most combat sports
tempting to read into the notion that the alliance ultimately led to the operative's downfall, as it was their shrapnel that resulted in mal's nerve cluster being moved. but it's probably just good old plot convenience, and who can complain at that
Deus ex machina strikes again. This was my first time seeing Chiwetel Ejiofor and I was like, holy shizzpots, this guy's amazing...
This movie and four brothers and I was blown away by him
07. 2020. 🚀
I love this movie. I dislike the deus ex machina of the nerve cluster. He just happens to have it moved? At least telegraph it before hand.
They could have tired it to his sword fight in the series. He was stabbed in that same spot. What a waste.
Haven’t seen a fight this one sided since die hard 2.
But it wasn't.
You may have missed the fight little buddy
@@royce9018 You truly believe Mal was the superior fighter just because he won the fight? If I cave a BJJ experts skull in with a baseball bat does that make me the better fighter? The entire fight Mal is barely keeping up. It’s like watching a marine fight a Navy Seal. The only thing going for Mal in this fight is the stubborn will to see his mission through. That’s it. Trust me, the operative was way better. He lost because he underestimated Mal just like he had several times before this. It wasn’t that Mal is the more skilled fighter. It’s that the operative is crippled by his own hubris. You’d do well to remember that friendo.
@@chand911 yeah it was. What, because Mal won he was the better fighter? He landed some decent blows? Malcolm was barely surviving for most of the fight. If the operative hadn’t been so goddamn cocky he would’ve won. To quote a famous henchman....”next time you have a chance to kill someone. Don’t hesitate.” But that was the weakness of the Operative from the beginning. He constantly underestimated Mal. He may attack laterally but he thinks linearly.
@@concordetconstabulary219 The Operative is a better trained fighter. Mal however has experience, grit and cunning. In a real fight, those matter as much, and sometimes more, than just training. Mal's technique is sloppy compared to the Operative but his timing is solid and he takes advantage of opportunity and his surroundings. I wouldn't call it one sided. If it was, Mal wouldn't have gotten nearly as many hits in.
A WONDERFUL movie abd series
Incredible movie, never heard of Firefly until the reruns. Now I own the Firefly series, one of only two series I have ever purchased.
The other is Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures; funny stuff.
You take umbridge then i play the brigant.
I actually wonder, does that nerve-cluster thing actually work?
No
no, but there are a few that will hurt like hell
Probably the closest thing would be a shot to the liver. You won't literally be paralyzed but you might just feel like it. Kinda like that elbow to the throat.
Probably about as well as the Vulcan neck pinch.
When you roll 20 on your Constitution Saving Throw
"Your fighting a war you've already lost"
Given the current socio-political climate in the states, I wonder if this is why networks were afraid of this show...
Not at the time they weren't. The show got cancelled because as popular as it was, it wasn't popular enough for its time slot.
@@GoblinKnightLeo Bro, the time-slot was part of the sabotage. They gave it one of the worst time-slots a show could have; Friday night at 6... Before changing it to 1 or 2 AM.
At the time there was still hints that this cultural discourse was comming, for those who knew what to look for. Amd given that the media (aka; the networks) are actively egging on both sides with biassed opinions being presented as fact, spreading misinformation, and creating "fake news" to stir up the populace, I think it's safe to say they knew before most what was comming.
He's known for that.
@@Thescott16 The other issue was the time slot they put it in was the same time slot as Star Trek Enterprise.
I didn't watch Firefly until it was on DVD because at the time I felt that I would rather watch a mediocre Star Trek show than take a chance on a new Scifi show.
"...In the states". Sounds like another 'armchair quarterback' from "across the pond"!
"Judge not lest ye be judged." The network money people dumped the series based on "market research". The fans went crazy & by the time the network brass realized they screwed up (again) it was too late to bring the series back. The only thing they could do was make "Serenity". To my knowledge, it's the only time a network agreed to make a movie based on the demands of the fans.
1:43...surprise motherf!@#$!!
So why didn't the Operative fall on his own sword after his massive failure to keep government secrets?!
A Rescue!
Maybe next time try the Vulcan neck pinch.
"No no stupid, you're much to high, it is at the base of the neck" "You mean like THIS?" "Yea! *falls unconscious*"
if you are going to put other videos in your end reels at least have the ability to put the links in?
Why didn't I know they made a movie
Silly Question (someone please answer).
Did Mal dislocate the Operatives arms at 1:50 or was it something else?
I think he broke The Operatives back. That's why he doesn't move, hes paralyzed
@@TheAxmore
If the operative has a broken back;
how come he is standing at the very end when he says goodbye to Mal?
Just asking?
Loogi Boy
Probably did. It would be the reversal of his form of paralysis.
I think he just dislocated his shoulders - if any bones were broken he wouldn't have been able to just stand there talking to him at the end of the movie.
Had to have been a dislocation. Otherwise the guy could have pulled the sword out from behind his back.
Aren't we though?
0:50. HE MADE POOR USE OF THE SWORD!?
Who'd win The operative or Ozymendias.
Question, because we can’t tell even after playing it back 5 times watching it. Did he dislocate both his arms at the shoulders or did he break both of them? And when I say we, I’m referring to my wife also.
Dislocated them. So he can't free himself.
He broke his back. He is paralyzed.
@@maggalvin1339 His back was not broken both shoulders were dislocated. He talks to Mal later and he's perfectly fine.
@@elykspuz6596 alot of paralyzed people can talk. But whatever. . .
@@maggalvin1339 Paralyzed people can't walk though. The Operative is seen walking as he is talking to Mal next to Serenity at the end of the film. He wasn't paralyzed here, his shoulders were dislocated and rendered useless and Mal subdued him by latching his sword to the handrail.
Is that a microsoft multimedia keyboard?
1:52-I thought he was breaking his neck or something, exactly WHAT is Mal trying to do there?
Dislocating his arms.
@@jman217 Ah, fair enough.
@@JnEricsonx Yeah, that and the nerve strike were my favorite moves.
Classic villain offense of talking when you should be killing
finders keepers