Firefly Movie Gets The Green Light 344
An anonymous reader writes "According to FireflyFans.net and Ain't It Cool News, Universal has greenlit production of 'Serenity,' the motion picture based on Joss Whedon's cancelled TV series 'Firefly.' Both sites point to an article from Variety that says the film will start production in June, and be ready for release in 2005." The informative Whedonesque weblog is also monitoring developments regarding this much-deserved resurrection.
firefly (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:firefly (Score:5, Insightful)
Financially speaking, I would say that Firefly may actually be better suited to movies than television. Whedon's shows are excellent... and also extremely expensive. Having to spend huge amounts of money for 22 episodes every year means that the corporate heads demand a pretty big payback pretty damn quick. Fox couldn't really afford for viewers to ease into the show (and God knows a Friday night time-slot didn't help). It's for similar reasons that Buffy left the WB and Angel was recently cancelled.
As a motion picture though, they spend the big bucks once and reap the benefits for months in merchandise, rentals, etc. You don't get that kind of a pay-off with TV (at least not that quickly). I love Whedon's serial storytelling, but I'm excited to see how he adapts to the big screen.
Re:firefly (Score:2, Interesting)
Actually tho, seeing how he much time he's taken in perfecting the series runs he's had, I have little doubt that Serenity will be spectacular. I just hope that he's able to work within a 2 hour movie. His best plots have taken seasons to develop, much less a few hours.
-9mm-
Re:firefly (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, it's hard to tell what the original scripts were like. A good script can become awful between the day it's bought and the day it's released in a theater.
You have a half-dozen suits, directors, and editors to screw it up. (We're assuming here that the original script was good.)
seeing how he much time he's taken in perfecting the series runs he's had, I have little doubt that Serenity will be spectacular.
Yes. His TV shows are probably the better indicator of the quality of his writing, since that is where he has the most control. Everything he has done for film has had multiple hands, for good or ill. (And he's repeatedly stated his disappointment at both the Buffy movie and Alien Resurrection. He was once mis-identified as having written an episode of "Boy Meets World" and he expressed more pride in that incorrect credit than his writing of Resurrection.)
It's possible that the Firefly film will suck, maybe because he fails to produce a good script, maybe because Universal selects someone else to direct, maybe because the producers demand bad changes.
That's why he's better in TV. Head writers (who are almost always the producers) are nearly Gods with regard to how their scripts read and show up on screen. The network has some input, but much of it is Standards and Practices stuff (i.e., the censors).
In film, the producers own the script and can do as they please. And then the director is in control the moment shooting starts (with input from the producers).
Film writing is good money, but it's very little control. (Unless you make it yourself.)
Re:firefly (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeck. Being president of the Joss Whedon Stalker Club, I may be a little biased, but I've read Whedon's draft of the Buffy movie (which he didn't direct), and the version that actually made it to the theatres... Whedon's draft is much better. Apparently Donald Sutherland insisted on writing his own dialog, the studio wanted it to be more of a teen comedy, and the director didn't understand the material. It's the nature of the business that scripts get fucked with by a series of producers, directors, and studio heads who are constantly looking for ways to fit a monkey into the story somehow.
Whedon has also stated that no one hates Alien 4 more than he does. He had other people dictating what he was supposed to write.
I've also had the experience in film school having one of my scripts approved for production and then butchered beyond all recognition. It ain't fun.
Re:firefly (Score:5, Informative)
The IMDb has an interesting trivia point about this, on the entry for Angel [imdb.com]
He is the director this time (Score:4, Insightful)
Alien 4 feel a lot more like City of Lost Children than an Alien movie. Again, the directors influence. One other write with a Usenet presense (I believe it wa Peter A. David) claimed he got into Buffy by wathing Alien 4, and seeing a good script being burried behind a misunderstood direction, and got currios about the writer.
Titan AE was actually pretty good, but I don't know how much of Joss writting was involved. There was a couple of places that were clearly Joss though. The intelligent guard, and Planet Bob were Joss trademark humor.
This time Joss gets to both write and direct the movie according to the Variety article, so we will be able to judge directly his abilities as a movie maker. From the few Buffy episodes he has written and directed himself (like Hush and Once More With Feeling), I believe we are in for a treat.
