Rating: 
Summary: Not sure what the Nutty Professor was thinking....
Review: I have to disagree with "The Professor". I found the B5 series to be a breath of fresh air compared to what Star Trek TNG & DS9 were comming up with. The B5 series was, at it's heart an epic with a beginning, middle & end. The entire 5 season run was a long, singular story with many interwoven arcs. There is a lot of character developement that seems to be missing in many ST shows. There was also a real sense that not everything could be resolved in 1 hour. Many of the conflicts were not resolved happily (an entire race, one that had a few big spotlight roles, was wiped out, the cure comming a few days too late) It was this sense of frailty & real character developement that drew me to this show. I would have to highly recomend it as an alternative to the ST series.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Put-The GREATEST Sci-Fi story ever made for TV
Review: I will be brief. If you ever take the time to watch and experience the entire story of Babylon Five, you will come to the same conclusion others have: It is the greatest sci-fi story ever brought to screen. It will leave you thoroughly satisfied yet wanting more.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best, but pretty freaking awesome
Review: I'll admit that I never really got into B5 during its televised run. I only really liked it for the opening credits music. And after I sat through the entire first season after my buddy begged be to, I still wasn't all that interested. But I continued watching, and there came a point where I didn't stop saying "Holy crap OMGWTF they did NOT just do that!!!" until the series ended. It's just stunning, it really is. Somehow, I never got tired of Sheridan's neverending melodramatic rants and speeches, or of Ivanova's bottomless well of Russian cynicism, or of Delenn's infinite Minbari wisdom. Nor did I get tired of the amazingly crappy-looking, almost Tron-like space battles. I mean, for the love of Buddah, the space battles in War Planets looked better than this. But none of that really mattered, because it was a five-year story arc all planned out from the beginning. JMS played an entire hand of trump cards, entire civilizations rose and fell, wars were waged and major characters got waxed. There were enough revelations to make a person dizzy. Star Trek and Farscape are "good," but Babylon 5 showed its viewers what it takes for a show to truly be called "Great"
Unfortunately, there was fear that the show would not get a fifth season, so the story arc was heavily abbreviated in the fourth season, with the "Shadow War" being comprised of a whopping two battles, and then stretched too thin in the fifth. The "Telepath War" that had been built up to for 4 seasons was a huge disappointment, and the evil, personality-deprived skank hoe that took over the station was a very poor substitute for Susan Ivanova. The void left by Ivanova was partially filled by Lyta Alexander's newfound kinkiness and power-tripping, which are a lot of fun to watch.
So while B5 is certainly not without its flaws, and while Andromeda is easily the best overall space show to date, I believe that this show, by virtue of the ambition behind it and the decent execution thereof, should be mandatory viewing for anyone who has ever watched television. It's just that awesome.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely the best TV series ever in the history of man.
Review: It reads like a good novel. This is a good as TV gets. If you are at all into sci-fi I strongly urge you to see this series and then read the books. Especially the Psi Corps and Technomage trilogies.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST S/F Series Ever Aired!
Review: J. Michael Straczynski (jms) created the space station Babylon 5 and spent years getting it produced and on the air. It premiered about the same time ST: Deep Space Nine did, and for a while, fans compared the two. It was almost "apples & oranges" time, but it was tried.As a long-time Trek fan, I was surprised when I first saw the pilot ("The Gathering") in 1993. I was absolutely stunned. Why Babylon 5, not just Babylon Station? Well, #s 1 - 4 were sabotaged & destroyed; # 4 disappeared after going on-line. (Disappeared? It's 5 MILES LONG, for crying out loud!) Word was that this would be an on-going, progressive five year story arc, the likes of which hadn't been done before on US television. Risky. Okay, jms had my attention. I couldn't wait for the series. When it finally did air, I (being cynical of tv production in general) figured it wasn't going to stay as good. It didn't. It steadily got better. I repeat, I speak as a long time Trek fan (beginning with the original series - skip Voyager, I did). B5 is one of the best televison series ever produced. Note I did not say "science fiction series." (It is THE best s/f series ever put up to the audience.) I introduced several non s/f fans to the series, as a dramatic series and they all loved it. (So much for "only for space opera hounds.") The story arc freed Straczynski (he wrote 90% of the scripts) from having to make everything "come right" in a 45 minute time slot, and off it