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Movie and seasons order
- Thread starter Terrible Tim
- Start date
KoshN
Super Moderator
Oh well, it looks like you might have to get the DVDs the way B5 fans originally did on DVD, piece by piece:
- Babylon 5 Season 1 (6 DVDs)
- Babylon 5 Season 2 (6 DVDs)
- Babylon 5 Season 3 (6 DVDs)
- Babylon 5 Season 4 (6 DVDs)
- Babylon 5 Season 5 (6 DVDs)
- Babylon 5 Season Movie Collection (The Gathering (remix), In the Beginning, Thirdspace, The River of Souls, A Call to Arms, 5 DVDs)
- Crusade (4 DVDs)
- Babylon 5 - The Legend of the Rangers (To Live and Die in Starlight, single DVD)
- Babylon 5 - The Lost Tales (single DVD)
Jade Jaguar
Regular
It also means that it was written in such a coherent and detailed manner, that remembering it by dates is possible.
GaribaldisHair
Regular
Time off for good behaviour?
Galacid ... you don't say where you are, but IIRC the Complete Universe set was indeed not only an Amazon but specifically an Amazon UK exclusive never available elsewhere.
If you are in the UK, the one thing you need to bear in mind is that the UK (or maybe whole R2) movie boxset only included Thirdspace, The River of Souls and A Call To Arms, whilst the US/R1 release included all 5 (i.e. the Gathering and In The Beginning as well) all with commentary. Many UKers (myself included) bought the R1 set instead for exactly that reason.
The good thing, from your point of view is that the DVD sets were released several years ago, and now retail for much less than they did back then ... according to Amazon UK:
Seasons 1-5: £11.98 each
Crusade: £12.98
Legend Of The Rangers: £4.98
Lost Tales: £4.98
R1 Movies: $47.99 (around £33.00)
That is clearly more expensive than the Complete Universe but, most importantly, the UK site currently shows them all as being In Stock.
Play.com has them at the same prices (bar Crusade at £9.99 but out of stock).
Happy hunting.
Galacid ... you don't say where you are, but IIRC the Complete Universe set was indeed not only an Amazon but specifically an Amazon UK exclusive never available elsewhere.
If you are in the UK, the one thing you need to bear in mind is that the UK (or maybe whole R2) movie boxset only included Thirdspace, The River of Souls and A Call To Arms, whilst the US/R1 release included all 5 (i.e. the Gathering and In The Beginning as well) all with commentary. Many UKers (myself included) bought the R1 set instead for exactly that reason.
The good thing, from your point of view is that the DVD sets were released several years ago, and now retail for much less than they did back then ... according to Amazon UK:
Seasons 1-5: £11.98 each
Crusade: £12.98
Legend Of The Rangers: £4.98
Lost Tales: £4.98
R1 Movies: $47.99 (around £33.00)
That is clearly more expensive than the Complete Universe but, most importantly, the UK site currently shows them all as being In Stock.
Play.com has them at the same prices (bar Crusade at £9.99 but out of stock).
Happy hunting.
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Thanks guys but i think i have found it at www.sendit.com
Hope it is that same one however it is £15 more expensive!
Hope it is that same one however it is £15 more expensive!
Elric
Regular
I've not posted here for a while and thought I'd chip in with this. After watching the JMS prefered order a few times I noticed a few discrepancies (mainly involving when Lochly meets Giddeon). So, I just shuffled the order of a few episodes as follows:
War Zone
Racing the Night
The Needs of Earth
The Memory of War
The Long Road
Visitors from Down the Street
The Well of Forever
Patterns of the Soul
Ruling from the Tomb (this is when Lochly & Gideon first meet each other)
The Path of Sorrows
Each Night I Dream of Home (their second meet up)
The Rules of the Game (their third get-together)
Appearances and Other Deceits
There are only a few changes but I think it makes more sense this way.
War Zone
Racing the Night
The Needs of Earth
The Memory of War
The Long Road
Visitors from Down the Street
The Well of Forever
Patterns of the Soul
Ruling from the Tomb (this is when Lochly & Gideon first meet each other)
The Path of Sorrows
Each Night I Dream of Home (their second meet up)
The Rules of the Game (their third get-together)
Appearances and Other Deceits
There are only a few changes but I think it makes more sense this way.
Just wanted to say thanks so much for this thread. In particular for the steer not to watch In The Beginning first (which was my first instinct) and for the comprehensive viewing orders.
My Complete Babylon 5 from Amazon was waiting for me when I got in from work this evening (which, as an aside, is gorgeous, but that is probably for a different board). Even though I was expecting it I was a little overwhelmed by the mix of movies and series and wasn't quite sure where to start but this has cleared it up. Look forward to coming back to discuss the actual episodes once I have started to watch...
My Complete Babylon 5 from Amazon was waiting for me when I got in from work this evening (which, as an aside, is gorgeous, but that is probably for a different board). Even though I was expecting it I was a little overwhelmed by the mix of movies and series and wasn't quite sure where to start but this has cleared it up. Look forward to coming back to discuss the actual episodes once I have started to watch...
Sindatur
Regular
Oooh...will this be your first watch of the series? How exciting, definitely share your thoughts along the way so we can live vicariously through you.
