Oh, god, Jarhead looked awful -- I'm so used to the story where the kid's all excited to go into the marines and then gets shellshocked and embittered. Here, he's all excited to go into the marines, and by the end, he's all "yay marines". WTF?

Yes, me & Jilli have pretty similar views. Both of us were completely unspoiled, both regretted seeing Book die, especially after he was given so little screen time, but that pales into insignificance compared to the shock at seeing Wash die. It's not even the suddenness or brutality of the death, it's that IT'S WASH! He has been our favorite character for some time and we're still pretty numb from the whole experience.

I have to credit Joss, that killing Wash with such swiftness and then sweeping into the fire-fight really made me wonder if anyone else was going to die. Every single injury made me wonder if this would be the next death. I confess I had a moment of fear that Firefly was taking the 'Blakes 7' route. Most movies these days rarely make you believe the characters are really in mortal danger but Joss managed to do it. So hats off to a masterful play.

That doesn't change the fact that I am fucking furious that he killed Wash. Wash was the teddy bear of the crew, the nice guy, the guy you'd want to have as a friend. I really would have preferred to have seen anyone else but Wash get killed. It was heartless.

I feel like Joss gave us these great toys, and we loved them and treasured them and made other people interested in them. Then he came back & swept up the toys with promises of greater things. Then before our eyes he broke two of the toys so that we could never play with them again.

So, while I understand the clever manipulation to make the audience truly fear for the lives of the crew, making the death be wash seemed just mean fucking spirited. I'd planned to see this movie a number of times in the coming week, but I don't have to stamina to see Wash die more than once a week.

Damn you Joss for making us care.

Jarhead is based on this autobiography that it seemed everyone in political circles was talking about a year or two ago. [link]

I'm not sure what to expect from it and I'm pretty sure I'll be skipping it unless I hear some compelling reason not to.

The theatre experience was actually kind of amazing. I was shocked-- I knew it was a nerdy group, but I expected New York style talk-backs and chatter. The crowd was reverent. Almost no talking by anyone. Total hush, and of course, gasps and claps at appropriate moments.

t taps foot impatiently, waiting for Plei to bring the silly snarky

Pete speaks for me.

I was so excited to come back from the movie and burble about it. It's the first movie I've seen on opening night in more than ten years, and I can't think of anything to say. I'm still stunned. I doubt I'll see it again, even when it comes out on DVD.

FWIW, the people who were most shocked by Wash's death - who felt it most keenly - seem to have benefited from seeing the movie a second time.

Not that I'm trying to line Joss' pockets. Just, I think that watching the movie unspoiled in that way changes your response to it, and his death becomes something other than a kick in the gut.

and heterosexuality.

That blew my fucking mind.

Yeah, I didn't really buy that, not his speech about the regret and not the "actual" deed.

That doesn't change the fact that I am fucking furious that he killed Wash. Wash was the teddy bear of the crew, the nice guy, the guy you'd want to have as a friend. I really would have preferred to have seen anyone else but Wash get killed. It was heartless.

It isn't like Joss to kill his own avatar, but the (fucking) meta of AT's career makes him the most likely, dammit. I have to admit I felt that same hollow sense of loss after seeing the pre-screening in June. By the third time I saw it before the opening, I was losing that sick, empty feeling from having a friend die horribly, and feeling more like it was a tragic combat loss with nobility. So it might get somewhat better for you with time, it did for me.

eta: (x-posty with Hec)

I, too, was whimpering while Serenity was getting all broke. And was still completely unprepared for the gutpunch of Wash's death. The entire audience gasped.

I thought it was really good. Full write-up here.

One of my first thoughts after the screams in the theater when Wash dies (I admit, one of the quieter ones was me), was that of course this had to happen, this way. Part of me was saying "Not Wash!" but part was remembering that this was such a Joss thing to do.

I agree with many of the critiques here, Bond!hetero!Simon, overdone dialect (I love the dialect, but it was a bit much), the retconning, the lack of time to feel the pain of Wash, some of the jumpy editing. But having said all this, I still love this movie with a passion, and I think most of my friends that I saw it with did too, to varying degrees. I was afraid that I had built the movie up too much, that it would fall flat compared to my completely unrealistic expectations. Instead, the jumpy editing just made me want to see it over and over to catch everything I missed.

By the way, I saw the movie with about 14 friends, most of whom joined us for a brief shindig after work and before the 7:15 show (Chinese food, natch, plus strawberries, sliced apples (one whole one with a knife, a la Jayne, for a centerpiece) and chocolate cake for AnotherAlaskan, who was celebrating his birthday (no protein in the cake)). We were all wearing Serenity pins designed by a friend, a few of us had Serenity tees, and the birthday boy wore his Jayne hat that I made him for Christmas last year. The theater was probably over 3/4 full, although sadly not sold out. There were about three largish groups of fans, but the others seemed to be regular folks. The only clapping was at the end, but there was lots of laughter at appropriate spots, and the aforementioned screams at Wash's death. I hope to make it to the show tomorrow, but will at least go Sunday after church.