Re:firefly (Score:4, Interesting)
If you knew the background you would know that they are not him. He was just a little guy who should shut up then. In interviews he has pretty much indicated that Donald Sutherland was an arrogant prick who though he was gods gift to the universe and who readily changed the script ("Improved" it Sorbo style) (which is probably why he never accepted improvisation on the TV series), and the director didn't see it Joss's way either and wanted to improve it etc. Same thing with resurection:
"("I asked the director, "Can you just explain to me why he's doing this? Why is he going for this gun?" And the editor, who was French, turned to me and said, with a little leer on his face, [adopts gravelly, smarmy, French-accented voice] "Because eets een the screept." And I actually went and dented the bathroom stall with my puddly little fist. I have never been angrier. But it's the classic, "When something goes wrong, you assume the writers a dork. And that's painful."
But now, not only does he write, he also directs, and his buddy Chris Buchanan is one of the executive producers - I'd say its a safe bet that this time he has much more control. Of course not ultimate, because universal is paying and could demand scenes with half nake showgirls twirling their tassles - one can only hope they stay away and let Whedon win them that Oscar we know he is capable of
Re:firefly (Score:3, Informative)
Re:firefly (Score:5, Interesting)
The inconsistency bugged me a bit, but I was happy to actually understand what was being said for once (I only know a little Mandarin, and it was butchered so badly that the only one I could make out was mei-mei).
Interestingly enough, Jayne's actor seemed to speak Mandarin a bit better than everyone else. In the DVD extras he talks about it a bit, and I assume he practiced it more.
Re:firefly (Score:4, Interesting)
I always hear that, but noone ever gives any numbers? Did you pull that "fact" out of your ass, or can you give me any prove for that claim? I'm pretty sure any StarTrek show is far more expensive. Still the FX look worse. The planet sceneries sometimes look like in the classic series.
Re:firefly (Score:3, Interesting)
They're being repaced with cheaper sitcoms, or reality shows.
Good riddance, I say. The McDonaldization of science fiction entertainment has been a mixed bag. I'd rather be honest and pay for DVD sets, and fill my bookcase with them, and my spare time watching them. Fewer episodes of greater quality, perhaps not co
Re:firefly (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm pretty sure that's actually the thought process they go though. Good call.
In case you couldn't guess from the URL of my website -- I'm bitter too. Firefly rocks. Futurama rocks. Family guy rocks. Fox sucks.
Re:firefly (Score:4, Informative)
Re:firefly (Score:4, Insightful)
Touched on isn't the word I'd use. It's heavily talked about during both Serenity (the Pilot) & The Train Job. Joss certainly doesn't hold back during the commentary. Never has the "commentary may not reflect the studio's views" warning been more apt.
Strange. (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, wait...
Obligatory. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Obligatory. (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'll be driving around and the theme song comes into my mind - "burn the land, boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me
Re:Obligatory. (Score:2)
Re:Obligatory. (Score:5, Informative)
Take my love, take my land,
Take me where I can not stand.
I don't care, I'm still free;
You can't take the sky from me.
Take me out to the black,
Tell them I ain't coming back.
Burn the land and boil the sea;
You can't take the sky from me.
There's no place I can be,
Since I've found Serenity.
But you can't take the sky from me.
Curse of the F's (Score:5, Funny)
Firefly - cancelled
Family Guy - cancelled
Futurama - cancelled
Someone ought to cancel Fox.
At lest they tried (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:At lest they tried (Score:5, Insightful)
Perhaps the right hand doesn't agree with the left.
Re:Curse of the F's (Score:5, Insightful)
Farscape
I don't what network it was on (DVD watcher myself), but it is also an unfair F cut.
Re:Curse of the F's (Score:2)
It was a Sci-Fi original. And Sci-Fi canceled it after the season finale' was in post-production so that they left loyal watchers with a cliff hanger and then had the audacity to say "thank you for watching, from sci-fi". So, while the thread's original poster mentioned that Fox starts with F and should be cancel (especially since they've canceled a lot of good Fs, Sci-Fi should by the same token; only the F stands for f...oh wait - can't say that.
Re:Curse of the F's (Score:2)
I wish I started watching it years ago.
Such a great series.
