Babylon 5: The Complete Series - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Babylon 5: The Complete Series



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
I feel drunk from movie release giddiness. Not only did Shout Studios re-release a COMPLETE set of Farscape (including The Peacekeeper Wars), but Warner has FINALLY released the long asked for Babylon 5 on Blu-ray for the first time. Now, for those of you who grew up in the 90s, it was a truly special time for Science Fiction TV shows. Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Voyager were wrapping up the Bergman Trek years, Farscape was becoming the new cult favorite, and Babylon 5 was blowing up the small screen with some of the most amazing serialized stories of all time. I mentioned it in the Farscape review, but I’ll say it again here. Back in the 90s and earlier we didn’t have the hugely serialized story arcs that is so common in modern day adult TV shows (which has admittedly become a trope of its own). Back then TV shows were “monster of the week” with each episode wrapping up and with only a loose framework of an ongoing plot per season (2-3 episode “arcs” were common though). But along came Babylon 5 and that all changed.

The brainchild and baby of J. Michael Straczynski, Babylon 5 is the story of Earth, hundreds of years in the future after we’ve taken our place among the stars and other races. Unfortunately not every alien race out there was willing to accept us, and soon Earth became embroiled in a deadly war with the enormously more advanced Minbari race. Only thing was, the Minbari broke off the war for some unknown reason and mankind took their place alongside the rest. Setting up Babylon space stations around the known galaxy that would act as diplomatic posts for all races to co-mingle at, humanity and the rest of the galaxy seemed at peace.

It’s hard to really summarize Babylon 5 as it is such a DENSE show. The series starts out seemingly like every other science fiction show, appearing to rip off the just barely started Deep Space Nine by focusing on a single space station known as Babylon 5 (instead of a ship that traveled the galaxy). The episodes were episodic enough, unveiling a world where humans have telepath, there are Narn, Centauri and the enigmatic Minbari races. Only thing is, a war is brewing under the surface. A war between alien races that may tear the galaxy apart once more.

The first season is probably the second weakest of the entire series, and not because of the cast. The series is desperately trying to catch its footing, starting out with simple episodic story lines that seem to only have a loose tie in to any over arching plot. However, by the end of the first year the show had really caught its stride. The mysterious Vorlons had set the seeds for something terrifying on the horizon, only for the show to suffer a setback when Commander Jeffrey Sinclair’s (the lead at the time) actor Michael O’Hare had to quite the show. At the time no one knew WHY he stepped away (it was hinted at the all famous “creative differences” angle for years), but J. Michael revealed years later that Michael was suffering from advanced Schizophrenia and needed to step down to receive treatment. In his place they decided to not simply recast Sinclair, but pass on the torch to a knew captain in the form of Commander Sheridan (Bruce Boxleightner) and re-mold the story lines that they had prepared for Sinclair to happen to Sheridan instead. A risky move at the time, but one that paid off as Bruce’s Sheridan became even more liked than Sinclair was.

Seasons 2-4 are really where the show shines, with the massive Shadow war that was hinted at in the first season coming to fruition. Let me tell you this, seasons 2-4 are probably some of THE best sci-fi television in all of TV history. J. Michael did something that was not really seen much at the time. Instead of creating self contained seasons that really had no corollary to the previous one, he mapped out an entire 5 season arc with each season simply being a single piece. Sure things would wrap up for mini arcs, but the massive over arching shadow war plot is literally an entire tapestry that can’t stand on its own without the other seasons.

Season 4 was probably the greatest season we have, but also a severe hiccup in how the last 2 seasons would complete the story. At this point we’re right in the middle of the shadow conflict and the execs warned Straczynski that the show would probably be canceled, which meant that he had to figure out to hopefully finish the main arc in a single season. So he pulled what would have been the 5th season’s story line and shifted it a year in advance, finishing the shadow war and wrapping up most of the sub plots in the show, only to find out that the exces DIDN’T cancel the show. This meant that his 5th and final season had to be jury rigged and sort of be set up as an after thought. Straczynski was able to use the final season to finish up some major sub plots that he wasn’t able to complete in the fourth season, and while the 5th season isn’t BAD, it’s probably the weakest of the entire series.