went. Crowd scenes were, well, crowded, with humans of all types and aliens as extras wandering through scenes. (The aliens, by the way, are much more than odd skin colours, strange noses and "hair.") The station wasn't pristeen, the population wasn't always picture perfect. We have shysters, homeless, personal problems, espionage, humour, betrayal, relationships, and deaths (being in the opening credits did not guarantee survival, and it didn't always happen at the end of a season). Opening credits and theme music changed every year. One character's very appearance even changed dramatically. The plotlines are tight, and the threads are woven into five years of shows. The special effects are believable. (Yes, you could "hear" space battles, but hey, cut them some slack - NASA asked for plans of the Starfuries for reference for future space station repair vehicles.) B5 was the first show to rely on CGI effects, born out of budget necessity. More than once, watching the show, I found myself pounding the furniture with excitement - and we won't go into (here) what I did during series finale "Sleeping in Light." Sinclair, Sheridan, Ivanova, Garibaldi, G'Kar, Londo, Lennier, Vir, Na'Toth, Talia, and Lyta came into our home as people with problems. The characters grew and changed and made choices and dealt with the consequences of those choices for good or bad. G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas) put it best: no one on Babylon 5 is exactly what they appear. Keep a score card handy: this week's ally may be next month's enemy. There is no clear deliniation of good guys and bad guys - mostly it's all shades of grey. Acting (with the exception of one season five regular) is superb. Action, yes. Yet one of the most moving episodes is a one-on-one battle of wits and nerve between two characters in a single room. Wars - some with aliens, some between alien races, and some with just us humans - start & end. There are four ambassadors from alien races on board, with a League of Non-Aligned Worlds to complete the roster. Telepaths of all races (except the Narns) add more colour. Intrigue, smuggling, dealing, double-dealing, romance, all leavened with humourous touches throughout - what more could you ask! For the first four years, the hardest part of being a B5 fan was FINDING it. (Our local station played ping-pong with its time slot.) To own uncut, widescreen versions on DVD of the whole story arc was a dream we had. Thank heavens, it's one dream which became reality. If you have seen B5, welcome back. If you haven't, welcome aboard. However, Babylon 5 is a whole complete story, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. View it that way. Start with the pilot ("The Gathering," not included in this set but available) and then move to Season One. Enjoy. This is a unique series.
Rating:
Summary: And so it begins...
Review: So if you don't know Babylon 5, then nothing I say in this review can clue you into it fully. "B5" is a novel made for television over five seasons, with characters that really evolve and change and stories that don't return to the "ground state" at the end of the hour. It broke new ground in many areas, while tipping its hat to film, TV, and print sci-fi in others.
Watching B5 is amazing in a lot of ways. For example, little bits, even stray remarks, from one episode will affect the outcome of something else in another episode. There are role reversals and there are different perceptions of the same event in different episodes.
Plus a nifty musical score, the first all-CGI special effects, adequate acting, and a big intricate plot.
And you can own it. In one box.
The DVD set is beautifully produced. The episodes are in wide-screen and beautifully sharp. The Dolby surround sound is crystal clear. The "extras" in each season are nice.
There is a small nit, which is that you don't get the pilot episode (The Gathering) and you'll want that. Owning B5 frees us at last from the vagaries of repeats on the Sci-Fi channel (when there are any) or decaying video tape.
If you know B5, you'll want to own this collection. Note: there are plenty of bad Chinese knockoffs on the 'net. The quality doesn't compare to the US product.
Rating:
Summary: An unforgettable cult series
Review: The TV series "Babylon 5"(1994 - 1999), a Warner and TNT production created by J. Michel Straczynski, was inspired in hindu-asiatics religions and explore Arcthurians legends.
"The Gathering", the series pilot, was shown in 1993 and the first episode almost a year later. The series had 110 episodes during five seasons and 5 movies were produced.
Babylon 5 adventures begins in the year 2258 and ends in 2263. The space station,with 8 kilometres length, has 250 thousand inhabitants of different places of the Universe and a defensive military force.
The first three Space Stations were destroyed by sabotage and the fourth vanished mysteriosly on space. The Fifth Station, the only one remained, was built by Earth Aliance with the support of many alien races, including The Minbari Federation and The Centauri Republic.
Babylon 5 was idealized to be a Diplomatic port where the discussions and agreements between the races could take place in a neutral zone.
