User:The Wookieepedian/Too funny not to list

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Screenshot	Title	Original airdate	Production code	#
	"Serenity"	December 20, 2002	1AGE79	1.
	The crew is eager to rid themselves of an easily traceable salvage from a vessel adrift in space, unaware that a passenger has brought an even more dangerous cargo aboard.
	"The Train Job"	September 20, 2002	1AGE01	2.
	Mal has second thoughts after discovering that two boxes of Alliance goods the crew has been hired to steal are full of badly needed medical supplies headed for the mining town of Paradiso.
	"Bushwhacked"	September 27, 2002	1AGE02	3.
	After encountering a booby-trapped spacecraft carrying the lone survivor of a Reaver attack, Serenity is boarded by an Alliance patrol.
	"Shindig"	November 1, 2002	1AGE03	4.
	In order to secure a job transporting cargo off-planet for a client, Mal attends a social event where a dance with Inara ends with him challenged to a swordfight to defend her honor.
	"Safe"	November 8, 2002	1AGE04	5.
	When Simon Tam is kidnapped by a group of villagers in need of a doctor, Serenity's crew is forced to make contact with an Alliance cruiser to get medical help for Shepherd Book.
	"Our Mrs. Reynolds"	October 4, 2002	1AGE05	6.
	After a celebration honoring the crew for ridding a township of a group of bandits, Mal returns to Serenity and finds a woman named Saffron stowed away -- who claims Mal married her during the festivities. Oh, the Captain's going to the mighty Special Hell.
	"Jaynestown"	October 18, 2002	1AGE06	7.
	When the crew returns to a planet where Jayne participated in a heist gone bad, they're shocked to discover that Jayne's past actions have turned him into a local Robin Hood legend.
	"Out of Gas"	October 25, 2002	1AGE07	8.
	An explosion leaves Serenity crippled -- Mal orders everyone to abandon ship while he stays behind to try to make repairs. As Serenity's air slowly but surely leaks away, we're treated to a series of flashbacks, from Mal's point of view, that fills in some missing background for the original crew members, including Mal's early interactions with each of them.
	"Ariel"	November 15, 2002	1AGE08	9.
	Simon offers the crew a job: if they help him sneak River into an Alliance Hospital on Ariel so he can run diagnostic imaging on her, he'll tell them where to find medical supplies that will fetch an enormous price on the black market.
	"War Stories"	December 6, 2002	1AGE09	10.
	Wash insists he be allowed to accompany Mal on a mission instead of Zoe... and immediately regrets it when the two are captured by Adelei Niska -- the client who previously hired Mal to steal the medicine bound for Paradiso.
	"Trash"	June 28, 2003	1AGE12	11.
	Mal is surprised to discover his old war buddy's new bride is Saffron (from Our Mrs Reynolds), he's even more suspicious when she offers him a partnership in a heist after he blows her cover.
	"The Message"	July 15, 2003	1AGE13	12.
	Jayne opens a package from his mother that contains an orange/yellow wool cap with ear flaps and a pom-pom -- Mal and Zoe open a package to discover the body of their old war buddy, Tracey. Winner? Definitely Jayne.
	"Heart of Gold"	August 19, 2003	1AGE10	13.
	The crew comes to the aid of an unlicensed bordello when its madam contacts Inara for help.
	"Objects in Space"	December 13, 2002	1AGE11	14.
	Everyone is caught off-guard when a bounty hunter looking for River sneaks aboard Serenity while the ship is in deep space and methodically begins taking down the crew.

For other uses, see Serenity.

Serenity
Directed by	Joss Whedon
Produced by	Christopher Buchanan David V. Lester Barry Mendel Alisa Tager
Written by	Joss Whedon
Starring	Nathan Fillion Summer Glau Adam Baldwin Chiwetel Ejiofor Gina Torres Alan Tudyk Morena Baccarin Jewel Staite Sean Maher Ron Glass David Krumholtz
Music by	David Newman
Cinematography	Jack N. Green
Editing by	Lisa Lassek
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	September 29, 2005 (Australia) September 30, 2005 (USA) October 7, 2005 (UK)
Running time	119 min.
Country	United States
Language	English, Chinese, Russian
Budget	$39,000,000
Preceded by	Serenity: Those Left Behind
IMDb profile

Serenity is a 2005 science fiction film written and directed by Joss Whedon. It is set in the universe of the cancelled Fox science fiction television series Firefly, taking place a few months after the events of the final episode. Like the television series that spawned it, Serenity is a science fiction Western, using elements of both genres. The film was released in the US on September 30, 2005.

Set 500 years in the future, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a transport and cargo ship. Their lives of petty crime are interrupted by a psychic passenger who carries a dangerous secret.

Contents 1 Production 2 Synopsis 3 Marketing campaign 3.1 Sneak previews 3.2 Viral marketing 4 Critical and popular reception 5 Cast 6 Themes 6.1 Belief 6.2 Totalitarianism 6.3 Sin 6.4 Future culture 6.5 Literary and film allusions 7 Soundtrack 8 DVD release 9 Sequels 10 Spin-offs 10.1 Videos 10.2 Books 10.3 Comics 10.4 Role-playing game 11 Trivia 12 References 13 External links

[edit] Production

Jane Espenson, one of the writers of Buffy and Firefly, announced in June 2003 at a Buffy convention in the UK that Whedon was writing a script for a Firefly movie. Actors Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin confirmed this on the official Firefly forum, as did Whedon in several interviews. Universal Studios acquired the movie rights to Firefly.

