So I was looking over the synopsis, and I still don't understand the 'Six rebels on the run' thing. Why is River a fugitive, while Simon is a rebel?

KBP | November 09, 12:29 CET

Why is River a fugitive, while Simon is a rebel?

And should we use rebel or fugitive to describe the llama?

theonetruebix | November 09, 12:53 CET

Universal sure does love that SF Chronicle review. Out of all the rave reviews this film got, they choose a pedestrian quote like "Ultra-cool action" (IGN.com) to use in the press release?

einral | November 09, 13:02 CET

theonetruebix - all llamas are rebels (and all monkeys are French).

lone fashionable wolf | November 09, 13:44 CET

Wasn't the llama named "Ebels Ass"?

Numfar PTB | November 09, 13:47 CET

It's going to be available on VHS. For some reason, this cracks me up.

[ edited by RayHill on 2005-11-09 12:08 ]

RayHill | November 09, 14:07 CET

I know! It still makes me go 'huh?', honestly. There's tons of great quotes to throw around, even from some pretty major reviewers and/or publications, but they do not seem to want to use those.

GVH | November 09, 14:47 CET

Not saying that Summer doesn't look gorgeous, which she does, but, um, I don't really think it ever crossed any of the crew's mind when they were harboring her that she was "beautiful." Methinks Universal is just trying to rally around the whole super sexy undead River on the cover.

And, yeah, those review quotes are lame. Why not mention those two little digits that two rather well-known Chicagoans put up for it?

Hmm...I'm still hoping it sells well...

UnpluggedCrazy | November 09, 15:00 CET

Was the Alliance known as the Universal Alliance in the Firefly tv show?

Simon | November 09, 15:10 CET

No, Simon, I'm guessing Universal realized how evil they were and decided to give themselves a fitting name. Maybe because of their big ego, they figured they'd work that into the film's marketing, creating so many parallels that they are probably blind to.

UnpluggedCrazy | November 09, 15:12 CET

...and not saying "Two thumbs up." always makes me assume there weren't. So are they that afraid that using quotes from the most mainstream sources will turn off their target audience? That is all I can figure. (Still shaking head.)

newcj | November 09, 17:13 CET

Let me guess soon we will get a note from Joss on the Serenity site saying "Guess what else I'm not the boss of, again."

That was just to funny of a read to be real, but if it is Universal needs a new advertising dept - cause this explains why so many of their releases have bombed.

RavenU | November 09, 17:33 CET

Because she is fleeing from the law and he (and the rest of the crew) is choosing to defy them, by force if necessary? Technically she is the only one that is specifically a fugitive, though I admit the distinction is rather subtle.

zeitgeist | November 09, 17:51 CET

I think they should be targeting mainstream audience, and not trying to reach genre fans, which may already have some formed opinion, and know at least might've heard about the movie.
They should be working on the general public, to the guy who might stumble upon it at the video store, or someone who'll consider purchasing it.

It's sad that this ain't something that Joss is a Boss of.

Numfar PTB | November 09, 18:36 CET

They never went with my "Better than Ice Pirates!" quote *muttergrumblemutter*.

Simon | November 09, 18:56 CET

See, Simon? That's what I'm talking about!

newcj | November 09, 19:14 CET

Well there's no doubt that I'll be a good little Browncoat and pick up Serenity on dvd when it's released, but I'll be damned if I
make myself suffer by having to stare at that godawful cover. I guess that this will be a perfect opportunity to use my graphic design powers for good instead of the usual lukewarm evil. Yep, it's custom cover time.

Inara's Spongebath | November 09, 19:15 CET

I'm a little surprised that there's going to be a fullscreen DVD version of this (and VHS? [i]Seriously?[/i]). I dunno why, I guess I just figured it wouldn't get one. It's such a waste of plastic and print though. And it only ends up causing confusion. There've been a couple times when the format wasn't plastered obviously on the cover and I've bought DVDs and then got home and realized I needed to exchange them for the widescreen.

