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Summary: ... that continues to a new era of a new captain...
Review: After Season 1, its time for Season 2. And what a new season to begin with.New captain, unsolve problems and unexpected turn-of-events had made Season 2 something more. Firstly, we get to see more of the mystery of the "Shadows", the deadliest aliens in the whole galaxy. Then the unexpected fall of G'Kar (played by Andreas Katsulas) & his species to the Centauri. The rebellion decision new captain John Sheridan (played by Bruce Boxleitner). And more mysteries unfold, added and so on. Season 2 opens full speed ahead that what began in Season 1 had allow us viewers to get into the saga itself with problems and the realization of a big epic tale created by J. Michael Strazynski. The special effects are much better. The sets outlook looks bigger. And with the script, I finally understand why my friends recommend me to start off with Season 2 first. Season 2 had finally begin its tale where Season 1 left us with the introduction of the beginning. Its the space saga that continues that leads to Season 3 into a full-scale war. A season you will never forget...
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Summary: The Second Chapter of TV's Best SF Show
Review: There is not much to add here, but B5 truly became the best SF TV show in history beginning in this season. The story line was filled with tragedy and triumphs which mirrors real life and with the B+Narn/Centuari War and the beginning of the love between Delen and Sheridan. Like many others, I was disappointed by the disappearance of Michael O'Hare, but Bruce Boxleitner soon came to fill his role as Captain Sheridan with some powerful acting--epsecially when he tries to find out how Morden escaped the destructionj of the Icarus. It proves, if it has to be, that good SF TV is just plain good TV. One major fault--why didn't Bruce, Jerry, and Claudia do the commentary on an episode that had more of their scenes? Still, that is a small complaint when you consider the wealth of story-telling, tears, and smiles that come with this season. Get it folks, the best is yet to be!
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Summary: A true masterpiece
Review: Babylon 5 was my all time favorite show! Now that it's out on DVD, I can watch it as many times I want! Babylon 5 is a GREAT series!!! The first season biult character. The second season brought the real plot and a better captian, Sheridan, into the whole thing! Watch and, I'll assure you, it'll be worth it!!
Rating: 
Summary: Yikes...
Review: Note to JMS: if you're going to create a mysterious, ominous tone to your work, it should have a point.
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Summary: B5!!!!!!!
Review: I loved B5 and watched most of it when it was running on television. Watching the CD' s in JMS's (J. Michael Straznyski is the show's creator) order is really interesting !
The extras on this CD are great! There's even one that you'll
have to look for! Babylon5 -- The Outtakes!!
Trust me - it's there! I found it !!
Rating:
Summary: Here Comes The Shadows
Review: I was a little disappointed when they changed the commanders from Sinclair(Michael O'Hare), Whom I thought was doing an excellent job, To Sheridan(Bruce Boxleitner) but at least they brought Sinclair back for a few episodes. It took a couple episodes but I finally got used to Sheridan and now I actually like him better. Well, Babylon 5 finally got rid of The Raiders threat but here come the Shadows. The Narns get conquered by The Centauri thanks to The Shadows whom are merely using The Centauri for their own agenda. Very interesting how the story develops. Very well written. My thanks to all the writers and producers of B5 for doing a virtually flawless job. This, As Seasons One and Three, Is a masterpiece.
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Summary: Q: "How Does It End?" A: "In Fire." - (Trust the Corps)
Review: A vast improvement over the already-good 1st season. The second act of "Babylon 5" contains far more plot hooks that engage the casual viewer into the 5-season arc. The highlights of this season include an assassination of a democratically elected President and the installation of a totalitarian government. This coup is interesting on its own - but we even get to see the effect on the media in an episode told from the point of view of a news camera. There are seeds of Gestapo-like secret organizations, and the start of an underground resistance movement. We also see a horrific civil war between the Centauri and Narns. (This is complete with genocide and weapons of mass destruction). This plot development is unexpected given the progress towards understanding shown by both sides in earlier episodes, and foreshadows the descent into chaos and war shown in later seasons. Towards the end of the season, we are drawn deeper into the world of the Shadows, and are given a glimpse of a Vorlon. There are a few non-arc episodes that are worthy of mention here. "GROPOS" is a rare piece of science fiction that shows the horror of war from the standpoint of those closest to it - not the air force or the navy, but the infantry. Walter Koenig is fine as usual as Bester in the Psi-Corp episode, as are most of the guest stars. Recommended, but make sure you have a few hours of free time to invest in this excellent series.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Series - Top Notch Sci Fi
Review: I had never watched this television show while it was running or in syndication. When I saw these DVD's I was a little curious but not enough to start investing. Then a friend told me that I would really like this series, so I decided to give it a try. The series was good in season 1, but fantastic in season 2 and I hear it only gets better.