On March 2, 2004, according to an article in Variety, the movie was officially greenlighted to enter production with a $40 million budget. Principal photography started on June 3, 2004. Joss Whedon said that the film would be released as Serenity, in order to differentiate it from the TV series. All nine principal cast members from the television series (Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk, Gina Torres, Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin, Nathan Fillion, Ron Glass, Sean Maher, and Summer Glau) returned for the movie.

The entire Firefly set had to be rebuilt from scratch for the film, using frozen images from the Firefly DVD set. ZOIC, the CG-rendering company that produced the graphics for the series, also had to perform a complete overhaul of their computer model of Serenity, as its television model would not stand up to high-definition cinema screens (and future HD DVD resolution). The set for the failed colony, Miranda, was filmed on location at Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona, California. (The building into which the Alliance ship is crashed is the DRHS Band and Orchestra's rehearsal room.)

On September 17, 2004 Joss Whedon announced on the movie's official site that shooting had been completed.

[edit] Synopsis

The resources of Earth have been depleted. Humanity has moved to another star system and terraformed many of the planets. All the planets are controlled by the supposedly peace-loving, but actually authoritarian, Alliance. A frontier justice still holds sway farther from the "core planets", where outlaws like the crew of Serenity can scrape out a living if they keep clear of Alliance forces and the Reavers, savage and cannibalistic humans who dwell beyond the outer planets and raid the Alliance worlds around the rim.

The film opens with Simon Tam (Sean Maher) in the process of breaking his sister River (Summer Glau) out of an Alliance facility where she is being experimented upon. After the pair escape into a ship, the adventure is revealed to be a recording being viewed by the Operative, an Alliance agent working on behalf of Parliament with unspecified (but clearly very great) authority and responsibility. After a brief discussion between the Operative and one of the doctors in charge of the Alliance facility, the Operative accuses the doctor of allowing vital government information to fall into dangerous hands, alluding to River's psychic "gleaning" of Alliance officials who monitored her in person. The Operative quickly kills the doctor's bodyguards with an archaic sword. The doctor himself attempts to flee, but the Operative paralyzes him with a pressure-point blow to the side of his chest, and lets him fall on the upraised sword. He begins his search for the Tam siblings.

Sometime later, Serenity is on the way to another job; however, the ship is badly in need of repair, and the primary buffer panel comes loose from the bow of the ship in the heat of atmospheric re-entry. In order to earn her continued passage, River accompanies Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), Jayne (Adam Baldwin), and Zoë (Gina Torres) on a mission to steal the payroll of an outer planet security company financed by the Alliance. After a rough landing during which pieces of the ship fall off, the crew pulls off the robbery, narrowly avoiding capture by a Reaver raiding party when River is able to telepathically sense their approach. Wash (Alan Tudyk), the ship's pilot (and Zoë's husband) brings the ship to intercept the crew's surface vehicle, saving the crew from a grisly fate.

Simon, now the crew's doctor (and the obvious crush of mechanic Kaylee (Jewel Staite)), angrily reacts to the captain's willingness to put his younger sister in such danger. Captain Reynolds responds by suggesting they leave at the next planet they land on, Beaumonde (a planet they were on their way to in "Our Mrs. Reynolds"), where the crew plans to sell their loot. Simon agrees. The Tams do indeed disembark at Beaumonde, but join the crew at the bar where the captain will haggle with their clients. After staring transfixed at a video broadcast, River suddenly attacks the bar's patrons. Despite being a 90 pound (41 kg) girl, she manages to incapacitate everyone, including Jayne, and is about to shoot Captain Reynolds when Simon arrives and shouts a phrase in Russian, causing her to fall asleep.

Simon explains to the captain that, during her captivity by the Alliance, she was trained and conditioned to become an assassin. The only thing (short of death) that can stop her once this conditioning has been triggered is the "safe word" he uttered. Despite knowledge of this new danger and his anger at not being told about the possibility of carrying a potential living weapon, the captain allows Simon and River to continue traveling on Serenity.

The crew contacts Mr. Universe (David Krumholtz), a reclusive techno-geek who dwells with his robotic wife on a planet surrounded by an opaque ion cloud. After watching the security camera footage of the bar on Beaumonde, Mr. Universe discovers that River's outburst was triggered by a subliminal message in a seemingly harmless cartoon advertisement that had been broadcast all over the Alliance during the previous weeks. He tells the crew that before her attack, River had whispered the name "Miranda." He also notes that the footage has been viewed by someone else with high Alliance clearance.

