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Lindley
Vice Admiral
Joined: 18 Sep 2001
Posts: 6194
Location: Fairfax, VA
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 Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:59 pm Did you watch Firefly on Scifi? |
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Earlier tonight, Scifi US began airing Firefly with "Serenity, Part 1".
I figure at least a few people here must have watched it for the first time, and since only the first half of the pilot was shown, they probably have questions.
This thread is where I can answer any questions you people might have about this excellent show.
And, for those of you who either didn't know or forgot about the 7pm airing, fear not-----Scifi will be reshowing "Serenity, Part 1" next Friday at 6pm, just before part 2.
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Fri Jul 22, 2005 10:09 pm |
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I watched it. I thought it was okay, good for a first show. But... whats with all the western music/clothes? Its weird.
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"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."
-Wuthering Heights
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Lindley
Vice Admiral
Joined: 18 Sep 2001
Posts: 6194
Location: Fairfax, VA
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| Fri Jul 22, 2005 11:53 pm |
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The idea behind the show was "Gunsmoke meets Millenium Falcon".
It was an attempt to take the SF genre----which already has a great deal in common with westerns----and make the western element a bit more literal.
I've debated at length the logic behind some planets being western-ish in nature, so I won't go over there here. Simple version----the outer planets know about advanced tech, they just don't have the money to modernize. Think of them as third-world countries.
Suffice it to say----stylistically, the "Core planets" where the wealthy live are very SF-ish, while the "Border planets", home to the less affluent, are fairly western-ish.
Persephone---the planet seen in tonight's ep---is sort of a mix between the two types of culture.
So basically, the series reflects a smashing together a three distinct cultural types-----high-tech SF, Old West, and Eastern Oriental. (You'll notice that the characters sometimes spontaneously start speaking Mandarin.)
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Sat Jul 23, 2005 9:31 pm |
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Oh, its Mandarin. I wasn't sure what that was.
Why'd they cancel it? It seemed to have a wide fan base, and now they're even making a movie... Sheesh.
-------signature-------
"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."
-Wuthering Heights
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Lindley
Vice Admiral
Joined: 18 Sep 2001
Posts: 6194
Location: Fairfax, VA
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| Sun Jul 24, 2005 3:35 am |
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| IntrepidIsMe wrote: |
Why'd they cancel it? It seemed to have a wide fan base, and now they're even making a movie... Sheesh. |
Ratings. Firefly had 80% viewer retention, but only about 3 million people tuned in to the pilot at all, due to Fox's bad advertising.
That would be enough to get it renewed on Scifi or even possibly on UPN, but Fox wanted another X-Files, and they didn't realize that these things sometimes take time to build a fanbase.
Not to mention that Fox aired it out of order and frequently preempted it for baseball. The pilot---which you saw on Friday---aired last. The first ep Fox aired was "The Train Job", which you'll see in two weeks.
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Sun Jul 24, 2005 12:00 pm |
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Weird. No surprise it was cancelled, then. I'd assume that they might restart it after the movie comes out, but, you never know.
In the beginning of the pilot, were they fighting the Alliance?
-------signature-------
"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."
-Wuthering Heights
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Sonic74205
Rear Admiral
Joined: 01 Feb 2004
Posts: 4081
Location: England
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| Sun Jul 24, 2005 12:05 pm |
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OMG! That is SO weird! I just came on here to make a topic about firefly.
I live in the UK and i was just watched the 2 episodes that aired today on Sci-Fi Channel. They were the first episodes ive actually watched fully. I thought it was great. I had been meaning to watch firefly for a while and im glad i just did. The first episode was where the captain and the pilot were captured on a starbase by some gangster and then the captain had his ear chopped off. Then the second episode was where they steal the first laser pistol ever made and at the end the captain is in a desert naked. lol
I have a few questions to ask
How many episodes did they make?
Did they only make one season?
Could you tell me some info on this film u mentioned? 
Also i have seen a Firefly DVD Boxset in a few shops in town. Its going for �17.99 Now for a DVD boxset that is REALLY cheap! Is it so cheap because it only has like 10 episodes in it or something? Or just that the show seems unpopular?
