Serenity

The Film

Joss Whedon's portfolio as a screenwriter is decidedly chequered. Throughout the 1990s, he made something of a name for himself doing uncredited rewrites on everything from the lamentable Twister to the phenomenally successful X-Men, as well as contributing to the screenplays for the wonderful Toy Story and the embarrassing Titan AE. Despite his feature writing credits, however, he is still best known as the creator of cult TV hits Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, and, more recently, the short-lived Firefly, a "Sci-fi Western" series that was cancelled by producer 20th Century Fox mid-way through its first season, with many of the episodes that had been filmed eventually only surfacing on DVD.

And yet, Whedon and his creations seem to instil a level of fervent fan loyalty that is virtually unprecedented outside a handful of established franchises like Star Trek and its ilk. As such, while the notion of rusurrecting a failed TV show as a feature film might seem like commercial suicide (which, judging by the eventual box office gross, is not too far off the mark), this film was always guaranteed to eventually find its audience, however miniscule it might be. Even so, Serenity's existence is something of a miracle, not just because it got made at all, but because it seems to have been made entirely as a love letter to the small but fiercely dedicated army of Firefly fans (known as "Browncoats", a reference to the leather trenchcoats worn by the group of renegades around which the series revolved). And yet, despite seeming to aim for such a specific audience, Serenity stands on its own feet and can be enjoyed greatly by those who didn't follow Firefly (a group to which I belong, despite my affection for Buffy and Angel). And enjoyable it is: Serenity doesn't attempt to re-invent the wheel, but it is a witty, engaging and occasionally powerful piece of filmmaking that possesses in spades just what has been missing from so many recent action blockbusters.


As with Firefly, the plot takes place five hundred years into the future, and focuses on the crew of Serenity, a ragtag bunch of rebels led by Captain Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion). Earth as we know it no longer exists, and Serenity's crew find themselves caught between the governing Alliance and the vicious Reavers. Also aboard the craft are 17-year-old River Tam (Summer Glau) and her doctor brother Simon (Sean Maher), who, it turns out, are on the run from the Alliance after Simon rescued River, a psychic, from a laboratory in which she was subjected to all manner of horrifying experiments. The action kicks of when Mal brings River along on a raid, the events of which trigger in her a wave of unexplained memories and latent aggressive tendencies. The Alliance, it soon becomes clear, are desperate to capture River, and have dispatched a nameless Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who is willing to use any means necessary to reclaim her.

Given my lack of knowledge about the universe in which it takes place, I was surprised by just how quickly I felt at home aboard Serenity. The film, like the series, is very much an ensemble piece, with a diverse cast of characters, many of whom have pasted shrouded in mystery, and yet it never feels crowded or bloated. More to the point, all of them are likeable to a degree. Whedon has a knack not only for crafting great dialogue but also for creating characters whose motives are believable and understandable, whether they are the hero, villain, or somewhere in between. Case in point is the Operative, a ruthless zealot who is completely devoid of compassion and who, like many of the villains who appeared in Buffy and Angel, is clearly intended to resemble a religious fundamentalist. The backdrop against which the action unfolds is impressive in its scale, and one gets the sense that there is infinite scope for stories and characters in this franchise.


And yet, despite the larger scale of the production, it doesn't lose any of its creator's special touches. There are plenty of little Whedon-esque moments peppered throughout the film, from the dry humour to the one continuous shot that plays out behind the opening credits. The latter, especially, is a gimmick that Whedon has been trying to perfect since the days of Buffy, and it really pays off here in this, its longest and most complicated incarnation yet. It also carries on the various stylistic traits of Firefly - namely the blending of Science Fiction, Western and Eastern motifs - except on a larger scale. Before seeing the film, I had serious doubts that Whedon would be able to pull off the transition from directing television to directing a feature film, but, looking at the final product, you would never think that it was essentially helmed by a first-timer. True, there are few, if any, moments that will wow you, but the execution is consistently slick and professional, with just the right level of grit that a post-apocalyptic tale such as this demands. Cinematographer Jack N. Green's framing is at times inspired, while the computer-aided effects, provided by Whedon's old Buffy collaborators at Zoic Studios, are for the most part subtle.

At the end of the day, Serenity is highly unlikely to change the world of sci-fi for ever. I also find it difficult to not feel slightly resentful towards it, since it was because this project was greenlit that Whedon was unable to write and direct th final episode of Angel. (Not that this affected my overall scoring, though!) However, as someone for whom the science fiction genre holds little interest, I was surprised by just how much I engaged with the film. True, its television origins occasionally show themselves in the form of its less than feature-calibre performers and the nagging sensation that this is an individual episode of something bigger rather than a stand-alone story. Otherwise, though, this is a fine film: engaging, entertaining and, frankly, just plain fun, it will hopefully be the first of many accomplished feature productions for its director.

HD DVD Presentation

When I reviewed the US HD DVD release of Serenity back in July, I proclaimed it the greatest-looking non-theatrical presentation of a film I had ever seen. That particular disc retained that title for an impressive period of five months, before being dethroned... by its UK counterpart. As it happens, the US release was actually mastered using an early version of Microsoft's VC1 codec - a codec that they have continually worked to refine, bringing down the bit rate requirements. For the UK release, Universal decided to have another crack at Serenity, partially in order to free up some space for additional audio tracks (given that VC1 is now capable of producing excellent results with a mere 10-15 Mbps bit rate).