The first season opening summarizes very well the series essence: "It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, ten years after the Earth/Minbari war. The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal, to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call - home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5".
An unforgettable cult series. (...)
Rating:
Summary: An unforgettable cult series
Review: The TV series "Babylon 5"(1994 - 1999), a Warner and TNT production created by J. Michel Straczynski, was inspired in hindu-asiatics religions and explore Arcthurians legends.
"The Gathering", the series pilot, was shown in 1993 and the first episode almost a year later. The series had 110 episodes during five seasons and 5 movies were produced.
Babylon 5 adventures begins in the year 2258 and ends in 2263. The space station,with 8 kilometres length, has 250 thousand inhabitants of different places of the Universe and a defensive military force.
The first three Space Stations were destroyed by sabotage and the fourth vanished mysteriosly on space. The Fifth Station, the only one remained, was built by Earth Aliance with the support of many alien races, including The Minbari Federation and The Centauri Republic.
Babylon 5 was idealized to be a Diplomatic port where the discussions and agreements between the races could take place in a neutral zone.
The first season opening summarizes very well the series essence: "It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, ten years after the Earth/Minbari war. The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal, to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call - home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5".
An unforgettable cult series. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Unique and brilliant series - worth collecting all episodes!
Review: Unlike most other television series, where you know the main characters will be the same at the end of each show, B5 has episodes that move the show along a huge "arc" of a story. Although it may be nice to pick the best bits out of other science fiction series like Star Trek for your home, there is a lot of value in having the COMPLETE collection of Babylon 5 (or more!). Not *just* for the sake of having the "whole story" though: this is one of the consistently best written and thoughtful television series ever, sci-fi perfection; even the "worst" episodes are clever. Along with "The Prisoner", this is one of the "must have" TV series for any collector, a thought-provoking brilliant work of art. As with Blake's 7 you don't know who will be left at the end of each episode. Like Quinn Martin (Invaders, Fugitive, 12 O'Clock High), JMS keeps it all perfectly-paced exciting entertainment. As with the Onedin Line and serious British sagas, the overall story and character development is what makes tv worth watching for me. Pay special attention to Vir's development - I think his character is in many ways a metaphor for the show and mankind in general. Also be prepared to find more in the details of shows even after rewatching episodes, and tributes to others (and even LOTR) in names and ship designs. The Amazon pricing for the 5-series collection is noticeably less than the individual series or any combination of other multi-season collections (which seem to be more than buying the individual series). You will probably want to also get the pilot episode too.
Rating:
Summary: Hooked by my TV Addict Roommate!
Review: When I was in college I made good friends with this guy who lived off campus, and I'd go over to his house to watch TV. Well, He had recorded **EVERY** episode on VHS as they aired.
My friend was convinced that I needed to watch this show, and so played the pilot movie for me. I was intrigued so we continued on to the first episode. Let's just say that the hook was sunk after that!
I found reasons to come over and watch the next episodes, and then came New Years! (Or some other holiday, I can't remember now) Anyway, we watched something on the order of 10 episodes in one day.
The plot is intriguing and twisting, and is great for those of you who like to engage your brain while watching. There is some interplay between the episodes that causes some of the relationships to become clear, and to enable you to figure out *some* of what is going on before you are blatantly told. At the same time, the interplay is not necessarily overt and readily seen, because my friend (who later became roommate) kept being amazed at some of the things I was picking up on. He hadn't noticed them until his second or third time through. There were even a couple of things I was able to point out to him (after I understood the universe a little better.)
That parenthesis brings up a good point. This universe is not like any other you've come across. You can't make assumptions about the characters simply because you've watched Star Trek since you were nursing.
*****Final Thoughts*****
This is sitting in my hot little hands to give as a Christmas gift. (To my wife, so it's not completely selfless!!!) I look forward to seeing the DVD's where the video won't be as grainy, and there will be no competetion to see who can zip through the commercial break and land closest to the scene return without going over!
As my friend knows, this is a great series to watch with someone who has never seen it, and I look forward to remembering things as my wife watches through the series for the first time. The new viewer's interest helps keep yours going.
This is definately and intriguing and fun show!
*****Price Thoughts*****
You COULD buy each of the individual ones:
.....They're Cheaper
.....You haven't seen any before
I recommend buying this set:
.....Because it is discounted from the individual price
.....All five are out... there's no more coming
.....If you've watched enough to be hooked
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