Fearing Alliance pursuit, the crew takes refuge in the Haven mining colony with Shepherd Book (Ron Glass), a priest who once traveled with Serenity's crew. Book warns Mal that the Alliance agent pursuing River is likely to be an "Operative" and very dangerous. Shortly thereafter, the captain receives a call from Inara (Morena Baccarin), another former passenger. Their conversation is awkward but pleasant enough — with no arguing — leading Mal and Zoe to conclude that it's a trap, but they decide to visit Inara anyway, as she is clearly in some danger. Mal's fears are realized; Inara is being manipulated by the ruthless and nameless Alliance Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor). The Operative offers to let the captain go on his way if he turns River over to him, but thanks to Inara's quick thinking, she and the captain escape the Operative and return to Serenity, which takes off undetected.

Another of River's outbursts shows the crew the meaning of "Miranda". It is the name of an outer rim planet, which had once been inhabited but was thought to be wiped out in a terraforming accident. River had subconsciously learned something mysterious about the planet when she came in telepathic contact with a member of the Alliance Parliament during her training. Traveling to Miranda to learn more would require crossing Reaver territory, which the crew members agree would be suicide, so instead Serenity returns to Haven and Shepherd Book.

On arrival, the crew discovers that the outpost has been ravaged by Alliance forces, its inhabitants killed. Mal finds Book, who has shot down the attacking ship; mortally wounded, he dies in Mal's arms. Several other outposts that had harbored Serenity in the past have also been destroyed. Captain Reynolds receives a message from the Operative claiming responsibility, and promising more of the same until River is turned over.

Mal comes out and orders that Serenity be remodeled to look like a Reaver ship, which involves painting and mutilating the hull, making a dangerous modification to the engine to leak radiation, arming the weaponless cargo vessel with the settlers' cannon, and tying the bodies of the dead settlers to the prow. Everyone protests, but Mal furiously informs them that they can either do what he says or leave the ship now. Serenity, now painted red and looking far more menacing, leaves for Miranda. Sneaking through a fleet of Reaver vessels, the ship finally reaches the other side without incident.

Upon reaching Miranda, the crew discovers a normal, terraformed planet with a completely habitable earth-like environment — but the sprawling cities that dot the planet's surface are empty. Inside the buildings and cars are badly decomposed corpses, without apparent cause of death. There are no signs of violence or disease. It is as if the people simply died.

The crew discover a log recorded by an Alliance search and rescue team after the disaster. According to the log, the Alliance administered the chemical substance G-23 paxilon hydrochlorate, or simply "Pax", to the populace. It was supposed to suppress aggression and thus render the planet free of violence. An unfortunate side effect was that the populace had stopped working, eating, or indeed caring about anything. They simply gave up on life and died in their newfound nonaggressive state. However, approximately a tenth of a percent of the population — some 30,000 persons — had the opposite reaction to the drug. Becoming extremely aggressive and mentally unstable, they mutilated their own bodies and became cannibalistic; a group of them raped, killed, and ate the researchers, one such attack even being recorded on video. They eventually left the planet and became the Reavers. Thus, the Alliance was responsible for the creation of this menace.

Everyone is sickened by this revelation, but none more so than Mal. This was exactly the sort of thing that the Browncoats fought to prevent: the Alliance's belief that they can make people "better"; that everyone must conform to them, regardless of the cost or consequence. For the first time in years, Mal is moved by something greater than himself; a belief, something he thought he'd lost in the Battle of Serenity Valley.

"This report is maybe twelve years old. Parliament buried it, and it stayed buried 'til River dug it up. This is what they feared she knew. And they were right to fear, 'cause there's a whole universe of folk who are gonna know it too. They're gonna see it. Somebody has to speak for these people.

Y'all got on this boat for different reasons, but y'all are come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. 'Cause as sure as I know anything I know this: they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground, swept clean. A year from now, ten, they'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more running. I aim to misbehave."

The plan is to reveal this secret to all the worlds by using the transmitter equipment belonging to Mr. Universe. Unfortunately, the Operative has predicted this, and is already waiting at Mr. Universe's headquarters, along with an Alliance fleet. When just about to leave Reaver territory, Serenity opens fire upon a Reaver ship. The ensuing chase by all the nearby Reaver warships causes the previously lone Serenity to emerge from Reaver space flanked by a large force of deadly Reaver ships, while the Alliance fleet was waiting near the Reaver space with the intention to destroy Serenity. There is a massive battle between the Alliance fleet and the Reaver fleet, as Wash steers Serenity towards the planet with both the Alliance and the Reavers trying to destroy them as well as each other. During the attack, the Operative's ship is destroyed, but he flees the battle in an escape pod and follows the crew to the surface.

Serenity is followed by a Reaver ship, which fires an electro-magnetic pulse at them, disabling power. Wash is able to restore emergency power at the last minute and effect a crash landing. While Serenity suffers massive damage including having one of its engines torn off, it looks like the crew is out of danger. As everyone begins to relax, a Reaver harpoon suddenly smashes through the window, impaling Wash, who dies instantly. There is no time to mourn, and Mal pulls Zoë away from Wash's dead body, barely saving her from another harpoon fired by the Reavers into the cockpit. Fleeing Serenity to continue their assumed mission of getting the word out about Miranda, the crew decides to set up a last stand in a small corridor to hold off the Reavers and give Mal the time he needs to make way to Mr. Universe and transmit the message.

