Serenity Chronicles II: War Stories

I enjoyed the second part of this cinematic adaptation even more than the first part. The editing feels even defter here, cutting out and linking up segments in a really smooth way overall. It also brings us close-to-home with the main point of the story: River's powers and secret... which develops into the plotline for Serenity. I found myself sometimes missing parts of the story from the sundry episodes not included, but I think it's a tight and elegant solution all the same. Some of the choices I didn't even fully appreciate until Part III, which I could see the narrative choices really paying off.

This is another superb piece of work, and it was a perfect way to spend my afternoon.


From my review of Part I because it's relevant throughout all three edits:
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.

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!

Time to pull out my old DVDs and catch the other episodes now, though... or maybe just watch the whole thing again through. :D

On the whole i think this was probably the most work out of the three, and the one ii most appreciated the work going on. lots of good work trimming and getting everything to flow. looking over the changelist, there were plenty of changes i didn;t even notice (or miss always). No power in the verse - really out of nowhere spooky now.

Seeing the river tam sessions mixed in really brought a lot more depth in a shorter space of time, and set up nicely for a serenity watch. the last one is a little dodgier than i remembered, and as a closer feels a little bit whatever.

Whatever. Really impressed by this one.

MusicEd921 has created a sequel edit here that is actually better than his first edit, in my opinion! I'll say again (as I did for part one in his series) that I'd still prefer to show someone the actual TV episodes, which really aren't that much longer. But this is a fun way to do a 'cram-session' rewatch for those who are already fans of the show. The addition of the "River Tam sessions" internet content are very well-integrated into the narrative to keep it moving and keep a growing sense of purpose for River. This edit actually feels more balanced about hinting towards River's evolution in the theatrical film because we are making consistent progress rather than seeming like the writers only decided what to do after many episodes.

On the other hand, I did miss some elements that were skipped over in the show... it's a shame to lose nearly all romance with Mal, most of Book's narrative arc, and arguably the biggest bads of the series (the blue-handed men). But if you didn't know what you were missing, MusicEd921 does a fantastic job at choosing which parts of episodes to include to bridge the pilot episode to the theatrical movie. Nearly every character gets an arc and a bit of depth. We get a real sense of the crew coming together, and developing a sense of morality and a purpose. And we clearly move from a slightly (but not overly) episodic feel into a growing sense that River and the Alliance will take center stage. This actually does a pretty remarkable job at working as a standalone film that also bridges the 2 parts of MusicEd921's trilogy.

If I were to quibble, my one issue would be that the editor sets up a great villain early on in the film to be paid off at the end. But there's then another 15 minutes or so afterwards of character stuff which honestly feels like an anti-climactic finale to the 'film'. I know these scenes were necessary to set up the events in the final part of the trilogy, but I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to end with the big showdown and save everything that happens "2 Months Later..." for the start of the third 'film'? It's honestly a small quibble though, and I was really impressed with the narrative work here, and found only a couple of minor hard cuts or clipped audio bits. It's all quite professional, and leaves me eagerly anticipating the final part of the trilogy.

I think this is a great way to see growth of the crew and hit the darker parts of the Firefly story, the focus on the advancement of plot points surrounding River was excellent. I think this is the best prep for re-watching Serenity...I'm looking forward to see how the final chapter is.

I kindof miss Our Mrs Reynolds, and Shindig, but I think this edit met the goals it set out.

Great fanedit! The storyline is edited to be seamless, staying true to what made Firefly. Great selection of scenes out of various episodes!