– Customer review on 26/09/2011

Firstly, I find its labelling as "season 1" laughable, when there WAS only one season.

Now that that's out of the way, Firefly is one of the great tragedies of modern television - not for its story, which is a brilliant melding of science fiction and western themes superimposed over the story of a small, tight-knit crew of a run-down old freighter called Serenity, but for the fact that it was cancelled after only one season, hardly a fair chance to gain a decent viewership. The series has since gained a strong and loyal following of fans, called Browncoats, and there are petitions floating around to start another series, as fruitless as they probably are, or to raise money for Nathan Fillion to buy the rights and distribute them online for free. It spawned an excellent movie, Serenity, which followed on from the series, and served as a nice bookend.

The DVDs themselves contain all the episodes, depicting the ragtag crew of the Serenity (the captain, Mal, the engineer Kaylee, pilot Was and first-mate Zoey, and hired gun Jane) and their passengers (Simon and River Tam, on the run from the Alliance) the "companion" Inara, and the "Shepherd" Book, and chronicles their activities, ranging from simple business, to barely legal smuggling, to outright illegal robberies, and their desperate avoidance of the Alliance, out to recover the damaged brainwashed psychic supersoldier River Tam, and the people they meet and deal with. The series blends, as I said, science fiction with western - while they travel about on a spaceship, the worlds they land on take on a rough frontier spirit, full of black and white hats on horseback, duelling with laser pistols. The characters, though, are the series biggest strength - each one is fleshed out, likeable (even Jane), and undergoes character development. The way they talk and deal with each other is brilliantly scripted, and supplemented by a level of humour that I have yet to see matched.

The DVD extras include interviews with the cast and crew, behind-the-scenes looks at the development and even its afterlife after being cancelled, and commentary on episodes. It also comes with promotional material for Serenity, which is also highly recommended. Overall, the series scores a perfect five for me, and will for others. Any fan of sci-fi and/or westerns will love this, whether they know about it yet or not.

– Customer review on 25/02/2011

Firefly is simply one of the best television shows to not only have been created, but subsequently cancelled by FOX. Joss Whedon's extraordiary sci-fi masterpiece follows nine individuals throughout their trials and tribulations. There is supreme characterisation, fantastic dialogue and of course, sexual tension. You will truly not find another show quite like this, and it deserves the attention of all.