Mal arrives to find Mr. Universe has been killed. However, before he died, he was able to leave a pre-recorded message with his robotic wife which informs Mal that there is a secondary transmitter in another area of the complex. Meanwhile, the crew is losing ground to the Reavers and is forced to retreat when Zoë and Kaylee are injured. The Operative arrives on the planet and runs into the robotic wife, who repeats the message, informing him where the secondary transmitter is. The crew try to close the blast door, but it does not close completely. This buys them some time, but when Simon, the doctor, is hit by a stray bullet, there is no one to tend to the injured. He tells them he needs his medical bag which he left on the other side of the door. River dives through the gap in the blast door, throws the medical kit back through and closes the door to protect the crew before being swarmed by Reavers.

Mal reaches the second transmitter and finds that it is inconveniently located on a platform surrounded by a large drop. He is about to attempt to reach the platform when the Operative shows up. They have a stand-off, which results in Mal being quicker on the draw and shooting the stun gun out of the Operative's hand. Mal then atempts to reach the transmitter, but the Operative follows him. A fight begins between the two men, with the Operative employing the same pressure point that killed the Alliance doctor at the opening of the film — however, in Mal's case, that particular nerve cluster fell victim to a piece of shrapnel during the war, and Mal had it moved.

Mal doesn't kill the Operative, and instead disables him with a similar move and leaves him trussed up to watch the recording from Miranda. Returning to the crew, he is informed that River was trapped on the other side of the blast door with the Reavers — presumably killed. The door opens a moment later to reveal River, standing with her head bowed around a roomful of dead Reavers. After a moment, Alliance troops blow in the wall behind her and enter, but instead of giving permission to shoot her, the Operative orders the squad to stand down.

After the crew buries the bodies of their friends Mr. Universe, Shepherd Book, and Wash on Haven, the crew patches up Serenity in a repair yard on the planet Persephone. Just as they are ready to leave, the Operative makes his own exit, promising Mal they will never encounter each other again. In the payoff to a subplot from both the series and the film, Simon and Kaylee finally make love. Zoe tells Mal that "she's tore up plenty, but she'll fly true," ostensibly referring to the ship but also describing her own state, and Serenity heads back into outer space, with Mal in Wash's seat at the helm, and River acting as his copilot. The final shot shows the ship flying off triumphantly, until a random piece of metal (presumably the primary buffer panel from earlier in the film) flies from the back of the ship and hits the camera, prompting the movie's final line from Mal: "What was that?"

[edit] Marketing campaign

[edit] Sneak previews

In addition to traditional advertising methods, Universal sought a few unique approaches to promoting the film. Hoping to generate buzz through early word-of-mouth, Universal launched an unprecedented 3-stage campaign to sneak-preview the movie in 35 US cities where the television series had earned high Nielsen Ratings. The first stage of screenings was held in 10 cities on May 5, 2005. The second stage, held on May 26, 2005, added an additional 20 cities and was also the source of controversy when individual theatres began selling tickets before the official announcement was released, leading some shows to be sold out before being announced. The third round of screenings, with an additional 5 cities, was held on June 23, 2005. The screenings proved a success, with all three stages selling out in less than 24 hours, the second-stage screening in DC sold out in a mere 22 minutes and the second screening in Phoenix sold out in 8.

Australian audiences were the first outside North America to get preview screenings. After an exclusive Sydney test screening, Melbourne held a public screening on July 21, 2005. This was followed by a film festival screening on the Gold Coast on July 22. Public preview screenings were held in Adelaide and Sydney on August 1, and Perth on August 4. Further screenings were held in Victoria, Tasmania, and Queensland in late August. A showing of the finished film billed as the "Gala Premiere" was held at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on August 22,^[1] followed by an interview with Whedon the next day,^[2] and preview screenings across the United Kingdom and Ireland on August 24, in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Dublin. Several of the screenings in all the countries featured the attendance of Joss Whedon and the film's cast, followed by a Q&A session with the audience. Whedon also attended two Q&A sessions after sold-out screenings of the finished film in Melbourne and Sydney on September 12 and 13.

[edit] Viral marketing

Universal also utilized a viral marketing campaign, producing five short videos that were released on the internet between August 16 and September 5. These short films, known as the "R. Tam sessions," depicted excerpts of counselling sessions with the character River Tam while she was being held at a "learning facility" known only as "The Academy". The counsellor in these sessions is played by Joss Whedon himself. Taking place before the events of the film or the television series, the videos shed some light on the experiments and torture "The Academy" conducted on River. They "document" her change from a shy child prodigy to the mentally unstable character of the television series.^[3]

On October 5, 2005, Universal also made the first nine minutes of Serenity available online.^[4] A browser plugin allowed the viewer to see the opening of the film in full-screen broadcast quality (bandwidth permitting). The clip was removed a few weeks later.

[edit] Critical and popular reception

Serenity received mostly positive reviews from film critics, with a "fresh" rating of 81%^[8] from the movie review website Rotten Tomatoes, which compiles reviews from a wide range of film critics. Ebert & Roeper gave the film "Two Thumbs Up," and The San Francisco Chronicle called it a triumph,^[9] while The New York Times described it as a modest but superior science fiction film.^[10]

However, some reviewers felt the film was unable to overcome its television origins, and did not successfully accomplish the transition to the big screen. USA Today wrote that "the characters are generally uninteresting and one-dimensional, and the futuristic Western-style plot grows tedious" while Variety declared that the film "bounces around to sometimes memorable effect but rarely soars".