Without giving too much away, Babylon 5 is practically Shakespearean in it’s character arcs. What made the show so incredibly special wasn’t the big sci-fi effects and the massive shadow war, it was the characters themselves. We spend literally 5 years watching various conflicts and friendships form, and each particular relationship can be seen like a colored thread in a woven tapestry, tracing along the entire picture. Characters like Londo Mollari and G’kar are downright epic, and Delenn and Sheridan’s budding romance is one for the age. To make it even more delicious is the fact that Straczynki wove in story arcs that would start in a season 1 or 2, and then complete in season 4 or 5 and it doesn’t feel forced or shoe horned in. You grow to love and care for the characters as actual people, and while you may loathe some, or love others, each and every one is a fully fleshed out person with their own motivations and goals that intertwine and come to fruitition over the shows 5 year run. Some of which are admirable, and others...well, not so much. This "intricate tapestry" provides a slight downside to the show though. And by that I mean that it is best watched with a purpose and by paying attention. Watching the show an episode at a time and just using it to veg out is not reccomended due to how easily you can get lost and forget certain things from previous seasons. SImply put, the show is best enjoyed when you're paying attention as it runs threads through each and every season, and may suddenly complete in another.

I can’t state this enough, but Babylon 5 is one of THE great sci-fi shows that kick started the serialized TV show craze that we have today. It rivals shows like Battlestar Galactica, Deep Space Nine, and several other power hitters for being probably one of the most deeply intricate and fleshed out shows of the 1990s. Fans have been DYING for this series to break into HD for years,and it looks like Christmas came a few weeks early.




Rating:

Not Rated




Video:

Now, there is going to be some give and take here. Babylon 5 was infamous for being the polar opposite of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in how it approached effects. DS9 was famous for using tons and tons of practical effects with some CGI additions, but J. Michael Staczynski famously went all in on the mid 90s CGI and did practically all of the special effects, spaceships and other models (outside of the internals of Babylon 5) all in CGI. This means that 30 years later the CGI is VERY dated. The 90s CGI is literally slathered in every inch of the show’s source negatives, and there is no way to update it to a more modern look other than completely redoing the entire show’s effects from scratch, which would be absolutely astronomical in terms of cost.

Now, on to the good stuff. Those of you who have been waiting around for Babylon 5 to hit HD have known for almost 20 years that the DVDs for the show were atrocious. They were zoomed in and cropped to faux wide screen and the visual quality was abysmal. On a modern day 50 inch TV or later it was nearly unwatchable. Don’t get me wrong, I suffered through more than a few re-watches of the show on DVD and got through it, but believe you me, those DVDS were terrible. Not to mention the fact that the Warner DVDs for the set were notorious for suffering from disc rot, and most people who collected the show now probably have most of the series as nothing more than a set of coasters.

Luckily Warner did a a huge remaster a few years ago, and the results were fairly stunning on HBO Max (now Max). Luckily they seemed to have simply taken the new remaster and put it to disc as these Blu-ray discs look pretty much identical to the streams, just with better bitrates and larger file sizes. The remaster was nothing short of amazing in comparison, with brighter colors, back to the original 4x3 formatting of the show (although I noticed that the framing of the show seems to be a bit different than original broadcast airs, shifting things over to the left a little bit). Blacks are deep and inky, but grain and noise can be a bit more noticeable than I’d like. Basically, this is about as good as the show is going to get unless Warner spends more money than they have sense to completely re-do the effects from the ground up to the tune of millions and millions of dollars.






Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is more than capable, and a nice upgrade over the tinny sounding 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks of the DVD. Spaceships roar around Babylon 5 with power and authority, while the heavy themed score for the show fills the sound stage nicely. Like many shows of the 1990s, it’s not going to shock and awe anyone, but it is more than capable for a budget Sci-fi show. Bass is punchy and tight, surrounds get ample opportunity for action with the hubbub of a giant space station over flowing with people.









Extras:

• Original Pilot "The Gathering"

Final Score: ​

Babylon 5 IS probably one of the best Science Fiction shows of all times, and in my top two favorites tied along with Farscape. Now, as fans of the show I am ECSTATIC that we finally got a physical Blu-ray to replace those absolutely awful DVDs that we’ve been force to live with for years, but this set does have some trade offs. Warner obviously put this out as an afterthought rather than remastering the show specifically FOR the Blu-ray set. They were in bad shape and needed remastering badly, so to preserve them for future streams and formats the work was undergone a few years back. This set has a few budget constraints that frustrated me a tad, mainly in the packaging and extras departments. The show is put in the same overlapping disc trays in a single DVD height giant clamshell like Paramount was famous for using in “complete series sets” over the years. No individual season cases, just one massive translucent clamshell in a slip box. And while I really don’t like the overlapping disc method, it’s at least better than making it one giant stack pack (which I have seen before). Also, the set is devoid of extras for the most part, AND we’re missing the movies.

