Watch the First 9 Minutes of Serenity 426
An anonymous reader writes "As reported on FireflyFans.net, Universal is attempting further promotion of the sci-fi action film Serenity by making the first 9 minutes of the movie available online. The clip contains the opening backstory that sets an Alliance assassin on the trail of the ship's crew; it's an effective hook. On Yahoo movies, Serenity is ranked as the number 1 film currently in theaters and is hanging in a top-ten spot in the highest rated movies of all time. Slashdot has previously covered Orson Scott Card's review, the film's opening, an interview with Joss Whedon, and much more. It's all out of love..."
Awesome (Score:2, Interesting)
UNSUPPORTED? (Score:1, Interesting)
Any advice?
No Linux support for this? (Score:3, Interesting)
Is it so hard to use a standard media type?
Why do companies feel like it's right to mave stuff like this that's actually MORE trouble to make incompatible with non-MS/Mac systems?
Seriously. I just do not get this mindset.
Re:UNSUPPORTED? (Score:3, Interesting)
They're using "video/vividas" type files, which appear to require their own applet to run, presumably for DRM purposes. DRM on marketing videos?? why??
Re:What the Heck (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:The Firefly TV episodes matter more (Score:5, Interesting)
My Review (Score:1, Interesting)
The movie has a 'cheap' made-for-tv feel to it. The actual plot/conflict is absurdly pointless. Aside from the initial sequence, I never feel convinced that any of the effort by the 'good side' or the 'bad side' is significantly important to those characters. The plot is boring, the monologues are bad, and their attempt at humor is sub-par. It's not as bad as Chronicles of Riddick or Battlefield Earth, but I would stick to movies like "Proof" for the weekend.
Special 16 year old girls (Score:4, Interesting)
I haven't really seen this discussed anywhere. On the other hand, I haven't looked very hard.
Just curious.
Re:Originality is a horrible comparison (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Mod parent up please. (Score:1, Interesting)
That strikes me as rather biased of you.
I do hope that the lack of alternative space-based SF gives Serenity a boost, but it's a good, solid film in its own right as well. Best ever? Not even. But still a good film which deserves a sequel.
Correction - United Int'l Pictures, not Universal (Score:5, Interesting)
Correction to the submission: this is being released by United International Pictures [uip.com], the company responsible for international release of Serenity. Since UIP is partially owned by Universal, it might be seen as semantics, but UIP has a distinct marketing plan for the movie from that of Universal.
It's also important to note, because it might seem like odd timing for Universal to release new marketing materials for a movie already released - it might even seem a move of desperation to get "butts in seats" before it leaves theaters... but it makes more sense as new marketing released by UIP for a movie they are opening today or within the next few weeks.
Re:UNSUPPORTED? (Score:3, Interesting)
I wish I had mod points to correct this... (Score:3, Interesting)
Shocked by the video quality (Score:3, Interesting)
And to those complaining about free advertising: Let's complain instead about the granularity of SlashCode's RSS. There should be a seperate feed for each section, and some way of getting your customized index as a feed. Then you can easily exclude Sci-Fi stuff you think is so off topic.
But I digress. Everything the studio can do to help Sereinty/Firefly/Whedon Enterprises is good. I hope we see more quality naturalistic science fiction [wikipedia.org] like this and Battlestar Gallactica in the future.
Huh.... I was wrong. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:i never understood the joss whedon cult (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, I think the facts disagree with you [movieweb.com]. Reread my original post.
Well, it's better than I expected... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Good movie, but #10 all time movie? (Score:3, Interesting)
Yep."
Serenity is not ambitious enough to be in that sort of company. I'm a big fan of the Firefly TV series but this movie is a serious step down from the TV series. The writing and acting were much better in several episodes. I get the feeling they might have felt it necessary to dumb it down for a movie audience. It is loud and fast with lots of fighting action but that was only one aspect of the TV episodes. I hope they are successful anyhow so there is a chance of another movie.
I usually wait for movies to appear in second run theaters so at least I don't spend as much money if I'm disappointed. Firefly was so good I didn't have the patience to wait and yet again I wish I had found it easier to wait. If you haven't seen the series then do yourself a favor. Rent and watch the DVD's and see the movie when the price drops to $2 from the current $8.50 and more.
Bladerunner included musing on what it means to be human, mortality, memory and really cool sci fi sets. Serenity includes some really cool sci fi sets that even evoke Bladerunner but it is a caper.
Re:Stupid: Target audience, and I can't play this. (Score:5, Interesting)
Whoever is in charge of marketing has no clue.
Which one is it: a carefully designed conspiracy against Linux users, or the end result of a naive marketing department that doesn't understand that a large chunk of their target audience uses something other then Windows?
If I had to make a bet, I'd put my money on the latter. I highly doubt there's someone sitting around saying 'Yarr! Let's get those Linux users! That'll teach 'em for being different!". I'd guess the company providing the streaming video brought the claim of 'being able to provide high-quality on-demand streaming video to broadband Internet users using a unique process which makes unauthorized duplication near impossible' to the marketing department for the film. The 'Vividas' company most likely neglected the fact that they wouldn't be able to reliably accommodate users of alternative OSes, and it never occurred to the folks marketing the film to ask.
Re:Special 16 year old girls (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, if everyone who'd had sex with an underaged partner were actually found out and prosecuted, the US would just become a giant prison complex full of lifers. I'd not be in there with the majority of y'all, but that's because I had a slow rampup to romance when I was young. I can't recall many teenagers I've known who didn't have an affair with an older man or woman at some time.
You don't think teenagers gain their advanced sexual skills from people their own age, do ya? Someone's teaching someone somwhere in the sexual food chain.
Re:The beginning is good (Score:2, Interesting)
Despite your claim, I don't see any confusion on Whedon's part about the difference between a solar system and a group of stars with solar systems. His narrative is consistent throughout. I have some gripes with the way that he's laid his solar system out (for instance, IMHO the outer worlds should be CONSIDERABLY colder than the inner worlds, although some of that can be handled with a suitably chosen mix of gases for the atmosphere), but his description is at least consistent.
As to why you never see people making interstellar hops, the obvious reason is that, in general, they don't. Anymore than the average American keeps an ocean liner in his backyard so that he can take a trip to China if he needs to. They moved to the new solar system, and that's where they live now. Interstellar colonization at sublight speeds is not a fun or quick thing to do, and makes for poor movies.
The basic misunderstanding here is that you are used to science fiction which uses technobabble like "warp drives" and "hyperspace" to make faster-than-light interstellar hops in less than a human lifetime, but Whedon is restricting himself primarily to the actual known laws of physics, which suggest that such things aren't possible. (Also note that in his film, ships at a distance don't make noises in empty space, which is accurate but unfortunately quite uncommon in science fiction films).
Also, keep in mind that the crew of the Firefly is POOR. They don't get the neato toys. They can't afford laser pistols, etc. Those are for those with money, such as people that live on the Core worlds.