I'm just about to watch the last episode of season 2 and can't wait for season 3 to come out on the box set!
Re:Curse of the F's (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Curse of the F's (Score:4, Interesting)
I'll start: G Vs E (aka Good Vs Evil)
oh screw it all, and bring back Brimstone. Why John Glover wasn't tapped to play the first of the fallen in the atrocity know as "Constantine" I'll never understand.
So i'm veering off topic, sue me. I'm just thankful they didn't call CSI something like "Forensic Investigators"
Another subscriber to my theory... (Score:2)
Re:Curse of the F's (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Curse of the F's (Score:4, Funny)
Flone Gunmen
Fjohn Doe
Fdark Angel
The Ftick...
----
Re:Curse of the F's (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.tvtome.com/FamilyGuy/ [tvtome.com]
and this:
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,13622,00.htm l?tnews [eonline.com]
Could it be...?
New Series (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:New Series (Score:4, Interesting)
Allegedly Whedon's plan is to use a successful film as a springboard for a follow-up series.
I would be happy with him either keeping it in theatres or switching back to TV, as long as he gets to finish the story one way or another.
Also, is it me, or is this "press release" more of a series of writer's notes?
To that end, he said he went out of his way while penning the "Serenity" script to make sure that it is accessible to auds who never tuned into "Firefly."
"Auds"? Obviously this is short for "audience," but still. Let's move on.
Series was a space oater set 500 years in the future, tracking the journeys of the crew aboard the Serenity.
Ah yes, a "space oater." I'm fond of those.
Chris Buchanan of Mutant Enemy, Whedon's shingle, and Mendel exec Alissa Tager are exec producing.
"Whedon's shingle," uh huh...
Re:New Series (Score:2, Funny)
Variety seems to love these abbreviations. Nick Nunziata of CHUD [chud.com] sums it up:
For those not invested in Variety's ass injuring dialect, re-skedding and distribs are slightly quicker ways to say rescheduling and distributors. I can only imagine these folks in the bedroom saying "Honey, thank God I circummed my 'nis or you'd not know the face of Baldhammer(TM)". Annoying.
Re:New Series (Score:3, Insightful)
> Ah yes, a "space oater." I'm fond of those.
> "Whedon's shingle," uh huh...
o/~Normal talk makes producers walk/You might as well speak Greek/Unless you learn to talk that Variety Speak (Baba-doo-ba, baba-doo-ba...)o/~
Chris Mattern
Re:New Series (Score:3, Funny)
You missed a couple....
Pic, budgeted in the mid-eight figures, is skedded for a June start and should be ready for a 2005 release.
Apparently grammer is a lost art. 'skedded'?
speaking with other nets and cablers about the skein
Ok, I have no idea what the thought is here. Are you sure this wasn't written in chinese and run through a google translator?
U acquired the feature rights from Fox last fall.
Good news, apparentl
Re:New Series (Score:5, Insightful)
Joss Whedon should call up USA. With Monk and Dead Zone it's obvious that USA isn't afraid to back a strange-yet-brilliant show.
Or maybe FX (Nip Tuck, The Shield) or Bravo (Keen Eddie, Touching Evil).
Cable is really the only place you can find good shows that don't dumb down to the common denominator.
Fox is just stupid. How much money are they making from the Firefly dvds and Family Guy dvds? Compare that with how much money you would expect an any reality TV DVD to make.
In a couple of years, fox is going to have to reach all the way back to In Living Colour in order to make DVD sales... because no one wants to buy anything that they currently air.
Re:New Series (Score:2)
Re:New Series (Score:2)
Try HBO or SHO (Score:2)
Re:New Series (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:New Series (Score:3, Insightful)
We will rule over all this land, and we will call it
Re:New Series (Score:3, Insightful)
Cable markets have even more trouble supporting effects-heavy science fiction than networks do. The only reason Farscape and Lexx ever worked financially for the Sci-Fi Channel were because they were filmed abroad (Australia and Canada, respectively) and also sold into numerous foreign markets, both of which helped lower the network's outlay.
If Firefly were
Re:New Series (Score:5, Informative)
I'll take a shot at this one. I've been catching the episodes on Canada's SPACE channel, and to me the series definitely had a fairly solid setting and mood in its first season, which is rare for a sci-fi series.
