BABYLON 5 began life as a knock-off of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION and STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, and quickly transformed into something more. With the creative mind of former Hill Street Blues writer Michael Straczynski guiding it, science fiction fans embraced this one-of a kind series. For those who’ve never seen the show, BABYLON 5 features a five year conspiracy arc that tells one large epic story. Kind of like THE X-FILES but set in outer space. There’s no shortage of action and good acting that makes shows like these great. The cast features a veritable who’s who of genre performers including Bruce (TRON) Boxleitner, Claudia (THE HIDDEN) Christian, Bill (LOST IN SPACE) Mumy, Pat (RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD ‘90) Tallman, Andreas (COMMUNION) Katsulas, and many more. The pilot episode, THE GATHERING, was re-released on TNT during the height of the show’s popularity. The original digital effects sequences filmed in 1994 didn’t hold up to today’s standards, so TNT went ahead and retouched the effects shots and spaceship designs to make them more in touch with the current CGI technology. Thus THE GATHERING can be considered a Director’s Cut if you will. Warner Home Video has made episodes of BABYLON 5 available on VHS and LaserDisc over the years, but many fans clamored for a DVD release, as neither medium presented the show in widescreen (as the series was filmed in). At the tail end of 2001, Warner finally appeased fans of the show by releasing not only THE GATHERING, but the excellent TV movie prequel, IN THE BEGINNING.

THE GATHERING

This pilot episode is rough at times, but shows a lot of promise for the greatness it would achieve. The casting is almost totally different than the popular cast changes that would occur later. Commander Sinclair (Michael O’Hare) commands the Babylon 5 space station which is to be used as sort of a United Nations in space, for alien races to hash out their disagreements. The humans and aliens attempt to resolve a murder attempt aimed at an alien Ambassador named Kosh. This episode introduces the characters, concepts, and alien races for the series to follow.

IN THE BEGINNING

This prequel ties in events from the BABYLON 5 universe to the past. An aging Emperor Londo tells the story of the Earth-Minbari war to some of his young subjects. The narrative unfolds flashback-style and introduces the characters (and alien races) of John Sheridan, Ivonava, Delenn, Kosh, and G’Kar. This bigger budgeted TV movie features superior special effects, great storytelling, and acting quality you just don't expect to find from a syndicated TV show.

The pilot episode, THE GATHERING, is presented in full frame (1.33.1)—they way it was originally filmed. The transfer is clear and colorful and projects a good sense of depth. The new effects scenes look really good and make this pilot worth revisiting. The age of the video master displays some flaws though, so expect some blemishes and lots of grain. Shortly after this pilot, the producers switched to 1.85.1 widescreen for the series. IN THE BEGINNING was filmed this way, too and Warner Home Video demonstrated the foresight to present this TV movie in 16x9 enhanced widescreen. And what a difference it makes! The transfer is sharp and defined and without the imperfections of the pilot episode. The neon colors schemes are brilliant, and the black level is deep. With this 16x9 enhanced widescreen version, you can really appreciate the detail of the alien worlds, futuristic set designs, space vehicles, and alien technology. Though we are not talking mint condition here, I can’t imagine the series looking any better. The only disappointment here is the Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. Warner should have kicked in for DD 5.1 or DTS because this soundfield is lame. The overall fidelity is pleasing, with lots of depth, but there is no imaging from the soundfield. When spaceships zip by you, there is no rushing noises to accompany it. There’s plenty opportunities for some good bass effects, but this disc does not deliver in this area. Another audio flaw is the dialog is very high in the mix. When the voices are louder than the war scenes, something is not right. The only extras on the disc are cast listings for the talented folks behind the scenes and on-camera.

BABYLON 5 is an epic TV series that should be taken seriously by any fans of the genre. It will amaze you, challenge you, and entertain you. It is in many respects, a superior show to the formulaic STAR TREK franchises. The show lives on in syndication (on the Sci-Fi channel) and a new spin-off BABYLON 5: LEGEND OF THE RANGERS is coming soon. Many fans of the show have been waiting to see this series on DVD for some time now and have purposely held off from buying BABYLON 5 on VHS or LaserDisc. The time is right for the official release of the series on DVD, complete with 16x9 enhanced widescreen transfers and Dolby Digital remixes. Personally, I’d like to see entire season box sets. Come on WB, get with the program

BABYLON 5 THE GATHERING is available from DVDEmpire.com

-  Phil Chandler

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