Firefly: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]

Firefly, and its companion, Serenity, are worth your last dollar. Believable characters, great plots, outstanding writing. How do reality shows grind on and on whilst this gem was shoved to the back of the closet? It just proves that FOX can't see a diamond for the sand. Buy it, you'll love it.

I agree completely with other reviewers that while the quality of the Blu-ray disc is better than the DVDs, it is not enough to justify the cost. I own FIREFLY in both Blu-ray and DVD and while the Blu-ray is unquestionably better, it simply isn't sufficiently better to justify the cost.

Frankly, unless the studios and electronics manufacturers make some immediate and drastic changes, I am not optimistic about Blu-ray surviving as a technology. I have a Samsung 46" LCD television and both a Philips Up-Conversion DVD player (with HDMI cable) and a Sony Playstation 3 with both Up-Conversion capabilities and a Blu-Ray player. When I first got the Blu-ray I was buying most movies and TV series on Blu-ray. But after discovering that the improvement is slight while the costs remains absurdly high, I've largely gone back to buying DVDs. For instance, I just bought THE DARK KNIGHT on regular DVD rather than Blu-ray. And until the studios drop the cost of Blu-ray discs down to the level of DVDs, I'm not likely to buy many Blu-ray discs in the future. I suspect that it costs the studios no more money to make a Blu-ray than to make a DVD (in fact, given the smaller size of most Blu-ray packages, it might be less expensive), so it is merely a way they utilize to gouge the consumer. My greatest concern is that the studios are not dropping the costs of the Blu-ray discs to compare favorably to DVDs.

In short, at this point the studios are simply not giving us enough motivation to buy Blu-ray discs. I definitely regret spending over $50 to get FIREFLY on Blu-ray. As I said above, until they drop the price of Blu-ray discs to the same level of DVDs, I'm not likely to get any more. MAD MEN Season One came out with both Blu-ray and DVD priced the same. This will be the lone instance where I'll buy Blu-ray until the prices drop. The other exception might be if and when they bring BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER out on DVD. The quality of the current DVDs is pretty low. Right now when I watch BUFFY on my 1080 capable TV, it looks rough and grainy. The same is true to a lesser degree of THE X-FILES. But if by going back to the masters they can create a higher resolution image, I'd buy them. But this is the exception and the rule it proves.

If you don't own FIREFLY at all, I definitely recommend getting this on DVD instead of Blu-ray. There is absolutely no question that this was potentially one of the most brilliant shows in the history of TV. Even though there were only a handful of episodes completed, the FIREFLY universe was nonetheless evoked in astonishing detail. All nine characters were brought to life in amazing detail. A definite chemistry was created between the various members of the crew. It is still extraordinary that FOX gave up on this so quickly. The cast was amazing. The writing was beyond brilliant. The production values, given the relatively low budget, were impeccable. Nearly six years after its cancellation it is still finding new fans and continues to delight its legion of fans. So while I don't recommend anyone getting this on Blu-ray, I definitely recommend that anyone interested in quality TV getting it if they don't own it already. Along with the recently and tragically cancelled PUSHING DAISIES and the high school series MY SO-CALLED LIFE and FREAKS AND GEEKS, it belongs on the shortest of short lists of the most horrible cancellations ever.

The amazing thing is that FIREFLY lives on. Fan demand resulted in the movie SERENITY, which primarily dealt with River's story, which would have been the main narrative engine of the show. There is no immediate plan to make an additional movie, fans live on in hope that there will be another. Whedon remains interested in making one and refuses to divulge a couple of the major remaining mysteries that attach to the series. Whedon has written two prequel comic books extending the SERENITY story, THOSE LEFT BEHIND and BETTER DAYS. Very soon the third SERENITY prequel will start appearing, A SHEPHERD'S TALE, which will tell Shepherd Book's secret. But it is significant that Whedon persists in doing prequels. He clearly wants to hold in reserve the major unanswered mystery, why Inara left her home planet and what her great secret is. As long as Whedon holds onto that secret, he is clearly retaining some hope that he'll get an opportunity to tell at least one more story in the FIREFLY 'verse.

I've been watching all kinds of sci fi for over 40 yrs. From Capt. Kirk - Sci Fi channel. Firefly is w/o a doubt the BEST of the best. It's a cowboy series in outer space. That all folks!!!

A great show that Fox killed. Yes, yet another one... It has everything you can ask for - action, humor, romance, suspense! You ask for it; you WILL get it! The video quality is pretty good, but the 5.1 audio is worth the buy!

Firefly: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]

Firefly still is a amazing series. Even if its only 14 episodes. However, I was disappointed with the blu-ray version. I don't know if it was the remastering but all the episodes looked uneven, some scenes were high quality and others were grainy. Give me one or the other, not both mashed together. Its not a high-quality blu-ray copy and I wish they spent more time making it look better. In some scenes the blu-ray copy goes extremely bright and you can't see what's going on. As for the blu-ray special features, there are hardly any. Although the Lunch with Joss Whedon is a good addition, it doesn't constitute selling a whole new box set. I would rather stick with the DVD's, they look better. What should of happened is a high-quality blu-ray set with tons of special features, maybe a new episode. However, firefly is still a amazing series and although the blu-ray part should score a 1, firefly is a 5 and brings it up to a 3.