The show fuses sci-fi space conventions with Wild West-era characters and environments. The whole "space Western" thing is not subtle, but that might actually be a good thing. I've found that when sci-fi producers try to be "subtle", their works ends up coming across as obvious and pretentious, like the ST:TNG episodes that tried to disguise the contemporary parallels, then beat you over the head with The Contemporary Moral Message. The Western aspects aren't taken so far as to be implausibly anachronistic; the six-shooters and shotguns seem to fire some kind of directed energy instead of projectiles, and there is still advanced technology. It just so happens the super-cool machines have some rust and loose screws, which only adds to the plausibility. I still have some trouble conceiving of just what volume of space the series takes place within, but then again, technobabble is kept at a minimum, which is a plus.
What little CGI I really took notice of looked pretty darn good, which isn't difficult to do nowadays--but then, compare Firefly to Babylon 5's first season and a half, and Starhunter. Also, there is no sound in space scenes. This threw me at first, but it's also accurate. For all the lack of adherence to anything resembling physics and scientific accuracy, I found this to be a nice touch.
Firefly worked really well in a contained-episode format, instead of the plot arcs that damn near everyone tries to shoehorn into shows now. Thing is, Whedon has shown a tendency to start with just such a pure episode format, then eventually move the series into multi-episode or even full-season arcs. This makes the short life of the series even rougher, because the creative team didn't even have a chance to really go places with the show.
Incidentally, J. Michael Straczynski's Crusade series died under similar conflicts with its network (demands for more sex and violence, episode juggling harming continuity), and it appeared to be developing in a similar fashion. JMS had the pressure of following up Babylon 5 with an expected second strong effort right from the start. When TNT demanded new episodes be shot and aired before the originally-shot episodes could see airtime, there was little chance the series' potential would be realized early on, or allowed to develop.
I wonder how amazing Firefly could have been in further seasons, given time to settle in. I say it again, the series felt quite well-realized for a first-season sci-fi program, and it got cut off at the knees by a network known more for trashy "reality" TV and amusing cartoons than fantasy and science fiction.
Why do I get the feeling.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Why do I get the feeling.... (Score:3, Informative)
That is clearly not the case. Fox cancelled the TV show. Universal will be making the bucks on the movie. Possibly Fox got some money from Universal for the rights, but that's all Fox will ever get.
Thanks to Firefly... (Score:5, Funny)
...I am terrified of people in business suits wearing bright blue gloves.
On the up side, I know now how to say "Fuck everyone in the universe to death!", "Shut up," and my favorite, "Holy mother of God and all her wacky nephews!" in Mandarin Chinese.
Re:Thanks to Firefly... (Score:2)
Re:Thanks to Firefly... (Score:2)
You misspelled 'mispronounce'...
Re:Thanks to Firefly... (Score:4, Insightful)
You misspelled 'mispronounce'... ;)
Nah, the real typo was in "Mandarin Chinese". It should have been either "Space Mandarin" or "Future Chinese". To pretend we know how a language will be pronounced in 500 years is silly. Every heard Old English? Woof!
You Forgot To Share! (Score:5, Funny)
I am not a native Chinese speaker (or even a remotely good Chinese speaker), but here's some tasty bits of Firefly Mandarin dialog:
Tai-kong suo-yo de shing-chiou doh sai-jin wu di pigu: Stuff all the planets in the universe up my ass!
Huh choo-shung huh tza-jiao duh!: Filthy fornicators of livestock!
Nee ta ma duh. Tyen-shia suo-yo duh run doh gai si! - F--- everyone in the universe to death!
Re:You Forgot To Share! (Score:4, Informative)
Serenity? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Serenity? (Score:3, Informative)
No worries though, the actors have hinted at being committed to the movie long before this was made official.
Re:Serenity? (Score:5, Interesting)
Go Browncoats! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Go Browncoats! (Score:2)
Unfair mods (Score:5, Informative)
I'd cure this if I hadn't already posted. For those who don't know, in Firefly, "Shiny" was sometimes used as slang for "good". So whoever modded this offtopic, is some kind of knucklehead who never saw the show.
Re:Go Browncoats! (Score:2)
Reavers, Blue Sun, and blue hand guys.