That being said, this shouldn’t dissuade you from picking up the set. This is the first and only time we’ve been able to get the show on Blu-ray, and the remasters are more than capable of blowing the doors off the DVD release from years ago. Not to mention this is one of the most influential serialized Sci-fi shows of all time and the minor quirks in Warner’s packaging is only that… a minor quirk. HIGHLY recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Mia Furlan, Richard Biggs, Stephen Furst, Andreads Katsulas, Peter Jurasik, Jerry Doyle, Bruce Boxleitner, Bill Mumy
Created by: J. Michael Stacynski
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 4730 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: December 5th, 2023

Recommendation: Highly Reccomended with some Caveats

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[JStewart]

Great write up @Michael Scott!

This series is a favorite of mine as you know.

While it‘s historically interesting for all it’s firsts, it’s as you conveyed... the characters and story telling are what keep one coming back for more.
Due to it’s intricacies I‘ve noticed new things with each viewing. In fact, I appreciated it more the 2nd time than the first. Of course the 2nd time was commercial free and at my own pace.

The series starts out seemingly like every other science fiction show, appearing to rip off the just barely started Deep Space Nine by focusing on a single space station known as Babylon 5 (instead of a ship that traveled the galaxy).

Lest anyone unfamiliar get the wrong idea, the plagiarism tale was of Deep Space Nine having taken ideas from Stracynski when he pitched the project to Paramount Execs before Paramount came up with DSN. Stracynski never sued. In the end the two were very different shows with some similarities necessitated by both being set in a space station.

 

[Epoxy1]

This is a show I've always have wanted to watch, but have never found the time to see it.

 

[Michael Scott]

Great write up @Michael Scott!



Lest anyone unfamiliar get the wrong idea, the plagiarism tale was of Deep Space Nine having taken ideas from Stracynski when he pitched the project to Paramount Execs before Paramount came up with DSN. Stracynski never sued. In the end the two were very different shows with some similarities necessitated by both being set in a space station.

yup, I remember us arguing about that back in the 90s on IRC chat boards lol. ahhh, the good ole days.

 

[JStewart]

yup, I remember us arguing about that back in the 90s on IRC chat boards lol. ahhh, the good ole days.

It was “water cooler” chit chat for me, lol!

This is a show I've always have wanted to watch, but have never found the time to see it.

I first watched on air. A week between episodes and 6+ months for a new season give or take. It worked without binging.

@Michael Scott the pilot episode, The Gathering, was at the back of the set and didn’t look like it was remastered. Maybe I’m wrong about remastered part, but there’s needed context for the 1st episode, so I thought that was a poor choice to put in at the back.

 

[Michael Scott]

It was “water cooler” chit chat for me, lol!


I first watched on air. A week between episodes and 6+ months for a new season give or take. It worked without binging.

@Michael Scott the pilot episode, The Gathering, was at the back of the set and didn’t look like it was remastered. Maybe I’m wrong about remastered part, but there’s needed context for the 1st episode, so I thought that was a poor choice to put in at the back.

Yeah. I'm judging it's the same master used for the old set on The gathering. It obviously didn't look like the others

 

[JStewart]

Boy have times changed. It’s been more than a decade since my last viewing and this time what in the 1990s were future impossibilities are now parallels to current USA society. The year is 2260 … already. Gulp.

 

[FargateOne]

Boy have times changed. It’s been more than a decade since my last viewing and this time what in the 1990s were future impossibilities are now parallels to current USA society. The year is 2260 … already. Gulp.

We didn't know this serie until I read the first post. Beeing sci-fi addicts my wife and I are watching this show now. In the middle of the 4th season I can't resist to do some scary parallels with what we see in USA in your year of election..

 

[DamienMcKenna]

back to the original 4x3 formatting of the show

Just to clarify something - B5 was originally filmed in widescreen, ahead of its time, so if they went back to the original tape masters that should be what they used. If it's presented as 4:3 then they've missed a trick here as it should have been 16:9. The Wikipedia page has some details on it, check the "Visuals" section.