The US release, to me, looked absolutely perfect. Sharp as a tack, beautifully grainy, rich colours and contrast, and not a smidgen of edge enhancement on display. The UK release is... more perfect, if that's possible. No, the differences aren't massive, and I don't expect the majority of people to even notice them, but the new encode takes an already spectacular-looking disc and makes it look just a hair better. The most significant difference, if we can actually call it significant, is that the grain is very slightly more pronounced, further amplifying the film-like nature of the HD presentation. It also seems to be microscopically more detailed. This tends to be most noticeable in the form of improved definition of the skin texture during facial close-ups, although some of the wider shots also look a little crisper. I rated the US version a 10/10 for image quality, and I don't think I'd drop it to a 9 even having seen the UK version - perhaps more of a 9.8 (although I prefer not to get that specific when it comes to overall ratings). It's too bad I don't have more than one HD DVD player, and it takes upwards of a minute to switch discs, because that makes it pretty much impossible to perform any sort of a scientific comparison. I really hope that affordable PC drives and software capable of displaying titles in their full 1920x1080 resolution become available before too long, because I'm itching to subject some HD DVDs to the same in-depth comparisons as I currently do for standard definition material.

Audio options consist of English, French, Italian, German and Spanish tracks, all in Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1. Like the image quality, the sound is stellar. Indeed, the extent to which it sounds better than the average DVD soundtrack caught me off guard. I certainly wasn't expecting the depth, bass and clarity on offer here, and once again I am hard pressed to find any faults whatsoever.

Subtitles are included in a wide variety of languages, including, of course, English. Unfortunately, they are the usual Universal type that are positioned creatively around the screen in order to clue the audience in to who is speaking, rather than being placed in the bottom centre of the frame. All of the extras, including from the audio commentary on the deleted scenes and film itself, are subtitled in all languages (unlike the US version, where the commentaries were unsubtitled).

Extras

All of the bonus features included with this release are replicated from the standard definition version, and as such are presented in plain old 480i. Switching between them and the film itself certainly gives something of an idea of just how much of a phenomenal improvement HD DVD is.

The main extra, perhaps unsurprisingly, is a feature length audio commentary by Joss Whedon. Those who have listened to his excellent commentaries on Buffy and Angel will know what to expect here: an informal, highly informative and often self-deprecating overview of pretty much every aspect of the production. At times, he is a little too liberal when showering praise on his actors - from what he says here, you'd think Nathan Fillion was the single greatest actor who ever lived - but it's all done in good humour, and his passion for his creation shines through at all times.

This is followed by around 15 minutes of deleted scenes, with Whedon once again weighing in for optional audio commentary. By and large, these additional snippets take the form of incidental exchanges or extended takes of conversations that made it into the final. Broadly speaking, they help flesh out the characters a little more, but their removal is understandable, as they would probably have bogged down the running time of a film that revels in its sprightly pace. These scenes will definitely be of interest to Firefly fans, however, who will undoubtedly have a far stronger attachment to the characters than audiences meeting them for the first time within the film. Around 6 minutes' worth of outtakes are also provided.

Future History - The Story of Earth That Was is a 5-minute featurette providing a very brief overview of the origins of the Firefly universe. It's interesting as far as it goes, but tantalisingly brief. A much more in-depth look at how the series came into being would have been much appreciated. The same is true of What's in a Firefly, which provides a 6-minute look at the use of visual effects in the film, both practical and CGI.

More interesting than these brief featurettes is a 4-minute introduction to the film by Joss Whedon. This piece, clearly recorded for an audience about to see an incomplete advance preview of the film (he mentions that some visual effects and music cues are missing), is an amusing affair in which the director stresses how much the film's existence owes to the tireless campaigning of Firefly's fans (which, he surmises, means that, if it's because of them that it's a success, then, if it fails, it's all their fault). This is a great little piece, and I for one am glad that it is accessed from the Extras menu rather than playing at the start of the film, as is so often the case for directors' introductions.

Also included is a 10-minute piece entitled Re-lighting the Firefly, which focuses on the campaign to get the film off the ground following the series' cancellation. Of the various featurettes, this is probably the strongest, if only because it affords an opportunity to witness, first-hand, the sheer force to be reckoned with that is an auditorium of rabid Firefly fans.

Finally, the UK release adds an additional featurette not found on the US release, entitled A Filmmaker's Journey. This 20-minute piece is not particularly enlightening, but it is fun enough, featuring the cast and crew joking around and discussing their experiences on the film, and its inclusion here is certainly appreciated.

Overall

With the UK release of Serenity, Universal have done what, five months ago, I wouldn't have thought was possible: taken my favourite HD transfer of all time and improved it. No, I don't think I'd recommend that everyone who already owns the US version immediately rushes out and picks up the UK release, but the difference is there. If you don't already have the US disc, be in no doubt: the UK release is the finest-looking digital video disc this reviewer has ever seen, and Universal and their competitors are going to have their work cut out one-upping this beauty.