As i watch more of the show im sure ill have more questions to ask 
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Sonic74205
Rear Admiral
Joined: 01 Feb 2004
Posts: 4081
Location: England
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| Sun Jul 24, 2005 12:18 pm |
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Ok i just looked on the imdb website and saw that they only made 15 episodes and that apparently the film "Serenity" Is out this year (2005) Is it out yet in america? Or being released in a few months or something
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The Delta Flyer
Commodore
Joined: 08 Apr 2002
Posts: 2163
Location: East Yorkshire
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| Sun Jul 24, 2005 12:43 pm |
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The DVD boxset contains all the episodes of Firefly including the final three which were never originally aired - 14 episodes in total (15 if you count the pilot 'Serenity' as two seperate episodes as it is sometimes aired).
The reason it is so cheap isn't because it's not very good or anything like that (or at least I hope not) but because it has recently been included in part of a FOX Sci-fi DVD promotion. Firefly along with series such as Millennium (I think) and Roswell (all by Fox) and possibly X-Files were offered at reduced prices as part of this promotion.
Since then the DVD has remained at the low price. At one point the boxset retailed on Amazon for �12.99 which is a fantastic price for any boxset, let alone Firefly.
The episodes you've seen sound like "War Stories" and "Trash" and are towards the latter end of the series where it looks as though you were starting to learn a bit more about what River is.
Hopefully there'll be alot more of that in the upcoming movie, also called Serenity (thought has a different pilot to that of the series pilot). The movie is due out in cinemas on September 30th 2005 in the US and October 7th in the UK.
I've managed to keep myself very spoiler-free on the Serenity movie - I don't want to ruin it for myself - so I can't tell you much about it. If anyone else does, please could you post the info as a quote and then change the font colour to white so that is visible to only those who want to read it.
If you're wanting more information on Firefly, www.fireflyfans.net is a great place to start and has a fantastic online community. Similarly, the official movie site at http://browncoats.serenitymovie.com/serenity/ . The US trailer is available from http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/serenity/ or www.serenitymovie.com whilst the international trailer can be seen online at http://www.cantstopthesignal.co.uk/ . Hope that's some use to you!
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Lindley
Vice Admiral
Joined: 18 Sep 2001
Posts: 6194
Location: Fairfax, VA
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| Sun Jul 24, 2005 3:23 pm |
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Also worth mentioning-----a three-issue comic, the first issue of which is already out, covers the time between the series and the movie.
Each issue will have three alternate covers, for nine in total----one for each character on the show.
14 episodes were made in total, although the two-hour pilot can be counted as two eps (for a total of 15) if you like.
Yeah, you saw "War Stories" and "Trash" (the latter never aired on Fox in the US, it was cancelled too soon). I'd recommend seeing the series in order if you can-----look for "Serenity, Part 1".
Definitely watch those trailers linked above, they're great.
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Lindley
Vice Admiral
Joined: 18 Sep 2001
Posts: 6194
Location: Fairfax, VA
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| Sun Jul 24, 2005 3:26 pm |
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| IntrepidIsMe wrote: | Weird. No surprise it was cancelled, then. I'd assume that they might restart it after the movie comes out, but, you never know.
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Most likely not. Fox ownes the TV rights for 10 years, and part of their deal with Universal (who are making the film) is that the property cannot be resurrected on TV during that time. So any further TV projects would have to come from Fox, and they really don't like to admit when they've made a mistake.
However, it is very possible that Serenity might get two sequels, expanding it to a trilogy.
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In the beginning of the pilot, were they fighting the Alliance? |
Yes. That was the Battle of Serenity Valley, after which the ship is named. You see a bit more of the war in a flashback sequence in "The Message", FYI.
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Sonic74205
Rear Admiral
Joined: 01 Feb 2004
Posts: 4081
Location: England
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| Sun Jul 24, 2005 5:14 pm |
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Thanks for all the info. I definatly want to see more of Firefly in the near future
| Quote: | | Yeah, you saw "War Stories" and "Trash" (the latter never aired on Fox in the US, it was cancelled too soon). |
Oh ok then. I liked the in "War Stories" The story about the apples. I thought that was an excellent story and im am definatly going to be telling that story when i eat an apple. Especially when im with someone that just met me 
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Lindley
Vice Admiral
Joined: 18 Sep 2001
Posts: 6194
Location: Fairfax, VA
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| Sun Jul 24, 2005 5:20 pm |
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You might not have realized it, but "War Stories" was in fact a follow-up to two other episodes----"The Train Job" (where they first encountered Nisca), and "Ariel" (where they stole the medicine they were selling).
