The Road Home review thread (contains spoilers)

[Springer]

Amazon came through and sent me The Road Home three days early! And now I've had the pleasure of watching the first new Babylon 5 in 16 years, if my maths is correct. What did I think of it? Well, I'm still not entirely sure what I think of it!

[Beware some spoilers in my comments below, but I've tried to be vague regarding the specifics of the storyline, and most of what I talk about can be gleaned from the trailers anyway.]

It's good, and it does feel like Babylon 5, but at times I thought the comedy was a little too intrusive, and it felt like some things were glossed over. This might just be the mechanics of animation – talking heads in a cartoon can get real dull, so the story has to be propulsive and always moving forwards, but this results in some of the depth of narrative that we're used to on the show being absent. Case in point, in the scene where Sheridan jumps to Z'Ha'Dum and the Icarus encountering the Shadows, there's no mention of Anna or Morden, probably because it would just take too long to explain who they are for new viewers and it would bog the story down in exposition. It works for animation, but it feels a bit alien for B5.

Bruce Boxleitner is excellent in this and holds the whole thing together. He steps right back into the role of Sheridan without missing a beat, like he'd never been away. Particularly impressive is when he meets the younger Sheridan who took command of the station. It's subtle but he portrays the two versions of Sheridan differently, the younger Sheridan coming off a little more militaristic, but with that wide-eyed optimism that early season 2 Sheridan had. It's something they mention in the documentary too. All the other old cast slip back into their roles easily and they all seem to be having fun (wish there'd been more Lennier though). All the new actors are really good, especially Rebecca Riedy as Delenn. Paul Guyet is mostly good in his double role as Sinclair and Zathras, though at times his Zathras comes across as though he's channeling William Shatner playing Zathras, with all those abrupt pauses.

I really wish that Starfury pilot doing the heroics in the battle with the Shadows had been Keffer. We don't learn his name, so I'll just pretend that it is.

Perhaps the biggest talking point – somehow Sheridan's socks last five years. Mine barely last five months before getting holes in them!

The animation is really good, most of the character and ship designs really evoke the original show. The station looks fantastic. Not too keen on the slight re-design of the White Star or the Shadow ships (but the Shadow ships are from an alternate reality, so we can just say they were different in that universe). The music I could take or leave.

Storywise, it was fun seeing all those other realities, though as I mentioned it's hampered somewhat by the comedy and the glossing over of details so the story can rush to the action, meaning that some of the more dramatic or dark moments lack the pathos we'd have got in the original show. I wasn't overly keen on the saccharine 'love conquers all' theme, the original show was never that simple or sentimental. I also noticed a couple of mistakes – Franklin pronouncing Pakma'ra incorrectly, and Sheridan saying he took command of B5 in 2258.

The In Memory, Still Bright list at the end was incredibly sad, as well all know.

I really liked the end – a view of B5 when there was no Shadow War, it felt like a return to the dynamics of season 1 – G'Kar and Londo bickering, Garibaldi bemused by the aliens, Delenn before her metamorphosis, only this time with added Sheridan and Lochley, and with Sinclair still on the station. Reading between the lines, and what JMS says in the Babylon 5 Forever documentary, I get the sense that future animated movies might be set in this new timeline, with the same set-up and characters as the original show, but without the baggage of the Shadow War. On the one hand that would be terrifically exciting, returning to the style of season 1 and early season 2, but on the other hand it makes me sad that it would mean we've seen the end of the original show's timeline. If that is to be the case, then The Road Home is a fitting, if not perfect, goodbye.

I rate it a B, which might change on subsequent re-watches.

 

[Jan]

Case in point, in the scene where Sheridan jumps to Z'Ha'Dum and the Icarus encountering the Shadows, there's no mention of Anna or Morden, probably because it would just take too long to explain who they are for new viewers and it would bog the story down in exposition. It works for animation, but it feels a bit alien for B5.

Some friends and I (who saw it at Comic-Con) were talking about that and wondered whether he'd even married Anna in that ficton. Even so, our viewpoint Sheridan had, so maybe he was just disconcerted by jumping and the atmosphere (that's my story... ;-) ).

Love did conquer all in the original. Remember that it was his love for Delenn that was his 'anything worth living for' on Z'ha'dum.

