Not much of a review at all, but they've got a link and a little blurb over at the BBC cult site.

Read 3 of those reviews so far, so glad they're positive.

Ghost Spike | April 27, 14:36 CET

Cheers for that Ghost Spike. The reviews from what I've seen so far have been very positive.

Simon | April 27, 14:41 CET

Maybe I'm naive, but I swear I've never seen reviews for upcoming film trailers before! I've probably read places where people have mentioned that a trailer is good, but not a whole article dedicated to reviewing it. Or have I just been oblivious all of this time?

brob1 | April 27, 15:06 CET

Uh, in the CanMag article the Helen he mentions at the start is actually me. Squee! I emailed him to check out whedonesque, because you know, it’s quite a reasonable site. Sorry you all, I just never have been mentioned before anywhere, so this is kind of nice.

miranda | April 27, 15:45 CET

Another mention and link up at DVD Times who seem very proud to have had a quote in the trailer.

Wonder if DVD sales of Firefly are going to shoot up this week, wouldn't surprise me.

brob1 Movie Poop Shoot (contains bad language) used to have a weekly review of trailers released that week, but it seems to have dissapeared, this is the first time I've seen reviews like this for a single trailer though.

Ghost Spike | April 27, 16:07 CET

I'm a huge fan of DVD Times, very chuffed to see them get a mention in the trailer.

Simon | April 27, 16:26 CET

Don't agree with that reviewer about the "aim to misbehave" line being clunky. That was the moment in the trailer where I knew that, even though this is a big-screen movie, Serenity wasn't going to lose its quirky humor and Firefly roots. That line was very Mal, IMO.

Rob | April 27, 19:15 CET

I agree, Rob--I was momentarily fearful that the Captain would launch into full action hero mode...I love that line...also, Jayne's "Let's be badguys"...great stuff.

Chris inVirginia | April 27, 19:18 CET

The geeklove at MetaFilter is pretty divided. Personally I liked the Aim to Misbehave line, but Wash's "We're gonna die" bit fell a little flat. I didn't appreciate that neither Kaylee nor Book appeared much, if at all. Overall, looks great, what I could see, but my monitor's a little weak when a picture is mostly dark, so I didn't see a whole helluva lot. Gonna have to find out which movie is carrying the trailer this weekend. I'm assuming it's H2G2 but that's an educated guess.

ZachsMind | April 27, 19:21 CET

Mal's line did hit my ear as...well...clunky is a good discription. The Wash line I was mixed about.

I showed my 9 year old son and asked him if he thought it made Serenity look like a good movie and he said, "Yes, it looks like it could be good, but that's what they always try to do in those things." Such a cynical child, (Takes after his mother.) but a pretty good borometer.

newcj | April 27, 19:30 CET

I think my favourite line was Mal saying "I don't kill children". You could feel the emotion welling up in him.

Simon | April 27, 19:36 CET

I also wasn't a big fan of the "aim to misbehave" line. In fact, for the first bit of the trailer, I was feeling a little disappointed – not so much for myself, but knowing that if I wasn't already a fan of the series, the trailer wouldn't appeal to me at all. But it won me over later on, with River kicking ass, Mal's "I don't kill children" line (and the operative's response), and the final bit: "I don't have a weapon" (Or whatever his exact words were) and Mal's response.

acp | April 27, 19:43 CET

I liked the dialogue, "I aim to misbehave" was very Mal, loved the Mal/Wash "define interesting" bit too. A bit of a shame that hardly anyone else got a word in, but Mal's the hero, so it was to be expected.

My only problem with the trailer was that it wasn't 2 hours long.

Ghost Spike | April 27, 19:49 CET

That is strange, I feel exactly the opposite: "aim to misbehave" is, to my ears, somewhat basic, whereas the piece "This gonna be interesting (...) we're all gonna die" makes me dance on my seat.

Of course I do appreciate that "aime to misbehave" shows that Mal' in Serenity stays the anti-hero he is in Firefly; but the shooting of the "unarmed" villain is a much better way to show, in the trailer, that Mal' is not PC. On the other hand, it is the exchange "we're all gonna die" which made me think to myself: "OK, we'll have great Whedony lines, this gonna be wonderful" (as if I had any doubts about this in the first place!).

Notwithstanding the fact that Wash seems to have recover its coolness in dire situations (he is not, during this short exchange, half frantic as he is during the chase in "The Message" ;) ).

Le Comité | April 27, 19:53 CET

What's going on here, people? We've all waited so long for this trailer (or any hint of the film) and now we have to analyse the crap out of it?

