Yesterday morning I read this quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon about his movie directing debut, Serenity:
“I worked for a long time to come up with something epic enough to be a Universal movie and not just a glorified episode of Firefly. I wanted to make a movie that made me feel or made people feel the way I felt the first time I saw the first Star Wars.”
Yesterday evening I went to a pre-screening of Serenity, and I’ll just say that as dangerous as it may be to compare a movie to the original Star Wars, in this case it’s not a bad idea.
Go. See. Serenity.
It opens Friday.
(For those really geeking out, I’d also recommend the Time interview with Whedon and the Amazon Whedon sale [Oops, guess it was yesterday only]. Just for kicks, yesterday and today Firefly was among the top 10 selling DVDs on Amazon.)
Update: I’m feeling like I should really qualify and explain the comparison to Star Wars, but I don’t want to spoil anything. Let’s just say the greatest similarity is in the movie-going experience. Once more people have seen Serenity we can get into the details.
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Hey Kevin,
Planning to pick up Firefly but haven’t yet. Would you recommend watching the show before seeing the movie?
Seeing Firefly will certainly help, but it’s not required. I think seeing Firefly will make you that much more invested in the characters and story, which can make for a heightened movie experience, but it’s not a must. The guy I went to the screening with knew nothing about Firefly and actually didn’t like Buffy the Vampire Slayer at all–he had the same reaction I did. He was totally amazed and loved it.
Either way, I think you’ll end up seeing Firefly eventually. The downside of seeing the movie first is that the canceled TV show might be a let down. The movie is just on a different level. The stakes are higher.
Of course watching all of Firefly before Friday is a tall order. And I do think you should go see Serenity on Friday. And maybe again on Saturday. ;-)
I’m finishing the last disc of Firefly this week. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect! I’m totally stoked.
Dude, who do you know to get into a pre-screening? (Well, everybody, I guess.) Lucky! :-)
I wish I could see it this weekend, but Jess and I have to figure out a weekend get together so we can watch it at the same time. Wish it could be this weekend, but not so.
I think Jess needs to change her name. When I read Neal’s comment I thought it said “Jesus and I have to figure out a weekend get together.” Apparently Neal’s got better hook-ups than Kevin.
Orson Scott Card on Serenity
It’s been a commonplace in reviews of Joss Whedon’s Serenity to compare him to George Lucas. The author of Ender’s Game tells us that the rightful comparison is actually William Shakespeare. It’s a bit much for me, but I do…