For the longest time, I’ve been bummed by the fact that the Australian DVD release of Serenity has a buttload of extra features not found in the Region 1/3 release.
Anyway my sister recently got back from a paid vacation in Australia and guess what she got me?
I’m so thankful I wasn’t that mean to her when we were growing up.
Here’s a list of features that aren’t included in the US version:
- A Filmmaker’s Journey - Journey with Joss from Script to Screen
- Joss Whedon Q&A Session - Filmed at Fox Studios in Sydney
- The Green Clan - Expose on Cinematographer Jack Green and his team
Now all I have to do is figure out how I can buy this DVD and I will have Serenity closure. Honest.
Remember how I compared Firefly with the girl I’m eventually going to marry? Well guess what Rach gave me for Christmas?:
She would have gotten me the Serenity DVD to go along with it had it been released before she was scheduled to fly back to the Philippines.
Fuckin’ A right? Well, she left me with no other choice but to propose to her. We’re getting married as soon as her stint in the US is over.
If she got a marriage proposal from me just by giving me a couple of DVDs, imagine what I would have done had she given me this:
I shudder to think.
Going into the theater to watch the sneak preview of Serenity, I was apprehensive for several reasons. I was afraid of Universal/United International Pictures raping Joss Whedon into agreeing to “Hollywoodize” it for mass consumption. Or that it would only be appreciated by fans of the TV series. Or that it would suck.
It has now been 2 days since I saw the movie and I am still in shock at how wrong I’ve been to doubt Joss. Not only was the movie successful in easing all apprehensions I previously had, but it has me seriously considering getting a tattoo saying “I am Joss’s bitch.” On my forehead. Which would probably improve my face.
In my mind, the challenge that faced Joss Whedon was to successfully introduce all the key players while not driving longtime fans to boredom. A less apt storyteller would probably resort to flashbacks from the TV series, or trip over himself by doing it as fast as possible and get on with the story.
Whedon’s solution was simple as it was elegant: introduce the characters while moving the story forward. Ignoring the convention of doing all introductions during the first 15 minutes of the movie, he decided to introduce the most important ones at the start, and move on to the others as the story requires them.
Watch out for the first scene on the ship Serenity where Whedon’s camera flies in one fluid motion from one crew member to another; showing who each character is, and how they interact with the others. This Brian de Palma-esque technique is rarely seen in movies, and is even more rarely accomplished with such grace and efficiency.
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