Babylon 5 – Review

movie reviewThis series was quite a big deal when i was younger and marked another spot firing up my interest in computers and what you can to with them creatively. The quality of the VFX and that special look of everything in the series. Back then the only other series i knew, that attempted to be a tv series with such immense depth, was Star Trek. Babylon 5 was so different. The creative mind J. Michael Straczynski, now a big hollywood writer, managed to create a very interesting universe with a lot of political background. All the characters we meet in that world aren’t flat at all too. All of them have a history they carry around with them. Throughout the episodes we learn a lot about these things. The cast, through the bench, does a very solid job and you can see that they love their characters and that the actors can relate and completely give back what’s written in the script. They carried the show. Now today you would say these VFX are crap. Back then it was amazing to have such things in a tv series at all. It was exciting and each season has had its own theme, leading to a big finale at the end.

While season one is establishing the whole idea and the characters, season two starts to get a more serious tone. Things that happen in season one can directly affect things that happen in a later season. The writing is phenomenal and you can see that in so many of todays tv series. ‘Lost’ for example. Connections through several seasons. Things that first start to make sense when you really keep loyal to the series and keep watching.

Like i said earlier it’s especially the characters that are fascinating. As well as the races they stand for. Andreas Katsulas who plays a Narn called G’Kar. He is the ambassador of a race that always seems to get punched. Especially by the Centauri race. There we have Londo, Centauri ambassador, played by Peter Jurasik. These two, conceptual very different characters, are played so well. They both have a history and they both have some very important storylines. Again we can see how much the actors seem to love their characters. You can see their pain… their happiness… all their conflicts through all the makup and masks in their faces. In season two we get our main guy added to the series. John Sheridan, played by Bruce Boxleitner. I personally was always a fan of him. Like all the other members of the cast he really IS his character. Captain of a space cruiser, of a spacestation and leader of an intergalactic alliance. All the other cast members deserve to be mentioned here too but that would be a bit too much. They all have their parts and they all play it very believable until the end. You know you’ll miss them when the last episode finished.

Beside the tv series there were also tv movies. J. Michael Straczynski always requested more financial support from the studios but never really got it. Which lead to the fact that the movies lacked of background detail. The sets, VFX or music. I wished they added more budget. However, the movies aren’t bad. Especially when you have already watched through the series it’s cool to get a bit more background info about certain things or events. Again all the characters are played well and it’s a lot of fun to watch them. J. Michael Straczynski refused to do more movies because of the budget problems. So there is a hope for new investors. Of course he wants his child to shine. It deserves to shine for sure and i can completely understand his decision. The chapter of Babylon 5 is not closed yet. And i like that. There is still so much to discover and explore in that universe so that every short visit shows you one more wonder. It’s worth the wait.

As you can see it’s a clear recommendation to every scifi fan. You will rarely find a tv series in that field that offers more depth.

8.8/10 from me.

Babylon 5 on IMDb

Leave a Reply