Friday, April 6, 2012

F is for The Fifth Element and Firefly: Favorites of Sci-Fi

When I was trying to come up with my topic for the letter “F”, I started thinking about my sci-fi favorites. And then I realized that not one, but TWO of my very favorite of favorites start with the letter “F”. Fortuitous, right?

Of course, I've already discussed them in past blog posts, so I thought instead I’d play a little show-and-tell with some of the best scenes highlighting why this movie and film are so amazing rather than repeat myself as I gush about how amazing Joss Whedon is. Or how much I love Nathan Fillion as Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds. Or my belief that Bruce Willis is the best action star in the known universe. Or how Zoe and Leeloo are Damsels OF Distress (see previous post here). Or . . .

The Fifth Element: 
New York cab driver Korben Dallas didn't mean to be a hero, but he just picked up the kind of fare that only comes along every five thousand years: A perfect beauty, a perfect being, a perfect weapon. Now, together, they must save the world.

My thoughts:
This was one of the first sci-fi movies I saw in the theaters (unfortunately many of my other favorites like The Terminator and Aliens left the big screen before I was old enough to see them). I remember being mesmerized by the futuristic scenes, laughing like a lunatic at every Chris Tucker scene, and falling a little bit in love with Bruce Willis as Korben Dallas. This movie has it all - love stories, awesome action sequences, crazy side characters, a terrifying villain, and even a blue opera singer. Check it out!


"Diva's Opera" clip

"Sending in someone to negotiate" clip

"Count to ten" clip

Joss Whedon's Firefly: 
A brilliant space-western set five hundred years in the future, the crew if the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity will take any job, legal or illegal, to keep fuel in the tanks and food on the table. Things get complicated after they take on a passenger wanted by the new totalitarian regime and find themselves on the run, desperate to steer clear of Alliance ships and the flesh-eating Reavers who live on the fringes of space.  

My thoughts:
Though just about everything pertaining to this show is brilliant, I have to say it was the chemistry between the cast that really made this show really special. Well, that and Whedon's hysterical dialogue (see clips below). This show was a brilliant combination between old world and new, hilarity and tragedy. A definite must see.  

Wash - "I shall call it This Land" clip

Zoe and Mal: "Big Darn Heroes" clip

Mal: "Mark of a great man" clip

Zoe and Mal: "First Rule of Battle" clip

Simon and Mal: "Kill me in my sleep" clip

So there you have it, two of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies/shows. I hope these clips give those of you who have never seen The Fifth Element and Firefly a better understanding why I hold them in such high regard. And for those of you who are already fans . . . well, I hope you enjoyed the show. There were a bunch of other clips I wanted to add, but unfortunately this post was already too long. 
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This post is part of the Blogging A through Z Challenge 2012. My theme is (in case you didn’t already guess) science fiction. Stay tuned for the rest of the alphabet, and if you’d like to check in on the rest of the participants, simply click here. 

48 comments:

  1. Be still my beating heart. I admit to not knowing Fifth Element at all well, but Firefly ... words fail to explain how much I love that show.

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  2. I almost did Firefly for my F too ;) Love that show. I think it had the best dialogue writing of any TV show.

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  3. Thanks for visiting and following my blog! I've followed yours too, great F post, I've wanted to watch Firefly now for a while and now I want to watch it even more! And I've just spied a Buffy post to my right, so I'm gonna go read that! :)

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  4. These are two killer films. Fifth element is one of my fav. Chris Tucker was hilarious. And the Diva singing scene was another great one. Thanks for reminding me.

    And who doesn't love Josh Whedon? I loved Firefly and can't wait to see Cabin in the Woods. :)

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  5. The Fifth Element was such a great movie! Thanks for the clip! The singing was incredible! Go sci-fi!

    Great blog!! Enloy the challenge!

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  6. Fifth Element was a first date movie. I loved Chris Tucker character!

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  7. I've only watched Fifth Element once, and I'm sure I recall a different film when I think about it - I'll grab it and watch it again!

    Firefly, though, fantastic and brilliant. Joss Whedon is equally fantastic and brilliant, with such great vision!

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  8. Fifth Element I did not love. Sorry, I know there is a huge fan following for that movie. Firefly--I love!! See my blog today, I've a something on there about that show too.

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  9. I loved this post! The Fifth Element & Firefly, oh, gonna be a good day.

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  10. I love the Fifth Element!!! I could watch that movie everyday. The costumes are great (Jean-Paul Gaultier)! Someday I want to get the tattoo that LeeLoo has on her wrist. Damn right a woman is the Fifth Element. Savvy?

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  11. Loved them both. The Fifth Element is still one of my favorite comfort movies. And Firefly is one of the great series of all time. Couldn't have chosen better today.

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  12. I've heard great things about Firefly. I haven't seen it, but I love Josh's work, so I assume I'd like it. I wasn't thrilled with The Fifth Element. I think I didn't give it my full attention. I do that way too much. :)

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  13. Hey, I blogged about Firefly today too. You included so many of my favorites parts. I'm definitely spending the rest of the day having a Firefly marathon. =)

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  14. Hell YES!!! to all of this. Very shiny, gorram right. Also... multipass.

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  15. Weee! I love Fifth Element and it was one of my first sci-fi movies. haven't watched Firefly yet, I really should since I've heard alot about it. Thanks for dropping by my blog yesterday. :)

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  16. I can't say that I loved Fifth Element, yet it's one of those movies that I've seen probably a dozen times. So creative and it's got both Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman, so you know you can't go wrong.

    Firefly is just good. I love the idea of a space western, and Nathan Fillion as Mal... well, to me, he IS Mal. How could they cancel that show?