I'm looking forward to the documentary.

 

[Springer]

Love did conquer all in the original. Remember that it was his love for Delenn that was his 'anything worth living for' on Z'ha'dum.

I did think about that when I wrote my review. That was a much more complex situation, since Sheridan had just blown up his ex-wife, who Delenn hadn't told him was still alive, so there was this question of whether Sheridan even trusted her or could forgive her. There was lots of subtext. I think the biggest criticism of TRH that I have is that on first watch at least, it's almost lacking in subtext, in depth. At Z'Ha'Dum, when Sheridan needed something to live for in order for Lorien to rejuvenate him, it was just his life at stake; I can buy that love might be Sheridan's personal driving force. Whereas the message in TRH is love is the most powerful force in the universe. Maybe it's just me not being a romantic!

I'm not knocking TRH though; having considered it more, I think I rate it more highly than I did as I was watching it, now a few things have had time to sink in and I've been able to readjust my expectations. I need to watch it again.

 

[Jan]

I get that you're not knocking it. And after posting, I started thinking that I did wish we'd been able to see even a little more of Delenn's determination/quest to find Sheridan. It was kind of one-sided.

I think it's important to remember that the B5 stories and subtexts built on themselves while this one stands alone. That said, there seems (to me!) that there are plenty of possibilities for build-up here, with new relationships to explore (like Sinclair/Lochley's apparent dislike for each other) or maybe whether we'll see 'vision-G'Kar' (for lack of a better term) again. Hope we get word on possible future ones soon!!

Some of the things I loved the most were the little touches that really said 'we're home'. Delenn's reaching out in that yearning way we saw in SiL. Also, I forget which, but Sheridan or Delenn did the face stroke that we saw them exchange several times. Given that Matt Peters (director) hadn't been a fan before taking the job, either the script was *very* detailed or there were others who really were big fans.

 

[LateArrival]

Perhaps the earliest "jumps" (Franklin/Icarus/Farm/B5-Ep3) were within his own timeline, but it's Open for interpretation since ALL the jumps COULD have been to alternates, just with teeny tiny differences (eg: taking command of B5 in "2258" although one could always question the specific date he received his orders to take the Agamemnon to B5). Stargate did an Alternate episode with a Quantum Mirror, and when they were looking for the correct reality, Jackson spotted another team with another Mirror, but noticed Carter's rank wasn't correct, so kept looking. TRH's differences = New Possibilities.

Regarding the "jump" scene with the Icarus, am waiting to catch it again on freeze-frame/slow-motion to be sure, but the ISN Exposition scene of the Icarus at the beginning of the film DOES appear to show someone running down the hill towards the crew, and when a certain someone finds himself on a hill of a desert-like planet, he runs down towards the people he sees. When I mentioned this to JMS, his response was a Grin, so would guess that little detail is there for a reason. If someone was there before events took place, probably the same time-line. Probably?

Did anyone see the Family Guy spoof of Empire Strikes Back where C3P0 tries to warn Luke about the trap door in Jabba's audience room, but unlike the film does it in Excruciating Detail, but Luke Does Not Listen to C3P0 and falls in anyway. Makes one wonder why characters don't Get To The Point with those End Of The World details. But if you watched JMS's Patreon commentary of WWE, he mentioned that the scenes on Centauri Prime had Sheridan Disoriented from being jumped around, so perhaps Sheridan was a little Disoriented - plus lack of oxygen - when he popped up. Otherwise he could of said, "STOP. it's a TRAP!! There's a hostile super-advanced species underground - call back your people!!" But this is Open for interpretation, could have been by the time he popped up, it was already Too Late. Shadows might have been in hibernation, or scuttling about coordinating the still-upcoming conflict, but their Dark Servants should have been paying attention to the intruders on the surface. Doubt anyone could land, poke around, then be allowed to cruise away.

Don't want to comment further as too many Spoilers as it is. But (as mentioned previously) we see a non-chrysalis Delenn, plus Sinclair and Lochley. Is Sinclair a Commander, a Captain, or perhaps he had been Reassigned to take a post on Minbar (?) and was Just Visiting, etc. Did Sheridan marry Anna in other timelines? Perhaps Lochley had a quick marriage to someone in Earth Force other than Sheridan? Possibilities.

