Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59071 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-12-09
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Colour, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: 1.20 pounds
• Running time: 675 minutes

Customer Reviews

Jayne's not a girls name! I've got manly bits.
I had to write a review of this series after finishing it last week. I was a little scepticle after hearing it was a "Western in space", I dont know why, as Outland was also described in that way and I really like that film.
When I put the first disc in and started watching I really started squirming, the civil war scene that starts the pilot was terrible quality, real TV Movie quality, all dark without really seeing what's going on, and then a few minutes later it's over, and I realised that I HAD made the right decision buying this set.

Firefly has become famous as one of the big 3 "F's" that Fox cancelled, in this case in mid series. (Family Guy and Futurama being the other 2 inexplainable decisions, and strangely enough, all 3 series headed for film status). Aparently, as the story goes, the Pilot episode that introduces us to all 9 characters, showing there basic origins, was'nt Wham Bam enough and so was not aired until episode 2 was shown, then after a while episode 1 and it all got so confusing they just pulled the plug.
And what a mistake.

It is a Western in space, Joss Whedon described it as a future where nothing has changed, so, there are a multitude of worlds that have been terraformed to be like Earth (such a simple idea and one that never makes you fed up that all the scenes look like Earth), and the colonies that have arisen due to the terraforming process are akin to Western Shanty towns, complete with Sherrifs and what look like Winchester rifles and six shooters. Seeing deputies in dusters is no surprise.
The crew of the Firefly are basically smugglers that transport goods under the nose of the Alliance, which is a sort of mixture between the Empire and Cancer Man from the X Files.
Another refreshing thing about this series is that there is progression in character. Firefly has to be one of the most refreshing Sci Fi adventures I've seen in a long time. Just when you think you've stereotyped the characters, a new facet is revealed and you have to reasses them, which makes the cancellation an even harder pill to swallow. There's a great mix of characters from hard cold military, professional medical, hippy, religious, exotic and of course mysterious. they all compliment each other though, and even if there's tensions, when they all sit round there ships wooden table eating there vitals you know there a happy family that want to stay together.

Some of the major storylines that were left in the lurch were:
River, an escapee from the Alliances secret project, what have they made her into?
The Shepherd, a missionary preacher. Just who is he?
(and the story that at times made you think you were watching the Love Boat):
Mal and Inara, will she really leave?
Simon and Kaylee, well?

My favourite character of all has to be Jayne though. The series has to be worth watching for him alone, even when there's just dialogue, take a look at his face, pure genius. There's also a great easter egg on page 2 of the special features when Adam Baldwin sings the ballad of Jayne in entirity before donning his bobble hat. The song was from one of the best episodes Jaynestown, where there's a really Hitch Hikers Guide moment as Jayne discovers a statue of himself in a backwater village!

Well, A truly excellent series. I hope the film Serenity (not watched yet) will pick up on some of the plotlines, and who knows, with it's current success, maybe we'll see the crew of the Firefly back again.

You know you want to.......
Quite simply if you are reading infomation about this DVD set you know the basic story/series blurb, so im not going to tell the story again.
This is simply a great peice of television(DVD), at first i didnt watch it as im not a fan of Joss Whedon i have never watched an episode of buffy or angle in my life and still dont think i would, but i saw firefly advertised on the sci-fi channel and i have never looked back,

This is first amazon review so all i can simply say is buy the DVD set as once you have watched one you will want to watch them all (and its the cheapest box set around whatelse can you get for the price)

The way great television should be seen
I must confess that I missed “Firefly” during its all-too-brief run in the U.S., and was only introduced to it when a friend gave me this set for Christmas. After watching it, I can’t believe that I passed on such a wonderful series – or the stupidity of the FOX network in botching its presentation.

I’m not going to echo the same praises sung by the many positive reviews of this set, only to say that I am in agreement with the wonderful things written about it. This is television at its best, with quality acting, good special effects, and some of the best writing around. Each episode draws viewers into a developing story, and while not every episode is perfect (in particular, I found “Safe” to be rather formulaic and disappointing), each can also stand alone in its own right as an entertaining tale.

But one of the most interesting aspects of the set wasn’t on the discs but on the slip cases. The progression of the episodes in the set seems natural upon viewing, yet upon reading the airdates of the shows I began to understand why the show was cancelled. They offer stark testimony of how FOX shuffled episodes around and broadcast them out of sequence, turning a clear and progressive narrative into a confusing jumble of events. It’s led me to conclude that in this day and age the only way to truly appreciate what the creators of television series are trying to achieve is on DVD, where it can escape the idiotic tinkering that network executives constantly undertake.

So watch this and see a television series as its creator intended it to be seen, free from the moronic meddling of network executives that have marred the fate of so many good shows.