You do NOT need to see the series before you see the film. In fact, the opening to the film clears up some things that were never explained before.
It DOES help a bit to see the series, as it gives you a lot of background on the claracters, but even without it you can easily figure out the plot, it's the usual good guys vs. bad guys with no surprises whatsoever.
That doesn't mean it's a bad film, it's just not exactly original. Lets face it, very few are these days. I would rate Serenity far better than any of the new star wars films, but not as good as the original 2, and maybe not a lot better than the third. It's much better than 5th. element, and nowhere near as good as Blade Runner. I can't think of any Star Trek film that would beat it either, not that that's saying much.
It really is fairly well done, and I think the spoiler hinted at up top has to do with the fact that the original series was canceled after only 10 shows, and there's not much chance of this franchise turning into anything more than a one off.
It IS worth seeing though.
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