 

[Springer]

Perhaps the earliest "jumps" (Franklin/Icarus/Farm/B5-Ep3) were within his own timeline, but it's Open for interpretation since ALL the jumps COULD have been to alternates, just with teeny tiny differences (eg: taking command of B5 in "2258

Perhaps. but Sheridan would still remember the details from his own timeline even if the new timeline has different details.

 

[Ubik]

Well, finally got the chance to sit down and watch this and I came away pretty disappointed despite going in with low expectation.

THE GOOD:

-It looks great.
-Voice cast were all excellent and it was so nice to hear our old friends from the old cast. Hearing Peter Jurasik deliver some lines as Londo again was a joy (if a bit fleeting).
-It could set up for a B5 animated series but that's also where this fell down for me. More on that under 'the bad'.

THE BAD (and this is really the bulk of my review):

I'm just not sure who this is for or what purpose it's meant to serve (apart from maybe being a backdoor pilot / setup for a new series). I finished watching the film and came away feeling it was all a bit pointless. I think my main qualm was the absence of a story I could get my teeth into. The 'get back home' plot line just felt a bit thin to me and I struggled to stay engaged.

This was a real chance here to tell a new B5 story or maybe focus on one alternate reality where Sheridan has a chance to make a hard choice to do something different. Instead we get a weird rehash of what we already know and some little twists on established lore, replete with annoying info dumps (presumably for any new viewers, but no one new to B5 is going to have any idea what's going on or know why they should care). With the constant reality / timeline jumping I felt like i never got to spend quality time with any of the characters. It reminded me strongly of those filler clip show episodes that Star Trek and Stargate used to do. Just a lot of vignettes stitched together in the quantum leap format to give us some nostalgia hits.

There was A LOT of show and tell, where we are shown a thing and then Sheridan has to also say it... just so we are ultra clear on what we are looking at. Found this mildly infuriating.

I connected with it a bit more when some of the surviving cast were on screen. Peter Jurasik was wonderful and I wish we'd had more time with him and Ivanova.

The humour was mostly awful and the Zathras thing was very very tiresome by the end. But I've never been a fan of JMS sense of humour, which mostly falls flat for me.

At best it's a nostalgia trip that's fleetingly enjoyable. At worst, it feels like clip show that's trying to be a backdoor pilot to an alternate reality B5?

Whole affair feels weirdly hollow. Maybe this can lead to a rebooted alternate reality B5 animated series. I'd watch that... but this felt like a squandered opportunity that added nothing much to B5 cannon.

4/10 for me - Nice to be momentarily back in the B5 universe but felt largely pointless and empty. A shame.

 

[Springer]

Some friends and I (who saw it at Comic-Con) were talking about that and wondered whether he'd even married Anna in that ficton. Even so, our viewpoint Sheridan had, so maybe he was just disconcerted by jumping and the atmosphere (that's my story... ;-) ).

Just watching it again, with the commentary on, and JMS confirms that the woman's voice on the radio on Z'Ha'Dum is Anna, but there wasn't time to explain who she is.

 

[Jan]

Thanks for the confirmation about Anna. Since I don't have a BluRay player, I'm not likely to be able to see the commentaries or featurette soon.

Yours is the first 'lukewarm' review I've seen, but if you don't care for JMS' humor, that makes sense. Not sure what expectations of a 78-minute movie would have been for adding to the B5 canon, TBH. B5 builds slowly, as we've all seen. Hoping we get more of these with the ficton where all the cast is together. That could make for some interesting stories, IMO.

 

[Ubik]

Yours is the first 'lukewarm' review I've seen, but if you don't care for JMS' humor, that makes sense. Not sure what expectations of a 78-minute movie would have been for adding to the B5 canon, TBH. B5 builds slowly, as we've all seen. Hoping we get more of these with the ficton where all the cast is together. That could make for some interesting stories, IMO.

The B5 reddit has more lukewarm / negative reviews than positive at this point.

