Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting look at a new format in television being figured out, 24 Aug 2007
Babylon 5: The Lost Tales - Voices in the Dark is billed by WB as an original movie, but according to B5 writer and creator Straczynski, the Lost Tales is supposed to be an anthology show. Standalone stories, personally focussed, small scale. And that's exactly what we get; don't go in expecting arcs on the scale of the original show's Shadow War, or even Crusade's Drakh Plague. And don't go in expecting the ensemble cast of the original show either. Since these were the biggest strengths of original B5 the expectation might be logical, but it would lead to disappointment.
On top of this very different focus in format, it is evident that Straczynski, who also took on the director's role for this disc explicitly to figure out how to make the format work for future episodes, is very much still experimenting and feeling out boundaries. What is achievable with the tight budgets, what can be done with the extremely green-screen focused set work, and what type of stories would be appropriate for something that is supposed to have as unique a release schedule as this.
The stories become fairly condensed because of the format. The writer has had a tendency in the past to let some of his smaller idea based plots get away from him, and to some extent this is also present in the first plot, which features some slight dialog redundancies. But perhaps because of the limitations the writing in both stories maintains a fairly tight focus, getting to the point with mostly engaging dialog and storytelling.
The first story might not sit well with everyone, since it features a type of storytelling that while appropriate to the anthology format, feels a bit out of place in B5. It's still an interesting addition to the universe, and this anthology format does really call out for some experimenting with new story forms, even if some of those experiments may fail. The second story feels very old-school Babylon 5, marrying a personal moral dilemma with an event that could change everything on a galactic scale. And as with original B5, it features a lot of prophetic foreshadowing, without in the end actually resolving how the visions seen will pan out, leaving open some explicit and interesting hooks for future stories.
Most of this disc's problems are those of a production crew that is figuring out production issues and coming to grips with a new format, much like season 1 of the original show. In great contrast with something like Legend of the Rangers, TLT like the early days of the original does show evidence of having a good foundation at its core. (Rangers could have grown into something, but the pilot had serious problems conveying any sort of depth.) This is a good thing; the issue is one of "why didn't they go further" rather than "why did they bother at all". And a slow start doesn't have to be a bad thing, as the original show showed us.
Overall, this disc has left at least this viewer very hopeful for the future. Even with the constraints they had for the first offering they managed to produce something compelling. And production, scale, and budget issues are things that can be figured out. Which is something the production team seems to be pushing for, as evidenced by this quote I'll offer as closing:
"Any further B5 DVDs will depend on the sales, and on Warner Brothers giving us sufficient money to take the step of making any subsequent DVDs bigger than this one," says Straczynski. "This was kind of a test of the concept of making what is essentially a series on DVD, which hasn't really been done before. But it was a test, with a very modest budget. If we do more, they have to be done with a larger budget so we can involve more of our cast members, do bigger FX and locations and the like. If we can't keep making them better, then they shouldn't be done."
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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
And so it begins.... Again! , 21 Aug 2007
This is a fantastic release for Babylon 5 fans and for the massive opportunity it represents. If the Babylon 5 fan base gets behind this DVD and enough is sold Warner Brothers will make more of these straight to DVD releases. That in itself should make it a tantalising purchase for any Babylon 5 fan wanting to give JMS the chance to deliver further stories from the B5 universe like during its five-year run.
Before I go any further if you're new to Babylon 5 I suggest you rent/buy the complete 5 season story arc before watching this DVD.
I've watched and enjoyed these new Babylon 5 Lost Tales expanding the continuity of the story that all Babylon 5 fans know and love. The first story features Lochley as she tries to solve some mysterious happenings aboard Babylon 5.
This first Tale "over here" is an extremely taut, claustrophobic, intense, well written story featuring some very good performances particularly from the guest cast. Like the second tale on this DVD neither are particularly action-packed but well written character pieces in a similar vein to the main series.
The second tale "over there" delivers what you've come to expect from Babylon 5. With typical Babylon 5 humour, great performances from Bruce Boxleitner (Sheridan), Peter Woodward (Galen) , Keegan McIntosh (Prince Vintari) and an interesting story. There some especially great scenes between Sheridan and Galen that are simply fantastic. And let's not forget Stargate SG 1 's Teryl Rothery playing an ISN reporter in a wonderful scene.
Both parts have fantastic CGI creating Babylon 5 to such a degree that we've never seen before. To say it looks stunning seems somehow understated and JMS has managed to deliver a terrific revival of Babylon 5 on an extremely tight budget. Obviously with the budgetary constraints it doesn't have quite the same epic feel as the series with minimal cast members and extras. But JMS puts every dollar on the screen making up for this DVDs shortcomings.
It really feels like B5.
The music provided by Christopher Franke is as always absolutely fantastic giving the DVD a more cinematic soundtrack much like the series.
The DVD picture quality is far above the standard of Babylon 5 the show itself looking absolutely phenomenal. The DVD extras include a fantastic memorial to Andreas Katsulas and Richard Biggs, production diaries, interviews and fireside chats (assuming the region 2 has the same DVD extras as the region 1) lasting nearly as long as the actual feature itself .
Hopefully should enough of us fans buy this DVD we should see many more "Lost Tales" following this first DVD. As I'm sure you don't need to be told the potential for stories is phenomenal from telling what happened to Vir and Londo in the 20 years before "sleeping in light", more from Garibaldi (who was supposed to be in this DVD release and if there's a second should appear then), Delenn, Bester , Lennier, Susan Ivanova, possibly Marcus and Sinclair/Valen, Zack, or maybe a continuation of Crusade.
The possibilities are endless for a Babylon 5 fan wanting to know what happened to their favourite characters or perhaps the Telepath War, the Drakh war or perhaps what happened to Sheridan's son David. So many unanswered questions. You decide what happens next. Purchase the DVD and maybe we have a shot at seeing all these potential stories. Don't and it could be the end of Babylon 5, simple as that.
while you are at it why not checkout the Lost Tales original soundtrack by Christopher Franke, apart from being a wonderful music score its sales may well help to make more Babylon 5 Lost Tales a reality .
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Its back, 21 Aug 2007
I loved this, in effect you get 2 30 minute episodes that are woven into each other a little but its great to see them back on the TV, the 1st episode strayed away from the B5 of old but I think it really worked I wont go into detail as I dont want to ruin it for others but for £11 you wont be dissapointed, you will just want a full season.
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