*happy sigh*
won't be that great as movie (Score:4, Insightful)
TV show movies that do well are those that ran a long time and therefor have a large fanbase.
This will just be another scifi movie.
Re:won't be that great as movie (Score:3, Insightful)
I think the guy deserves the benefit of the doubt ;)
Re:won't be that great as movie (Score:3, Informative)
Re:won't be that great as movie (Score:2)
Ack, yes. I totally meant to mention that. Edlund wrote and directed it (and he rocks).
Joss is still executive producer tho, so he definitely had some involvement.
Re:won't be that great as movie (Score:2)
'Whedon said the pic will be released under the title "Serenity" to give it some distance from the TV version. "It was important that people understand that the movie isn't the series," he said. "The movie is bigger, more epic than anything you can do in a series."
To that end, he said he went out of his way while penning the "Serenity" script to make sure that it is accessible to audiences who never tuned into "Firefl
Length? (Score:3, Interesting)
AWESOME (Score:3, Interesting)
Maybe we'll get to see Jewel Saite naked... (Score:4, Insightful)
Because you didn't watch it on TV?
Re:Maybe we'll get to see Jewel Saite naked... (Score:2)
Re:Maybe we'll get to see Jewel Saite naked... (Score:5, Insightful)
In addition to this, I believe that the Nielsen system is broken. I believe that there are 5000 Nielsen households, and that these are supposed to roughly correlate to population distribution. But over and over we see shows that get cancelled even with large numbers of fans complaining, along with some shows that no one cares enough to complain about. Firefly fans did crazy stuff like take out full page ads thanking the studios and each advertiser for the show by name, and mailing stuff to sponsors and studio heads.
Maybe we need more geeks to try to be Nielsen viewers? How does a family become a Nielsen household? (I'm Canadian so I can't do it anyway, but I hate watching shows I like get cancelled.)
Don't Wander Around Best Buy (Score:5, Funny)
Anyway, I go to BestBuy.com to see how much it costs. Only 40 bucks is a good deal. Here's the messed up part. On the web site, and presumably on the store shelves, the Firefly DVD set is listed under "Horror". Their subgroups under horror are "Comedies, Occult, Vampires, Zombies, and General Horror". At least it's not under Zombies.
-B
Re:Don't Wander Around Best Buy (Score:2)
Try watching Deep Space 9. I love ST:NG, to be sure, but DS9 is even better. And more of a dark and gritty feel to it, with characters that don't always get along.
Converts after cancellation (Score:5, Insightful)
Fox did everything it could to kill this show.
First, they aired the episodes in a random order so there was no continuitySecond, they changed the time it was aired, then changed the day, all within a span of three weeks
Third, and most insulting, is that they assumed the demographic watching Firefly would switch to watching Fastlane, as some of the numbers from Nielson were similar
Sadly, I've had more people become "fans" of the show after the cancellattion by loaning them the DVDs, with most of them not being scifi fans.
Re:Converts after cancellation (Score:5, Informative)
I think the problem was that Fox didn't know what to do with it.
Anyhow, Universal is backing the film - not Fox.
Re:Converts after cancellation (Score:2)
I think the problem is that they just wanted it to be another regular space show. They didn't want it to defy genre conventions, and therefore didn't understand where their potential audience was.
Just one look at the DVDs sort of confirms this. It's all futuristic, and the characters are in their Big-Damn-Hero Poses(tm).
Hopefully Firefly, er, Serenity will find it's audience on the big screen as opposed to the terrible Friday night times
Re:Converts after cancellation (Score:4, Insightful)
No, Fox *thought* they knew what to do, but obviously didn't.
Cast announced (Score:4, Insightful)
from the press release:
Re:Cast announced (Score:2)
Kaylee... (Score:3, Funny)
C'mon guys, admit it. That's the only reason anyone really watched the show.
Re:Kaylee... (Score:4, Interesting)
Josh Whedon the genius.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Josh Whedon the genius.. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Josh Whedon the genius.. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Josh Whedon the genius.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Probably offtopic, but... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Probably offtopic, but... (Score:2)
Re:Probably offtopic, but... (Score:2, Insightful)
As far as Firefly goes, it was killed in it's infancy, making nobody but the Fox suit lobbying for yet another inane reality show happy. Like JMS, there is a story Joss Whedon desperately wants to tell (though I seriously doubt he had 5 seasons more or less pla
Re:Probably offtopic, but... (Score:2)
I just watched the series this weekend. (Score:2)
WHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOOO!!!
