Serenity spoiler thread

[Samwise]

I can't believe they killed Wash and Book. 

[Bunk]

Book didn't suprise me, because I'd heard he was only in limited amounts of the movie due to othe obligations. Wash on the other hand, wow. Was discussing it last night, and my friends and I agreed, we'd rather they'd killed of Wash's wife - she was probably the most cookie cutter character on the show. Should have seen it coming though, Wash being the one character that was always in the least amount of harms way throughout the series.

I would have normally groaned at the scene where they reveal that River killed all the Reavers rather than dieing, its kind of a typical schlock Hollywood reveal, but the shot of her standing there with the blood dripping axe made up for it.

[MrHat]

WTF is wrong with you.  I can't believe I just read that.  You've ruined 2 years of waiting!

[Samprimary]

Wash's wife seems to be the most overlookable, as she never does anything to attract attention to herself and is always professional and doesn't cause trouble.

This means there are two possibilities: one, that Joss simply doesn't know how to do anything with her and she'll continue putzing around being irrelevant.
Two, that joss is setting her up to be the unsung hero, and she'll grow into a worthwhile character.

[Shockeye]

WTF is wrong with you.  I can't believe I just read that.  You've ruined 2 years of waiting!

I'm sure this was supposed to be green text in spirit. If not, dumbass. Read the thread title next time.

Page 606.

[Margalis]

How is Joss setting her up for anything? Is there going to be another movie or something? (Not like I really care, just curious, I'm not a fan)

[Comstar]

How is Joss setting her up for anything? Is there going to be another movie or something? (Not like I really care, just curious, I'm not a fan)

Bah, you should be. IF the movie makes 80 million total, the'll be a sequal. So go see it, and if you're seen it already, go see it again.

[NiX]

I can't believe they killed Wash and Book. 

Wash surprised me too. Especially the timing of when they did it. It kinda made me sad cause he evened out the crew character wise. As for book, did they ever explain his past? Or did it just die with this?

[Shockeye]

I can't believe they killed Wash and Book. 

Wash surprised me too. Especially the timing of when they did it. It kinda made me sad cause he evened out the crew character wise. As for book, did they ever explain his past? Or did it just die with this?

They didn't explain his past, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was an Operative himself at one time and then found religion.

[NiX]

It would make sense and explain the other guys whole belief aspect he had going on.

[Shockeye]

Serenity came in second place over the weekend with a $10.1 million haul.

[schild]

Serenity came in second place over the weekend with a $10.1 million haul.

And got beaten by a hallucinating Jodie Foster. Comeon man, reveal all the details.

[stray]

And got beaten by a hallucinating Jodie Foster.

Not such a bad thing imo.

[HaemishM]

Serenity came in second place over the weekend with a $10.1 million haul.

Yeah, I'm thinking that's going to nail the last coffin in on thoughts of a sequel. Fucking shame too, as this movie rocked ALL kinds of ass.

Wash dying really hit me hard, because I loved the character. But it made sense. Had they gone through all of that and Shepherd had been the only death, the whole business would have lacked emotional impact. It would have robbed the situation of danger. Having Wash die in such a completely random way just slapped you in the face and made you realize what was at stake.

I never thought of Zoe as overlookable. She was the only other survivor of Mal's squad in the war, and followed him out of loyalty, still calling him Sir as if he had rank. She was professional, that was her character. She was also Mal's conscience, the only one who could tell him he was wrong without it seeming like she was attacking him.

I will say that Whedon has a thing for chicks that kick ass. Zoe and River being the two examples. I'm glad he didn't make the assassin a woman. Book dying was expected, based on his limited screen time. I'd have liked to see more exploration of his character.

Whedon set it up nicely for a sequel, but I doubt we'll see it. $80 million seems like a lot, unless you talk about world release instead of domestic. Such a damn shame, because it really seemed like it was a movie that didn't miss any beats.

[Samwise]

Watching the movie a second time, it occurred to me: what happened to the Reavers wanting to capture everyone alive so they could have their fun with them?  Launching giant spikes through the cockpit windows doesn't seem to fit their style at all.

Also, why did Serenity have to physically travel to Mr. Universe to broadcast the report?  If they were able to call him on the phone, they should have been able to transmit the data directly to him from where they were.

[HaemishM]

Also, why did Serenity have to physically travel to Mr. Universe to broadcast the report?  If they were able to call him on the phone, they should have been able to transmit the data directly to him from where they were.

