Babylon 5

Turbo Dragon · 14-08-2009, 5:51 PM

Got the Ultimate Collection Babylon 5 boxset for my birthday.

Been ploughing through it at a phenominal rate. Often watching 4/5 episodes a day on a particularly 'horizontal' day off

Iv just started season 3 and cant get enough, I watched it on TV years ago but was a little young to keep up, totally into it now and can't believe how good it is.

It has aged really well I think and the story is compelling. The way its written with the BIG plot in mind at all times, the first season showing clips of the future, seasons ahead, and the later episodes remarking about previous shows/seasons and even previous cast members!

This really demonstrates a quality of storytelling that is so frequently lost in TV now.

However...... I am a little concerned about the spin offs and various movies included that I have read some pretty bad things about

Anyone else a B5 fan and want to talk all things Vorlon and Minbari?

'It was our last, best hope for peace......'

Trollslayer · 14-08-2009, 6:13 PM

Got it, ripped it, enjoy it. Not a trekkie type though!

nwgarratt · 15-08-2009, 10:48 PM

I got the German tin set years ago and haven't watched a episode yet. I did watch it on Channel 4 a long time ago.

blaster9999 · 16-08-2009, 5:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turbo Dragon

Got the Ultimate Collection Babylon 5 boxset for my birthday.

Been ploughing through it at a phenominal rate. Often watching 4/5 episodes a day on a particularly 'horizontal' day off

Iv just started season 3 and cant get enough, I watched it on TV years ago but was a little young to keep up, totally into it now and can't believe how good it is.

It has aged really well I think and the story is compelling. The way its written with the BIG plot in mind at all times, the first season showing clips of the future, seasons ahead, and the later episodes remarking about previous shows/seasons and even previous cast members!

This really demonstrates a quality of storytelling that is so frequently lost in TV now.

However...... I am a little concerned about the spin offs and various movies included that I have read some pretty bad things about

Anyone else a B5 fan and want to talk all things Vorlon and Minbari?

'It was our last, best hope for peace......'

B5 was fantastic space opera. I bought them as sep box sets prob due for revist by me. As for the film had have them all some where on VHS. Don't watch In the begining until, say midway season four. It gives too much away of what you only find out over the course of the first three seasons.

B5 was always one of those shows on the brink of cancellation for most of its life
the final episode of series five was filmed during season 4, just in case it didn't get made. Thats why season four is a little more compressed. The last film a call to arms sets the scene for Crusade, the spin off series, but this was canceled after only 10 episodes. There are plenty of books which fill out the universe and tie up loose ends (such as what happened to Bester. ( Hell I've even got one of the sound track cds )

This was a labour of love for the writer / producer, J. Michael Straczynski ,who gone on to write for spiderman comic and Eastwood directed film The changling.

Don't expect t to see any upgrade to the fx if its ever makes it to blu, just too expensive.

shame,

To all intents it is a complete cycle, Warner did at least let them finish it in the end. Unlike those moron exes at FOX ( damn them what a way to leave the second series of Sarah connor chronicles amd cencelling firefly after only 13 episodes. )

nwgarratt · 16-08-2009, 6:46 PM

Firefly was actually cancelled after nine episodes. There are four episodes on the DVD/BD that never got to be seen on TV.

SyStemDeMoN · 16-08-2009, 6:56 PM

I loved B5 at one time.

The space battles are just amazing.

There are a lot of things that were great about this program, but after they won the great war it just went down hill for me, but up to the end of that war, it was amazing, a LOT better than any star trek story, and I'm a big fan of trek.

blaster9999 · 16-08-2009, 7:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nwgarratt

Firefly was actually cancelled after nine episodes. There are four episodes on the DVD/BD that never got to be seen on TV.

That true for the US first run, but in the UK we got all episodes on the first run ( sci fi channe )l. So we got to see them before they the US

nwgarratt · 16-08-2009, 7:08 PM

This is a good episode guide for B5 and shows when the best time to watch the TV films.

