6.2
A documentary covering Firefly's birth, death and rebirth from the perspective of both the fans and the cast and crew of both productions.
Adam Baldwin
Self - Host
Joss Whedon
Self
Orson Scott Card
Self
Ron Glass
Self
Nathan Fillion
Self
Alan Tudyk
Self
Jewel Staite
Self
Morena Baccarin
Self
Christina Hendricks
Self
Yan Feldman
Self
Rafael Feldman
Self
Christopher Buchanan
Self
Tim Minear
Self
James Gunn
Self
Jenna Fischer
Self
Mary Parent
Self
Greg Edmonson
Self
Keith R.A. DeCandido
Self
Tracy Hickman
Self
Margaret Weis
Self
John Cassaday
Self
Summer Glau
Self (Archive Footage)
Sean Maher
Self (Archive Footage)
Director
Tony Hadlock
Director
Jason Heppler
Director
Jeremy Neish
Director
Jared Nelson
Director
Brian Wiser
February 6, 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.