What Happens When The Western Meets The Sci-Fi?

Firefly!

I watched Serenity the other night, and afterwards I went and bought the entire Firefly series (never done anything like that before!), site unseen. I saw the Serenity trailer and wanted to see the movie when it came out, but was too busy. I thought it was a very easily engaged (and engaging!) story.

It's pretty well-known what the impact of Westerns have been on Sci-Fi or related movies (the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises being two of the most lucrative examples). But what happens when you look at it form the other way around? Firefly's the result.

It's got a great ensemble cast (both in terms of how the characters are written, and in how the actors use their many talents to bring them to life). It's got great camera direction (some of the shots that would have to zoom in-and-out to gain the proper focus, actors not being perfectly in a shot and really opening up the world, the jerky, silent space shots that later on became popularized in the remake of the Battlestar Galactica series...but that's another blog...). And it has the right amount of “cheese factor” that I got articulate beyond the “I know it when I see it or hear it” formula. The live action and the CGI are, in two words – REALLY AWESOME!

I thought the writing was really great too. I really liked how the characters went back and forth between English and Chinese – especially when they wanted to convey something with more emotion or feeling. They did it so well, as if they had always spoken that way. The technology was a really cool juxtaposition of old and new...people dealing with the past, their presents and wondering if there's a possible future

Another thing I liked about the series was the depth of the writing. I really felt like each of the characters had really complete lives and back stories for each of the characters – I want to know more!!! Sure, there were some cheesy lines and such, but it was a really tightly written script. I just want to know more...they should never have tried pitching it to FOX – it belongs ANYWHERE else (sci-fi, internet / pod casts, etc.)...

Plus, it just looks like a really cool and fun place to work and play...