I've thought quite a lot about the film since I watched it and have been trying to pinpoint why it just didn't resonate with me. I think it boils down to Sheridan's almost complete lack of agency in the film. He's more like the maguffin that allows for some fan service. He jumps somewhere/sometime, interacts a bit, doesn't really do much then jumps again. We get a few nice little set pieces with tweaked lore or a more detail portrayal of events we already know about in the B5 timeline. However, we don't really get 'a story'. Even the stakes, the universe ending 'observer' feels glossed over, some mumblings about quantum physics, etc.. It's very muddled and doesn't really feel awfully pressing even though it clearly should.

JMS has made a lot of not covering old ground and making something new in the promo/interviews for The Road Home, but it seems to be chock full of fan service and revisits. It was also billed as accessible to a new viewer, but I'd have absolutely no idea why I should care about these people if i hadn't seen the series. The core message of 'love being the most powerful force' also falls very flat if you don't have the history of why Sheridan and Delenn are so close and what they've been through to allow that bond that transcends space and time. Sure, she can find his blue socks... but a new viewer would need a bit more to make this link.

This also makes me wish the roles had been switched, that we see more from Delenn's perspective. I would have perhaps been more engaged with Delenn chasing John through time to save him. There would be a clear purpose/motivation there that I could get behind.

A 78 minute film should be able to tell a good self contained story that adds to B5 lore. If you can't do that, something is seriously wrong.

I can fully accept that the film opens up some potential for more stories in its closing scenes, which is tantalizing indeed. There was so much potential here, but it felt squandered on fan service with a confused script that doesn't really go anywhere (at least for this viewer).

 

[Springer]

JMS has made a lot of not covering old ground and making something new in the promo/interviews for The Road Home, but it seems to be chock full of fan service and revisits. It was also billed as accessible to a new viewer

JMS called it a "love-letter to the fans" but has also talked about it being accessible to new viewers. Maybe that side of things was mandated by WBs not wanting it to be too niche so they could market it better? But I agree that this results in a split personality the film has that is somewhat detrimental. It wants to do all this fan service (and there's nothing wrong with fan service per se) but skimps on the details, like glossing over Anna and Morden being on the Icarus. (And where the heck did ISN get that footage of the Icarus from? It doesn't make sense that they have it, but I think it's at that point you realise animation and live action work to different rules.) And Sinclair should have asked Sheridan, "How did you beat the Shadows?" "Find some telepaths, Franklin has a bunch of them Down Below." That sort of thing.

I would have perhaps been more engaged with Delenn chasing John through time to save him.

To be honest that's what I thought we were going to get, with the rest of the cast trying to rescue him. I think the shots in the trailer of Lochley with Zathras together led me to believe that they were teaming up.

I certainly agree with you that it lacked depth, and that to me seems to be because of this apparent need to make it accessible to new watchers, so it could't get into the details. But despite that, the main thing for me was that it was fun! And certainly better than some of the other B5 TV movies, I'd rate it above River of Souls, A Call to Arms, Legend of the Rangers and the Lost Tales (I quite like Thirdspace, so I'll put TRH level pegging with that). I'd love to have the brevity of narrative and characterisation that we had in B5 of old, but as Jan said that was developed over five years. For now I'll settle for nostalgia-laden fun. Second time around watching it I even laughed more at the jokes (though why do all the characters suddenly hate Zathras?)

That said, if they make a second film in the rebooted universe that we see at the end, with its clean slate, then I'd want to see more depth, more consequence, more pathos.

 

[Jan]

As far as I'm concerned, JMS isn't likely to have needed to be told that both fan service and accessibility to new viewers would be necessary. Why would he, since it's obvious if we're to see any more of these?

I do think there might have been more time taken to see things from Delenn's side, but I don't know what time limits were put on this, if any.

I think it did a good job of taking us from what we knew, to setting up a new place where all of the characters are available for JMS to play with in new ways. And I'm looking forward to seeing that.

 

[AntonyF]

I watched it today. I've had this B5 site for 21 years. Got this on UHD to give a thumbs up for new B5. Wish I could be more positive, but I can't. And you guys have all basically said what I think.

But to pull a few strands from your comments to summarise my thoughts:

It lacked any clout for me. It didn't delve into one specific story, or an area of consequence. A story with gravity. It was Sheridan bouncing around and as you know he'll be fine and alternate universes "don't count", then it lacked any consequence.