Despite critical acclaim and Internet buzz, Serenity performed modestly at best at the box office. Although several pundits predicted a #1 opening,^[11][12][13] the film opened at #2 in the United States, taking in $10.1 million its first weekend, spending two weeks in the top ten, and totalling a box office gross of $25.5 million.^[14] Movie industry analyst Brandon Gray described Serenity's box office performance as "like a below average genre picture".^[15]

Serenity's international box office results were mixed, with strong openings in the UK, Portugal and Russia, but poor results in Spain, Australia, France and Italy. Universal International Pictures cancelled the film's theatrical release in at least seven countries, planning to release it directly to DVD instead. The box office income outside the United States was $13.3 million, with a worldwide total of $38.8 million,^[16] slightly less than the film's $39 million budget, which doesn't include the promotion and advertising costs. The film's creators and supporters are hoping that strong DVD sales, similar to those of the Firefly television series, may lead to a sequel production. As of 2006, Joss Whedon himself has stated in at least one online interview that because of lackluster box-office performance, Serenity will not see a sequel. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Nathan Fillion	Mal
Gina Torres	Zoe
Alan Tudyk	Wash
Morena Baccarin	Inara
Adam Baldwin	Jayne
Jewel Staite	Kaylee
Sean Maher	Simon
Summer Glau	River
Ron Glass	Shepherd Book
Chiwetel Ejiofor	The Operative
David Krumholtz	Mr. Universe
Michael Hitchcock	Dr. Mathias
Sarah Paulson	Dr. Caron
Yan Feldman	Mingo
Rafael Feldman	Fanty

[edit] Themes

[edit] Belief

Throughout the film, the beliefs of both the protagonist (Mal) and the antagonist (the Operative) are constantly being called into question, both by themselves and their enemies. It is the Operative and his actions, combined with the urgings of Shepherd Book and the discovery of the secret of Miranda, that convince Mal that he needs a belief in something in order to continue. In contrast, it is both Mal and the discovery of the secret of Miranda which forces the Operative to truly examine the Alliance, who he had willfully followed and blindly believed, and whether or not they are really worthy of his blind devotion.

[edit] Totalitarianism

In the film, the Alliance is presented as a mostly benevolent government that has over-extended itself. After waging the Unification War and bringing the whole planetary system under their rule, it set out to make life better for the common people. It brought in a system of government, cheap and available public services (health-care, police forces, etc.) and an enlightened way of thinking. However, the drawback of all the Alliance's benefits is that it demanded the sacrifice of basic personal freedoms. People are taught how to think about the world around them and the people in it. In effect, the Alliance is a benevolent Orwellian society.

It is this totalitarianism that Mal and the crew of Serenity are challenging in the film. They are content to ignore the Alliance and avoid it wherever possible until they discover the physical and ethical atrocities committed on the planet Miranda by members of the Alliance. The horrifying fact that the Alliance unintentionally created the Reavers, the ultimate in human brutality and evil, is secondary to the revelation that the Alliance attempted to biologically alter human beings to fit into its own view of how humans should think and act - and that it honestly believed that it had the right to do so.

During the Unification War, Mal and Zoe were soldiers for The Independent Faction, who were fighting the Alliance's belief that it had the right to govern how people thought and behaved. They believed in the freedom of a person to make their own decisions, either good or bad. In the film, the protagonist and his crew still fight for this.

[edit] Sin

In the film, The Operative discusses his ideas of sin. The Operative believes that sin is something that should be exterminated; that it is the scum of humanity that should be eradicated in order for the human race to realize its potential. Since he sees his actions on behalf of the Alliance as most definitely sinful, the Operative acknowledges that, even though he works to create a better world, he will never be able to live as part of it.

[edit] Future culture

Serenity is one of several films set in the future that speculates how popular culture might evolve. Others like this include Blade Runner, A Clockwork Orange and The Fifth Element.

This future envisioned in Serenity has two political and cultural centers: Euro-American and Chinese. Characters all speak English and Mandarin, with the latter language reserved for the strongest curse words and the most affectionate diminutives. The Chinese spoken in the film is however not the standard Beijing version of Mandarin, but includes some Taiwan-specific slang. English in Serenity also has its own slang; for example, where 21st century people might say "neat" or "cool", the characters in Serenity say "shiny". While these two are the dominant languages of the film, other languages are also spoken in the Firefly / Serenity universe, including Russian (spoken by Simon during the movie). Arabic and Hebrew signage are also seen.

As well, in the Firefly / Serenity universe, the space inhabited by humans was roughly divided into the Alliance and Independent territory, until the Alliance became war-focused and wiped out some Independents.

[edit] Literary and film allusions

Several of the names in the film have a particular significance, including "Miranda" (the name of the ill-fated planet where a social-engineering drug was tested) and "Pax" (the name of the drug).