My advice: look on your schedule for when "Serenity, Part 1" (or just "Serenity") will next be airing. Start then, and see it in order. If it won't be anytime soon, just pick up the DVDs----they're not too expensive.
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The Delta Flyer
Commodore
Joined: 08 Apr 2002
Posts: 2163
Location: East Yorkshire
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| Sun Jul 24, 2005 6:21 pm |
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| Lindley wrote: | | Also worth mentioning-----a three-issue comic, the first issue of which is already out, covers the time between the series and the movie. |
Do you have the comics Lindley? I'm not a comics man (just seem em as a series of pictures rather than a story but I can certainly understand the appeal) so I didn't order them. Kinda hoped they'd be published together as an anthology kind of thing later.
Anyway, to the point, do you know if they are any good. Obviously they must be - but do you think there'll be an anthology-style edition and if so, when?
There's also a book called "Finding Serenity" out which goes into some of the themes and ideas behind the show. Some of them are pretty good but I must admit, some did drag. The one on the Reavers stood out as a particularly good one for me though.
Anyway, as for Serenity, there's the novel of the film due out at roughly the same time as the film's release plus what I assume is a 'Making Of' book. Plus (and Lindley will probably be able to confirm or deny since he/she usually knows alot more about these things than me) I think there are plans for an RPG game, some kind of card game, plus two additional novels (details to be confirmed).
And yeah, I would say the DVD boxset should definitely be a part of any sci-fi fans collection. You don't have the ad-breaks plus you get all the shiny extras (see I'm even using the lingo! Shiny!)
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Lindley
Vice Admiral
Joined: 18 Sep 2001
Posts: 6194
Location: Fairfax, VA
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| Sun Jul 24, 2005 7:07 pm |
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| The Delta Flyer wrote: |
Do you have the comics Lindley?
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Not yet. I ordered online (no comic store near my house), but I made the mistake of preordering issues 1 and 2 at the same time; I probably won't get either until issue 2 is out.
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I'm not a comics man (just seem em as a series of pictures rather than a story but I can certainly understand the appeal) so I didn't order them. Kinda hoped they'd be published together as an anthology kind of thing later. |
Neither am I, usually, but for this I make an exception. There might be an omnibus later, I don't know. There's a preview of the first five pages.
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There's also a book called "Finding Serenity" out which goes into some of the themes and ideas behind the show. Some of them are pretty good but I must admit, some did drag. The one on the Reavers stood out as a particularly good one for me though.
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Yeah, reading it now. Only two of the essays so far I haven't really liked; one tried its darnedest to overanalyze certain scenes to fit the preconceptions of the author, and the other seemed to be written by someone who hadn't seen the series more than once (there were some factual mistakes, even).
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Anyway, as for Serenity, there's the novel of the film due out at roughly the same time as the film's release plus what I assume is a 'Making Of' book.
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Written by Kieth R A DeCandido, who has written a number of Trek novels, including the Star Trek: IKS Gorkon series. Apparently, Joss Whedon approved his novelization.....with no changes requested. That never happens. So it should be good.
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Plus (and Lindley will probably be able to confirm or deny since he/she usually knows alot more about these things than me) I think there are plans for an RPG game, some kind of card game, plus two additional novels (details to be confirmed).
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Two additional novels are part of the contract, but no details have been forthcoming yet. Heard rumors about the RPG, don't know anything for sure.
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And yeah, I would say the DVD boxset should definitely be a part of any sci-fi fans collection. You don't have the ad-breaks plus you get all the shiny extras (see I'm even using the lingo! Shiny!) |
Gorram right.
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Sonic74205
Rear Admiral
Joined: 01 Feb 2004
Posts: 4081
Location: England
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| Sun Jul 24, 2005 7:09 pm |
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I think over here they show about 4 episodes a week so it should be starting over again soon.
