Review for Firefly: The Complete Series

Introduction

Next up on my long list of quickie Blu-ray double dip reviews is the Firefly television series. This should be filed under the ‘should have rented’ category, as I only watched the DVD once after I bought it, and now I embark on the Blu-ray version of the space adventure. Actually, way back when I was yet to be convinced of the benefits of HD, Firefly was one of the releases that gave me significant pause. After all, it was just a TV series. How good could a TV show look in HD? Besides, apparently the CGI special effects shots all had to up-scaled as they didn’t exist in HD. In the end I wound up getting the show, a) because it was under £10 on sale, and b) I had just double-dipped on the Serenity Blu-ray (expect a quickie review in due course), and I might as well have the whole thing on one format for consistency’s sake. It’s also a space saver, given that the DVD came on 4 discs in a fatpack, while the Blu-ray comes on 3 in a standard sized Blu-ray Amaray. As usual, here’s a link to my DVD review if you want to know more about the show. This review will concentrate more on the technical aspects of the Blu-ray release.


Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds was a sergeant on the side of the Independent Worlds during the last war against the Alliance of Central Worlds. He wound up leading a brave last stand during the final battle of the war, before his own side threw in the towel and hung him out to dry. Now he's the embittered captain of the transport ship Serenity, following a somewhat dubious career with fellow veteran Zoë Washburne. Her husband 'Wash' is the ship's pilot, the engineer is a rosy-cheeked optimist named Kaylee, and Jayne provides muscle, cynicism and aggravation. There's an ambassador of sorts on the ship, a 'Companion' named Inara, and early on in their adventures a priest, Shepherd Book, as well as fugitive siblings Simon and River Tam join them. Their mission is to keep their heads above water, taking jobs both legal and illegal, trying to stay one step ahead of the dictatorial Alliance, while avoiding the cannibalistic Reavers that roam the outer reaches of known space. The complete series of fourteen episodes is presented across three discs.


Disc 1

1. Serenity
2. The Train Job
3. Bushwhacked
4. Shindig

Disc 2
5. Safe
6. Our Mrs. Reynolds
7. Jaynestown
8. Out of Gas
9. Ariel

Disc 3

10. War Stories
11. Trash
12. The Message
13. Heart Of Gold
14. Objects In Space

Picture

Firefly gets a 1.78:1 widescreen transfer at 1080p, and by and large it’s a clear and sharp presentation. The film shot on location and on sets is genuine HD, clear and sharp throughout, with strong colours, and excellent detail, aside from the odd low light shot that is overly affected by graininess. The problem comes with the effects shots, where the CGI was completed for SD broadcast resolution only. That’s most of the space sequences, which really isn’t that much of a problem, as the mind can accept the disconnect between the real and the unreal just as easily as two resolutions. It’s where CG blends with live action, and the whole thing drops to SD resolution, that things become obviously of lesser quality. What it really needs is a Star Trek TNG type makeover, it needs the money and investment for someone to go back and re-render all those effects shots at 1080p resolution, and find the live-action footage and re-composite where necessary with the CG. It needs a company like Fox to pony up the... oh... right.

Well, this is as good as Firefly is ever going to look, so be very happy with these Blu-ray discs.

Sound

There’s a more palpable and consistent improvement in audio, as we now get a DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround English track, alongside DTS 5.1 German, and DD 2.0 Surround French and Spanish, with subtitles in these languages plus Dutch. The DVD only had a 2.0 Surround English track, and as soon as you see the Serenity fly overhead in the credit sequence on the Blu-ray, and more importantly hear it, it becomes clear that this is more than just an upmix. The DTS-HD track offers discrete placement of effects, and a much fuller experience than the DVD could ever manage, and it is worth the price of the double dip alone. Unfortunately there are still no subtitles for the Mandarin...

Extras

You get three Blu-ray discs in a standard sized Amaray style case, one disc on the back panel, two on either side of a central hinged panel. The inner sleeve offers the episode synopses and the extra features contained within.

I’ll briefly mention the extra features that are carried over from the DVD release, and go into a little more detail on the Blu-ray exclusive features.

