That's a direct-to-DVD movie, not a TV movie or one for the theaters.
The movie was announced in 2005, and now Babylon 5 creator/writer J. Michael Straczynski confirms that not only is there a movie coming this year but it's just about done. The film has been shot and now they're just working on post-production stuff (title sequence, music, special effects, etc). He tells the Babylon 5 newsgroup that the DVD will be released around July 27.
I never watched Babylon 5, and I always thought I missed out on something good. Straczynski is a good writer, and I know that Harlan Ellison was involved in the show too, so I should really get the DVDs. The movie will star Bruce Boxleitner, Tracy Scoggins, and Peter Woodward.















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-03-2007 @ 9:55AM
BillS said...
The DVDs have halved in price but they're still expensive, so I wouldn't recommend buying them. But they're worth netflixing or whatever, but only if you're kinda dedicated to getting all the way through it. The first season is pretty rough, but some of it is important setup for seasons 2-4 which get increasingly brilliant. The production values are pretty low, some dialogue is clunky, some of the actors are daytime soap quality, but there are a couple all-time great characters and the series long plot is extremely well crafted. So it's not for everyone, I guess, but I enjoyed the hell out of it.
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1-03-2007 @ 9:58AM
PB said...
Awesome! I'm just finishing up watching Season 2 on DVD (great Xmas gift!) and now can't wait for this to come out. Babylon 5 was an incredible series, watched religiously by this viewer. I suppose you can equate the fervor to the folks who watch Battlestar Galactica -- truly an excellent, intelligent and fascinating scifi show. I highly recommend getting the DVDs and watching from the beginning. And don't miss *anything*. JMS makes every word count!
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1-03-2007 @ 10:11AM
Andrew Liptak said...
Babylon 5 is, if not the best, is one of the best Science Fiction tv shows out there. The effects and things are a little dated now, but the storylines are so rich and there's such a full history to the universe. Very detail oriented.
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1-03-2007 @ 11:59AM
LC said...
I wonder if the plot will take place after the Crusade series that never finished. During that run, everyone who was on earth was quarantined due to a bio weapon and the ship Excalibur captained by Gary Cole had 5 years to find a cure.
WIth Cole doing movies and his first officer, Daniel Dae Kim on Lost, it's safe to say that it will probably take place after especially since they have Peter Woodward in the movie, who had been on Crusade.
I don't see Jerry Doyle listed. It just wouldn't be the same without Garibaldi.
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1-03-2007 @ 11:56AM
David said...
The DVDs are not expensive. A few weeks ago Amazon.com had all the seasons for $30 each.
And It's not really a movie, it's more of a lost episode type thing.
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1-03-2007 @ 12:44PM
4ham said...
I recommend watching it, netflix it. First season is very rough, but remind yourself this is Straczynski. It's a good piece once you're able to appreciate the big picture and that all those ends tie together into the a strong undercurrent which pulls it all together. The Lurker's Guide(google it) is a good episode by episode companion, points out what you may have missed and gives you some points to thing about.
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1-03-2007 @ 1:36PM
BillS said...
Hmm... I've never seen them for less than ~$45. But I haven't looked too hard. They used to run over $100 pretty regularly.
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1-03-2007 @ 1:11PM
Scott H said...
I finally made time during these past few weeks to pull out my DVD sets of B5. I was a big fan when the show was first out, and saw them all again during TNT's rebroadcast of the series in 1998. But nothing since then...
This is the first TV season DVD set that I've watched this way--multiple episodes a day--and it's just a fantastic experience. B5 was "Lost" over a decade earlier--a serialized storyline, told chapter by chapter, for 5 years, filled with clues, signs, etc. The key difference is that everything was already mapped out on B5, and they laid in foreshadowing and story elements early in the first season that bore fruit seasons later (a 1st-season episode, "Babylon Squared", was revisited and told from an entirely different perspective in the 3rd season.)
I agree with nearly everything the first commenter, BillS, said, regarding some small failings. But it's a great saga, with some excellent performances (especially from the actors playing the lead alien characters). It's incredibly fun to watch on DVD.
And I'm very excited to hear about the new DVD-only movies, even if they have the disappointing Tracy Scoggins instead of the excellent Claudia Christian.
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1-03-2007 @ 2:33PM
Akbar Fazil said...
LC, Garibaldi is probably too busy tracking down Bester to join in on this adventure.
More than likely the movie will be taking place after Crusade. Based off of when that was taking place and the plot of the film having to do with the 10 year anniversary of the Interstellar Alliance I would say that is safe to assume.
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1-06-2007 @ 7:47PM
alan said...
I grew up on star trek and a lot of written sf. To me trek became very idealistic, formulaic and predictable. Then along came this little beauty. Don't mess about with netflix and other low quality forms - buy the DVDs.
some sources are selling the 5 season complete box for about £100 sterling (amazon)its easily worth that asking price as it is highly watchable and has lots of subtext and depth. The effects are very stylistic and original and stand up very well indeed even by standards of today. Do yourself a favor and buy this
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1-11-2007 @ 7:22PM
robert said...
was kind of surprised by the put downs--this was the very best tv sci-fi series ever! And the first season i had thought was the best of the best. the cg was the best and was what initially hooked me. As it went on, i had more and more problems with it. Like the S.T movies, i thought that they went down a needlessly harsh and unimaginative road. The whole notion of winning a lost war seemed just bogus but the development of the concept sometimes worked in an ironic sort of way.Wonder if Bush was a B-5 fan. At its worst, B-5 was generally better than the S.T. movies. Though i'm sort of trying to prepare myself to be disappointed, i am looking forward to the new B-5 movie.
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