The name of the planet "Miranda" translates from Latin as "a thing to behold" or "a thing that must be marveled at". Serenity's Miranda shares its name with Miranda, one of the moons of Uranus; both are ultimately derived from Miranda in The Tempest. Joss Whedon explains in the DVD commentary track that the planet "Miranda" received its name in reference to a line spoken by Shakespeare's Miranda in The Tempest, Act V, scene I: "O brave new world, / That has such people in't!" The Alliance had hoped that Miranda would be a new kind of world, filled with peaceful, happy people. Ultimately, of course, the reference becomes ironic. Also note that the Shakespearean character Miranda is the daughter of Prospero, a sorcerer who uses magic to control the lives of the other characters. The dead world of Miranda may therefore be seen as the "offspring" of the Alliance, which controls the lives of its subjects. It is also of note that the planet on which River was conditioned is called Ariel, which is also the name of a character in The Tempest (who represents the wind). The aforementioned quotation from The Tempest also gave the title to the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, which portrays an orderly but passionless society in which the populace are kept in check by means of a drug, Soma. Huxley described his novel as a "negative utopia". Like the World State of Brave New World, the Alliance in Serenity attempts to create a perfect society, but their manipulation leads to the exact opposite.

Serenity makes several references to the movie Forbidden Planet. These include the name of the failed colony, Miranda (Forbidden Planet is based upon The Tempest), and the two vessels labeled C57D, which was the callsign of the main spacecraft in Forbidden Planet. All the references to Forbidden Planet take place on the "lost" world of Miranda, and the logic behind this in-joke would seem to be this: in Forbidden Planet, a spaceship visits a dead world whose inhabitants had gone extinct after an attempt to use technology to improve their lives to godlike status failed, releasing their inner id, which destroyed them entirely. In Serenity, humans attempt to use technology to perfect their world, resulting in the unbound id of the Reavers, who destroy everything.

"Pax", the chemical that the Alliance used to try to pacify the people on Miranda, is named for the Latin word for "peace". The Latin "pax" is most notably used in the term Pax Romana, the period during the rule of the Roman Empire where they pacified regions, sometimes forcefully, which had suffered from the quarrels between rival leaders. The Roman historian Tacitus, in his Agricola, quotes the chieftain of a barbarian tribe resisting Roman hegemony as saying ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant: meaning "where [the Romans] create a desolation, they call it pax (peace)".

[edit] Soundtrack

Main article: Serenity (soundtrack)

The soundtrack to the film was released on September 27, 2005. It was composed by David Newman, and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony under Newman's direction. According to director Joss Whedon's sleeve notes for the album, Newman was recommended by Universal's music executives when he requested a musician capable of "everything." It is of note that the acoustic guitar version of the Ballad of Serenity, which was used at the end of the film's credits, is absent from the soundtrack.

[edit] DVD release

Serenity was released on DVD, UMD and VHS in North America on December 20, 2005. It quickly went to #1 in sales on Amazon.com.^[17] It also spent two weeks in the top ten on Billboard's Top DVD Sales charts, peaking at #3. As of January 15, 2006, the DVD/VHS rentals of the film have grossed around $9,190,000.^[18]

Features include:

• Available subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Available audio tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Commentary by: Writer/Director Joss Whedon
• Deleted scenes and outtakes
• "Future History: The Story of Earth That Was"
• "What's in a Firefly"
• "Re-Lighting the Firefly"
• Joss Whedon introduction
• There is also an easter egg on the U.S. edition that features a small featurette on the "Fruity Oaty Bar" commercial, entitled "We'll Have A Fruity Oaty Good Time".

On February 8, 2006, the film was released as a two-disc set in Australia (Region 4) and parts of Europe (Region 2). In addition to the supplemental material found on the North American (Region 1) release, this release contains new features. At present, disc 2 is exclusive only to Australia and Benelux — Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. It was released in Germany as part of the special edition^[19] However, other international territories may decide to release the 2nd disc as well.

Added material for disc 1:

• A Filmmaker's Journey: Journey with Joss from Script to Screen (This will be on all international DVDs, but not the US version.).

Added material for disc 2:

• Joss Whedon Q&A session filmed at FOX Studios in Sydney
• Extended scenes
• "Take a Walk on Serenity": cast and crew take us on a special tour of the Serenity ship
• "The Green Clan": feature on cinematographer Jack Green and his team

Serenity was chosen as one of the first HD DVDs to be released. The Serenity HD DVD was released on April 18, 2006. On the day of its release, it ranked in the later 100s on Amazon.com in top selling DVDs. Given the low demand for HD DVDs at this point, this is quite notable.

[edit] Sequels

Fans of Firefly had hoped that if Serenity was successful, it might lead either to a revival of the television series or a film franchise (colloquially referred to as the "Big Damn Trilogy", or BDT). The former was always unlikely, since Fox still owns the Firefly television rights and Joss Whedon refuses to work for Fox again.^[20] Fans' hopes for further theatrical films appear to have been partially dashed by Serenity's poor box office showing. However, on December 1, 2005, IGN Filmforce reported that Universal had expressed an interest in making a Serenity TV movie for broadcast on the Sci Fi Channel (which is owned by Universal), and eventual DVD sale. It is expected that commissioning of a television sequel would be contingent on strong DVD sales of Serenity.^[21] Joss Whedon, in response to the many rumors and speculations, has always said that nothing will be decided until the DVD sales are known.