Lurker's Guide: Master Episode List

TylerDurden · 16-08-2009, 7:43 PM

Another big B5 fan here, I actually started watching it all again recently from S1, I'm about 1/2 way through S1 and loving it, esp the nods and hints of whats to come. I'm planing on watching all the TV espisodes first and then the films

rojgelf · 17-08-2009, 8:59 AM

Another fan here, I'm rewatching now on DVD (I bought on VHS too but never watched them!), just finished season 2. Its gripping stuff and has aged well. The TV movies are mixed, in the begining is brilliant, other are so so. series 2, 3 and 4 are great, even after end of the great war story I thought the scorched earth storyline was also great, only S5 dips in the arc (due to story lines being brought forward).

Turbo Dragon · 17-08-2009, 4:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nwgarratt

This is a good episode guide for B5 and shows when the best time to watch the TV films.

Lurker's Guide: Master Episode List

Im using the same list to work my through the seasons. I am aware there is a seperate list of orders which people think is better for plot line but ignores things like costume changes etc....

I end up watching loads of them then getting down because they're running out

Building up to the Shadow War throughout season 3 now.....

Heres a question.....Delen..... yes or no

I like boneheads.....

*gargoyle* · 21-08-2009, 10:34 PM

Agree with all of the above comments, space opera at its best, characters to die for, superb story running through the entire 5 seasons, and some of the best fx to hit the small screen (IMHO) but lately, having recently jumped onto the hi def bandwagon, it suddenly occured to me that the dvd's look terrible and I just can't enjoy them, please please pretty please

warner -lots of B5'ers would be in spasms of joy if you released b5 in blu ray!

nwgarratt · 21-08-2009, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gargoyle

please please pretty please

warner -lots of B5'ers would be in spasms of joy if you released b5 in blu ray!

It won't look any better than it does now. The whole thing was edited on SD video (like the Trek series after TOS and before Enterprise).

Turbo Dragon · 22-08-2009, 8:46 AM

Speaking bout the quality.... i am watching it on DVD. Some shots look good, but then some seem to look awful

There really is a noticable drop in quality and they go soft and fuzzy with what appears to be film splats on it, looking like 35mm. really odd......

Find the special features interestnig to note some of the techniques used that were way ahead of the time.....

aceytrixx · 23-08-2009, 11:38 PM

Watched this for the first time last year/this year when my mate lent me them. Loved every second of it. Definitly one of my favorite tv shows of all time

Steve_P · 26-08-2009, 10:44 AM

Another major B5 fan here too... I have everything as separate DVD boxsets. That's:

- Seasons 1-5 as R2 boxsets,
- In the Beginning / The Gathering as a R1 double sided DVD,
- The movies R1 boxset (this is 5 discs with more bonus material as opposed to the ripoff R2 3 disc set),
- Crusade complete series R2 boxset,
- Legend of the Rangers R2,
- B5: The Lost Tales R2.

erm, I think that's everything in terms of DVD listed.

My all time fave show and like others I am a big fan of Star Trek franchise and also Battlestar Galactica. IMHO very little comes close to being as well written as B5 except perhaps BSG, I guess that comes from having one man at the helm in terms of writing the show as opposed to having a whole bunch of script writers. I watched the series when it originally aired on Channel 4 and then watched the series again each time a series boxset was released on DVD.

My only regret is that I bought the series boxsets as R2 DVD's and not R1. At the time we had to wait up to 10 months after the USA for release. Even then some episodes were messed up such as a couple of episodes from Series 5. Warner Bros. really messed around with the UK DVD releases of B5, which was/is a crying shame.

S.

Steve_P · 26-08-2009, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turbo Dragon

Im using the same list to work my through the seasons. I am aware there is a seperate list of orders which people think is better for plot line but ignores things like costume changes etc....

I end up watching loads of them then getting down because they're running out

Building up to the Shadow War throughout season 3 now.....

Heres a question.....Delen..... yes or no

I like boneheads.....

I think Season 3 is my fave of the 5 series with the two part episode "War Without End" being my fave of Season 3.

Just a sheer delight to watch but to really understand the plot you have to have been following the whole series from the beginning up to that point.

Delen? No...

