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Rip Snorter

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Bought this set based on some comments and reactions here.  I watched the first couple of episodes, certainly attractive and reasonably well done, but found it pretty incomprehensible.  I suppose to put it in perspective, I had to replace the battery in the DVD remote, unused for a good while, I don't watch TV or even favorite movies very much.  Does it snap into focus after the first few episodes?  No great loss, less than seven bucks landed for the complete series.  Just askin'.

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At the start of each episode there should be a brief narration that sets up how things got the way they are.   Details and backstory come out in each episode.

 

If you bought it new for seven bucks I'm betting it's chopped up like BBQ pork butt.

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1 minute ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

At the start of each episode there should be a brief narration that sets up how things got the way they are.   Details and backstory come out in each episode.

 

If you bought it new for seven bucks I'm betting it's chopped up like BBQ pork butt.

Thanks! All in what appears to be quality packaging, boxed set.  They counterfeit everything these days.  The sound didn't seem that good, but I wrote that off as I'm waiting for my new (price of a nice gun) hearing aids to arrive, or the lack of external speakers on the flat screen.

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I love the show. I have watched it all the way through twice. It does take a couple of episodes to get the lay of things. I do recall being a little confused at first the first time I watched it. Believe it or not the ting that kept me watching was trying to figure out their guns and what they might have started out as then all of a sudden I was hooked. 
 

Really bummed me out when I realized it was only a one season series. 
 

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8 hours ago, Rip Snorter said:

Thanks! All in what appears to be quality packaging, boxed set.  They counterfeit everything these days.  The sound didn't seem that good, but I wrote that off as I'm waiting for my new (price of a nice gun) hearing aids to arrive, or the lack of external speakers on the flat screen.

 

 

I bought a new, quality packaged boxed set of the Andy Griffith Show at Wal-Mart.  There was a different, and rather lackluster, theme song, and the episodes were edited and shorter.  Some movies I've bought at what seems a great price had big chunks out of them.  

Be sure, if it came with the set, to watch the "pilot" movie, Serenity

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I've never seen an episode, but know all about the storyline and may someday buy the boxed set as well as the "pilot" movie that @Subdeacon Joe  mentioned.

I'm a sucker for sci-fi movies. :wub:

 

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Serenity came out years after the series was cancelled. 

 

One season of a pretty good concept, they found out they got cancelled at their Christmas party.

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Just 4 DVDs which cover the entire season.  No great loss.  There is always a chance of the Cult thing happening.  Star Trek was nearly cancelled at the end of the first year, and the original series only ran for three years.  Will have to look for Serenity.

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3 minutes ago, Rip Snorter said:

Just 4 DVDs which cover the entire season.  No great loss.  There is always a chance of the Cult thing happening.  Star Trek was nearly cancelled at the end of the first year, and the original series only ran for three years.  Will have to look for Serenity.

WHERE IS MY SERENITY!? - Meme - MemesHappen

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Just now, Father Kit Cool Gun Garth said:

WHERE IS MY SERENITY!? - Meme - MemesHappen

Did think of that, was originally going to write "I'll need to seek Serenity" but I felt it was too early in the day. 

BTW We have a beer out here called Anger Management - I always order it with a snarl.

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Google the series and you can find the proper order to watch the episodes in. 
 The network executives aired the series out of order as a thinly veiled way to ensure the series would fail. 

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Serenity is knowing which River not to cross.

 

:D

 

When watching it, don't Alpo it and overthink every little detail  Enjoy the story of THAT episode. 

 

Quote

Backstory[edit]

The series takes place in the year 2517, on a variety of planets and moons. The TV series does not reveal whether these celestial bodies are within one star system, only saying that Serenity's mode of propulsion is a "gravity-drive". Re-runs start with Book or Captain Reynolds providing the backstory. Book's narration runs as follows:

After the Earth was used up, we found a new solar system, and hundreds of new Earths were terraformed and colonized. The central planets formed the Alliance and decided all the planets had to join under their rule. There was some disagreement on that point. After the war, many of the Independents who had fought and lost drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance control. Out here, people struggle to get by with the most basic technologies. A ship would bring you work. A gun would help you keep it. A captain's goal was simple: Find a crew. Find a job. Keep flying.[9]

The film Serenity makes clear that the planets and moons are in an extensive system, and production documents related to the film indicate that there is no faster-than-light travel in this universe. The characters occasionally refer to "Earth-that-was", and the film establishes that long before the events in the series, a large population had emigrated from Earth to a new star system in generation ships:[10] "Earth-that-was could no longer sustain our numbers, we were so many." The emigrants established themselves in this new star system, with "dozens of planets and hundreds of moons", and many of these were terraformed, a process that was only the first step in making a planet habitable. The outlying settlements often did not receive any further support in the construction of their civilizations. This resulted in many border planets and moons having forbidding, dry environments, well-suited to the Western genre.

