Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers (DVD)

Needed them to rewatch the series. Good stuff.

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.

Love the movie but beware that this is not the remastered version.

Good for just kill time

I was a fan of Babylon 5 from the very beginning. As a hardcore Amiga fan, I supported the series at first because the Amiga and Video Toaster/Lightwave made it possible. As the show "found its legs," it cemented itself firmly in place as one of the best Sci-fi series ever.It is pretty obvious that this was an attempt to create a spin-off from the original series, like Crusade. Unfortunately, Crusade and this show both suffered from some problems which held them back.I like the Bab 5 universe, and feel that it is ripe for a run as good as the Star Trek franchise. The problem is writing. As much as I like MJS, I think the writing in his shows can be somewhat uneven.For example, in this movie, there are some great lines, usually delivered by G'Kar (as noted, Andreas Katsulas was an incredible actor who could elevate a shopping list to high art). On the other hand, some of the lines were kind of "60s sitcom" in their style and sophistication level. I think they would have played just fine up against the original Star Trek series, which suffered similar unevenness. Audiences have evolved in sophistication since then, however.While I, too think that the Ranger's attitude of "no retreat" is tactically insane, it is also just the kind of thing which could develop in an "inbred" elite, and similar short-sightedness has been witnessed in real cultures. I think that G'Kar deals with that whole issue nicely in one of the Council scenes, and it is a necessary plot device for the unfolding of the story.I also agree that the "virtual reality" weapons system as shown is problematic. While technically not necessarily a bad idea, the execution was pretty unsophisticated, although we also have to remember that our understanding of such things as an audience have also moved forward since this was originally aired. Check out the Leap Motion device being used to play Fruit Ninja, and you will see that the concept could actually work quite well. People with highly trained reflexes (as in martial artists) can move exceptionally fast without conscious thought, and combining that with the independent limb action of a good drummer, the concept is quite reasonable for a manual weapons system. Also, such an interface would allow a wide variety of people to use the weapons, even with minimal training (as in an emergency).On balance, I still liked the movie, and wish MJS had been able to take it to a full series like Bab 5. We will never know how well it would have turned out. It is unfortunate that so much of the future and quality of entertainment is in the hands of bankers and other such types. Yet another human system in need of reform.

I am really enjoying all episodes of the "Babylon 5" collection. It's gonna take me a while to complete watching the collection in it's entirety, but I'm sure having fun. It's quite interesting and exciting!

Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers (DVD): I got a late start on the franchise, after TV, before streaming. So, I went Amazon berserk and bought the DVDs for all seasons, movies & extras. By the time I got to The Legend of the Rangers, I'd tired of B5. Even so, I found this title to be the most lackluster of all and a good way to close out my viewing. Anyway, the disk loaded & played without issues on my Panasonic player, through a mid-level Sony amp, into a 55" 4k Vizio OLED TV.

Awesome.

The budget must have been really low on this one. Use of stock footage, simpler graphics, action sequences poor. Main character is played by a chisel jawed actor who must have been chosen for his marshal arts prowess. Story does not make entire sense, opening part goes against what we have learnt from the main series. Only bright point was Andreas Katsulas reprising his role as G'Kar, though he was also wasted here.

I am an avid Babylon5 fan since i followed it in the 90's and when it came to sleeping in light i cried but this is one file to stay away from please dont watch it as it will ruin you life, the acting was shocking and the special effects are terrible

This could have been very good, but sadly it is merely mediocre. Even the talents of director Mike Vejar can't hide this. Gone is the wonderful dialogue of the original B5 series. All we get is the loyal patriotic babblings depicted here. Andreas Katsulas was wasted in this pilot, it would have been better if he had never appeared in this at all. The designs in the cgi are pretty naff too. None of the brilliant ron thornton based on chris foss alien craft. The Hand ships look pretty tame compared to the old shadow vessels of yore. The script is reminiscent of a regular episode of star trek which is not a compliment. There are regular episodes and good episodes.The knowledge of the ancient alien race the hand is given too quickly and we get no suspense as we did with b5 and the unfolding of the shadows. This comes across as being put together very quickly with very little thought to characterisation and overall arc let alone storytelling. Disappointing JMS!!!

This dvd is great. It arrived earlier than expected and was in excellent condition. It was also well packaged

I am normally a big fan of this show, but this release seems ill concieved. It seemed to me to be a re-hash of the Shadow war with some really iffy CGI. There seemed to be two unrelated stories happening. One with the general crew and another with ghost crew which really does not enhance the storyline. The CGI sequences of how the weapons were fired was unneccessary and was quite frankly rubbish.On the good side - The acting is generally good, and the basic story has its merits. Its a shame really as it could have been a lot better than it it is. Its a spin off that B5 fans will want to watch as part of the universe of B5 and in this context it is worth watching.On another good note. Andreas Katsulas was his brilliant self as G'Kar and he ultimatly saved the film.