Babylon 5: The Lost Tales
by J. Michael Straczynski
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bruce Boxleitner, Peter Woodward, Tracy ScogginsDirector: J. Michael Straczynski
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 75 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-07-31
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: 112984
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:
- Times change. Dangers remain. 10 years after he became President of the Interstellar Alliance, Sheridan prepares for a fateful Babylon 5 reunion that could prevent Earth's impending doom.if he will also compromise his core principles. Meanwhile, commander Lochley confronts an unexpected interloper on the way station - a being whose presence makes the B5 freeport the crossroads between heaven and
Movie Reviews of Babylon 5: The Lost Tales
Movie Review: This One Goes Deep ....
Summary: 5 Stars
It seems like most of the gripes aired here about TLT focus on one of four aspects:
1. Budget and FX
2. Writing
3. Lack of "Kewl" Space Battles
4. The Acting
Let's look at each of these:
1.and 3. Okay, the FX wasn't perfect out of the gate, but still, given the budget they had to work with, it was very good. Granted it was a little weak in the docking bay sequences, but how many of us remember the then-cutting edge of CGI technology back when B5 was on, and how much pressure Foundation (and later Netter Digital) were under to produce fluid and mostly believable FX work under a weekly deadline? And look at the strides in virtual set technology, which made it possible to even film TLT on the budget that it had. Without the FX capabilities we have now, it's possible that TLT might not have been filmed at all.
And look at what they got RIGHT. What we see is a)consistent with the B5 we once watched, and b)in much finer detail than what we once had available to us. All they need now is the budget to continue developing high-res models for the remainder of the ships in the B5 universe and work on their interior set CGI design a little bit.
2.I'm guessing that those who were disappointed in TLT were expecting the grand, grandiose space battles of S4, rather than the dialogue and character-driven set pieces that we've been given here.
As a writer, JMS has said before that he tends to prefer writing small, almost theater-esque scenes where the dialogue and characterization drive the drama, rather than flashy FX, and TLT as a production comes straight from that belief.
Quite a few B5 episodes, such as Eyes (S1), And the Sky Full of Stars (S1), Comes the Inquisitor (S2), Passing through Gethsemane (S3), Intersections in Real Time (S4), Rising Star (S4), and The Long Night of Londo Mollari (S5), don't focus on the big epic or depend on big-budget FX to carry the episode, but instead feature drama based on one or two characters' choices and convictions in the face of a real threat (namely, their professional or personal death), not to mention the consequences from those choices, which occur because of (or in spite of) those choices.
The overall theme of TLT takes that theme a step further: there's always a third choice, and that the choice taken in both cases was not the one anticipated or offered ... there was always the third way of looking at the situation. In that sense, the writing is a worthy addition to the B5 universe, and thematically, ranks it up there with JMS' better writing efforts.
The quality of the dialogue and the humor and the pacing? Granted, JMS has been knocked on all three in past efforts, but if anything, the dialogue, the humor, and the pacing in TLT were crisper and better written than a bit of his previous work and especially better than the last foray into B5 territory, with Legend of the Rangers. Heck, it was certainly better than 80 percent of what currently passes for shows on the Sci-Fi Channel (and before you flame me, I say this as a BSG fan, a nuWho fan, and a Stargate SG-1 fan as well, and I count those shows in the remaining 20 percent).
4. The acting. Honestly, acting is a component of the material you're given, and in that respect, Tracy Scoggins' performance does seem a little bit "muted" in the first 15 minutes of her half, but I suspect that's because of the position she's been put in: in order to save time showing "what went before", a lot of her dialogue is voice-over or exposition, which really doesn't give her much to work with as an actress: she has to set up the backstory and explain the situation to Father Cassidy (and the viewers). After that speed bump, though, she nicely underplays Lochley through the rest of it.
In part two, both Boxleitner and Woodward show their chops as actors; Boxleitner managing to do a quite passable Bill Clinton-esque turn as ISA President, and Woodward bringing a darker edge to Galen not seen in the spin-off, Crusade.
One thing that seems to have been overlooked is the performance of Keegan MacIntosh as Regent Vintari, who managed to pull off something amazing: Vintari is supposed to be the son of the mad former Emperor Cartagia (played by actor Wortham Krimmer), and MacIntosh manages to evoke Krimmer's performance (and portray the son of the father) without copying it.
All in all, it was an excellent return to form, and a worthy foray into the B5 universe. I hope that the sales allow JMS to continue making these and bring back more familiar characters.
Summary of Babylon 5: The Lost Tales
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