Story: Babylon 5 is a science fiction television series that takes us on an intergalactic journey filled with political drama, complex characters, and thought-provoking themes. The show is set during the years 2257 to 2262, each year representing a season. The show revolves around the eponymous space station, which becomes a meeting point for various alien races, each representing their own interests. As the series unfolds, a grand narrative emerges, delving deep into power struggles, diplomacy, personal relationships, and the fight against ancient forces threatening the galaxy. It's an intergalactic space opera. While some episodes may seem slower in progressing the overarching plot, each contributes to the greater narrative of this series. This set contains all 110 original episodes fully remastered!
Babylon 5 transcends the surface-level expectations of a typical sci-fi series, seamlessly blending political, philosophical, and ethical themes into its compelling narrative. It tackles profound questions surrounding identity, destiny, morality, and the cyclical nature of history. The show's tone effortlessly oscillates between humor and darkness, infused with moral ambiguity and emotional depth.
The ensemble cast of Babylon 5 shines brightly, breathing life into their multidimensional characters. From the commanding presence of Captain John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) to the enigmatic and wise Ambassador G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas) and the stoic Commander Susan Ivanova (Claudia Christian), each actor delivers captivating performances, fostering deep connections between the audience and the characters' struggles, triumphs, and personal growth. Speaking of characters, I would like a full Zathra's story explaining all of their connections, and how they came to be. Zathra's is a huge player in the series, but why him and his brothers?
Fun fact: Babylon 5 has a second wind via the recent animated film and plans for future installments.
Visuals:Under the visionary direction of J. Michael Straczynski, Babylon 5 raises the bar for science fiction storytelling. The series masterfully balances episodic narratives with an overarching story arc, allowing for a rewarding long-term investment. The cinematography, while limited by its era, still manages to capture the grandeur of the space station, utilizing various camera angles and techniques to enhance the immersive experience.
Audio:The evocative score of Babylon 5 was composed by Christopher Franke, the music soars and swells, encompassing a wide range of emotions and enhancing the already immersive universe. DTS-HD 5.1 Master audio.
Price:Babylon 5: The Complete Series is priced at $99.99 SRP. I think this is fair, but I don't like the case. The decision to package it in this case would be fine if the discs didn't fall off. When the discs are no longer snapped into the holder, they face the risk of being scratched.
Shout out to Warner Bros for providing a copy of this film for review. My opinions are my own.
Babylon 5 is back with an all-new story... and it's in animated form. Babylon 5 celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. To be honest, whenever I see a franchise celebrating its years of existence, I can't help but ask... "Has it really been that long?". Nevertheless, Babylon 5: The Road Home... brings back stars from the franchise to lend their voices to their characters from the original series, but does the film hold up? Let's find out!
Story:Babylon 5: The Road Home is more on the mature side for fans of animated sci-fi films. It covers the story of John Sheridan, the newly elected President of The Interstellar Alliance and new ex-captain of Babylon 5. His role changed after his leadership proved successful in taking down a dangerous threat during the... Shadow War. So the story literally starts off at the birth of The Interstellar Alliance with him as the President.
The film tucks in some charm as John and his wife Delenn talk behind closed doors just before he goes out to meet the crew ahead of his farewell to Minbar. Ahead of his jump to arrive on Minbar, they showed him exhibiting signs of... hearing things after the fact, and then he begin to see things before the fact after landing on the planet. I won't tell you what happened next, but it only made matters worse and sent him on an adventure through various times in space (after becoming... unstuck)... including the times of the Shadow War.
The adventure takes him to various points in time that are fitting to the film and delivers both informative and action-packed portions of the film that collectively make sense. I can't lie when the solution to his time sliding emerged... I gave it a slight side eye but isn't a bad thing.
The film also attempted to tuck a little humor in there, but... to me, it sorta fell flat outside of certain scenes where it may not have been an intentional attempt to get a chuckle.
Overall, it's an interesting film with a pretty good storyline... they just to work on the situational comedy a tad bit (the news reporter bit was a thumbs up). According to J. Michael Straczynski, Babylon 5: The Road Home is... "Classic B5: raucous, heartfelt, nonstop, a ton of fun through time and space & a love letter to the fans." So if you're a fan of sci-fi, aliens, spaceships, a good story, and animation... this film might be up your corridor.
Parents: For the most part this film doesn't contain anything questionable, but there is a scene involving a lever that showcases a couple of characters biting the dust from lasers. It's nothing graphic, but it's in there.
Visuals:When it comes to visuals, Babylon 5: The Road Home is a 3D shade-based animation with 2D elements. The cel-shaded animation isn't bad, and it certainly has its moments where it looks great, but other times... I wasn't exactly crazy about it. There was a point in the film where the President was flown down between the rocks of a planet to go see the infamous Zathras... (or at least one of them), and the shot looked beautiful. Other times I guess I wasn't crazy about certain scenes because they were on the plain side.
Audio:In terms of the audio, it's solid. Nice sound effects (especially the time jumps). The dogfighting delivered some lovely booms, and overall the sound was clean. Audio is served up in DTS-HD MA: English 5.1, Dolby Digital, and sounds good on headphones... surround sound + standard speakers weren't bad either. There is one scene where you're really going to get that boom on a massive scale as things come to a head, but it's not the only one. Just remember the 8-ball in the corner pocket.
Price + Extras:Babylon 5: The Road Home... comes in at the following price points:
Babylon 5 Forever (New Featurette) - Join the cast and filmmakers as they reveal the process behind creating the first state-of-the-art, animated adaptation of Babylon 5. They say the "first" because... they plan on delivering more original animated films from the Babylon 5 universe.
Audio Commentary with creator/writer/executive producer J. Michael Straczynski, actor Bruce Boxleitner, and supervising producer Rick Morales.
