Babylon 5 - Legend of The Rangers [DVD]

Unfortunately the Babylon 5 franchise has always been at the mercy of the studio/network executives. Although Babylon 5 ran its full five years, it came mighty close, at least once, to being cancelled.

The first attemted spin-off was Crusade. It is fairly well known now that the 'powers that be' constantly badgered the creator JMS to change things durin production of Crusade, which he generally tried to do, only to have them pull out and cancel the show after 14 episodes. (a decision which appears to have been already pre-determined.)

Not to mention the hollow promises he was given to get him to do a commentary for the DVD set, which was then edited without his permission. (that's why you wont see a comentary on Legend of the Rangers)

Anyway, with all the previous problems, I was hopeful for a fresh start with Legend of the Rangers. Unfortunately it was not to be. Problems behind the scenes arose again, this time over who would own the property, which resulted in no extra money being available to finish the new weapons system sets. The weapons sequences had to be thrown together at the last minute. Sadly this makes it almost impossible not to laugh at the sequence, and ultimetely, this is what people tend to remember about the film. Not the good parts. And there are good parts.

The CGI for example is the best we've seen to date in the Babylon 5 universe, and it looks pretty slick. And to correct a previous reviewer, the White Star had not been changed. It was a different class of ship, a blue star I think.

Anyway, the action does not take place on a state of the art White Star, or Excalibur, but on an old clapped-out Liandra Gunboat. The ship is in disrepair which makes for a more interesting setting than the usual spic-and-span starships we've become used to seeing in recent years.

The make-up is also worth a mention which has vastly improved since the early B5 days. And, as others have mentioned, it's great to see G'Kar in this film. Especially as Andreas Katsulas died recently, and this is the last time we will ever see G'Kar again.

Well the final nail in the coffin for Legend of the Rangers was being shown opposite the Super Bowl which clearly effected ratings of this pilot and ultimatley the series was not to be. As pilots go, its not that bad. Considering the way the creator JMS likes to write in multiple layered story arcs, which build up over many episodes, This was an excellent beginning. It clearly had lots of potential.

I should also point out that due to the unexpected sales of the Babylon 5 dvd boxsets, JMS was given the green light to begin a big budget Babylon 5 feature film last year. Sadly, you guessed it, it was scrapped. But the dvd sales were the key. And there is always the very real possiblity the film may still happen somewhere down the road. If you are a B5 fan, and you want new stuff, the answer is simple. By this DVD !!

I think the other comments were maybe a little harsh. It was only the pilot! I thought Babylon 5 was great but I don't think anyone can describe its pilot 'the gathering' as cracking sci-fi! It's a shame we didn't get to see a little more of some interesting characters. Oh I dunno maybe I'm just a little nostalgic for the good old days when we had a new B5 episode each week! Worth buying to catch a glimpse of a different take on the B5 universe and good to see Andreas Katulas back on screen as G'Kar. Fingers crossed for another more successful B5 spinoff in the future!

Ranger David Martell (Dylan Neal) has committed a horrid offense - staying alive. The Ranger code strictly states that at no time shall a Ranger back down from a fight. But with his ship out-gunned, David doesn't force a fight, thereby living to fight another day.

A funny thing happens on the way to his court marshal. Saner heads prevail, and he is allowed to stay in the Rangers. He was in line to be given command of a new ship just coming off the assembly line. He does still get to command a ship, but he is given command of a 20-year-old Minbari ship rumored to be haunted.

His first assignment is to provide support for a larger ship taking a group of delegates to an undisclosed location. Even with all the secrecy, they still fly into an ambush, and David and his crew must use every trick up their sleeve if they are going to survive this encounter with an ancient race.

I had only watched this movie once, the day it first aired. I was less then impressed. I bought it mainly so I could complete my Babylon 5 collection. The movie was actually better then I remembered.

The story presented here is entertaining. It had been long enough since I had seen it that I couldn't remember much about it and was pulled into the action again. The acting by a group of unknowns is top notch, and the characters are interesting enough that I wish the series had been picked up so we could learn more about them. Fan favorite Andreas Katsulas (who unfortunately passed away recently) returns as G'Kar, the only character from the original series to appear. His performance, as always, is great. And the dialog is witty. I was laughing out loud at many of the lines. This is some of the sharpest writing series creator J. Michael Straczynski (JMS) has done. This is all supported by great special effects.

Unfortunately, the flaws I remembered were still here. If this had been the pilot for a new series, it would have worked well. It introduces us to a new danger and sets a potentially interesting story in motion. However, since this was all we got, it feels empty. Adding to this is the sense we've done this before in the original series. I'm sure a series would have gone in a new direction, but here "The Hand" just felt like a retreat of original series villains The Shadows.

The almost fatal flaw of this movie, however, is the weapons systems. I mean, seriously, what was JMS thinking. In order for this ship to fire, the ammunitions officer must go into a virtual reality chamber and use Kung Fu moves. I'm not kidding! She has to punch and kick at pictures of the ships in order to fire the weapons. While the visuals are unique and interesting, the idea that a ship would have a weapons system like that is laughable. It pulls me right out of the movie.

This movie was never popular with fans, and in keeping with that, this is a bare bones release. We get the movie in widescreen and surround sound with nothing in the way of extras. I'm a little disappointed. I would have loved to hear JMS attempt to explain the stupid weapons system.

This is not the place to get introduced to Babylon 5. If you are interested in a great science fiction show, start with the season sets. This is a movie only a fan will love, and even then, most fans don't.