In February 2006, a rumor swept the internet that a number of the starring actors were seen emerging from Paramount Studios.^[22] This rumor has led some to believe that a continuation of the story may be planned after all. However, Joss Whedon himself debunked the rumor in a post at WHEDONesque.com.^[23]

On June 23, 2006 a number of fans organized "Serenity Day", spreading word to all fans to purchase a copy of Serenity on in an attempt to convince Universal that a sequel would be profitable. The significance of this day is that June 23, 2006 is the one-year anniversary of the third and final advance screening of Serenity prior to its release, and also Joss Whedon's birthday. The impact of the event could be seen from Serenity reaching #2 in the Amazon DVD Charts.^[24], the highest ranking the DVD reached since January 16. ^[25]

[edit] Spin-offs

[edit] Videos

Main article: R. Tam sessions

The R. Tam sessions, which are set before the film and TV series, were released unofficially by Whedon via the internet from August 16 to September 5 of 2005. They were meant as a form of viral marketing for the film.

[edit] Books

A novelization of the film was written by Keith R. A. DeCandido, and published on August 30, 2005.

Serenity: The Official Visual Companion was written by Joss Whedon, published by Titan Books, and released on September 1, 2005 in paperback. It contained the film's screenplay, along with other supplemental features such as concept art, film images, and a map of the 'verse.

[edit] Comics

Main article: Serenity: Those Left Behind

Bridging the gap between the end of the television series and the beginning of the movie is a three-issue comic book series entitled Serenity: Those Left Behind. The comic is written by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews, illustrated by Will Conrad and Laura Martin, and published by Dark Horse Comics. The story focuses on the crew of Serenity taking a salvage job from Badger following a botched theft on a backwater planet, and the pursuit of River by the ominous blue-gloved men seen in the television series. The story is considered part of the Firefly/Serenity canon. Each issue of the series features three different covers, with each cover featuring one of the nine main characters, each by a different illustrator, including Joe Quesada, Bryan Hitch, Tim Bradstreet and John Cassaday. The first issue was published in July 2005, and the final one appeared in September. The comics quickly sold out on release, with both the #1 and #2 issues going into second printings. Many comic book retailers reported that it was their highest selling comic those months, in part because of the multiple covers, but also because it attracted a group of customers who are not traditionally comic book buyers. The comics were later reissued as a trade paperback compilation.

It has been recently confirmed that Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews will write more Serenity comics for Dark Horse. The new comics are expected to be released sometime in mid-to-late 2006 or early 2007.

[edit] Role-playing game

A role-playing game entitled Serenity, published by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd, was released in 2005. This was followed by Serenity: Out in the Black by Tracy and Laura Hickman.

[edit] Trivia

• During the short television run of the Firefly series, it was not made clear whether the planets and moons depicted were located in one planetary system or many (the latter of which would suggest that Serenity's propulsion was capable of faster-than-light travel). The opening narration of the film makes it clear that the planets and moons are in one system with "dozens of planets and hundreds of moons." This is supported by production documents published in Serenity: The Official Visual Companion.

• Renowned comic book artist Bernie Wrightson, co-creator of Swamp Thing, contributed concept drawings for the Reavers.^[26] Other comic book artists who contributed to the production design include Joshua Middleton and Leinil Francis Yu (Visual Companion).

• The Blue Sun logo is marked on cargo crates in Serenity's hold. Blue Sun is a mega-corporation in the series that has close ties with the government. In one scene Jayne also drinks from a blue bottle with the The Blue Sun logo on it.

• The safeword phrase that Simon uses to shut River down, "Eta kuram na smekh", is a Russian expression ("Это курам на смех"). Literally, it means, "That's for chickens to laugh at" — a Russian idiom for "That's ridiculous."^[27] The sense of the phrase is "That's so ridiculous it would make a chicken laugh". Normally, it would be used to disparage something (for example, a payment) as insufficient or absurd. The English subtitles on the DVD incorrectly list the line as "[speaking Chinese]".

• Science fiction author Orson Scott Card called Serenity "the best science fiction film ever."^[28]

• Summer Glau has confirmed at several conventions that she mentioned to Joss during the filming of Firefly that she wanted to be the pilot. At the end of Serenity, River does indeed help pilot the ship.

• Leading up to the film's release, many fans on internet messageboards were known to refer to the film as the "Big Damn Movie" or the "BDM", as a play on the phrase "Big Damn Heroes", which was uttered in the Firefly episode Safe.

• According to Adam Baldwin, the minigun Jayne uses at the end of the film is nicknamed "Lux", after the message board handle — LuxLucre — of devoted fan Kerry Pearson. Pearson died of complications from diabetes. Pearson was best known for creating fan art that featured the characters from Firefly in a "South Park" cartoon style.

• In the screenplay for Serenity published in Serenity: The Official Visual Companion, Mal's threat to the crew at the end of the scene when he expresses his determination with "I will shoot you down" was originally scripted as "I will fucking shoot you".

