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Serenity

PG-13
Genre: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
In Theaters:
4.0

Five-hundred years into the future, Earth's resources have been depleted and humanity has moved to another star system and terraformed many of the planets. All the planets are controlled by the totalitarian Alliance. A frontier justice still holds sway farther from the "core planets", where outlaws like the crew of Serenity can scrape out a living. A young girl is seen questioning the Alliance's practices. She awakens as River, a psychic who is being mentally and physically conditioned by the Alliance. The scientist in charge of the project calls her their star pupil. She is soon rescued by her brother, Simon. An Alliance agent, the Operative, arrives working on behalf of Parliament with unspecified, but obviously high, authority and responsibility. He is charged with tracking down River before she can reveal secrets she's gleaned from high officials' thoughts.

River and Simon Tam are taken as passengers on the Firefly-class transport ship Serenity captained by Malcolm Reynolds, formerly a sergeant in the Browncoats, who lost a rebellion against the Alliance. During a bank raid, Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds insists upon bringing River along for her psychic abilities, despite the protest of her brother Simon. After the crew narrowly escapes Reavers, Simon confronts Mal and decides to leave Serenity at the next port. While Mal negotiates being paid for their bank raid, River arrives at the bar and suddenly proceeds to attack everyone there. Before she has a chance to attack Mal, her brother arrives and shouts a "safe word" that causes her to fall asleep. Despite his anger, Mal allows Simon and River to resume traveling on Serenity. The crew contacts a reclusive techno-geek known as Mr. Universe. Mr. Universe discovers that River's outburst was triggered by a subliminal message in an advertisement that had been broadcast across the Alliance during the previous weeks. He notes that River had whispered the name "Miranda" before attacking.

Shortly thereafter, Mal receives a call from Inara, a former passenger. Suspecting a trap, but realizing that she must be in danger, Mal visits her and is confronted by the Operative. The Operative offers to let Mal go free if he turns River over to him, but thanks to Inara's quick thinking, she and Mal escape the Operative and return to Serenity.

Another of River's outbursts shows the crew that "Miranda" is an outer rim planet, thought to be uninhabitable. River had subconsciously learned about the planet when she came in telepathic contact with a member of Parliament during her training. Traveling to Miranda to learn more would require an almost-suicidal crossing into Reaver territory. Instead Serenity leaves for Haven, a mining colony. On arrival, the crew discovers that the outpost has been ravaged by Alliance forces, with Shepherd Book, another former passenger, having been mortally wounded in the attack. Mal receives a message from the Operative claiming responsibility, and promising more of the same until River is turned over.

Over the crew's protests, Mal orders that Serenity be modified to look like a Reaver ship so they can reach Miranda. After sailing unnoticed through a fleet of Reaver vessels, the crew finally reaches the other side and discovers a normal, terraformed planet with a completely habitable environment — but the sprawling cities are empty, except for decomposed corpses, with no apparent cause of death. The crew discover a log recorded by an Alliance research and rescue team after the disaster. According to the log, the Alliance administered a chemical substance designed to suppress aggression and thus render the planet free of violence. An unfortunate side effect was that the populace had stopped working, eating, or indeed caring about anything and let themselves die. However, approximately a tenth of a percent of the population had the opposite reaction to the drug, becoming extremely aggressive and mentally unstable. They eventually left the planet and became the Reavers.

Mal plans to reveal this secret to all the worlds by using the transmitter equipment belonging to Mr. Universe. Unfortunately, the Operative has predicted this and gets there first. He has Mr. Universe agree to help Serenity and then kills him. As they leave Reaver territory, Serenity opens fire upon a Reaver ship. The ensuing chase by all the nearby Reaver warships causes the previously lone Serenity to arrive at Mr Universe's complex flanked by a large force. A massive battle ensues between the fleets, as Wash pilots Serenity towards the planet with both the Alliance and the Reavers trying to destroy them as well as each other. During the attack, the Operative's ship is destroyed, but he survives in an escape pod.