Kris | November 09, 19:27 CET

"Post-apocolyptic"?

fruit punch mouth | November 09, 21:34 CET

Because they couldn't back that up, Simon ;) On another note (see how I didn't say 'a more serious note'? That would've totally spoiled my reply), aside from the obvious end of the world type of meaning (which does apply as Earth-that-was is "...all used up."), apocalypse also means big change or revelation, though I'm guessing they refer merely to the Earth-that-was bit...

zeitgeist | November 09, 21:37 CET

And the award for lamest use of critic quotes goes to ...

killinj | November 09, 21:40 CET

I think, seriously, that they're afraid that using real quotes from real critics will scare away the 14 year old boys of below-average intelligence, who are the only people today's suits are interested in anyway.

Of course, even when they do use quotes from the big pubs, they are oddly tone deaf. Once I saw a quote in the O.C. Register that had a rather long reference to the use of Chinese, which as we know is always a guarantee of large ticket sales. Then, I read the capsule review that Register was running. It said, if memory serves: "Space cowboy fun from start to finish!"

[ edited by bobster on 2005-11-09 20:03 ]

bobster | November 09, 21:58 CET

Annoyed "Tsk". In terms of drawing newbies in, "Two thumbs up" works better than just about anything except truly exceptional cover art :) and synopsis. I just cannot believe that short, sweet, understood-by-the-masses info is not included. As stated above, the implication is that the review was thumbs down if it's not cited.

ThereUR | November 09, 22:19 CET

I hear the point about using the "Two thumbs up" line. OTOH, the saturation in its usage has becomes a little self-defeating, methinks.

In other words: I feel like I've seen just dozens and dozens of DVD cases that feature the two-thumbs up, and g-d knows I've watched dozens of TTU movies that really kinda sucked. So now I just blow right past that kind of "boo-hurrah" reaction, and look for interesting quotes from reputable sources. But I guess that's just me. (It might also be a problem with the scale being only from no thumbs to one thumb to two thumbs. Ten out of ten or 99/100 or even five stars offer a little more nuance in appreciation . . .)

SoddingNancyTribe | November 09, 22:47 CET

I don't mind them not using the "two thumbs up," but couldn't they take some quotes from more well-known critics or publications?

killinj | November 09, 22:51 CET

At least there is some email address info for some of you that are pulling for better DVD art.

DarenG | November 09, 22:55 CET

I'd go for a New York Times quote, which had a great review, for instance, or maybe a big movie magazine (I'd use an SFX quote for british release, for instance, alongside a Total Film and/or Empire quote)...just tune into rottentomatoes.com and there's bunches of quotes ripe for the taking, most more spectacular than the ones being used now.

Quotes are something I usually pay attention to. We don't have the whole 'two thumbs up' thing on Dutch DVDs, but I have seen it from time to time on imported American DVDs, so I kinda took it to be a big deal.

Whatever the case, there's better quotes to be had. Then again, in the light of the cover art, it might not even matter ;-).

GVH | November 10, 01:46 CET

I definitely pay attention to quotes, especially if there are a lot of good ones. Maybe they should have gone with the simple Serenity logo on black, with nothing but good review quotes plastered all over the DVD! Two thumbs up does make a difference to some, but it's most helpful when accompanied by other, more specific praise from multiple major sources (like the NYT, Salon, etc.--in the States at least).

Re: full screen vs. wide screen. I've never understood why (and someone please explain if it's not too OT and you know the reason) wide screen and full screen versions can't both be on the same disc for all movies. Why sell two separate versions? There are some DVDs that allow you to turn the disc over and view the movie either way, or prompt you to select "full" or "wide" at the beginning before it plays. I would prefer that option for Serenity (and pretty much every movie I own/rent)! Less confusing, IMO.

ETA: Why do I always add comments to threads that are almost dead/at the bottom of the page? And ask questions that will never get answered?

[ edited by Cygnet on 2005-11-10 22:36 ]

Cygnet | November 11, 00:14 CET