• In the DVD extra "Future History: The Story of Earth That Was", English subtitles erroneously quote Joss as saying "And that, of course, makes me think of the Millennium Vulcan." He was actually referring to the Millennium Falcon, a famous spaceship from the Star Wars films.

• The Fruity Oaty Bar commercial is partially inspired by Mr. Sparkle, the mascot of a fictional brand of dish-washing detergent, who was featured in The Simpsons episode "In Marge We Trust". The octopus featured in the Fruity Oaty Bar commercial can be seen as a toy in the background of the original Mr. Sparkle commercial. According to IMDB.com, the creators responsibile for the Fruity Oaty Bar animation and jingle are Mark Brooks and Peter Gilstrap (of "Gary the Rat," and "Lil' Pimp" fame).

• Despite the Alliance officially denying the existence of Reavers, The Operative mentions them several times. Note, however, that the Alliance officially denies the existence of the Operative as well.

• When Mal is awoken by Inara, a scar is present on Mal's chest from where Crow stabbed him in the 'Train Job' episode. Oddly enough, when we see Mal at the end of the episode 'Trash', the scar is nowhere to be found.

• Beginning in January 2006, fans began organizing charity screenings of Serenity^[29] to benefit Equality Now, an organization supported by Joss Whedon. By mid-June, 41 such screenings had been confirmed for cities in Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, and the United States, and as of June 19, there were 47 scheduled screenings. The project is referred to as "Serenity Now/Equality Now", and was coordinated through Can't Stop The Serenity(sic), where a full list of screenings is also available.

[edit] References

• DeCandido, Keith R.A. Serenity. August 30, 2005. ISBN 1416507558.
• Whedon, Joss. Serenity: The Visual Companion. September 1, 2005. ISBN 1845760824.

1. ^ Serenity at the Edinburgh International Film Festival
2. ^ Reel Life: Joss Whedon Live Onstage Interview at the Edinburgh International Film Festival
3. ^ R_Tam_Sessions_Full.mov (The site's FAQ states that it was not involved with the making of these videos in any way.)
4. ^ http://video.vividas.com/CDN1/3929_Serenity/web/index.html
5. ^ Films Of The Year at BBC
6. ^ Serenity at FilmFocus
7. ^ The Best of 2005. IGN Film.
8. ^ Serenity (2005) at Rotten Tomatoes
9. ^ Hartlaub, Peter (2005-09-30). 'Serenity' earns director Whedon spot on sci-fi's Mount Rushmore. San Francisco Chronicle.
10. ^ Dargis, Manohla (2005-09-30). Scruffy Space Cowboys Fighting Their Failings. New York Times.
11. ^ Karger, Dave (2005-09-29). Back in Commission. Entertainment Weekly.
12. ^ Gray, Brandon (2005-09-29). BOX OFFICE FORECAST. Box Office Mojo.
13. ^ Box Office Forecast. Box Office Report.
14. ^ Serenity (2005) - Daily Box Office. Box Office Mojo.
15. ^ Gray, Brandon (2005-10-17). 'Fog' Tops Soggy Weekend. Box Office Mojo.
16. ^ Serenity (2005) - International Box Office. Box Office Mojo.
17. ^ Serenity DVD Amazon sales rank tracker. Fireflyfans.net.
18. ^ "Top Renters for Week Ended January 15, 2006". VideoBusiness.com. Retrieved on 2006-03-12.
19. ^ [1]German Special Edition on Amazon.de
20. ^ Completely completed SERENITY screens at Comic-Con! And.... Ain't It Cool News (2005-07-25). Retrieved on 2006-06-24.
21. ^ Exclusive: A Serenity Sequel?. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-01.
22. ^ ? Thread no longer available.
23. ^ Whedon, Joss (February 15, 2006). Joss Whedon post on WHEDONesque.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-08.
24. ^ Serenity DVD Amazon Info Tracker. Fireflyfans.net. Retrieved on 2006-07-01.
25. ^ Serenity Day website. Retrieved on 2006-06-06.
26. ^ Epstein, Daniel Robert (c. 2005-09-30). Interview with Joss Whedon. Suicide Girls. Retrieved on 2006-05-19.
27. ^ eyeofhorus (2005-09-13). "Having a beer with Joss". Serenity Oz (serenitymovie.com.au). Retrieved on 2006-05-19.
28. ^ Card, Orson Scott (September 30, 2005). "Uncle Orson Reviews Everything". Hatrack.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-19.
29. ^ Can't Stop The Serenity.

[edit] External links

• Official web site
• Official Australian web site
• Serenity at the Internet Movie Database
• Firefly and Serenity at Wikia
• Unofficial Serenity Fan Site
• R. Tam Sessions - Session 416 - Site containing all current short videos for the Serenity viral marketing campaign
  • Session 416 - Bypass the introduction into the main site
  • The Pen is Mightier - A fan commentary to the R. Tam sessions
• Posts About Serenity on Whedonesque
• Serenity visual effects interview
• Serenity Shindig From the blog Catallarchy, with Serenity review, Firefly commentary, episode analysis, and miscellaneous thoughts
• Serenity in 2000 words or less (includes spoilers)
• Translations of Chinese used