I'd rather have had a fank wank that goes across all the shows, get way more cast back, keep on popping so you don't have time to think about it.

It's clearly a backdoor for a potential new animation. I mean JMS has talked of his backdoors in his stories for years, and I think he's just setup his new series if the reboot doesn't happen. It's basically a reboot, yet it's not... best of both worlds?

Yet who was the audience? New comers I can't see being overly engaged by this. They really laboured point with the newscast being repeated about Z'ha'dum and it felt very odd. Because it has no consequence to a new viewer really if they failed to remember that point, and the fans already know about it.

The cast thing I found very hard. I know the reality, some could should "Get over it" but this show soared on it cast. It felt very difficult for me. Dellen I started to warm to. G'Kar I got nothing of G'Kar. Garibaldi was likely the most believable. Sinclair was solid.

But the show also makes a rod for its own back here. Why have Marcus Cole? If you couldn't secure Jason Carter, then don't use him for his one or two lines. For the really important scene at the end with G'kar and Sheridan, why not have Londo or Kosh or someone who is their proper self? Why have someone who looks and sounds nothing like G'kar?

I suspect being its creator JMS sees the characters first, but with a great reverence to the actors second. I can't. And I think as we lost SO many it's even harder.

The humour I also found intrusive. I remember B5 can be funny, but the quips felt too much. The Minbari acting about "light this baby up" I found really bad. The fourth wall about Lost in Space didn't work. Lyta, Londo and Ivanova all being far too flippant in the face of death - which reinforces my view above that the alternate universes aren't real, they don't matter...

It was also quite short. 75 mins, £20, one commentary.

I'm sad, disappointed. It mostly just served to remind me that B5 is gone and its amazing cast. I much preferred The Lost Tales and would prefer to see something of that. Or an entirely new reboot. Or a spin-off. Tell me something new, and don't let me see what we've lost.

 

[dawnchild]

Sheridan: But I have so many questions.

G’Kar: And that is the glory and wonder of mortality.

What a wonderful phrase by G’Kar.


Yes, I finally got to watch it and I will share some thoughts below (be aware, a few spoilers). In general though, I found it entertaining and not disappointing.

I see there are mixed thoughts/reviews among fans which will always be the case because people are people and personal views and expectations will always differ.

For instance, I personally thought 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' was a hugely disappointing confusing mess of a film but it won a Best Picture Oscar so what do I know.. (that said, none of my mates or family members who saw that Oscar winner enjoyed it either, guess it is perhaps an acquired taste). In the same way opinions will differ on this animated B5-movie.

As mentioned before, I never thought we would actually get something new in the B5 universe after all these years even though there have been B5-projects going on for long. And so it was a pleasure to get to see the world and characters we love once more even if it is 'with a new twist' as it were.

Is it perfect? Of course not. Is it as good as the original tv-series? Nope. But it is an entertaining ride in my view. I did not have expectations that this would equal the brilliant original tv-series, and I did not need it to do something altogether new in the B5 universe. I did not look at it with a critical eye with regards to characters, voices, who was there and who was not etc. I saw it more as a fun supplement to enjoy in a world I love and on those terms it was enjoyable.

So what did I esp like? I liked the animation and B5 itself looked great. I thought it was fun and exciting with a storyline that at times paralleled what we saw in the original series, with several cool nods, but inside a time travel frame. The time travel aspect workd better than I had feared it would and brought Sheridan to many interesting places - and exciting situations - on his journey. I liked the humour and unlike some other reviewers I think it worked very well in the movie (90% of the time).

Of the characters I esp thought Bruce did a great job with Sheridan, Peter the same with Londo, I also liked Patricia with Lyta (some great humourous comments from her here as well) and Claudia with Ivanova (who kicks ass as always). Zathras was also fun. Cool to see many of the original actors returning for this. Sadly far too many have passed beyond the rim but I think the persons stepping in did an honourable job (even if some voices were a bit different f.ex. G’Kar, more on that below).

Of the scenes I esp enjoyed the attack on B5 (parallel again), Sheridan with his father, and also the ending with Delenn. Love is All indeed. It reminds me of Lorien’s beautiful quote: Only those whose lives are brief can imagine that love is eternal. You should embrace that remarkable illusion. A great parallel here too.

