Firefly Discussion (Merged)

Tsyr said:
Ok, here's my little mini-rant on the Starship Troopers movie.

When I first saw it, I nearly stormed out of the theater in revultion. How dare they call that action-packed tripe Starship Troopers. It wasn't 1/100th the story the book was.

And I still agree with that, to an extent, BUT...

Someone got me the DVD of it for my birthday not long after the movie was released... I watched it again... and something hit me.

Don't take it for Starship Troopers, the book.

Yes, I wish they had called it something else, to not degrade the name of Starship Troopers... But if you take it just as what it IS... a slightly campy over-the-top gore and special effects action movie, it's actualy pretty good, with a semblance of a plot thrown in too. As an f/x and gore showcase movie, it's certainly above, IMO, more modern contenders such as Pitch Black, etc. And it has JUST enough of the cool elements from the book to make it fun... The portable nukes (even if they were a bit different in the book), the lashing scene, etc. I just wish they had kept the power-armour and the original deployment method :)
Not a bad way to look at it. I can certainly see your point. I've never read Starship Troopers (been meaning to). I was just expecting more from Verhoven. That and the movie just wasn't that fun for me. There were some entertaining parts, for sure, but not enough to make it a good flim. :(
 

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IMHO...

The show was ... interesting.

You got a captain ("Mal") that looks too young to be a leader, too young even by Kirk's standard (Star Trek has put him to be the youngest Captain in Starfleet). No offense but he has that "baby face" look that one could easily enter into high school should he wishes to be a narc. Apparently he displayed a little of the Buffy mannerism, courtesy of Joss Whedon.

The lady soldier Zoe can rough it up with the boys (actress Gina Torres have starred in Hercules, Xena, Cleopatra: 2025, and recently in Alias) and yet she seem so classy. Is it because she's a married woman (to a pilot)? At least I know who will always be on top. :p

The pilot Wash is ... well, a pilot. Hopefully his character will develop outside of the helm station. He does have a bit of that Texas accent.

The mercenary scoundrel Jayne (actor Adam Baldwin last seen as the super-soldier in The X-Files) is simply a big jack(bleep!). But I have a funny feeling that it is just a facade. He should maintain that persona though.

The ship's engineer Kaylee is pretty. But that's all I got from the first episode.

The on-board medic Simon seems to be conflicting with the ship's captain, while hiding himself and his sister River from the Alliance and the Academy where she was housed until she escaped with her brother's help. River's character will probably be the central focus of a story arc and hope we know more about this young psychic. ("Two by Two, Hands of Blue...")

The Companion Inari is an enigma. I mean obviously, with her looks she can fetch a very high price for her service in any town or city she choose to live in. Why would she be mixed up with the crew of Serenity puzzles me. Intriguing.

Finally, the moral center of Serenity's crew, "Shepherd." In almost every Joss Whedon show he created you always have one who is supposed to be a mentor to the cast, offering wisdom when needed or not needed.

So in this first episode, they got a job to steal some merchandise from a train... very western. Finds out, the merchandise is medicine that is badly needed at the town the train pulled in. Suddenly, Mal let his conscience swayed him. With the help of Inari, Mal and Zoe made it back to their ship in hiding and called the job off. Enter Crow and the goons. A little gunfight, a little knife-throwing, the Mal & Co. eventually defeated them. He tried to convince the tied-up Crow that he no longer wants the job the boss, Crow said something stupid, and he got pushed into the ship's engine intake. One of the goons got smart and complied.

Mal and Zoe tried to sneak in the medicine without notice but was spotted by the town's sheriff and his deputies who decided to let the matter go.

Very western. Very interesting.

I think I'll watch further.

OBTW, that show John Doe took me by surprise. I thought the show's format isn't that interesting but I got hooked instantly. I am looking forward to FOX's Friday Night.
 

I was quite impressed with both Firelfy and John Doe.

Firefly is a wonderful mix of SciFi and Western (which I'm thinking of stealing for my Wild West Buffy game, but thats neither here nor there). The characters are interesting. I like that things are not rosey between everyone. Conflict is a good thing. I'm going to be taping this show. Granted I don't think it will survive... Mainly because it's on Fox and they do not seem to kind of Genre shows other than the X-Files.

John Doe was quite a suprise. I had planned to tune in and watch it, but didn't expect to really care for it too much. However I tuned in and... it was fun. I'm not sure how long they will be able to keep up the general idea, but I will keep watching to see. :)
 

Re: IMHO...

Ranger REG said:
You got a captain ("Mal") that looks too young to be a leader, too young even by Kirk's standard (Star Trek has put him to be the youngest Captain in Starfleet). No offense but he has that "baby face" look that one could easily enter into high school should he wishes to be a narc. Apparently he displayed a little of the Buffy mannerism, courtesy of Joss Whedon.
On the other hand, Serenity isn't exactly a big honkin' warship like the Enterprise - they mentioned that it isn't even armed. I don't doubt that a rather young person could find himself "in command" of a small freight ship with a total crew of five people, himself included (plus four passengers).
 

Ashtal said:
Also, this pilot was modified to suit the suits . . . I wonder if we will ever see the original.

Gah, let's hope not...seen the unaired pilot of Buffy? :)

('course that's kind of an apples and oranges comparison, the Buffy pilot was never meant to air)
 


Re: Re: IMHO...

Staffan said:

On the other hand, Serenity isn't exactly a big honkin' warship like the Enterprise - they mentioned that it isn't even armed. I don't doubt that a rather young person could find himself "in command" of a small freight ship with a total crew of five people, himself included (plus four passengers).

Yeah, I really didn't have a problem with the age of the Captain. As Staffan, mentions, the Serenity certainly doesn't look that impressive, and it seems plausible enough that Mal could be the owner of the thing.

I would like to see how he got the ship. I wonder if that was in the pilot episode that was scrapped (delayed)? Maybe he stole the Serenity or inherited it?
 


Agamon said:


Gah, let's hope not...seen the unaired pilot of Buffy? :)

Oh man... how awful. Thank god they changed it.

"we've secretly replaced chunky/ugly willow with flame-tressed gorgeous willow! let's see if our viewers appreciate it!"

-F
 

John Crichton said:
Not a bad way to look at it. I can certainly see your point. I've never read Starship Troopers (been meaning to). I was just expecting more from Verhoven. That and the movie just wasn't that fun for me. There were some entertaining parts, for sure, but not enough to make it a good flim. :(

Ok, so I missed the premier of Firefly {but I have it on tape, plus the original 2 hour version can be downloaded from some newgroup or other...}

But, on the subject of Starship Troopers... I've read the book and I love the film. While the movie certainly isn't the book, it really is meant to seen in context of it; its more a highly stylized, ironized take on that novel, and Heinlien's work of that period in general. Consider it a parody of the original work.

The films is a black comedy. An indictment and celebration of the fascist underpinnings of action-filled war movies. And I personally believe its also a swipe on the portrayal of youth/beauty culture in Hollywood films. Its not be accident that it sends what could be a Nazi-fied version of the 90210 cast into space to fight alien bugs. It has fewer obvious jokes because its that seemless {airless?} kind of comedy where the whole thing seems like a joke, but no one inside the film acknowledges it. The closest it comes are those wonderful WW2 era newsreel parodies.

Besides, how can you not love a film that puts a psychic Doogie Howser in full SS drag?? As one of the heroes...
 

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