But Susan Ivanova... [Churchill dog]Oh Yes![/Churchill dog]

S.

aceytrixx · 27-08-2009, 3:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve_P

Delen? No...

But Susan Ivanova... [Churchill dog]Oh Yes![/Churchill dog]

S.

+1

Turbo Dragon · 28-08-2009, 2:46 PM

Yeah iv read about the episodes getting messed up, with random uniform changes in order to keep the plot in line....

what did you reckon to this spin off DVDs?

neroon · 18-03-2011, 1:49 AM

it's great to see so many other people really enjoying/enjoyed the show. I'd just posted a new thread in the television forum since there wasn't one general Babylon 5 thread anywhere. Anyway this is what I posted...

I'm sure fans have read elsewhere but apparently when asked about the future of Babylon 5 at the end of last year(2010). JMS answered by saying ask me in April. Now I don't want to get anybody's hopes up but that could mean JMS is negotiating with Warner Brothers to make a big screen movie. Or perhaps a new Babylon 5 spin-off series is in the works? I have no idea but wouldn't it be great to see more stories from within the Babylon 5 universe!

Turbo Dragon · 20-03-2011, 1:00 PM

Wow!

Jumping up and down with excitement

That will be an interesting development to follow, I loved watching my boxset and am thinking of going through it again towards the end of the year.

Just working through complete X-Files first.....

Fingers crossed, BTW have you got a link to the quote?

ODB_69 · 20-03-2011, 9:03 PM

Best story arc of any show ever...fantastic!

blaster9999 · 21-03-2011, 12:55 AM

Hopefully it's true, but rumours like this seem to come out regularly. Still got technomage trilogy and the last book in the Psi CORP trilogy, for the next time I run through the series

neroon · 22-03-2011, 1:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turbo Dragon

Fingers crossed, BTW have you got a link to the quote?

No specific quote but take a look on JMS news forums someone on there is bound to be able to help.

mikezero · 25-03-2011, 12:31 AM

When I first watched the pilot episode on VHS from my local video rental store I wasn't too impressed with the show.

A mate of mine wanted to go to Babcom 95 at the NEC, he was a big fan of the show, I could drive, he couldn't so I had to cram in all of season 1 and half of season 2 in 3 weeks. After that I was hooked.

I attended many B5 convos and fan gatherings back in the day, especially Wolf 97 at Blackpool which featured all of the main cast, supporting cast + Joe. What a blast of a weekend that was and lots of alcohol was consumed with the Babblings UK crowd. ;-)

Through the show, I edited an online newsletter, got to meet and interview the cast and made many friends who I'm still in contact with to this day.....good times!

Bubo · 29-04-2011, 9:41 AM

Sinclair: Hey Delenn, are you about to eat that hazelnut and nougat chocolate bar?
Delenn: No Commander. It is a Topic for another time.

ODB_69 · 29-04-2011, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bubo

Sinclair: Hey Delenn, are you about to eat that hazelnut and nougat chocolate bar?
Delenn: No Commander. It is a Topic for another time.

RobinDB · 18-09-2011, 10:12 AM

What is the correct sequence for the films of B5 ?

The gathering is that before the tv series ?
also think there are 4 more films

Going to watch them all soon.

nwgarratt · 18-09-2011, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobinDB

What is the correct sequence for the films of B5 ?

The gathering is that before the tv series ?
also think there are 4 more films

Going to watch them all soon.

Lurker's Guide: Episode List

Look for In the Beginning, Thirdspace, River of Souls, Call to Arms, Legend of the Rangers for the other films.

Don't forget about The Lost Tales too.

Turbo Dragon · 18-09-2011, 6:45 PM

Enjoy them. I got the complete box sets. Took about 6months and loved it.

Season 1 took a while to gain speed, but 2 onwards were awesome binge material!

29-04-2011, 9:41 AM	#26
Bubo New Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Thanks: Gave 0, Got 0 Posts: 4	Sinclair: Hey Delenn, are you about to eat that hazelnut and nougat chocolate bar? Delenn: No Commander. It is a Topic for another time.
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