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Rating:  -
Before I comment on the movie, I really liked a moment when a reporter, played by one of my most welcome character actresses, Teryl Rothery, asked Sheridan if G'Kar and Franklin would be attending the celebration of the alliance that was being held at BABYLON 5. He replied no, that G'Kar was out exploring beyond the rim and that Franklin was with him. This was, of course, a very subtle lament for the deaths of Andreas Katsulas in 2006 (to lung cancer) and Richard Biggs in 2004 (to an aortic dissection at the shockingly young age of 44). Both were distinctive and likable actors. Not many people are aware that Biggs was very close to being deaf, with the complete loss of hearing in one ear and partial hearing in the other.
I personally enjoyed both of the "tales" making up this DVD despite the fact that they were not terribly good. Both were very, very chatty and one finishes the disc without much of a sense that very much happened. Still, I loved seeing Tracy Scroggins's Elizabeth Lochley, Bruce Boxleitner's President Sheridan, and Peter Woodward's Galen (one of the more important and compelling characters on the B5 spin off CRUSADE). Neither story will rank very high in the annals of B5 lore, but I can't say that I regret that the DVD was made. And as I said, it was great seeing people in roles we knew them from in the past. And can I add that Tracy Scroggins looks amazingly good for a woman her age? I'm sure that we all wished that we could age so gracefully as she.
There has been a persistent problem in all the B5 movies. The TV series always built its stories slowly. Few of the standalone episodes were very interesting or even very good. About the only one that was very good was one of the few written by someone other than Straczynski, a fifth season episode written by the great Neil Gaiman. B5's excellence depended on slowly and meticulously told arcs that extended over long periods of time. Its narrative style does not lend itself very well to the short form of a made for TV or made for DVD movie.
So, this is a pleasant thing to see for fans of B5. But I would ardently recommend that no one unfamiliar with the world of BABYLON 5 to watch it until after they've seen the series. B5 is an unusual show. It was at its best very good indeed, but it built up to excellence very slowly. The first two seasons are, in fact, pretty dull affairs (though rewatching the series after having made it all the way to the end is actually more fun than watching it the first time through, since you see foretellings of things that will later happen). But it definitely rewards those who stick it out until the end. But this DVD offering unfortunately is mainly just a way to revisit that which has already passed on. Not that I wouldn't delight in seeing another.
Rating:  -
If you are a fan of long, dry discourse AND sci-fi, this is for YOU.
If you are just a Babylon 5 fan looking for one last taste of a long-dead series, you will be left with a foul taste in your mouth. Blech.
I was left feeling more annoyed than anything. Don't waste your money.
2-star only because of the minor use of advanced CG.
Rating:  -
When I finally saw this DVD on a Netflix rental, I was amazed at how good it was. I was expecting disappointment based on the reviews here, and I think that's because most of them were too focused on what was missing.
This DVD is getting low marks from many of the 380 reviewers here because it is not the same as the Babylon 5 TV series. Certainly this was done on the cheap. The WB people have made tens, maybe hundreds of millions on the original series, but still they didn't want to spring for a full budget made-for-DVD release. Those were the constraints. Therefore, JMS (don't ask me to spell Babylon 5's creator's last name) wrote a script that could conform to the budget -- very few sets, very few actors, lots and lots of computer generated backgrounds.
However, this "movie" tells two great stories set in the Babylon 5 universe that do not require many sets or a large cast. For success, it only needed good dialogue and good acting to deliver that dialogue. Think back to one of the better Star Trek Original Series episodes, "Court Marshall." This was largely a courtroom drama. It consisted mostly of people talking. The cast of Babylon 5 The Lost Tales is perhaps equivalent to Court Marshall, with fewer extras. And there's a lot of talking. If that sort of thing bores you, you can skip this DVD. But if you can't enjoy two very good little dramas just because there aren't any space battles or people blasting phasers at one another, or attacking each other with swords and knives, then you really are missing out.
The first "tale" is a little bit like an Outer Limits episode, about the B5 Captain calling in a priest because she fears one of her crew may be possessed and may require an exorcism. The second tale is about President Sheridan's return for an anniversary celebration on B5. A technomage shows Sheridan the future in a dream, a future of destruction and death for millions. Sheridan can stop this future, but only by committing murder.
Both of these stories are well-told and well-acted. The demon-possessed man and the priest in the first tale are both superb. In the second tale, Boxleitner's President Sheridan displays the kind of authority that comes with power, the annoyance with its downside, and the plot hinges on the moral dilemma, 'Would you have killed Hitler as a child, if you had the chance?' The technomage is well-played, too. The first tale also involves a moral dilemma: Exactly how do you deal with evil and how do you extract the truth from a confirmed liar?
What this DVD movie IS, is two excellent stories, told in a way that does not require an extensive cast or lots of interior sets. We can hope for future movies that will include all of that. But these stories almost *could* have been told effectively with sock puppets, as JMS jokingly hints. Our imaginations can make up for what is lacking, if the actors do their jobs. With the computer graphics on display here, we need not even imagine anything. It's all been done for us.
Is this DVD worth purchasing? Well, it is certainly worth seeing. I watched it twice before returning it to Netflix. I am notoriously cheap. Compared to the value you can get by buying one of the B5 season sets when they go on sale for $20-25, this is not a good value. Still, I would pay $5-6 to own this. Perhaps I will buy it through a DVD club.
Rating: -
I loved much of the Babylon 5 series and all the movie specials done previously. These 2 stories had alot of promise but they are weakly written, stiffly acted by the ancillary cast, with no memory of previous events in the show and yet lots of nods to fan trivia. I found the bonus material more interesting.
The first story involves a strange occurrence that suggests the supernatural and a catholic priest comes to the station. Similar events happened in the movies "Babylon 5: 4th space" and "River of souls", and several episodes in the show and yet Tracy Scoggins' character says "We've never seen anything like this." The editing leaves holes in the logical continuity and it is full of the worst heavy handed pedantic monologues.
The feel of the station is the same, with a few improved graphic effects. As was noted in other reviews -sets are spare and you can see this was done on a shoestring.
The second story is President Sheridan's return to Babylon 5 on the 10th anniversary of the Shadow War. The writing is marginally better, though Peter Woodard (Galen) suffers the worst.
The low budget isn't what ruined this for me - I couldn't believe the characters or the story because of the one dimensionality. I rate these as disappointing "C" grade movies that can only really be enjoyed by fanboys.
Rating: -
I love Babylon 5. That being said. What was this all about?
Tieing up loose ends? Last gasp? I missed something. Oh it was done ok.
But hollow somehow.
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