Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shiny! on blu ray, 9 Jan 2009
The story follows the crew of firefly class vessel Serenity, as they scrape by a living taking dangerous and illegal jobs on the harsh border worlds of the solar system. Quite happy to blur the lines between right and wrong, if it keeps the ship in the air and food on the table. The ship captained by Malcolm Reynolds is home to an assortment of characters, including doctor Simon Tam and his sister River, experimented and left mentally traumatised by the Alliance, the dominant power in the system. The operative sent by the alliance has been dispatched to recover River Tam by any means necessary, with violent and brutal results for the crew of serenity as they are pursued by the alliance as well as desperately trying to avoid the flesh eating reavers...
For the uninitiated Serenity spawned from short lived cult classic Firefly - The Complete Series [2003]. Mixing westerns with science fiction, not traditional sci-fi, no googly headed aliens or phasers, but a strong character driven series effectively translated over to serenity. Sadly it was cut drastically and unfairly short. And a testament to those who worked on the show as well as it's many fans who kept its spirit alive, as it eventually transformed into serenity.
Very much a labour of love and it shows, Whedon's script and direction are of outstanding quality, clearly showing the effort and time spent on it and how much it means to him. Expertly mixing drama, humour and action.
The 'verse in which it is set is also richly detailed everything from the sets to the language is meticulous and you can't help but be drawn into it.
The actors are also fantastic, knowing their roles back to front from firefly's limited run, but to maintain the pace some are inevitably short-changed sadly. A wide assortment, all with their flaws but together strike an undeniable chemistry. From Mal's hot headed, shoot first attitude to Kaylie's caring but meekness, they all play off each other perfectly creating one of the most enjoyable to watch group of richly drawn misfits hurled together and are easily the best thing about the movie.
Onto the disc itself, which takes full advantage of the Blu ray format. The picture is mesmerising one of the best I've seen on a Blu ray disc from the CGI to facial detail, everything it perfectly clear and proves to be visually stunning. Likewise the sound is again excellent, be it David Newman's powerful score, ship engines or extended silences in space the sound or lack of is crystal clear.
Extras wise commentary, intro, out-takes, making of's and deleted scenes from the original release have been transferred over but there a fair bit of new content. Session 416, recordings of interviews with the character River shot with an art house horror feel to them and featuring a rather familiar voice. The green clan focusing on cinematographer Jack green and his family who worked on the film, a selection of new deleted and extended scenes not featured on the previous release, take walk on serenity featuring Nathan Fillon, Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk and Joss Whedon detailing the differences between the original set and the movie set in their usual humours manner.
During the movie itself is the ability to access to Mr. universe compendium, detailing facts on people places etc, a digital tour of serenity displaying facts on the ship at various points. There's also picture in picture feature, little pop ups of interviews and rehearsal footage displayed throughout the film, giving some genuinely interesting and insightful clips on effects and characters that fans will lap up.
Lastly a second audio commentary for this release featuring joss and cast members Fillon, Baldwin,Glass and Glau, who were sadly missing from the previous commentary, and anyone who listened to firefly commentaries know what a hoot they are together, and here proves to be no exception. It can be displayed visually so you can see them talking while the film is playing or listen to it like a standard commentary.
All in all near perfect picture and sound with a host of new extras make this essential purchase for true fans, and for newbies its the best way to experience Whedon's epic. great Blu ray for a great film.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb Sci-Fi, 6 Feb 2009
As a huge fan of Firefly, I like many fans was shocked and disappointed when it was cancelled. So when they released a follow up film I was over the moon! The series itself was a breath of fresh air, pretty much Cowboys and Indians in space, almost like having a whole Star Wars series based around Han Solo (whom the lead character bears more than striking resemblance to!). I bought this when it initially came out on DVD and loved every minute of it, so as soon as it came out on Blu Ray I had to buy it. With superb picture and sound quality, I was not disappointed and enjoyed it all over again. With tons of interesting extras I was very glad I bought this!
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Movie: 4/5 Picture Quality: 4.5/5 Sound Quality: 4.5/5 Extras: 4/5, 31 Jan 2009
Version: ALL / Universal / Region A, B, C
VC-1 BD-50 / Advanced Profile 3
Running time: 1:59:02
Movie size: 33,82 GB
Disc size: 41,58 GB
Total bit rate: 37.89 Mbps
Average video bit rate: 20.53 Mbps
DTS-HD Master Audio English 4309 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4309 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
DTS Audio French 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio French 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio German 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio Italian 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio Japanese 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio Spanish 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio Spanish 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround
DTS Express English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Express English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles: English SDH / Chinese / Danish / Dutch / Finnish / French / German / Greek / Italian / Japanese / Korean / Norwegian / Portuguese / Spanish
Number of chapters: 21
* Bonus material (in standard-definition)
#Film commentary by Joss Whedon
#Film commentary by Joss Whedon and the cast N. Filliom, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau and Ron Glass
#Deleted Scenes
#Introduction by Joss Whedon
#Future History
#What's in a Firefly?
#Re-enlightenment of the Firefly
#The journey of a filmmaker
#Extended Scenes
#A walk on the Serenity
#The Green Clan
#Session 416
* Bonus material (in high-definition):
- U-Control
- BD-Live: My scenes
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