Sometimes I look forward to getting old and forgetful, just so I can experience B5 again for the first time
KoshN
Super Moderator
First things first, check that none of the discs are loose and/or scratched. You want to get this cleared up now, rather than discovering it as you come across the discs as you watch the show (possibly outside of any exchange period you may have.). Check every disc, and re-seat it properly on the hub. Hopefully, your set will be in better packaging (better hubs; softer, less scratchy plastic). I transferred my B5 S1-S5, and the movie set to better cases. The Crusade set packaging is OK, as well as B5-LotR and B5-TLT.
Babylon 5 Seasons 1 thru 5 and the movie set had chronic loose/scratched disc problems here in the US. Those sets use a passive (no moving parts) friction fit hub of hard, brittle plastic, and the disc will either not be properly seated on the hub during assembly of the sets, or come loose in shipping. Then the disc rocks back and forth on the ring of plastic surrounding the disc while the hub scratches arcs in the read area of the disc, pretty much in the direction of disc rotation (worst possible kind of scratch, naturally.
). You will need to exchange these discs within whatever exchange period the vendor allows, or you'll have to go the Warner to get it done.Don't go for an exchange of the entire set, because any new set you get will likely have loose/scratched discs, too. In one set I made for a friend here in the US, 8 of the 40 discs were scratched (He got everything but the Rangers pilot. If you got all of B5 & Crusade, you'd have 41 discs.). I exchanged the bad discs before I left the store.
Yes it will (bar some half remembered random episodes that I came across when it was first going out). I've read so much about it that I'm trying not to build it up so high that it can never meet expectations! I'm really looking forward to having people who know what they are talking about to share it with as I go along.
Top tip. Fortunately everything looks fine (maybe the region 2 disks were packed at a different site) but I've been caught out before so know it's always worth checking. Lets hope that I haven't missed anything. I've got the UK Amazon set which has the main 5 series, Crusade, the films and The Lost Tales so probably luck rather than judgement that there wasn't a problem with at least one of the disks.
Another question, if I may, on watching order. I've never really got on with pilot episodes for me they never quite seem to catch the true spirit of a series. I will get to it eventually but will I be missing crucial background if I dive straight into Episode 1, Series 1 rather than watching The Gathering first?
Sindatur
Regular
Some characters change from the Pilot, and the Pilot is tough for some to get into, so you may not be bad off getting addicted to the series first, and then watching the Gathering. I think the main important thing for the first 7 episodes is "There is a hole in your mind"
One thing to remember though with Babylon 5, JMS didn't do random things often. "If a gun is used in Act 3, you can almost always see it on the wall in Act 1". In other words most things are indeed set up and introduced before they play out.
I would suggest you watch The Gathering before you watch "And the Sky Full of Stars"
vacantlook
Super Moderator
That episode title -- "And The Sky Full Of Stars" -- even comes from a line of dialogue in "The Gathering", and I've always liked that particular scene. I agree: I don't think you have to watch "The Gathering" before watching some of the show, but I would watch it before "And The Sky Full Of Stars".
Although, some of the brewing, subsurface tension in "Soul Hunter" might not be as apparent without having watched "The Gathering" first.
KoshN
Super Moderator
Why you lucky! Maybe the UK (Region 2) set uses a better hub design and better materials (plastic that's more "plastic" and not so hard and likely to cause scratches), and maybe the set is assembled with more care.
It's best to watch "The Gathering" first. At least you'll be watching the second version, the one without the "zoo" scene. The Delenn makeup, and androgynous nature can be jarring, but once you get past it and into the series, you'll be fine. Just remember that between the pilot and the series, things change. The makeup wasn't all ironed out yet. The weapons weren't nailed down yet. Some of the characters changed a bit. Some of the actors in the pilot, show up later in the series as a different character (e.g. Ed Wasser as Guerra in the pilot, and as Morden in the series.). Watch "The Gathering" for the story, not for all the little details about the show.
Galahad
Regular
Curiously that line also matches dialogue from a character in C.S Lewis's "The Silver Chair" and Sinclair's situation has certain parallels with Prince Rilian in this tale.
However when pressed, JMS revealed he had never read the book. But I do find the coincidence extraordinary.
I think that it's partly to do with the very slimline boxes that most of the DVDs come in. There are two DVD's in each case and if the disk drops off the hub then they don't shut properly which means that they in turn don't fit inside the cardboard series box. So in order to leave the factory they would have to be inserted properly Anyway I can feel things drifting off topic so I will shut up about the minutia of DVD case design.
Thanks all for the comments on The Gathering. I think that I take from this that if I can bear it I should watch it first but as long as I get it in before epsiode 7 then not to worry over much. To be honest I think that the most important thing is to stop faffing about and start watching (which was the plan for the weekend but the weather is so nice...)!
KoshN
Super Moderator
Just one line, IIRC, where we hear Kosh's thoughts; he thinks "Entil'zha Valen" when he recognizes Sinclair as Valen [spoiler] (who Kosh & Ulkesh met 1000 years ago. Dell #9 "To Dream in the City of Sorrows")[/spoiler]. It's not really Sinclair, but the Minbari assassin in a changeling net. It's one of those quick lines that means nothing to the newbie who doesn't know anything about Valen yet, but it pays off later, in Season 3 Episodes 16 & 17 "War Without End Parts 1 & 2."
Damn! Is nothing working today. Spoiler function not working, and I can't even camoflage it with making it background color. Argh!!!
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wait a sec... Sinclair is Valen?!?!?!!!! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!! you just ruined it for me