Maybe Serenity only had dialup?

[Bunk]

Yea, that thought crossed my mind at the time to, but hey, what's a movie without a few glaring plotholes...

[Daeven]

Serenity came in second place over the weekend with a $10.1 million haul.

If you look at the run numbers, it got second place in half as many theaters with more tickets per showing sold. Lesson? Um. Hollywood is still retarded?

[Furiously]

I'm with Haemish. I went around all weekend telling my wife. "They killed Wash. He was my favorite." And she would say, "I know honey." and then I would say, "Now I have to find a new favorite. I can't believe they killed him." and she would say, "I know". Then 30 minutes later we would repeat the cycle. Then I would think of him playing with the dinosaurs.

So - Time to pick a new favorite.  Here are my initial thoughts.

Simon - nah.
River - a bit too unstable.
Mal - anyone else think of Jason Bateman when they look at him? He's a bit too something for me. I can't place it. Maybe one liney.
Zoe - Does she have a personality?
Inara - she is pretty. But no.
Jayne - I loved him as animal mother in full metal jacket. But, he's such an ass. Then again, he does have a song about him.
Kaylee - I'd read she had put on like 40 lbs for the TV show as to not take from Inara's prettines. I'd have to stomach her liking Simon though.

Jayne and Kaylee seem to be in the lead - any thoughts?

[Samwise]

Jayne.  (If Book was still alive, I'd have gone with Book... but he's not.  Cuntweasels.)

[Fargull]

Couple of thoughts

Wash hit me hard, but his death fit, and was perfectly Whedon.  If anyone is being setup for the emotional punch, it will be Mal if Zoe bites it.  She is his anchor as much as Wash was hers.

Books death felt cheap and I wonder if something greater will not come from it if a sequel happens.  I think a sequel will happen though, even if the 80mil domestic does not happen, the movie is getting a lot of good critical reviews.  I went to the show twice this weekend in Austin in two different theaters, both of which were at the 90% plus capacity.

Best line involved the vibrator and the best scene was the large FUCK YOU to Lucas for being a pussy.

[HaemishM]

My favorite has always been Mal. But then I like characters like that, very flawed, tragic, guilt-ridden anti-heroes like Louis in The Vampire Chronicles (as opposed to the shittiest character in literature since the Scarlet Letter, Lestat). Jayne is a close second.

And frankly, I always thought Kaylee was much hotter than Inara.

[Polysorbate80]

The Alliance forces were at Mr. Universe's place, and the crew seemed to know that they were there--why else would they have dragged all the Reavers along, unless they knew there would be a fight?  Broadcasting it to him would have accomplished nothing under those circumstances.

It pretty much had to be Wash that died; if *someone* had to go, then at that point in the plot he was the most expendable.  And he is/was (IMO) the most likeable of the bunch besides Kaylee, who hadn't had her moment with Simon yet.

[Cheddar]

How much does it take to create a movie such as this??  It seems to me that if a creator/director has vision then the movie would not need to gross as much as say, something like Alien 13 or Terminator 9.  What I mean is since he is shouldering his creation and not some suits, wouldn't the chances of a sequel be greater (I would use The Matrix as an example but they made a gazillion dollars then fucked it up with the sequels.  But I digress). 

Also I would assume word of mouth would help boost the movie in the long run.

[Soln]

Serenity came in second place over the weekend with a $10.1 million haul.

movies are dying

[Samwise]

The Alliance forces were at Mr. Universe's place, and the crew seemed to know that they were there--why else would they have dragged all the Reavers along, unless they knew there would be a fight?  Broadcasting it to him would have accomplished nothing under those circumstances.

It's true, on that level it made complete sense - but why did the Alliance expect Serenity to fall into the trap unknowingly?  If Mal thought everything was on the up-and-up, the first thing he'd have done would be to transmit the data to Mr. Universe, and then he'd be able to sit back and verify that it went out on broadwave, without ever leaving Miranda.

And speaking of Miranda, if it was such a heavily populated planet before the Pax, why weren't there any beefy transmitter towers there?  To say nothing of other hardware or goods that might have been useful?  Hell, in the Firefly pilot episode the first thing we see the crew doing is picking a wrecked ship clean of its valuables - but in the movie they come across a wrecked planet and don't take anything but a floppy disk?  The Reavers obviously didn't pick the entire planet clean.  Hell, they could've hid there for months while the Alliance sat and stewed on the other side of Reaver territory.

