Serenity Chronicles I: Firefly

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.

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.

Firefly's nearly perfect introductory episode gets a nearly perfect re-edit.

Mostly a re-cap of the original two episodes (DVD order) s01e01-e02 introduction to our favorite Big Damn Heroes! The added meditation of Mal's lose of faith, through the deleted scenes, makes him much more well rounded. The beautiful use of scenes from Out of Gas create a more complete introduction to the family.

I only have minor nit-picks, around the reintroduction of the "Lay of the Land" scenes, I'm not sure that the placement is best, or that the two scenes could potentially use a little separation. I am not sure if it would flow better or not. Also I found the cortext PDA startup music to be jarring especially when it cuts out, perhaps it should start as Simon opens it and then fade, after the data stick is inserted. The hard cut just doesn't feel good.

Overall this is a great re-edit, the audio/video quality is related to the issues with the source of the deleted scenes, and I already mentioned the only audio issue I had. Thank you MusicEd921 for a great way to come home to my Firefly family.

Refreshing fanedit to summarize Firefly's first episodes; still preserving the feel of what made Firefly in the first place.

This was a damn fine fanedit. I was never really a fan of "Firefly" and it took me a while to finally watch everything. But I do love the "Serenity" movie.

This is a fairly simple edit of the pilot episode, with some excellent deleted scenes added and a few trims. An excellent primer for anybody who's never watched "Firefly" and a fun way of revisiting the show for the hardcore fans.