Slashdot Mirror
Firefly DVD Set Released
Richard M. Nixon writes "As previously reported the DVD set for Joss Whedon's ill fated Western/Space Opera is now available. The DVD has all 11 episodes that aired, 3 episodes that didn't air, commentary on 7 episodes, and lots of bonus features including Joss singing the Firefly theme. It would make a nice Christmas gift for any Whedon fan who has not already run out and bought it. If DVD Sales are good enough, could we see a second season?"
Wow, this news sure is late for Slashdot. It came out a few weeks ago, I think.
Anyway, it'll be interesting to see if firefly sells enough to come back. I heard that fox started thinking about bringing Family Guy back after its DVD sales did so well, so maybe there is a real chance for Firefly.
I'm still working my way through the commentary tracks, but this set is nicely put together.
Everybody has gone their separate ways, so we won't see a second season, but at one point in the commentary they said they didn't want to spill all of the beans in case there is a Firefly movie.
But I want to know all of the beans! There were so many good story lines to take advantage of, but were never explained!
"My days of not taking you seriously are definitely coming to a middle"
There is no silver bullet. Plus, werewolves make better neighbors than zombies or vampires anyway.
While latter-era Buffy and Angel both suffered with Whedon being stretched too thin, the man has a real gift for dialogue, comedy, and story arcs. He's not without flaw, but I'd rather see his worst work than 99% of the shows on the air these days. Any sensible studio executive ("invisible pink unicorn") would say, "Star Trek sucks now ... how about making it work for the fans for once?" I have my as-yet-unwatched Firefly DVDs waiting for the holiday break. I bought them sight-unseen, if that tells you anything about what I think his talent is.
I have to admit, I wasn't really drawn into the story that much when it was on the air (and I guess I would qualify as a major Whedon fan).
However, I think a major part of the reason for this could have been the poorly chosen episodes that Fox decided to air. I think if the first two episodes in the series had been aired first, rather than last, it would have made a lot more sense to the fans.
The extras are good, the stories are good, and at least in my opinion, it's a lot better than the 'Battlestar Galactica' mini-series. Plus, it has the added advantage of being both inexpensive (especially compared to the Star Trek series), and complete (no other seasons to buy at a later date).
So I recommend it to any Sci-Fi fan, it's a great addition to any collection, especially if you are a Buffy or Angel fan, if only because the commentary by Mutant Enemy veterans (Like Joss), has a lot of tiny insights into those shows as well.
Dr. Wu
Yes, There's Gas In The Car
I think if Fox had decided to show the 2 hour Pilot, it might have lasted longer.
I think the quality of the Episodes got better as the show progressed. I really liked "Out Of Gas" and "Trash" (which was never aired).
Anyhow, maybe UPN or SciFi would pick it up. It was a different show and I enjoyed it.
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
--
There is an easter egg of Adam Baldwin (Jayne) singing the whole "Hero of Canton" song from Jaynestown on the dvds.
Throw in disc four that has the special features menu on it, and I think it's on the second special features menu. You just have to highlight the bottom left option and hit left again, and it will highlight a little thing on the side. Sorry I can't be more precise I don't have the info handy, it's not too hard to find with a minor bit of fiddling.
-hero.
It looks like this DVD set is a Region 1-only release - hardly surprising it's not available in the UK since only the little-watched Sci-Fi Channel aired it here (and directly up against various clashing progs I watch on other satellite channels plus having the dubious Sci-Fi logo in the corner of course). Still, I've ordered it from DVD Soon (20 pounds, which isn't bad for a 4-disc set shipped from Canada to the UK) and just got the confirmation e-mail that it has indeed just been dispatched...
The downside? Forget commercials -- you're now going to see more and more products integrated into the shows themselves. Picture an entire episode of Seinfeld where Kramer hears on the news that the union drivers who distribute Coca-Cola are on strike, and he travels to Connecticut to buy a can of Coke. (Hilarity ensues.)
Breakfast served all day!
Why the SciFi network doesn't pick it up and replace "Gorgol: The Betrayal", "Extreme Black: The Evil Within" and their other crappy shows with colons in them - I do not know.
I rented the disks from Netflix because I'm a big Buffy and Angel fan after having got into both series years after they debuted. I never even heard of Firefly until after it was cancelled.