As to whether this animated movie serves a particular purpose – fan-service vs first installment of a reboot or series of animated movies etc – I don’t know. To me it does not take away from the enjoyment I felt watching it. I am just glad a new generation of people get a small look at the B5-world through this animated supplement and hopefully some will be intrigued/curious enough to check out the brilliant original tv-series. That Warner are bringing the complete B5 tv-series to Blu-ray now in December of this year (yey!) means more to me than any future reboot/remakes or further animated movies, but if they do come in time I will enjoy them too.

Any negatives? I want to focus on the positives. It's easy to start nitpicking if one becomes too critical. I think it also helped that I did not have sky-high expectations and as mentioned wanted to enjoy this on its own terms. If I were to point at some things I think could have been better, well I missed Christopher Franke’s intro-music, I thought a few of the characters were perhaps a little ‘off’, esp G’Kar (very different voice and also to some extent looks), and I could have wished for a longer running time to give the movie more depth, a little more pathos/emotion, and to include a few more characters from the original tv-series.

All in all though, an entertaining ride. I give it 3+ stars out of 5 and recommend it but mostly to old B5-fans who look for some enjoyable B5-nostalgia in a bit of a different way.

 

[Looney]

This guy LOVED IT! I mean I'm going to be honest it was pretty much exactly what I expected in terms of depth of story. Once I read "Love-Letter to the fans" I didn't expect anything, but an attempt to entertain the fans.

I could turn on critic-mode and break it down and I will. . . . . well slightly. The only real criticism I have would be that I can't see non-fans being hooked in just for the fact that you REALLY should see the Series before watching this. I mean I loved the animation and the action and all of it, but I really feel this is a fan experience. And honestly that plays into knowing the humor of the show and how things played out and having it in my life for so long. I felt like JMS was actually telling me jokes that I knew because I knew the series and how he wrote the series. We know so much about him and about the show it just kind of felt like playtime. ? (Which is something that wouldn't translate to people who are not yet fans.)


ACTUAL CRITICISM is that there definitely should have been more with Peter, Pat, Claudia, Bill, and Tracy. SO my hope is that we get more movies with Peter, Pat, Claudia, Bill, and Tracy and more cast members. Walter, Jason, Marshall, Josh, Andrea, Ed, Marjorie, Maggie Egan, Jon Vickery, Jim Norton (There wasn't nearly enough Norton), and can someone please get Wayne Alexander!!!!!! Are William Forward and Wortham Krimmer still acting? Alllll of these people have great voices for animation. Okay my brain needs sleep. ?

Final thought for now....If it is a reboot pilot I am actually a bit intrigued with how it ended.

 

[Looney]

Okay so I got an answer on what bothered me over on JMS News where the answer was posted from JMS' Twitter. Digital Rights to re-creating a someone's likeness, who knew. Dang!

Just in case it has not been mentioned (which I haven't seen it mentioned, but my eyes might have skipped over it) The MOVIES ANYWHERE digital has the BEHIND THE SCENES Video - BABYLON 5 FOREVER. It was great. I do not see it attached to the VUDU or Amazon Digital Versions. It IS on the Blu-Ray Edition, so it is good that the Blu-Ray is with the 4KUHD Disc because it is NOT on the 4K Disc itself.

 

[Ubik]

I watched it today. I've had this B5 site for 21 years. Got this on UHD to give a thumbs up for new B5. Wish I could be more positive, but I can't. And you guys have all basically said what I think.

But to pull a few strands from your comments to summarise my thoughts:

It lacked any clout for me. It didn't delve into one specific story, or an area of consequence. A story with gravity. It was Sheridan bouncing around and as you know he'll be fine and alternate universes "don't count", then it lacked any consequence.

Yet who was the audience? New comers I can't see being overly engaged by this. They really laboured point with the newscast being repeated about Z'ha'dum and it felt very odd. Because it has no consequence to a new viewer really if they failed to remember that point, and the fans already know about it.

I'm sad, disappointed. It mostly just served to remind me that B5 is gone and its amazing cast. I much preferred The Lost Tales and would prefer to see something of that. Or an entirely new reboot. Or a spin-off. Tell me something new, and don't let me see what we've lost.