I have been simply amazed by the quality and depth of the storyline with all the little subplots interweaving with each other and the acting quality ranges from average to excellent. These DVD's are a must have for a true sci-fi fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Warner's should have put more money into the release
Review: 5 for the story, 1 for the video. I'm not going to discuss the arc of Babylon 5, nor it's rating as an SF (NOT SciFi) series. We all know that the arc was highly compressed in the fourth year, because WB wouldn't give JMS a guarantee of a 5th year early on. As a series, it stands head and shoulders above any of the ST spin-offs, at least for me. And in terms of characterization--well, Claudia Christian stole the show for me, and her absence (for whatever reason) was sadly missed in Season 5. But I'm going to talk about quality. Babylon 5 will be around for a long, long time, viewed and re-viewed by its fans, and by fans yet to come. The widescreen version that the SCI-FI channel promoted is right in line with the aspect ratio of newer HDTV sets. And that's the problem! The CGI was good for the time and for the budget. But it was done at broadcast resolution (about 480 X 640). On the DVD release, where the resolution is higher, EVERY CGI shot stands out and hits you right between the eyeballs. A good example of this problem is the episode "And Now A Word." Whenever text is superimposed on the screen the picture quality goes to hell, since this was done on PCs to broadcast TV resolution, then blown up, cropping the top and bottom, to fit the 16:9 aspect resolution of HDTV. It's extremely distracting, and on at least one long tracking shot I prayed (sorry, JMS) for the camera angle to change and return to to a better picture. At other times the picture becomes extremely grainy, as though it was shot on high-speed super-16 stock. Perhaps the entire series was, but if so, I wonder why they didn't use 30 fps for better US video transfer. But the main issue is the CGI. Good for its time, budget, and broadcasting limitations, but definately sub-par for either DVD or HDTV. I hope that Warner has the original stock, and eventually the will and budget, to present B5 at its best for future HD releases buy redoing the CGI portions. Babylon 5 is a treasure that reflects the creator's vision. Perhaps in some alternate universe it was done with a clear "go-ahead" for all 5 seasons, and was done with either theatrical or HDTV resolution. But until we reach that universe, we'll have to make to with what we have. Summary - Buy every season of B5 immediately and enjoy the story over the course of a few days, rather than a half year. But be prepared for jarring changes in quality of the picture - the better your display, the more in-your-face they'll become. But that's life. Take your glasses off and enjoy the story.
Rating:
Summary: Action Rising!
Review: Unimaginably geeky, I asked for this for my birthday, and my (older) brother delivered. This dvd set assembles and packages this most excellent series very well, with easy to navigate menus, and a nice feature -- a one-click ability check out the "next week on Babylon 5" previews for each episode on the menu -- great memory nudge for the episode's content. The special features and actor vignettes were not especially illuminating for me -- it was obvious from some comments that this series was a nice paying job for some of these workman-like actors and professionals. Glad they appreciated the paycheck, but quality of acting wasn't what the show was about -- it was about the creation of a world and the spinning of a story with a length and complexity impossible in any other media or format other than series tv. I think sf fans are suseptible to this multi-season spinning because we've been trained so well by multi-volume sagas that take years to deliver (a la Herbert's Dune, Card's Ender series, or Bujold's Vorkosigan). It's gripping to see in order and in a compressed time the beginning of the story arc, the seeds of so many amazing story threads, the revelations of characters that season 1 merely sketches and establishes. I still balk a little at the sticker price on these sets -- but in cases like this one, it's worth it (especially when it's your brother paying).
If you didn't discover when the series was on the air, the episode guides, analysis, and commentary on the "Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5" at ... are great, and a nice companion to the dvd's as well.
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