Serenity Chronicles I: Firefly

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9.5 (24)
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9.5
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9.3(24)
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9.3(24)
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9.6(24)
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9.4(24)
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9.8(24)
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Overall rating
 
9.2
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9.0
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9.0
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9.0
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9.0
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10.0
As a Fierfly nut, I have been sitting on these edits for some time...but finally felt the need for a fix.

After so many years since my last view of the series, I fell in love all over again.

The material that is added in is effective if ocaisonally a touch jarring, but no marking down on visuals for sure. Some of the audio edits are a touch harsh but this did not detract from the experience, which gets a 10 from me.

I won't repeat what others have said, save to say, if you need a new fix of FIREFLY, this is THE ONLY WAY to go...

Roll on Ep 2 and 3

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Overall rating
 
8.8
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9.0
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8.0
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9.0
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8.0
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10.0
Kicking off a masterful three-part cinematic adaptation of Firefly that pulls the story into line with the Serenity film, Chronicles I does a fantastic job paying homage to the story. What this film sets up, the last one pays off on, and seeing that continuity be created—especially with Mal, is a wonderful fast-paced reentry into the 'Verse after a few years away.

There are definitely places where some audio cuts are noticeable, or where music fades show up over one another. But these are few, and rare enough to not distract from the enjoyment or immersion. I could also see room for improvements through both some more advanced editing and the use of modern technology. AI upscaling of the footage from deleted scenes might yield some interesting results, for instance. But, more reasonably, there could be color grading edits that would help sew some of the scenes together better. This is a comment that I'll repeat for all three releases. However, despite this, I have to say that the overall effect is still excellent, and I wasn't particularly pulled out of the narrative by anything. Then again, I'm a Firefly superfan.

Some other reviewers have commented that setting the flashback scenes from Out of Gas at the start of Chronicles creates a problem with continuity. While I can see why they say that, I don't think it matters as much. It does slow down the pacing of the first act a little, but honestly, moments like the joke about Zoë not liking Wash at first still pays off—after all, a scene later we see that she's married him! I could see these scenes getting dispersed throughout the film in at least one or two other ways, but I like how it currently stands.

I don't think I'd start someone new to Firefly off with this, because you're going to end up missing a lot of the little moments from sideline episodes, moments that make the series what it is. But, I do think this is absolutely the edit-to-end-all-edits when it comes to *rewatching* Firefly, if you want to watch an arc that lines up **perfectly** with the Serenity film. One of the greatest problems with the film was that it needed to cater to an audience that hadn't seen the show!

Here, we're getting the first act in what is essentially one long film with Serenity as the final third. That makes for a crisp arc that's highly enjoyable.

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Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
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9.0
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9.0
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9.0
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10.0
Had the notion to rewatch some firefly, and noticed this in my Fanedits folder. Reminded me how much i loved Firefly. ended up going through all three of these in one sitting! honestly. good watching for the most part. couple niggles

Putting all the flashbacks from out of gas to start the movie is mixed. It would probably be distracting having them throughout the movie, and a lot of them are fine intros to the characters. The only one that bothered me was wash, because the scene is a joke, and doesn't have the setup now.

deleted scenes are a bit noticeable. not to a terrible degree, and the flashbacks being as yellow as they are is odd.

Honestly though, no deal breakers, great time had. Thanks for this.


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J
Top 500 Reviewer 11 reviews
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(Updated: March 31, 2021)
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
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9.0
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9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
I requested this a few years under the promise I would write a review. Now, I had watched this (and the second edit) with a friend who had never seen the original series. He loved this edit. Both of them, so you have his approval in addition to mine. In fact, when I gave it a second viewing he was disappointed that I rewatched it without him.

What I particularly enjoyed about this edit is that it brings Reynolds loss of faith closer to the surface, using it as his arc in this edit. The first film is very much his origin story. Full disclosure though, I haven't watched this in a while so the memory of both edits is not fresh on my mind. However, from what I do I recall is that this edit was much tighter. It could've easily served as a TV movie with its tight plot and pacing.

The second is a bit more non-traditional in its plot and is more set-up for what happens in the Serenity film. I remember it bounced its focus between four characters: Reynolds, Jayne, River, and, to a lesser extent, Wash. The first has a strong focus on a singular protagonist. Still good, but IIRC it lacks the tightness of this first edit. I don't blame the editor for this as it had to set-up the drama of the cinematic feature, and putting a little attention and development on Wash is not a bad idea before jumping into that film.

There are minor to medium drops in quality when MusicEd921 uses deleted scenes to add some character development to the plots he's trying to craft. However, they're infrequent and easy to ignore. The vast majority of the edit is quite good and I didn't notice any issues. The video quality is what you can expect from a mid-2000's TV DVD box-set. A bit grainy and rough, but this is an issue with the source and not the edit.

An excellent pair of edits. And with an endorsement from someone who'd never seen the original source material, I can hope that is encouraging to MusicEd921's work on these edits.

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Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
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Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
I'm going to recommend this edit as a great way for fans to rewatch the series Firefly. So thanks for that, MusicEd921. On the other hand, for anyone who hasn't seen the series, I think actually watching those episodes will be superior, and there's a couple reasons why.

Firstly, I have to say that it's not apparent that this was intended to have commercial breaks and credits. The editor pieces it together to feel like a movie, a TV pilot movie, but a movie nonetheless. There are a couple subtle audio hiccups, but for the most part the editing is all top notch. Where I got a little hung up is on the placement of scenes in the beginning third of the film. It's a weird start, honestly. We're in a big battle that's filmed on a TV budget, and we have no attachment to any of the characters or reason to care about what's happening. These scenes work great as they were intended: flashbacks to reveal more character. They're also great when in contrast to the slow West feel that's established for much of the later series. When we suddenly cut from that to a full-on space battle, it's exciting. However here, it just looks like a cheap deleted scene, and then doesn't jibe with the later tone of the film. Similarly, playing the flashbacks of the crew getting together in chronological order actually doesn't work very well. The jokes of the scenes fall flat because we don't know what the personalities and relationships of those characters are until later.

I know it's more complicated to find artful places to insert flashbacks, but I think it would greatly improve the narrative flow for a first-time viewer. It would also allow the editor to play around with filters for these scenes, which could cover for the loss in visual quality in the deleted scenes. And there are some great places where they could be inserted, for example inserting the battle of Serenity into the other deleted scene where Zoe interrupts Simon to tell him ABOUT that very battle. If we're going to be retelling Firefly, why not get creative with it and play with the presentation a bit more? Some of the Western music could even be exchanged for more sci-fi music (like from the film) in the space scenes, a montage title sequence could be created, etc.

As is, this is a fun alternate viewing of the TV show. The deleted scenes are appreciated, and it's an enjoyable trip down memory lane. I'll probably still go back to my episodes next rewatch though, and that's what I'd show to a new viewer. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited for the next installment.

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