Babylon 5 - Appreciation Thread

Alan Castillo

Alan Castillo

Master Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
(Removed no spoilers request)
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I started to watch this for the first time around 10 days ago.

Did a search here and couldn't believe a thread like this doesn't exist :eek

Oh. My. God. (where's that jaw-dropping emoticon now when you need him :lol)

I am hooked !!

To start off with, I did some homework and this is the order I chose to view it in, with one exception.

seq-562x714.jpg


The exception being I will watch the last episode "Sleeping in the light" after "Crusade" and before "Lost Tales"

I don't even know where to start praising this show :cool

Since a lot has been said regarding B5 being the competitor to DS9, I couldn't help but comparing them while watching.

That comparison soon vanished.

They are totally different, and I found it pointless to try and see which one I liked more or less.

To me, they are so very different, yet on the same level of quality in every respect.

The characters are fantastic. The plot is so intricate and believable it is sheer joy to await what twist is coming up next ... and there are plenty !

Costumes are gorgeous, especially the Centauri's.

I'll end by saying that of all the characters, I cannot help but placing Londo and G'Kar themselves, as well as the way their relationship develops, a small notch above the rest :)

I'd like to go on and on ... and on, blabbering about the things I love in this series - but I'd like to hear what you like about the show too :lol
 
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Thanks for that link Evan :thumbsup. Hadn't come across it before.

"In the face of the rivalry, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry agreed to a guest appearance on Babylon 5 as a gesture of goodwill to encourage a reconciliation between the fandoms." That appearance, I remember well ! Loved it.

I did notice that there were plenty of actors / actresses from ST in B5, but I didn't realise how many there are. Thanks again for that link. Very nice reading :)

Yes, lots of similarities for sure. I was referring more to my involuntary attempt to see which one I liked best. Love them both :D !
 
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I just started rewatching the series on DVD. It's a real shame that the f/x are screwed up for HD presentations, but the show's still terrific. It's very early-90s, but at the same time, some of the performances on it are just fantastic. I particularly love Peter Jurasik and Andreas Katsulas as Londo and G'Kar in particular. I love their character arcs and, while the first season really does kinda drag, it's still a solid introduction to the Babylon 5 universe and the characters themselves. I'm in the middle of season 2 in my watch-thru.

I probably wouldn't watch past "Sleeping in Light" and will skip the various other shows, though. I never did get around to watching River of Souls and whatnot. To me, after Sleeping in Light, the story is told and it's time to move on, MAYBE only going back and watching In The Beginning.
 
I saved that graphic. I don't have Crusade, but I have the rest and might try viewing in that order. I imagine that's per the timeline sequence of events. I only watched them in release order the first time around.
 
Big fan here!

When the show was airing and I was doing SO many Trek Cons it was great turning other Trekkers on to the show.

I was lucky enough to visit the set and let me tell you the Studio and production offices were in the middle of no where! :lol

I have to say I enjoy it more than Deep Space Nine only because Uncle Joe had it planned out for the entire run although it did not pan out for him the way he thought.
 
i saved the graphic too. My dad and i started getting into the show towards the end after the first season didn't impress us that much.
 
I have seen every episode chronologically from the very first to the very last and it is one of the very best out there. It has it all and that says it all.
 
The thing that continually impresses me about the show is how exceptionally well plotted it is. The characters may be a bit broad (again, a rather early 90s aspect of the show), but the show tells a meaningful, hopeful story.
 
The only thing wrong with the above chart is that "Legend of the Rangers" is included in it. There's maybe five minutes worth of good stuff - mainly G'Kar's scenes - but the rest is just plain bad.
 
Just a clarification folks. The graphic is not mine, found it on the net somewhere :)

Watched "Third Space" last night, so that's where I'm at ATM :D
 
You sir are watching a great show! I just finished watching all 5 seasons myself for the 4th time last month!.

Fair warning - the 5th season drags on a bit (I mean, they really can't top the 4th season). Just hang in there. The last two episodes wrap everything up nicely though, and it's worth sticking around for.
 
I can NEVER say enough good htings about this show... TOP NOTCH
all around in my opinion...

One thing that's not mention too often though is the ending..

Sleeping In Light is bar none, one of the BEST finales
of all the TV series I have watched over the years...

:thumbsup
 
Wolvster1 said:
I can NEVER say enough good things about this show... TOP NOTCH
all around in my opinion...

One thing that's not mentioned too often though is the ending..

Sleeping In Light is bar none, one of the BEST finales
of all the TV series I have watched over the years...

:thumbsup
Click to expand...
^Agreed on all counts.^

That show had some of the best character development I've ever seen from ANY series (let alone a science-fiction series). I found myself actually CARING about many of the characters, & JMS brought them to life in a way that doesn't happen every day.

That was the first series I had ever watched where every episode built on the previous one (so to closely follow the story, all episodes needed to be seen, in order), & I was hooked by about the 3rd episode.

It's kind of funny to watch the leaps-&-bounds in CGI during the course of the show, & when I watch it now, I have to shake off a 'whoawtf' reaction, when I see how simple & rudimentary the early space scenes were. I actually think I'd like a blu-ray release of an "enhanced" version of the series, where the CGI was redone using modern technology/techniques.

Anyway: love, love, LOVE 'Babylon 5'.

LOVE, I says.

P.S. And it is KILLING ME that I'm not going to be able to go see that B5 mega-panel that's coming up in Phoenix. If there is ANY justice in the universe, somebody will AT LEAST record it (HD plzkthnx), & post it to YouTube or something.
 
I loved Babylon 5 when it was on, and when there were re-runs.

The CGI in the series is quite bad by today's standards, but was groundbreaking at the time. The special effects in the pilot won an Emmy. Some of the CGI in the movies are laughable, though.
 
There's actually some real difficulty in doing an enhanced CGI version of the show, primarily because of some of the composite shots that mix live action with CGI. So, you could do the HD version of the live-action, and HD of the CGI, but the composite shots may not be possible. I'm not sure if the original material even exists at this point. Check the wikipedia page about it for more.

That said, in some ways, I appreciate having the old-school rubber masks and CGI, if only because, to me, it stands as a testament to what the show could accomplish IN SPITE of the limitations it faced. I wouldn't mind a touched up version as an option, but for the same reason that I'd watch old-school Trek with the old-school effects, I'd watch this show with the old-school effects. The only thing I wish they could do is improve the resolution on said effects and especially the composite shots.
 
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