Serenity crash lands on the planet below and while it suffers massive damage, it appears that the crew is out of danger. As everyone begins to relax, a Reaver harpoon suddenly impales Wash, who dies immediately. Fleeing Serenity to continue their mission, the crew decides to set up a last stand in a small corridor and give Mal the time he needs to send the message. Discovering that Mr. Universe has been killed, Mal learns from a pre-recorded message on his robotic wife that tells of a secondary transmitter in another area of the complex.

Meanwhile, the crew is losing ground to the Reavers and is forced to retreat, with several sustaining serious injuries. The crew try to close the blast door, but it does not close completely. After Simon is hit by a bullet, River dives through the gap in the blast door, throws his medical kit back through and closes the door. Before she can return, she is brought down by the Reavers.

Mal reaches the second transmitter and finds that it is inconveniently located on a platform surrounded by a large drop. When the Operative enters, Mal shoots the stun gun out of the Operative's hand and attempts to reach the transmitter, but the Operative follows him. A fight begins between the two men. While Mal eventually outwits the Operative, he does not kill him. Instead he disables him and leaves him trussed up to watch the recording from Miranda. Returning to the crew, he is informed that River was trapped on the other side of the blast door with the Reavers. The door opens a moment later to reveal River, standing amidst a roomful of dead Reavers. After a moment, Alliance troops blow in the wall behind her and enter, but instead of giving permission to shoot her, the Operative orders the squad to stand down.

After the crew buries the bodies of their friends Mr. Universe, Shepherd Book, and Wash on Haven, the crew patches up Serenity in a repair yard on the planet Persephone. A scene shows Kaylee and Simon consummating their relationship, when River's head peeks down curiously. Just as they are ready to leave, the Operative makes his own exit, promising Mal they will never encounter each other again. Serenity heads back into outer space, with Mal in Wash's seat at the helm, and River acting as his copilot. The final shot shows the ship flying off triumphantly, until an unidentified piece of metal flies from the back of the ship and hits the camera, leading Mal to ask, "What was that?".

Director:

No Director information.
Screenplay: Joss Whedon
Studio: Universal Pictures
DVD Release: 2009-01-05 00:00:00.0
Tagline: Can't stop the signal.
Synopsis

Five-hundred years into the future, Earth's resources have been depleted and humanity has moved to another star system and terraformed many of the planets. All the planets are controlled by the totalitarian Alliance. A frontier justice still holds sway farther from the "core planets", where outlaws like the crew of Serenity can scrape out a living. A young girl is seen questioning the Alliance's practices. She awakens as River, a psychic who is being mentally and physically conditioned by the Alliance. The scientist in charge of the project calls her their star pupil. She is soon rescued by her brother, Simon. An Alliance agent, the Operative, arrives working on behalf of Parliament with unspecified, but obviously high, authority and responsibility. He is charged with tracking down River before she can reveal secrets she's gleaned from high officials' thoughts.

River and Simon Tam are taken as passengers on the Firefly-class transport ship Serenity captained by Malcolm Reynolds, formerly a sergeant in the Browncoats, who lost a rebellion against the Alliance. During a bank raid, Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds insists upon bringing River along for her psychic abilities, despite the protest of her brother Simon. After the crew narrowly escapes Reavers, Simon confronts Mal and decides to leave Serenity at the next port. While Mal negotiates being paid for their bank raid, River arrives at the bar and suddenly proceeds to attack everyone there. Before she has a chance to attack Mal, her brother arrives and shouts a "safe word" that causes her to fall asleep. Despite his anger, Mal allows Simon and River to resume traveling on Serenity. The crew contacts a reclusive techno-geek known as Mr. Universe. Mr. Universe discovers that River's outburst was triggered by a subliminal message in an advertisement that had been broadcast across the Alliance during the previous weeks. He notes that River had whispered the name "Miranda" before attacking.

Shortly thereafter, Mal receives a call from Inara, a former passenger. Suspecting a trap, but realizing that she must be in danger, Mal visits her and is confronted by the Operative. The Operative offers to let Mal go free if he turns River over to him, but thanks to Inara's quick thinking, she and Mal escape the Operative and return to Serenity.