Synopsis[edit]

The show takes its name from the "Firefly-class" spaceship Serenity that the central characters call home. It resembles a firefly in general arrangement and the tail section, analogous to a bioluminescent insectoid abdomen, lights up during acceleration. The ship was named after the Battle of Serenity Valley, where Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds and Corporal Zoe Alleyne were among the survivors on the losing side. It is revealed in "Bushwhacked" that the Battle of Serenity Valley is widely considered to have sealed the Independents' fate.

The Alliance is shown to govern the star system through an organization of "core" planets, following its success in forcibly unifying all the colonies under one government. DVD commentary suggests that the Alliance is composed of two primary "core" systems, one predominantly Western, the other pan-Asian, justifying the mixed linguistic and visual themes of the series. The central planets are firmly under Alliance control, but the outlying planets and moons resemble the American Old West, under little governmental authority. Settlers and refugees on the outlying worlds have relative freedom from the central government but lack the amenities of the high-tech civilization that exists on the inner worlds. The outlying areas of space ("the black") are inhabited by the Reavers, a cannibalistic group of nomadic humans.[11]

The captain of Serenity is Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (Nathan Fillion). The episode "Serenity" establishes that the captain and his first mate Zoe Washburne, née Alleyne (Gina Torres) are veteran "Browncoats" of the Unification War, a failed attempt by the outlying worlds to resist the Alliance. A later episode, "Out of Gas", reveals that Mal bought the spaceship Serenity to live beyond Alliance control. Much of the crew's work consists of cargo runs or smuggling. The main story is that of River Tam (Summer Glau) and her brother Simon (Sean Maher). River is a child prodigy whose brain was subjected to Alliance scientists at a secret government institution; she displays symptoms of schizophrenia and often hears voices. It is later revealed that she is a "reader", one who possesses telepathic abilities. Simon gave up a career as an eminent trauma surgeon in an Alliance hospital to rescue her, and they are fugitives. In the original pilot, "Serenity", Simon joins the crew as a paying passenger with River smuggled on board as cargo. As Whedon states in an episode of a DVD commentary, every show he does is about creating a family.[12] By the last episode, "Objects in Space", the fractured character of River has finally become whole, partly because the others decided to accept her into their "family" on the ship.[12]

Signature show elements[edit]

The show blends elements from the space opera and Western genres, depicting humanity's future in a manner different from most contemporary science fiction programs in that there are no large space battles. Firefly takes place in a multi-social future, primarily a fusion of Western and East Asian societies, where there is gross class inequality. As a result of the Sino-American Alliance, Mandarin Chinese is a common second language; it is used in advertisements, and characters in the show frequently curse in Mandarin. According to the DVD commentary on the episode "Serenity", this was explained as the result of China and the United States being the two superpowers that expanded into space.[13]

The show features slang not used in contemporary culture, such as adaptations of modern words or new words. "Shiny" is frequently used as the real world slang "cool", and "gorram" is used as a mild swear word. Written and spoken Chinese, as well as Old West dialect, are also employed. As one reviewer noted: "The dialogue tended to be a bizarre purée of wisecracks, old-timey Western-paperback patois, and snatches of Chinese."[4]

Tim Minear and Joss Whedon pointed out two scenes that, they believed, articulated the show's mood exceptionally clearly.[12] One scene is in the original pilot "Serenity" when Mal is eating with chopsticks, and a Western tin cup is by his plate; the other is in "The Train Job" pilot when Mal is thrown out of a holographic bar window.[14] The DVD set's "making-of" documentary explains the distinctive frontispiece of the series (wherein Serenity soars over a herd of horses) as Whedon's attempt to capture "everything you need to understand about the series in five seconds."