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  17. I remember seeing The Fifth Element in the theater, but I didn't like it much. Now too much time has passed for me to remember why.

    I've come to think that Westerns and Sci-Fi have a lot in common--different transportation, language, clothes, food, etc. I'm not surprised that Sci-Fi books and movies borrow from Westerns. Stephen King's The Dark Tower series does this a bit along with dipping into medieval themes as well.

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  18. My husband and I really enjoyed watching FireFly. We were sad that the series was discontinued.

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    1. Me too. So sad! One of the most unique shows on television and they chopped it. Maybe if it had a detective due who solved murders, then they'd keep it. Cuz that hasn't been done before. ugh.

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  19. Firefly is really best the second time through. The first time I liked it, but the second time I appreciated it. And it made Serenity even harder to watch (that ending!)

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  20. I love love love the "Diva's Opera" clip!!!!! Awesome!
    I saw this scene on television one day while my kids were watching the movie..after the scene was over...i went on my way to other things...but this was awesome!

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  21. I've never seen Firefly, but I also saw Fifth Element in the cinema, and I LOVED Ruby :) I also loved the Diva Opera! Aww I want to watch this again now :)

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  22. I really want to watch Firefly. I've heard so much about it!

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  23. Chris Tucker must have had a blast playing his part in The Fifth Element and the blue opera singer was stunning. As for Firefly... a most delightful short-lived series, cut short too soon, like the original Star Trek.

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  24. It would be somewhat redundant at this point to say that Firefly is one of our favorites ever, so I just won't say it.

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  25. Amanda – me too. There just aren’t words strong enough.

    Laughing Ferret – Whedon is a dialogue genius. Even episodes of shows he’s written without dialogue manage to have the best “dialogue” ever (aka. the Hush episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

    Mina, Danielle, Catherine – Chris Tucker as Ruby was brilliant in the Fifth Element. I’ve literally never laughed so hard.

    Saavy – Agreed!

    Rusty – thanks! It’s definitely a comfort movie for me too.

    MJ – great minds think alike!

    Joshua – I’m so glad you said that. I sometimes say “Shiny?” to people sometimes, and I get strange looks. So glad you appreciate Whedon’s awesomeness. And the multipass scene – brilliant.

    Janna – I KNOW!?! Fox, what were you thinking?!?! And Bruce, Gary and Nathan…hell yes!

    Tamara – I agree. Westerns and Sci-Fi both tend to focus on sprawling landscapes so I think they really do have much in common and work well together.

    SherryE – me too. My hear still breaks over that one.

    Andrew – It is my opinion that one can never express their love of Firefly too many times.

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  26. Back in January, the Dallas Museum of Art featured an exhibit of Jean Paul Gaultier couture. Well, guess who designed costumes for The Fifth Element - indeed they were on display, plus his drawings. Very cool indeed. Thanks for visiting wordsplash. I'm not up on much science fiction, so I'll check back and learn more a-z. Enjoy the month

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  27. Firefly blog #3 today! I think it's a sign that I really, really need to get around to watching this show - can't believe I haven't yet.

    I do love the Fifth Element. One of my favorites. :)

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  28. loved firefly, and you're so right about the chemistry between the characters.

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  29. Can't believe I didn't even think of Firefly!!!! It's got to the be one of the best shows ever! Great choices! :)

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  30. Okay, we could totally go to the movies together. I actually just started watching Firefly for the fifth time. My whole family has Firefly t-shirts. Geek alert!

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  31. I blogged about Firefly too! Look at how many of us are still mourning its loss, ten years after the series was cancelled. ~shakes fist at Fox~

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  32. Its a lovely story I like it too and good post for F.
    Do check out my F at GAC a-z

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  33. Greetings! Great post! I love The Fifth Element and your post made me want to watch it right now! Good luck this April!

    Dusty

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  34. The Fifth Element will become a cult classic (if it hasn't already). I love it! Now, I've never seen Firefly. But since we seem to have similar taste in Sci-fi and horror, I should probably check it out. Great post!

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  35. Good choices! The Fifth Element was a super film - just the right mix of action and message. And Firefly is just fantastic - I still can't understand how they could cancel it. I discovered it as a result of Alex Cavanaugh's Top Ten TV Shows blog-hop a couple years ago, and have loved it ever since.

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  36. Firefly is the best! Mal is so great. Did you see the episode of Castle where he dressed up like a space cowboy/Mal. It was so great. Nice genre crossover.

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  37. I love The Fifth Element. Definitely one of the best (and funniest) sci-fi movies out there. I almost named my cat Leeloo, but then we discovered "she" was actually a boy. ;)

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  38. My post for the letter C had Nathan Fillion signing "Everyone's a Hero in Their Own Way." Nice to be following you. Great post.

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  39. Shiny! I can't say how much I adore Firefly. Fifth Element was great too, but I'll watch Firefly over and over again.

    Laura
    A to Z of Immortals, Myths & Legends

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  40. fifth element is a classic i watch every time i flip by it! and go browncoats!

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  41. I love seeing all these Browncoats. Shiny!

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  42. Fifth Element was fun and Firefly was the greatest show ever. Damn you, Fox!!!

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  43. My wife and I discovered "Castle" first and becam big Fillion fans....backtracked to "Firefly" and LOVED it. Excited for the "reunion" episode with Mal and Jane on "Castle" tomorrow night!!

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  44. Shiny! LOVE your choices! I loved both of these! I still watch Firefly all the time!
    We use lines from Fifth Element all the time.
    Multipass!
    Great job!
    Heather

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  45. I love love love Firefly, with all my heart I love it so. Great choice!

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  46. Yes! Fifth Element! I love it so much. It was also my "F" movie. :)

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