Serenity Chronicles II: War Stories

No power in the Verse can stop MusicEd now!

The second chapter in Ed's Serenity Chronicles is another WINNER!

It is by far the most challenging of the three part trilogy, as War Stories weaves together material from four different episodes. But Ed pulls it off wonderfully, tying the stories together with underlying series stories arcs and further connecting it with the River Tam sessions. It truly feels like a complete story rather than a bunch of episodes stitched together. Yes, it has a slightly episodic feel (or rather a three act arc with an epilogue), but that is not a bad thing -- ever seen the The Godfather? It is very episodic in structure. So Ed is in good company.

And the best thing, you do not need to be a Firefly fan or have any knowledge of the series to follow, understand or be entertained by this movie. I watched with my bride, who has never seen the show or even part one, and she was completely enthralled from beginning to end. So fantastic work on narrative!

And the trailer for Part Three has left me salivating! Bring it on!!!

Awesome edit. THUMBS UP!

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.

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

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.

A great edit, I only wish the trilogy lasted longer.