So I rented it just to see what all the hub bub was about. As I watched the first two parter, I was thinking, no wonder this got cancelled, it's kinda boring. But I forced myself to finish watching the rest of the disk.
I'm glad I did. I found that I started to care what happened to each character as I watched more episodes. While I was indifferent at first, by the time I wrapped up Disk 4, I was almost solemnly putting the disk back in its sleeve to mail back to Netflix.
It's a good show and worth giving it the time to win you over. Too bad Fox didn't do that. I don't think it'll come back as a series again, certainly not on Fox, but they are working on a movie (probably TV movie).
So what's the deal about good SciFi shows getting cancelled? Farscape was a fantastic show, certainly worthy of more seasons. I think Firefly had some longevity to it, too. Just think, if they hadn't given Buffy more than 13 episodes... There'd be no Witchblade, no Dark Angel, no Bird of Prey, no ActionSciFi Show with buttkicking chicks!
Asd they say, it takes money to make money. Be willing to give these shows a chance!
I think the best way would be to describe it as a Western set in space instead of true Sci-Fi. It stayed more to the conventions of the old serial style westerns than it did to modern Sci-Fi. If you've ever enjoyed Tombstone or any number of old black and white westerns and you don't mind Sci-Fi, you'll love this show. However, if you're expecting Farscape or Babylon 5 style Sci-Fi, then you'll be sorely disappointed. If you don't go in thinking the show will suck, I think you'll find you're watcing a great show.
Sorry, but Firefly seemed like such a waste since it replaced Dark Angel in the same Fox time slot. The fact it was cancelled after fewer than 13 episodes kind of confirmed to me that Fox should have used Dark Angel as the lead-in to Firefly, not been /replaced/ with it.
Oh well.
Now they're wondering why we don't watch TV...
The sad fact is, while there are some shows I really like, I prefer to watch TV when it hits DVD. I would rather spend $40 a month on DVDs than cable. Star Trek, Farscape, Babylon 5, Buffy, Angel, and 24 are some of the many shows I have mostly watched from DVD (ST:TNG I saw mostly as it aired, but DS9 I'm only now catching up on through DVD.)
I only saw the pilot to firefly, but I liked it. I'm looking foward to seeing it now on DVD.
I wonder how many sci-fi shows have poor ratings because geeks like me can't be bothered to actually watch TV with commercials. Will it ever be possible for a series to survive in a straight to DVD format?
Got Apathy?
Perhaps you should go see Star Wars again. In a galaxy of high tech laser blasters, the Tusken Raiders used still used bullets. Just because technology has advanced a great deal doesn't mean that everyone has access to it.
As for horses, they would be very handy in a place without an abundant supply of oil or uranium for fuel, like those colonies on the outer planets, for example. Animals find their own fuel, repair and reproduce on their own, are able to return to home base autonomously, and have built-in safety mechanisms that prevent them from say, running off a cliff. Plus, they can come in handy in some other tight spots--again from Star Wars, anyone remember those Tontons?
"The idea that they may have invented cool lasers but not everybody can afford them is sort of the premise on which we work. Lasers take you to a science-fiction place that I feel has been covered too much." - Joss Whedon
To be chemicaly acurate firing a gun in space would require no oxygen from outside, as the gun powder contains its own oxidizer (in fact on most guns there is an air tight seal around the bullet and casing. In fact all high explosives require no external oxygen. Most explosives work by freeing nitrogen from an unstable compound and from it forming N2 gas and a bunch of thermal energy.
firing a gun in space would produce higher muzzle velocities as ther would be no air in the barrel to slow down its exit from the barrel and would also increase the pressure diferential between the firing chamber and the enviroment.
However if you want a good reason for the gun to be in a space suit I might suggest insulation from the temperature extremes of space.
I used to have a cool sig, back when I cared
Unlike our worls where people use Oxen to draw their ploughs instead of nice Massey-Ferguson or John Deer tractors for example?
Well these companies have yet to develop self-repairing and self-fueling tractors. Let alone those who's "exhaust" acts as a fertilizer.
In the case of serious damage or breakdown there is a lot more meat on an ox than a tractor.