Serenity Chronicles II: War Stories

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 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

THIS REVIEW IS FOR PART 1 AND 2
i am a massive fan of firefly, it is a TV show that ended way to soon.
when i found out this fanedit was coming out i had to see it.
i so glad i did, it is perfect i have no problems with these edits, it is perfectly cut keeping all the right scenes to make the perfect movies.
every one who liked firefly or serenity has to see these edits they are perfect.

well done musicED921 cant wait for part 3.

editing: perfect 10/10
Story: perfect 10/10
Audio: perfect 1010

experience: perfect some of the best hours of entertainment i've had for a while 15/10
Thank you musicED921

Okay edit-wise this is perfect, I liked the inclusion of the River Tam sessions as flashbacks, generally I didn't have fault with the use of deleted scenes in the first chapter other than the fact you could sort of f tell they were deleted scenes, this isn't an issue here. Nothing lost or noticeable except for maybe one scene change.

Story:Okay, The first volume dealt with getting the crew together and barely did we get to see Simon or River, because that was not their story. here they take joint centre stage with Mal and Zoe. And Jayne of course, as I already said, the inclusion of Rivers videos helps to establish her character a little more and even though I already know what happens, the final scene of the edit left me wanting more.

I urgently anticipate the third and final chapter.
Congrats and thank you MusicED921 for an entertaining reentry into the whedonverse.

I'm in the throws of a terrible sinus infection, so I will keep this review short--which is pretty easy since there is simply nothing wrong anywhere in the whole edit.
Firefly always seemed too good for TV, too cinematic, and this 2nd edit in MusicEd's trilogy confirms this. This type of edit can easily feel strung together from separate episodes, but this holds together very very well, with a through-line focused on River as well as a good clear idea of the state of the 'verse and how difficult it is to get medicine out to everyone who needs it on the outer planets. I liked that the cargo in both capers featured was medicine, as if it has become the most valuable thing in this universe.
It is also worth noting how perfectly balanced this whole thing is and how no character is short-changed. It would have been easy to cut scenes of Inara or Book and keep this still flowing seamlessly, but keeping them in stays truer to Firefly. I am looking forward to the 3rd one very much, as well as rewatching this one when I am not dying of this sinus/ear infection :-)
Highly recommended! Pretty much perfection!