I'm with you buddy. Same thoughts here, but slightly different. If a soft reboot was the intention/endgame, I would have been totally content for the animated feature to start there. Unsure we needed this film to set that up. The intrigue of dumping us in an alt timeline from the get go and sticking with it would have been pretty amazing. I feel like a soft reboot would have actually been way better for bringing in new fans instead of something packed with fan service which, in the end, did very little for me. I'm pretty done with nostalgia for the sake of it. (Although I must admit to enjoying Picard S3, which still told a good stand alone story whilst also giving us a hit of nostalgia).

I'd love to see more writers brought on board because I'm not overly convinced by JMS writing these days. The humour was awful, borderline crass at pints. A 'women can't drive' joke, really?

The plotting felt messy. Sheridan as time traveling fan service maguffin with next to no agency was a massive turn off. Just... Nope. Whilst I enjoyed being back in the universe, this is definitely not what I want from my B5.

 

[hypatia]

I finally had time to stream it last night. If the intention of the piece was to make me hungry for more B5, it worked! There isn’t much ”new story”, but it did a great job reminding me why I adored this show to begin with. It did a great job entertaining me and hopefully introducing the B5 universe to some new fans.

It’s not the movie’s fault that I am hungry for a series. . I’m so glad this project could become a reality. I wish more of the cast could have been the original actors, but they all were voiced very well. And the animation caught my attention, it had details I hadn’t expected (like how a person picks himself up when he’s been thrown onto the ground, how we tend to squint and blink when a bright light is suddenly turned on in a dark room, and the like.

I’m very happy. Now I can only hope. Reboot, reboot, reboot!

 

[Triple F]

There isn’t much ”new story”, but it did a great job reminding me why I adored this show to begin with.

I'm the exact opposite when it comes to TRH. Apart from the Babylon 5 name, and a few familiar voices, this didn't feel like B5 at all.

Of course, you couldn't cram an epic slow burning multi season story arc into 80 minutes, but for me this just felt . . . . well, generic, rushed, almost amateurish in how it was put together - and that includes the script. There's just too many things to list in a quick post like this, but I do wonder how much of this was jms's idea and how much of it came in the form of notes or suggestions from the likes of the director or studio. I ask that because I'm reminded of something.

Way back in the day when LoTR was made, many of those working on the production weren't familiar with B5 (if you haven't already, I'd recommend reading the interview with Chris Wren over on the Scrolls). That unfamiliarity with the source material, led to some resistance to ideas in the script and some very kooky stuff visually.

I'm just wondering if something like that happened here, as I'm already seeing some of jms's tweets which have a familiar feel to them - the most recent being when someone asked about the weapon sounds and he said something to the effect of we're trying something new so were experimenting. . . . . . Like it was his idea (which I'd lay good money on it wasn't).

Didn't dislike it (as an animated short story), just didn't like it - left me feeling a bit meh about the whole thing.

 

[LateArrival]

I'd suggest listening to the commentary for additional information, as the third person speaking is one of the producers, and he mentions watching B5 along with having to go back and (paraphrasing) manually having to note/adjust the starfury thrusters so they'd follow the description in JMS's notes. Commentary also mentions changing the (?) center seat of the White Star, and adding more detail to the Shadow Vessels. Many of the scenes (to me at least) appeared to restate elements already expressed in the show, along with Showing Things That Were Only Referred To - Icarus crew poking the Shadows with a stick, and the S1 vision/WWE-ish view of the attack on B5.

Off the top of my head, was wondering if Lorien's response (paraphrasing/remembering lines) "As it should be" to Sheridan's "There's so much I don't understand" echoes Rim-G'kar's "The wonder of mortality" response to Sheridan's "I have so many Questions". And of course Bester's "I'm a telepath... ...work it out" to Lyta's similar statement in TRH. Not going to mention a certain species and ? "methane" ?, as can't recall what episode that scene with Sheridan and Garibaldi was in.

There is also the semi-easter-egg-ish scene on Epsilon 3 where there are multiple B5 views displayed on screen, and apparently those are recreations of scenes from the series.