One of the struggles that Whedon had with Fox was the tone of the show, especially with the main character Malcolm Reynolds. Fox pressured Whedon to make Mal more "jolly", as they feared he was too dark in the original pilot, epitomized by the moment he suggests he might "space" Simon and River, throwing them out of the airlock. Fox was not happy that the show involved the "nobodies" who "get squished by policy" instead of the actual policymakers.[12][15]

 

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It was a great Space Western that was under-promoted and shifted around in multiple time slots till they cancelled it.

Nathan Fillion was asked awhile ago if he would be interested in returning if they reprised the series. He said, “In a minute!”.

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I enjoyed the "hand held" feeling of many of the scenes, poor focus, off center staging and iffy sound.   Also likes the KMA attitude of most of the crew.   My kind of people!

 

It gets better after the fourth of fifth time you watch it. 

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Here is the intended order of the episodes

 

Serenity Part 1 and 2

The Train Job

Bushwhacked

Shindig

Safe

Our Mrs. Reynolds

Jaynestown

Out of Gas

Ariel

War Stories

Trash

The Message

Heart of Gold

Objects in Space

 

Lastly a Movie was made after the show was cancelled to tie up several of the loose ends. Its title is also Serenity.

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2 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Nathan Fillion was asked awhile ago if he would be interested in returning if they reprised the series. He said, “In a minute!”.

Everybody in the cast has said that they'd come back. Not long ago Nathan was asked what he's do if he ever won the California Lottery. Without hesitation, he answered, "I'd buy the rights to Firefly."

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I watched Serenity, and try to act like it doesn't exist considering what occurred. Now that Ron Glass has passed, I don't know that I would enjoy a reboot as much, but I would certainly give it a try. Shepherd Book was my favorite character on the show. "It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps."

 

The first line in my sig comes from the show also.

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Firefly was an awesome series, worth watching again. 
 

I was in an new product design meeting at a sister company in New Jersey years ago. At one point a phone started ringing and the guy cut it off after only 2 or 3 notes.  I recognized it immediately as the Firefly theme song. As he was apologizing to the group for his phone ringing, I simply looked at him and said “geek” with a smile. He smiled and said “you are too, obviously”. :lol:

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Summer Glau was in an episode of Big Bang Theory. It was hilarious. :lol:

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Howdy,

Congrats on a set for seven bucks....

The movie pulls it all together but I dont know

where it fits in.

Maybe watch some episodes then part of the movie....then...

naaa thats too much like work.

I like Firefly treatment of gravity.

Too much gravity in Star Trek.....think about it...or dont.

Best

CR

 

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1 minute ago, Chili Ron said:

Howdy,

Congrats on a set for seven bucks....

The movie pulls it all together but I dont know

where it fits in.

Maybe watch some episodes then part of the movie....then...

naaa thats too much like work.

I like Firefly treatment of gravity.

Too much gravity in Star Trek.....think about it...or dont.

Best

CR

 

Thanks!  I have enough grave concerns at my age! Just looking for some new fun.  Thanks!

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Howdy,

Now I had to watch a few episodes as weather has turned wet and gettin moreso.

I just wish I had some idea of Chinese.

Love that cut down lever gun.

Any one carry one?

Too much fun.

Best

CR

 

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4 hours ago, Chili Ron said:

I just wish I had some idea of Chinese.

Two or three times they use the term mei-mei. That is "little sister". And in an episode I was watching last night they said nee-ha. I learned that as "nee-ha-ma?", which means "how are you". I will assume that nee-ha is an acceptable diminution, the same as shay shay is an acceptable diminuation of shay shay nay ("thank you" in Mandarin).

 

And yes, I am not spelling them the way they are supposed to be spelled. I am spelling them the way they sound.

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Howdy,

More than I knew. 

Thanks.

Any Chinese pards care to help?

Oh come on, SOMEbody in China must be a fan.

Best

CR

 

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One more, which I have not heard yet but I expected it would fit real nice.

 

Ma ma hu hu. Actually means a big confusion, a big trouble.

 

It directly translates as horse horse tiger tiger. And if you think about that - two horses in the same pen with two tigers - you got a big problem.

 

Then there is do-ney-lo-ma, which is extremely obscene, but they might use it anyhow figuring that no one would know it.

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One reason to watch? The re-occurring character played by a young Christina Hendricks. That alone should get you to watch every episode.

 

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Howdy,

Most of the wimminfold were easy on the eyes in that show.

One ugly one in a floral bonnet......

Best

CR

 

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More a Baccarin!

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