Seriously, if you have no idea what the fuss is about, buy/borrow/steal the DVDs and watch them. The only downside was watching half way through an excellent season, and realizing you would never get to see everything resolved.
If nothing else, the movie will be a chance to give the series the ending it deserved. If it leads to a resurrection of the series, even better.
Hallelujah! (Score:3, Interesting)
This is great news. Note that it is Universal now, not Fox, so there really could be another series at the end of the trail here.
Since the DVD set came out, I have introduced the series to a dozen 'Fly newbies, all of whom are as swept away as I was. It's just too fanastic a program to let it go, and no maybe (just maybe?) we won't have to.
Shiny!
Serenity? (Score:5, Funny)
"Blue Sun" rises? (Score:2, Interesting)
The hints? In the original episodes, watch at how River reacts to anything with the Blue Sun logo on it - Jayne's shirt, labels on cans, and so on.
Plot intro, and more info (Score:5, Informative)
More info here [comingsoon.net].
The campaign to Save Angel (Score:5, Informative)
If you wish to help with the efforts to save the show, there are several websites coordinating fan activities, and I will list them here:
Petition Online:
Here's the petition protesting the cancellation of the program. Please sign it and join the 72,000 + other fans who already have...
http://www.petitiononline.com/ai5d0162/p
http://www.savingangel.org/
Saving Angel is placing ads in the Hollywood Reporter and Variety. You can find them here:
http://www.supportangel.org/
Support Angel has been coordinating a lot of the fan base postcard campaigns. They are a great source of information.
Some of the other information you'll find on the pages include the fact that Tribune Broadcasting itself (a 20% + shareholder in The WB Network) is encouraging fans to protest the cancellation. The WB wants to replace Angel either with a teen version of "Dark Shadows" or another revamp of "Lost in Space." It is reported that UPN has passed on picking up the show because they'd rather try to run their own version of "Teen Wolf" and borrowing heavily from the Buffy (Whedon) format to make it a success.
If you've been holding off on purchasing any of the Angel Season Sets on DVD, now is the time to purchase them; the networks ARE watching the sales figures. Remember, Fox decided to relaunch "Family Guy" after witnessing their sales success. And while UPN might have passed on picking up Angel for Season Six, we still have TNT, FX Network (fitting since Angel is a Twentieth-Century Fox production), SciFi, or even Tribune Broadcasting syndication to fall back upon!
Re:Can't Wait (Score:3, Informative)
-B
Re:WTF (Score:5, Funny)
I know, isn't that crazy? Next thing you know they'll be making a television series out of a box office flop [imdb.com].
Oh wait...
They didn't cancel it TO make a movie... (Score:3, Insightful)
Joss Whedon tried to shop the show around to other networks trying to get it picked up, but was unsuccessful.
Decided to try and get a movie made, managed to get that green lighted.
Best hope is that the movie will be successful enough to give him more ammunition trying to get the show picked up for a second season.
Re:are people happy? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:why does firefly have such a fanbase? (Score:5, Insightful)
You have absolutely no clue whatsoever how much energy would be required for such space travel, because in real life there is neither any theory nor any experiment that covers faster-than-light travel. Once your suspension of disbelief goes so far as to allow FTL, trying to do things like energy calculations is just silly.
You also have no clue at all what the value of livestock might be in an interstellar economy. If that livestock is key to allowing a colony to thrive on a planet, it could be very valuable.
And ancient projectile weapons? I'm sorry, my suspension of disbelief only goes so far
So you have no problem with FTL, which is something that is, as far as we know currently, impossible, but having some people using projectile weapons while others use more sophisticated weapons bothers you? Even though if you just look around on Earth, you can find societies that still use rocks and pointed sticks?
This is one of the things that Firefly got right that most other science fiction gets wrong--technology is too uniform in most science fiction. Based on a couple thousand years of Earth history, it is far more believable to have a wide range of technology.
Re:why does firefly have such a fanbase? (Score:3, Insightful)