I'm rating this an 8 since it is a fan film and needs to be rated against other fan films and not corporate films, which I expect more from.
It has a good story with several subplots for character development. That works well.
Wow, the live fire scenes were straight out of Hollywood! Most were shot at night which added to the drama of the battle. So many guns, it was awesome. Loved it. The special effects were excellent, also straight out of Hollywood. For a fan film, very unexpected.
The acting, for a fan film, was pretty good, some better than others. There is one minor character that I think really shined above the main cast.
The cinematography was excellent. Considering the low budget of fan films, it was well lit, well shot and believable. As well as entertaining. Kudos to the director.
Now for a couple of critiques: 1. Fan films should not be feature length. That causes directors to put awesome scenes into the movie that really do not add to the movie. As some actors claim, their best scenes end up on the cutting room floor. 2. I liked the fire fights, but the Alliance soldiers suffer from the same ability as Stormtroopers. There are a few times where the Browncoats would have easily been hit, and weren't. Either hit them or have them in cover that makes sense that they weren't hit. 3. Some of the battle scenes could have been tightened up a bit. They are there to tell a story, not to showcase lots of lead going down range.
A couple of highlights: 1. The armored vehicles. For a fan film, where did you get those? Awesome! 2. The bad guy in the trench coat. I liked him. But when he pulled down the binoculars and showed that he was wearing a patch, I almost expected a joke there. 3. Great continuity. I suspect this was shot over a long period of time, but I saw no inconsistencies in costuming, make-up or actors. Good job.
Browncoats: Redemption came first and was a good try. Independence War was better, much better. All in all, a good movie that carries on the Firefly legacy.
Update-v1: I have looked at all the low ratings and I figure it is one of two things. Either they are idiots, or they are jealous of the work that this crew put in. There is no way that this movie rates anything below a 5. And should be an 8 or above.
Update-v2: I read several of the 1 star reviews. In spite of having different names, it's the same person. It's the same writing style, they just pulled up a thesaurus and replaced derogatory words with something similar. If the person were a true critic, they would have offered advice outside of attacks. It's one jealous failed person attacking others when they cannot perform themselves.
