Publisher: Patrick Delahanty February 13, 2025
Back in 2006, this documentary was a wonderful tribute to the fans of Firefly who "saved" Serenity. However, it hasn't aged incredibly well. The documentary certainly does nothing to try to distance sci-fi fans from the stereotypical nerdy fan image. It also gives fans buying DVDs far too much credit for getting the Serenity movie made. However, the most uncomfortable parts are the brief clips of Joss Whedon shot at a what appears to be a convention's merch booth in what was likely a single short interview between autographs and merch sales. It's hard to watch him joking around knowing that actors from his various productions have come out against his actions. That aside, there are two other relatively minor things that have always bugged me about this documentary. First, more than once it's stated in the film multiple times by Adam Baldwin that a cancelled series getting made into a major motion picture has "never happened before". I guess people have forgotten that Star Trek was cancelled and then had a series of movies a decade later...not to mention the number of old TV shows that have had movie reboots in one form or another. Second, some of the fan-made songs on the soundtrack are great, but Dan Sehane's song "I'm Gonna See Serenity" has lyrics that really annoy me, especially when he says the line "They couldn't take the sky from them, Our big damn heroes made a film" over and over and over as if "them" and "film" are supposed to rhyme. It's very, very bad. Those issues aside, this documentary is an interesting look into fandom of the era. It's before social media and during the time of blogs, web sites, and forums. It's also interesting to catch a few faces such as James Gunn and Jenna Fischer who weren't as well known back then. Although the documentary was undoubtedly made on a very small budget, picture and sound quality is very good. It's a shame that Firefly cast members Gina Torres, Sean Maher, and Summer Glau are not part of this film.