I don't believe anyone here came away from viewing that trailer with anything other than excitement and anticipation... so what's the problem? Some lines sounded "clunky"? Well, sure, most things sound off when they're taken out of context, as is the content of most trailers. Some characters don't get a look in? The trailer was 2 minutes! And the show had nine characters - nine! How much of an introduction were you expecting?

(rant over)

Sorry 'bout that. But for my money, everything in that trailer positively screamed Firefly. The only thing that bothers me now is that extra one week we have to wait here in the UK before we can see thw whole damn thing!

Outsider | April 27, 20:36 CET

Having finally viewed the fullscreen trailer, I was suitably rocked out of my socks. And I found no especial fault with the dialogue. But, yes, I was a little sad to see no or miniscule Kaylee or Inara presence - just a close-up or reaction shot woulda been nice. After all, it's Firefly (Serenity), not Cap'n Mal and his Plucky Outlaws . . .

And analysing the crap out of stuff is, to a large extent, this board's raison d'etre. :)

SoddingNancyTribe | April 27, 20:50 CET

Oh, com'on Outsider. We already raved on the other thread. Now we are commenting about what the reviewers said and how it fits into what we thought beyond, "THE TRAILER, THE TRAILER, OMG I’M WATCHING THE TRAILER! ISN"T THIS GREAT?!!" -- Notice how many fewer posts are on this thread.

Personally from the second viewing on I was looking at it in reference to how it will play to non-fans. (OK, with a little deep private analysis along the lines of, "Yeah, he does look different. Is it the hair?" thrown in here and there.) Hence my dragging over to the computer to watch and give an opinion the only other mobile human being in the house, my 9 year old son. OK so he is not exactly the target audience, but he was handy, nominally under my control and his taste is pretty similar to adolescent males without the overwhelming interest in sex.

Everyone here is going to go to this movie and we will probably bring friends and relatives. Last night I wanted to call everyone I knew to ask them to watch the trailer and tell me what their impression of it was just so I could get a feel of how it was going to be perceived by people who had never seen Firefly and/or were not Whedon fans. The fact that most of them have dial up and so would probably not be too happy with me or Serenity by the time it downloaded made me stop. If it is going to be on HHGG, (and if HHGG seems like a good movie) maybe I can get everyone together to go and I could find out then.

Anyway, I will defend my right to analyse the crap out of stuff and even nit pick with my dying breath (which, btw, may include a brief analysis of the experience itself.) ;-)

newcj | April 27, 21:52 CET

I just checked with my AMC theather, no Serenity trailer here on South Charlotte this friday. Maye I can check with another theather, if they aren't showing it oh well. Those studios just lost my 8 dollars.

"my 9 year old son. OK so he is not exactly the target audience."

Have to disagree there. Universal is going to want as many 9-25 year old boys paying for this movie as possible, and if they bring their girlfriends even better.

[ edited by eddy on 2005-04-27 20:06 ]

eddy | April 27, 21:52 CET

Eddy, I don't think his girlfriend is allowed to date yet...unless all the parents are invited too...hmmmmmm.

newcj | April 27, 23:44 CET

The weird thing is that lines that sound clunky in trailers are really cool in the movie. And for the record, I love both lines, because they're both so very Firefly-esque. It shows the movie is a close relative of the show, which can only be good in my eyes. I just maybe kinda wish the trailer weren't so slam-bang, with all the slam cuts and action-y CG shots and everything. It's too frenetic. The one trailer that recently came out that I loved is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: shows how the movie is going to look, has dippy music showing what the spirit is, and has a few lovely Johnny Depp bits, which is always a strong draw. But the correlation between a shiny trailer and a shiny movie is not strong, in my opinion. Take Dodgeball -- the trailer (and the cast list) made me drool all summer, and yet when I finally saw the movie, it never clicked for me. Something in the rhythm, the comedic timing never worked for me at all, which sucked, because comedy is all about rhythm and timing. I laughed, but didn't entirely mean it.

dottikin | April 27, 23:48 CET

And analysing the crap out of stuff is, to a large extent, this board's raison d'etre. :)

So true. And notice how, in the absence of anything Jossy to analyze in the last year, we come out in droves for a 2-minute trailer! Desperate, much?

My only problem with the trailer was that it wasn't 2 hours long.

Amen.

