A friend at the Providence screening just said to me "At least Wash's dinosaurs survive on the console". Anyone else notice if they were there at the end when Mal and River take Serenity out?

They were there. Palm trees too. Did the other crowds go nuts in that scene when Mal hit the three switches? KC did. I had to explain it to the guys because they hadn't paid as close attention to the details as I had.

Did the other crowds go nuts in that scene when Mal hit the three switches?

Not that I recall, but that didn't ping me either, so I might have just not noticed.

I almost ended up in the very very front seats, but my friend had snagged the seats in the way back and flagged me up there.

Anyone else notice if they were there at the end when Mal and River take Serenity out?

My son noticed that, and was very pleased.

On the way out, my (Firefly virgin) friend said she couldn't believe I was so shocked at Wash's death.

How did she feel about the movie? I'm curious for virgin reports.

The more I think about it, the more I love the movie, I think. Most of my qualms are incredibly niggling. I admit that I personally very rarely get so attached to TV characters that their deaths cause me enough pain to overcome my appreciation if their death is done well. And I think Wash's was done well, though it could have been done a bit better. So that's okay.

And just about everything else works perfectly for me. As a movie. Not necessarily as an extension of Firefly the series (whirling blades of death and Mr. Universe being particularly striking as movie-like fabrications, necessary for the storyline compression), but as a movie.

How did she feel about the movie? I'm curious for virgin reports.

She seemed to enjoy it, if she was a little less enthusiastic than I was. (She works in film now, and I think I've seen a little of the old joy be replaced by a touch of cynicism.) The things I thought might have been explained or shown a little less than they should have been (Zoe and Mal's connection, their story in the war, Zoe and Wash's marriage, etc.) , she thought she got a fair impression of, at least enough to get her by. She was sitting on her seat waiting for River to bring it at the end, and clapped with everyone else when she finally did. (She thought the fight at the end went a little long before that, though.) Overall, good impression.

While she's a Firefly virgin, we go WAY back to high school as Buffy fanatics, so she's well versed in Whedonism.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssshhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

So, was I the only one who thought, "gee, Joss turned River into Buffy, or maybe Dana"?

No.

Not that I minded.

Honestly, I knew he was going to turn River into Buffy when I saw War Stories. Crazy psychic Buffy. So I was ready. It was cool.

Looking back the next day, the only thing I didn't think was pretty much excellent was the Simon/Kaylee. And that very rarely did anything for me in the series, either. Still, that scene is REALLY bad dialogue until Kaylee's all "You mean to say... sex?"

I didn't mind it, honestly. Maybe I will on rewatch. At that point, I was in dire need of some schmoop. Also, I know upthread someone said they didn't quite buy shirtless and confident Simon, but I liked it. (Not to say whether I found it credible one way or the other, but I did enjoy it. In a bunk-worthy sort of way.)