Another of River's outbursts shows the crew that "Miranda" is an outer rim planet, thought to be uninhabitable. River had subconsciously learned about the planet when she came in telepathic contact with a member of Parliament during her training. Traveling to Miranda to learn more would require an almost-suicidal crossing into Reaver territory. Instead Serenity leaves for Haven, a mining colony. On arrival, the crew discovers that the outpost has been ravaged by Alliance forces, with Shepherd Book, another former passenger, having been mortally wounded in the attack. Mal receives a message from the Operative claiming responsibility, and promising more of the same until River is turned over.

Over the crew's protests, Mal orders that Serenity be modified to look like a Reaver ship so they can reach Miranda. After sailing unnoticed through a fleet of Reaver vessels, the crew finally reaches the other side and discovers a normal, terraformed planet with a completely habitable environment — but the sprawling cities are empty, except for decomposed corpses, with no apparent cause of death. The crew discover a log recorded by an Alliance research and rescue team after the disaster. According to the log, the Alliance administered a chemical substance designed to suppress aggression and thus render the planet free of violence. An unfortunate side effect was that the populace had stopped working, eating, or indeed caring about anything and let themselves die. However, approximately a tenth of a percent of the population had the opposite reaction to the drug, becoming extremely aggressive and mentally unstable. They eventually left the planet and became the Reavers.

Mal plans to reveal this secret to all the worlds by using the transmitter equipment belonging to Mr. Universe. Unfortunately, the Operative has predicted this and gets there first. He has Mr. Universe agree to help Serenity and then kills him. As they leave Reaver territory, Serenity opens fire upon a Reaver ship. The ensuing chase by all the nearby Reaver warships causes the previously lone Serenity to arrive at Mr Universe's complex flanked by a large force. A massive battle ensues between the fleets, as Wash pilots Serenity towards the planet with both the Alliance and the Reavers trying to destroy them as well as each other. During the attack, the Operative's ship is destroyed, but he survives in an escape pod.

Serenity crash lands on the planet below and while it suffers massive damage, it appears that the crew is out of danger. As everyone begins to relax, a Reaver harpoon suddenly impales Wash, who dies immediately. Fleeing Serenity to continue their mission, the crew decides to set up a last stand in a small corridor and give Mal the time he needs to send the message. Discovering that Mr. Universe has been killed, Mal learns from a pre-recorded message on his robotic wife that tells of a secondary transmitter in another area of the complex.

Meanwhile, the crew is losing ground to the Reavers and is forced to retreat, with several sustaining serious injuries. The crew try to close the blast door, but it does not close completely. After Simon is hit by a bullet, River dives through the gap in the blast door, throws his medical kit back through and closes the door. Before she can return, she is brought down by the Reavers.

Mal reaches the second transmitter and finds that it is inconveniently located on a platform surrounded by a large drop. When the Operative enters, Mal shoots the stun gun out of the Operative's hand and attempts to reach the transmitter, but the Operative follows him. A fight begins between the two men. While Mal eventually outwits the Operative, he does not kill him. Instead he disables him and leaves him trussed up to watch the recording from Miranda. Returning to the crew, he is informed that River was trapped on the other side of the blast door with the Reavers. The door opens a moment later to reveal River, standing amidst a roomful of dead Reavers. After a moment, Alliance troops blow in the wall behind her and enter, but instead of giving permission to shoot her, the Operative orders the squad to stand down.

After the crew buries the bodies of their friends Mr. Universe, Shepherd Book, and Wash on Haven, the crew patches up Serenity in a repair yard on the planet Persephone. A scene shows Kaylee and Simon consummating their relationship, when River's head peeks down curiously. Just as they are ready to leave, the Operative makes his own exit, promising Mal they will never encounter each other again. Serenity heads back into outer space, with Mal in Wash's seat at the helm, and River acting as his copilot. The final shot shows the ship flying off triumphantly, until an unidentified piece of metal flies from the back of the ship and hits the camera, leading Mal to ask, "What was that?".

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