I'm truly jealous of those who are going to get to see the sneaks. But I thought the trailer did its job. It got the fans cheering (although, frankly, we would have cheered a blank screen with "Joss Whedon" written on it), and I think it was exciting enough to get the attention of non-fans. I actually liked both Mal's and Wash's lines, because I thought they were totally in character -- and were almost shorthand for the characters -- and Wash's line hinted of Joss's humor. I am hoping, however, that there will be other trailers that will target the personalities a little more -- to balance the special-effects-laden ones. But, over all, I'm just so happy to have the trailer out there -- to have some concrete proof that the movie is really going to happen.

palehorse | April 28, 00:51 CET

tvshowsondvd.com has a great little review of the Serenity trailer - a highly unusual development since Serenity ain't a TV show. Whoever wrote the review/announcement sounds positively giddy with joy and better yet, is urging folks to go check out the trailer. I can't make the dang link thing work (must be an issue of too many spaces or not enough) but if you go to the main page you'll see a link to what I'm talking about: www.tvshowsondvd.com

phlebotinin | April 28, 00:53 CET

I tend to fall in the drop-the-misbehave-line camp. It's a complete non sequitur for anyone not familiar with Mal.

It would be great if Universal released different trailers bringing out different aspects of the movie to some degree. Don't blam 'em for going for the action niche with the first trailer, though.

Andarcel | April 28, 01:28 CET

I've read a few comments about the music in the trailer and I'm surprised no one has said this yet (but maybe it's really obvious): Isn't Joel Silver of the Matrix working on this? In a recently posted article, not like I can remember which, there was mention of his desire to do a "Trinity" project that never happened. I think nonfans of Firefly/Serenity might infer that "Serenity" is River's name, even though the trailer mentions her name once -- albeit rather quickly. This music sounds very Matrixy, which I like. Maybe Silver created this part of the trailer. You know. Matrixy music, girl kicking ass, title "Serenity", etc. Well, if it's Silver's influence, I'm all there.

On a related note, I sorta get the spoiler avoidage. I lived in Asia for two years, and saw several new movies so totally unspoiled, only knowing they were popular and "really really good." The original Matrix was one of those films. (Hey, caught it in Melbourne of all places!) And I was utterly. blown. away.
I think the trailer has both Silver's signature and stamp of approval. If he endorses Joss, then hell, what a big damn endorsement, imo.
ETA: proper spelling

ETA: Ok, I got to thinking and double checking, and he's doing the WW thing. Whatever. I still think the trailer was in his style and all that, with the music, but I realize it's not his project. And I still think it's done this way to appeal to Matrixy fans.
[ edited by April on 2005-04-27 23:43 ]

[ edited by April on 2005-04-27 23:59 ]

April | April 28, 01:43 CET

I love the "I KEEL J00!" look on River's face just before she smacks down with a vengeance.

[ edited by Daromaius on 2005-04-28 03:04 ]

Daromaius | April 28, 02:34 CET

*wipes away tears*

ahh, Daromaius, it is for words such as yours that i linger here so long.

April | April 28, 06:04 CET

Maybe this is because English isn’t my first language and I have difficulty placing accents, plus I have never been to the South of the US, so I could be way wrong here, but I can actually understand the ‘clunky’ comment.

In the series Mal seems to have a slightly different speech rhythm from everybody else. He sounds kind of old fashioned, both in the words he uses and the rhythm of the sentences. When he talks I mentally envisage some soldier person in a dusty outpost in the middle of nowhere circa 1850 as per the old cowboy movies on TV when I was a child. There is also an artificial courtliness about the way he speaks that reminds me of old fashioned Southern gentlemen. I wouldn’t say his language is stilted but it’s not completely natural either.

At least that how it all sounded to my ears. I should say that I have the flu and am stuffed full of medication which makes my ears ring, so if this makes no sense, put it down to that.

Edited to say: I forgot to say that I mean my remarks as a compliment not a criticism. (Head totally not working today.) It's great when language can be used that way to define a character but I can see why for the uninitiated this wouldn't be apparent immediately.

[ edited by miranda on 2005-04-28 16:36 ]

miranda | April 28, 12:56 CET

I have read, here and there, other opinions on this trailer. Opinions from people I know and people I don't, but mainly from people which are "neutral" with respect to Joss' work (no fans, but no fiends neither). Also mainly people which, though they might like it, are not especially attracted by SFX-based movies.

As I feared, their opinion after having viewed the trailer is not very good. Mainly because they see this trailer as "ok, another just-SFX-movie" (plus the music which is kind of basic, etc...).

I think that this trailer is indeed too much SFX-oriented, and that it thus may give a wrong impression on the movie in general. It will attrack a certain public, but for wrong reasons...

I hope there will be other trailers, to convey other feelings concerning this movie.

Le Comité | April 28, 12:58 CET

Gotta love this reference in the Clicked blog at the MSNBC site:

Simon | April 28, 17:35 CET

Oh boy do I love that, Simon! Great stuff.

phlebotinin | April 28, 17:48 CET