The audio commentaries are accessible from the individual episode select menu, not the play all option, and aren’t listed in the extra features on each disc, which is a little obscure. They also lack English subtitles, which the DVD at least offered.


1. Serenity
The commentary on this episode features Executive Producer Joss Whedon, and Nathan Fillion, who played Mal Reynolds.

2. The Train Job
This time Tim Minear joins Joss Whedon.

4. Shindig
There is a commentary on this episode from writer Jane Espenson, actress Morena Baccarin (Inara), and costume designer Shawna Trpcic.

6. Our Mrs. Reynolds
Blu-Ray Exclusive audio commentary featuring Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, and Ron Glass (Shepherd Book). It sounds phoned in, quite literally, as the audio quality is pretty poor, and often drowned out by the show’s dialogue, and it’s one of those tracks where the commentators have more fun watching the show than talking about it. That becomes understandable as it seems it was recorded following the other Blu-ray exclusive extra.


8. Out of Gas
Executive producer Tim Minear, and director David Solomon talk about this episode.

10. War Stories
Nathan Fillion (Mal), and Alan Tudyk (Wash) comment on the episode.

12. The Message
The commentary is from Alan Tudyk (Wash), and Jewel Staite (Kaylee).

14. Objects In Space
Joss Whedon comments on this episode.


The rest of the extra features are presented across the discs as follows

Disc 1

Here's How It Was: The Making of Firefly lasts 28:39 minutes and is in SD.

Disc 2

Blu-ray exclusive extra, Firefly Reunion: Lunch With Joss, Nathan, Alan and Ron. This lasts 24:03 and is in 1080p HD. The creator and actors get around a table to eat and reminisce, and much jollity is had by all, as well as a bit of melancholy. It’s obvious that they were having fun for this reunion, and as they mention that the commentary for Our Mrs Reynolds was recorded following this, that explains the occasional incoherence on that track.


Disc 3

The rest of the extras are ported over from the DVD release and presented on this final disc in SD format.

You get 4 deleted scenes running to 12:05.
Serenity: The 10th Character lasts 9:45.
Alan Tudyk’s Audition – 1:04.
Joss Sings the Firefly Theme – 1:16.
Joss Tours the Set – 1:23.
Gag Reel – 2:40.

Conclusion

I have a lot of discs. I have a lot of discs, movies and TV series both. Shows like Firefly I can count on one hand, shows where I finish watching the final episode, and my first urge is to put the first disc back in again and start over straight away. The show is that good, the writing that sharp, the characters so mesmerising, and the world design so rich and alive. Firefly’s world is a world that you want to live in. I can only imagine the millions of life-long grudges that were born the day that Fox cancelled this show, the millions more that have been added since then, as like me, more and more people discovered the show on DVD, and latterly on Blu-ray. Just how many people’s dying words will be “Damn you Twentieth Century Fox!” You can click on the review of the DVD collection to see how I feel about the show, although this second time through I find that I love it just that little bit more.


Is the Blu-ray worth it? Of course it is, especially as it can usually be had for under £10. I know that Amazon will charge postage on that, but you can throw in the Serenity Blu-ray and get it up to free postage and packing. The new extra features for the Blu-ray release are a nice bonus, especially the round table discussion, but it’s the episodes that are the real star, and the HD upgrade does make a difference, if an inconsistent one. The CGI effects shots are still in SD and scaled up, but that is really only noticeable where there is live action composited in. The native HD footage is of variable quality, brighter scenes look fantastic, but low light scenes suffer more than usual from excess grain. But it’s still better than DVD, and at the native frame-rate meaning no PAL speed-up afflicting the audio.


The audio is where the most immediate benefit of HD is heard; less for the lossless audio, although the added clarity is palpable, than it is for the 5.1 Surround, sorely lacking on the DVDs. Here you get the full surround experience that the show needed and deserved, with full placement of effects, and immersive action sequences.


The Blu-ray is as good as the show is going to get on home media release. It could have been better, but then again the show could have got a decent chance at a series. We all have to make do with what we can get, rather than what we want. That’s the only problem with Firefly, the lingering bitterness after the final credits of the final episode, thoughts of what could have been. I’ll try and alleviate that bitterness by watching the Serenity movie next.