(Ordinarily I wouldn't harp on plot holes so heavily, but I'm still grieving here.   :-()

[Fargull]

It's true, on that level it made complete sense - but why did the Alliance expect Serenity to fall into the trap unknowingly?  If Mal thought everything was on the up-and-up, the first thing he'd have done would be to transmit the data to Mr. Universe, and then he'd be able to sit back and verify that it went out on broadwave, without ever leaving Miranda.

Mr. Universe was the only thing close, and maybe the only thing.  Why would the Alliance expect Serenity to fall for it?  Because that was the only avenue that made sense... still a hole though, your correct, but at least a semi-believable one.  Also, as can be seen with empires here, the lower one is or even outside the dominating society, that society or organization general trivializes the abilities of those they consider inferior.  Of course, the Operative got his ass and plan handed to him twice, I have no understanding why he would underestimate them, except maybe that would explain why he had the whole fucking alliance armada there.

And speaking of Miranda, if it was such a heavily populated planet before the Pax, why weren't there any beefy transmitter towers there?  To say nothing of other hardware or goods that might have been useful?  Hell, in the Firefly pilot episode the first thing we see the crew doing is picking a wrecked ship clean of its valuables - but in the movie they come across a wrecked planet and don't take anything but a floppy disk?  The Reavers obviously didn't pick the entire planet clean.  Hell, they could've hid there for months while the Alliance sat and stewed on the other side of Reaver territory.

(Ordinarily I wouldn't harp on plot holes so heavily, but I'm still grieving here.   :-()

I am betting the PAX was still in the atmosphere and could be a consideration.  As for the pillage and looting, I think at the point they touched down on Miranda, it was more of a LETS fuck with the Alliance instead of find a paycheck.

[Samwise]

I am betting the PAX was still in the atmosphere and could be a consideration.  As for the pillage and looting, I think at the point they touched down on Miranda, it was more of a LETS fuck with the Alliance instead of find a paycheck.

They had suits, the ship, and an infinite supply of fuel once they were able to find it on the planet (had to be functioning power plants somewhere for those public screens and the beacon to still be working), so the atmosphere thing would have been negotiable even if it was a threat.

As for fucking with the Alliance, when having fucking with the Alliance and finding a paycheck EVER been mutually exclusive?   

[Polysorbate80]

It doesn't matter if there was a transmitter on Miranda; I should think what they needed Universe for was his access to everything.  Pumping out one signal that might or might not make it through to a channel somewhere pales in comparison to guaranteed blanketing of the information networks simultaneously.

[HaemishM]

Also, they may not have been able to beam that much INTO Universe's hideyhole thanks to the ion cloud, but he could sure pump it out of the cloud.

[Samwise]

Also, they may not have been able to beam that much INTO Universe's hideyhole thanks to the ion cloud, but he could sure pump it out of the cloud.

If they could beam an audio/video signal into his hideyhole in realtime (which we saw them doing), they could definitely beam that two-minute Miranda report into his hideyhole in less time (and with MUCH less risk) than it'd take to fly there and deliver it by hand.

Of course, magical data that can't be copied off its physical storage medium and/or transmitted to a remote location has been a sci-fi plot staple ever since A New Hope, so I can't blame Joss too much for using it here.

[Pococurante]

Of course, magical data that can't be copied off its physical storage medium and/or transmitted to a remote location has been a sci-fi plot staple ever since A New Hope, so I can't blame Joss too much for using it here.

"Warning! Plot complication off the starboard bow! Warning! Plot complication off the starboard bow!"

I must be misquoting it somehow - no matches for what was a pretty popular National Lampoon skit for the time.  My google-fu is weakening...

"Snot here!"
"What's not there Snotty?"

[tazelbain]

Maybe special security data storage system that you need an expert hacker to retrieve the data from? 

[Yegolev]

Favorites, hmm.  Hard to say.  They work so well together.  That said, Jayne kicks ass.  Women who work on engines are hot.  I don't know what to do without a smartass pilot, though.

Was anyone else momentarily fearful that the operative was going to sign on as a crewman?  WHEW!

[Furiously]

Totally - I thought he was going to do the "Well - I don't have anything else to do, so you better take me onboard."

And I was thinking... you won't wear a floral print shirt and play with dinosaurs. You're no Wash...

Come to think of it. What did Zoe see in him? Innocence?