ztigr Shame on Foxx for doing such a disservice to this series. Shame on SYFY for missing the boat on picking it up. Too bad Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon wasn't going strong yet when this series was around to save it. This movie brought my attention to the series and I love both. Though it has begun to show some age, the fun dialogue, the great chemistry of the actors, and the overall premise are still worth a watch. The people who give this bad reviews obviously don't get the premise. Its the old west in space, and the dialogue is meant to sound a bit campy. I have one small criticism of the movie, in that all the planets involved are located so close together to the point of making space seem small. In the show they always took a while to get places because its one massive solar system and of course they don't travel at Star Wars or Star Trek speeds. I thought that was a good decision in the show to keep the series technology limited in reflection of its wild west type atmosphere. In the movie they unnecessarily keep referring to how close everything is. I think the better choice would have been to leave it ambiguous.In reality this is more of what you might think a Solo movie should look like, not what we got from Ron Howard.Last, Joss Whedon's passion for this project is what drives it. He did a good job on the Avengers also. I get some of the criticism of his style, and Justice League was terrible (maybe not his fault), but he didn't do anything to save it at least. Give it a watch, maybe you'll get hooked too.

George Taylor I'll be honest. I never liked Firefly. I found many of the episodes dull and lifeless, the characters caricatures of old western characters. The best episode was the finale where the bounty hunter tries to get River. Then came Serenity. It's one of my favorite movies. The cast really puts it together, the story is great. The enemy, the nameless agent is one of the best semi-villains ever on cinema. I regret the deaths in it and still wish for a sequel, but this movie hits it out of the park. Fruity-Oaty bars, Jayne wishing he HAD SOME GRENADES, River kicking ass in the bar (look for a hand weapon from Babylon 5), the entire finale battle AND Joss's wink at the fans, C-57-D (the cruiser from forbidden planets registration number) shows up quite often. And lets not forget Mr. Universe. Just a great movie from what to me, was a very average TV series.

mike48128 This has been called everything from a "Space Western" to "1984 in Space". It borrows well from many concepts and is indeed better than a few of the grandiose overblown Star Trek Movies. A critical success that barely broke even at the box office. Outstanding in almost every category. Acting, script and dialog, EFX, costumes, sets, photography, you-name-it! Based on the 14 episode Fox Series "Firefly" using (some of) the same cast. Capt. "Mal" Reynolds and his "rag-tag band of pirates and thieves" fight and die hard (Yes, some die) and become involved in the plight of a 17-year-old girl, completely raised and programmed by the Alliance, in an effort to control her amazing psychic abilities. She can "hear" thoughts."River Tam" is saved by her brother, Dr. Simon Tam, and they end up as passengers and participants on an amazing space adventure. A bank robbery on a planet and a "kick-Ass" fight in an alien bar. Along the way we are given "hints" about River's other fighting talents. Untimately, it's all about a terrible secret that the Alliance wants to keep hidden. After "terraforming" an entire solar system, on the planet "Miranda", a special gas released into the atmosphere killed off most of the population and turned the rest of the inhabitants into flesh-eating monsters. A most unusual plot twist has the good captain almost fighting-to-the-death and then creating an uneasy truce with "The Operative". I enjoyed it and so did Roger Ebert, way back in 2005.

Leofwine_draca SERENITY is a spin-off movie from the sci-fi TV series FIREFLY. I'd never watched the latter but decided to watch this because – well, I was just in the movie for some decent science fiction. I got it. The good news is that you don't need to be knowledgeable regarding the series, because this film is designed to appeal both to serious fans and newcomers alike. I was slightly worried about this being the brainchild of Joss Whedon, having never been a big fan of BUFFY, but I needn't have worried as it's clear Whedon's developed plenty of experience and skill when it comes to directing, and this is never less than a polished and efficient movie.The story is fairly predictable, but the scenarios are kept fresh and consistently engaging. A bunch of misfits pilot a little ship around the universe and have to contend with a sinister evil corporation and a bunch of cannibal types. Much of the film is a chase scenario, with a heavy focus on the action. I like action films whether either a) the action is so great that you don't need story, acting, or a decent script – see Tony Jaa movies in general, or b) the characters are engaging enough for us to go along with them for the story. Well, they didn't skimp on the characterisation here, which makes a refreshing change from the usual throw-money-at-the-screen-in-the-hope-something-sticks attitude of many Hollywood producers.Nathan Fillion is great as the tough-talking captain, a thinly veiled Han Solo but deeper than that, too. He's supported by an attractive cast of familiar faces (Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk) in strong roles, kooky Summer Glau who steals many of her scenes, and Chiwetel Ejiofor playing another multi-layered, eminently likable bad guy. Although I'm sure this had more budget constraints than plenty of similar fare, the special effects look pretty darned good with only one scene – a chase between two hovering ships – feeling unrealistic. There are the requisite space battles and martial arts interludes that don't disappoint, as well as an exciting siege-focused climax that nods to ALIENS in an effective way, and some other effective set-pieces (the interlude on the planet full of corpses was very unsettling). This is the usual sci-fi adventure film with a sheen of intelligence to lift it above similar lunk-headed fare.