Features:
- Color
- Closed-captioned
- Widescreen
Description:
After you've seen all 14 episodes of Firefly contained in this smartly packaged DVD set, you'll be begging for more. The sad irony is, series creator Joss Whedon's ambitious science-fiction Western (Whedon's third series after Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) was canceled after only eleven of these 14 produced episodes had aired on FOX, and its demise was woefully premature. Whedon's generic hybrid suffered an inaugural setback when network executives preferred an action-packed one-hour premiere ("The Train Job") over the intended two-hour pilot "Serenity" (oddly enough, the final episode aired), which provides a better introduction to the show's concept and splendid ensemble cast. Obsessive fans may debate the quirky, semi-fallible logic of combining spaceships with direct parallels to frontier America (it's 500 years in the future, and embattled humankind has expanded into the galaxy, where undeveloped "outer rim" planets struggle with the equivalent of Old West accommodations), but Whedon and his gifted co-writers and directors make it work, at least well enough to fashion a credible context from the incongruous culture-clashing of past, present, and future technologies, along with a polyglot language (the result of two dominant superpowers) that combines English with an abundance of Chinese slang. What makes it work is Whedon's delightfully well-chosen cast and their nine subtly-developed characters (a typically Whedon-esque extended family), each providing a unique perspective on their adventures aboard Serenity, the junky but beloved "Firefly-class" starship they call home. As a veteran of the disadvantaged Independent faction's war against the all-powerful planetary Alliance (think of it as Underdogs vs. Overlords), Serenity captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) leads his compact crew on a quest for survival. They're renegades with an amoral agenda, taking any job that pays well, but Firefly's complex tapestry of right and wrong (and peace vs. violence) is richer and deeper than it first appears. By the time we've gathered tantalizing clues about Blue Sun (an insidious mega-corporation with an as-yet mysterious agenda), its ties to the Alliance, and the traumatizing use of Serenity's resident stowaway as a guinea pig in the development of advanced warfare, it's painfully clear that Firefly was heading for exciting revelations that never came to pass. Fortunately, Whedon was developing a Firefly movie as this DVD set was being released in January 2004, so the ultimate fate of Serenity's crew remains to be seen. In the meantime, these 14 episodes (and enjoyable bonus features) offer everything you'd expect from the creator of Buffy: action, drama, humor, hints of romance, suspense, fine acting, film-quality direction, dazzling special effects, and ample proof that Fox made a glaring mistake in canceling the series. --Jeff Shannon
| 
