Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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228 of 234 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The New Look Amazon set..., 9 Nov 2007
As the Babylon 5 subject matter itself has been discussed at length in the other reviews, I shall concentrate this review only on the differences between this new box-set and the previous set, 'Babylon 5: The Complete Universe'.
'Babylon 5: The Complete Collection + Lost Tales' is largely the same as The Complete Universe, although now it includes 'The Lost Tales' for good measure. Only this new set (which is exclusive to Amazon UK) is now in *much* smaller form. Inside the new compact box are slimmer versions of the seasons 1-5 box-sets - utilizing the new super-slim DVD cases that are a fraction of the width of normal DVD cases. If there were ever any little booklets containing episode summaries in the big set's season boxes, as I've been led to believe, they're now gone. The summaries are now written on the boxes themselves. Anyway, you get the exact same discs/extras etc that you got with the bigger/older set, and that's the most important thing. The same is true for the box of the 'Crusade' spin-off series, and the 'Movie Collection' box (containing 'Thirdspace', 'River of Souls' and 'A Call to Arms') - both of these boxes contain the super-slim cases that make you wonder why DVD cases were ever so big in the first place. This all saved LOTS of space, so they have included the original sized individual DVD cases for the remaining movies - 'In the Beginning', 'The Gathering', 'Legend Of The Rangers' and the recently released 'The Lost Tales'. Also, as regards the 'Lost Tales' DVD, it IS the version containing the exclusive 'Art Cards', just in case you were wondering. The main box itself is just as sturdy and strong as its big brother - it's just SO much smaller.
This reduction in packaging has brought the price down somewhat - and for those of us with little more shelf space left for our huge and ever-growing DVD collections, the storage space saved is extremely welcome. Some people may prefer the older/bigger box, but for those who don't, well, I just hope that they notice the Amazon exclusive set, with the Lost Tales and the cheaper price, before they go adding the larger and less complete set to their cart (only less complete due to the recent addition of The Lost Tales DVD to the B5 canon). Whatever set you end up owning though, they're both to be considered a bargain.
UPDATE May 2009: It has recently come to my attention that The Lost Tales DVD in this set no longer comes with the 'art cards'. This was just a pack of postcards with promotional images for the movie on them.....you're not missing much there. Also, note that the main box has altered slightly, too. It no longer has a fold down front with a lift off top. Now it apparently has just the lift off top. Again, no big deal.
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83 of 91 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE Bab5 set to buy. Superb TV sci-fi, 31 Oct 2007
Babylon 5 is among the top three TV sci-fi series of all time, and this collection is the most comprehensive boxset to date. If you missed B5 when it was fresh and are interested in science fiction then you should definitely watch it. B5 is as good as Star Trek Next Gen and DS9 at their very best, and is massively superior to many other space/fantasy series (including the likes of Stargate, later Farscape, Voyager and so on. Although you may have your own favourites there!).
The action centres on a deep space station populated by warring races of humans and aliens who forge and break alliances as galactic war breaks out. It's a massive space opera with great big spaceships and weird aliens and all that -- but every episode contains very personal, human stories as the relationships between the main characters develop.
B5 was also one of the first serial TV programmes which didn't have to finish each episode back where it started. In fact, funding hiccups not withstanding, creator JoeMS had a good idea of where the show was heading when he started it, and some of the plot lines which appear in the opening episodes make little sense until two or three seasons later. Then you have a 'eureka!' moment when you realise that he planned it all along. But the fact that the scenario moves along means that the characters are in real jeopardy; some of the show's drama comes from the fact that Captain Kirk won't always be back at the helm after 44 minutes...
B5 also started the trend towards more realistic TV sci-fi, where there's at least some basis in believable science (rather than technobabble quick fixes to a cliff-hanger). Harlan Ellison was consulted about much of the science so it hangs together in a plausible manner, and humankind are by no means the dominant force in the universe. Nor are all the aliens the same, and they're not cardboard cut-outs either. There's a young, aggressive race with a chip on its shoulder; an aging Empire long past it greatness; a spiritual race of warriors, and the very mysterious Vorlons. But their individual ambassadors become detailed characters as the series develops -- no one on Babylon 5 is exactly who they seem...
B5 isn't perfect. The opening episodes are clunky and a couple of them really drag (SoulHunter is my least fave) but they are worth putting up with because from the second half of the first season it becomes gripping viewing. There's a hiccup at the end of the third season (when the series might have ended but it found last-minute funding to carry on), which results in a dramatic semi-finale... but then two more seasons progress the plot beyond that point.
Bab5 was among the first shows to use CGI and (fifteen years ago!) it looked very strange after years of seeing models wobbling around on screen. The digital remastering on this DVD set is very effective, though, and it feels much more 'natural' given how much CGI is used today.
Some of the 'science fiction' looks a little dated these days (the hand communicators are a bit twee for the 23rd century, for instance), but the imaginative canvas and scope of B5 is still breathtaking. Within the confines of 45-minutes of popular TV, JoeMS tackles the nature of good and evil, the forces of imperialism and racism, and the possiblity of true loyalty across natural boundaries. And there are big space battles too!
We already own the entire original series on VHS but a recent viewing showed up how clunky that format is. We've waited to buy a dvd set because we knew this one was on the way and are keen to see The Lost Tales -- a recent revisit to the B5 universe to see what has happened to some of the key characters in the original series.
Plus you get the movies and the spin-off series Crusade too (and Crusade could have been a winner if it had been allowed to develop), which means this is the B5 boxset to buy, then watch again and again in years to come.
It's not cheap to buy, of course, but we'll get plenty of value from it.
If you're not sure that B5 is for you then try renting some of the first series, but don't be put off by the pilot epiosde cos it does take a while to settle down. A couple of character changes -- most notably the introduction of Ivanova as Exec Officer -- really improve the actual series over the feature-length pilot.
A word of warning: the documentaries are good viewing and can be watched as you go along. BUT unless you already know what happens, then don't watch the episodes with Joe's commentaries until you've seen the whole series. His voice-overs are great; revealing bits about the particular episode and info about what wen wrong, why this looks that way, and so on. They also give away tonnes of info about the extended plot, so must be considered to be Spoiler Central.
Overall this is truly excellent TV sci-fi. Enough viewing to keep you going through long winter nights and well worth re-watching a couple of years later.
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great series but...., 29 Aug 2008
I love this series, this is an amazing offer, but the suppliers made a few mistakes, Inside the Thirdspace movie box was a completely different dvd, and the same in A call to Arms. So i'm two movies down, luckily i'd already got them on dvd, so i'm not bothered about returning, but i do recommend you check yours out when you recieve the order, so that if there's any issues, you can return asap :)
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