At the moment i cant even spare the �17 for the DVD's. I have got to find the money for a car, extra driving lessons after my paid ones run out, money for my theory test & driving test. Also i have to come up with the money for like 3 of my friends bithdays in a few weeks and find the money to buy a new computer becuase this one cant be fixed. Oh and i dont even have a job. lol so i will just have to stick with watching Sci-Fi for now
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Lindley
Vice Admiral
Joined: 18 Sep 2001
Posts: 6194
Location: Fairfax, VA
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| Sun Jul 24, 2005 7:16 pm |
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| Chakotay1988 wrote: | I think over here they show about 4 episodes a week so it should be starting over again soon.
At the moment i cant even spare the �17 for the DVD's. I have got to find the money for a car, extra driving lessons after my paid ones run out, money for my theory test & driving test. Also i have to come up with the money for like 3 of my friends bithdays in a few weeks and find the money to buy a new computer becuase this one cant be fixed. Oh and i dont even have a job. lol so i will just have to stick with watching Sci-Fi for now |
Definitely understandable.
A tip, though----if any of your friends like SF, Firefly DVDs make a great present.
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Sonic74205
Rear Admiral
Joined: 01 Feb 2004
Posts: 4081
Location: England
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| Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:27 am |
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^ Unfortunatly im the only Sci-Fi geek out of all my friends 
Oh and the episodes i saw yesterday. What were the episode numbers? Cuz if i know what the episode number is then it will be easier for me to figure out when it finished on Sci-Fi and then re-runs in again with the pilot epiosde a few weeks later. Then i will make the time to watch it
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The Delta Flyer
Commodore
Joined: 08 Apr 2002
Posts: 2163
Location: East Yorkshire
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| Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:43 am |
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Well I thought I was the only sci-fi geek amongst my flatmates when I went to uni (I think I posted this in the other Firefly topic as well but never mind). One particular person there told me, when I said I liked Star Wars that he couldn't understand the attraction of sci-fi. A few weeks later he was in my room and I had Firefly playing and he ended up staying and watching that episode.
A few weeks later he was looking at buying the actual boxset for himself. As someone put it in that other topic, Firefly is sci-fi without it being sci-fi. If that makes sense. Which it don't but I'm hoping you'll get the idea lol.
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Lindley
Vice Admiral
Joined: 18 Sep 2001
Posts: 6194
Location: Fairfax, VA
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| Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:03 am |
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Those eps you saw were near the end. The order goes thus:
Serenity (2 hr)
The Train Job
Bushwacked
Shindig
Safe
Our Miss Reynolds
Jaynestown
Out of Gas
Ariel
War Stories
Trash
The Message
Heart of Gold
Objects in Space
(Then the Serenity film, six months later)
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The Delta Flyer
Commodore
Joined: 08 Apr 2002
Posts: 2163
Location: East Yorkshire
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| Mon Jul 25, 2005 5:53 pm |
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It was from "Bushwacked" onwards that I was hooked.
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Morphy
Forum Ogre
Joined: 15 Jun 2001
Posts: 3858
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| Tue Jul 26, 2005 3:41 am |
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I can't watch the Firefly reruns on Sci-fi because I don't have the channel. However, I do have the DVD and it's one of my favorite series. I have to include Firefly along with Farscape, DS9, and Battlestar Galatica as the best scifi ever.
Out of Gas and Objects in Space are my two favorite Firefly episodes.
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Lindley
Vice Admiral
Joined: 18 Sep 2001
Posts: 6194
Location: Fairfax, VA
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| Tue Jul 26, 2005 9:32 pm |
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This Friday, 6pm, is your last chance to see Firefly (legally) from the start for free prior to Serenity.
Plus, there will be a new Serenity trailer airing during this Friday's Firefly ep.
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The Delta Flyer
Commodore
Joined: 08 Apr 2002
Posts: 2163
Location: East Yorkshire
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| Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:48 am |
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Is this going to be a brand new trailer do we know? Not just the very-recently released international trailer?
Either way I'm going to have to wait for it to be posted online as I don't have access to the channel.
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Lindley
Vice Admiral
Joined: 18 Sep 2001
Posts: 6194
Location: Fairfax, VA
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| Wed Jul 27, 2005 2:30 pm |
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| The Delta Flyer wrote: | Is this going to be a brand new trailer do we know? Not just the very-recently released international trailer?
Either way I'm going to have to wait for it to be posted online as I don't have access to the channel. |
Probably a brand-new one (the fourth in total), but I can't be certain of that.
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