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152 of 193 people found the following review helpful:
B5 on a budget is a mere shadow of its former glory, July 28, 2007
First off: the special effects have never looked better, especially given how bad they looked on the DVD release of the original series.
That said, this is a disappointing offering. The low budget of this direct-to-DVD release really shows; the scenes in which characters talk about the people who won't be able to make the 10-year anniversary of the Interstellar Alliance are painful. Okay, the actors who played G'Kar and Dr. Franklin have passed on, so that's understandable. But then Garibaldi's trying to make it but might not be able to get away from Mars; Emperor Mollari doesn't want to leave the palace and sends a Centauri prince in his stead; and then it turns out Delenn is indisposed too (undoubtedly her turn as Crazy French Lady on "Lost" has raised Mira Furlan's asking price significantly). From the original show, then, we get Boxleitner, Scoggins, and Peter Woodward (who, in case you don't recognize the name, plays the technomage Galen); the rest are unknowns. (Props to Keegan MacIntosh, who plays the Centauri prince, for at least essaying something of an accent.) Christopher Franke returns to do the music and uses rather less of that "broinnngggg" synth sound he used to use.
The sets are spare; one scene takes place entirely in the "viewing room" of a Minbari starship, i.e., an empty soundstage lit with a couple of spotlights. The Babylon 5 station itself consists of a couple of rooms and a corridor and is so stripped down that it's only recognizable because of its weird door shapes. All the sets look virtually abandoned due to the almost total lack of extras. There are fake people in the vast B5 docking bay -- standing stock still -- and there's a huge crowd scene entirely off-camera. In one sequence, it's clear the wardrobe budget was tight, too; they couldn't afford to spring for vacuum suits, leaving Sheridan piloting a Starfury in a suit (shades of "Gattaca"). Lampshades are hung, but it's impossible to ignore all the corners that were cut.
I could still be sucked in if the stories were any good, but unfortunately they are not. Most of the actors are a little rusty or stiff (except for Woodward, who is great) and both stories are very slowly paced, with little action -- and in some places they are padded beyond credulity. I was ready to throw a shoe at Lochley and the priest with their incessant reiteration of each other's conclusions. There's a stunning space battle sequence and another dramatic CGI scene in New York, but the space battle is only a few seconds long and both scenes turn out to be, essentially, dream sequences. Footage is reused in flashbacks to things we just saw a few minutes previously. What we have here would have been a single episode of the original show (at 40-something minutes), and the utterly silly first story would have been the B-plot, just a problem to annoy Lochley as she prepared for Sheridan's arrival -- and it would have been far better that way. Even so, it would have been only an average episode at best.
I was a big supporter of B5 when it was originally on the air and still have my original "Accept No Substitutes" shirt that JMS offered to GEnie members. I am sure that JMS did the best he could with the resources he had, and can see that the series has the potential to improve in future installments as the actors settle in and they have the budget to build some additional sets. Unfortunately, this first release is not exactly going to bring people back for more. It may be argued that even low-budget B5 is better than no B5, but really, the show (while groundbreaking for its time) has been more than surpassed by its successors, any one of which you could watch instead (Firefly? Galactica?). Since this release fails to capture much of the original show's feel, it's not really even good for nostalgia. Two stars: one for attempting it at all, a second for the excellent CGI work (which doesn't look low-budget).
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201 of 272 people found the following review helpful:
And so it begins (again!), April 25, 2007
Quite possibly the most concrete sci-fi TV series of all time is back! This is very exciting for Babylon 5 (B5) fans! If you are new to the series, please check the existing universe of B5 DVDs here at Amazon. Some of the spotlight reviews provide a list of the order in which to start watching.
This is the first in a proposed series of anthology format direct-to-DVD releases. The DVD contains two interwoven stories featuring three B5 universe regulars (Sheridan, Lockley and techno-mage Galen (of Crusade)) and some new characters, including a Centauri Prince.
This had a (working) title of "Voices in the Dark", but I don't see it mentioned on the DVD box cover.
Originally JMS was planning three stories but the two stories ended up getting bigger, so the third story (involving Girabaldi) was postponed for a future release.
Needless to say the decision on how many additional Babylon 5 DVDs to make and how frequently to make them will be partly affected by the sales of this one. So you know what to do, buy early and buy often ;-)
Update 6/1: The official babylon5 website has posted a trailer (yes a trailer!) and two director's blogs under "The Lost Tales movie" segment... The trailer starts quietly but explodes halfway :)
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55 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
A good setup to what I hope is better things to follow., July 21, 2007
After many false starts such as the Legend of the Rangers and the planned movie, The Memory of Shadows, it is nice to see that series creator JMS has finally been able to get Babylon 5 back. The DVD is the first of a planned 6 that will look at select characters from the series that will fill in bits of their story as well as that of the Babylon 5 universe as a whole.
The new information that is given is often subtle while some of it is very upfront. One such instance is when a Centauri Prince who is 3rd in line to the throne brings up the subject of Vir. In a somewhat offhand manner, the character mentions that rumor has it that Vir killed his father. Fans of the series will be able to conclude that the character is the child of the Manical Catragia, and that when a dire warning is given about his role in the future, you have a nice framework for possible futuire events.
Divided into two stories, the first is a interesting spiritual based story, while the second is more of the thriller variety.
The FX have improved and the station has never looked better. My biggest concern with the film, was that there was a severe lack of any real action. While I know the series did not always have to rely on violence, a bit of a extended fight sequence would have been nice after so many years away from new material.
Boxleitner is solid as always as President John Sheridan, and the supporting cast of Woodward, and Scoggins, round out what is an enjoyable return to the beloved Sci Fi Epic.
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