Babylon 5: The Road Home - Animated Movie Announced

[spelldazer]

Thank you, Looney, no apology needed. I've been holding off on ordering until I had a definitive answer, so I truly do appreciate you taking the time to write. Cheers! Amazon UK it is then. :-)

[Jan]

I know I'd promised a longer review of BABYLON 5: THE ROAD HOME - sorry for the delay. Still want to be spoiler-free but I also want to address some comments I've seen several times.

First of all, many people are doubting that the new actors can convincingly play the characters of our departed friends. I get that, but if I might paraphrase Delenn, 'their spirits are in the voices, their words on their lips'. Yes, it's sad that the original actors had to leave the stage but the new actors do them honor. (That said, there is one mispronunciation that threw me a bit - but only momentarily and not any kind of story point).

A while back I'd asked JMS why Maggie Egan wasn't the ISN voice and he explained that for only a very few lines, it wasn't worthwhile to hire somebody when they (WB) had people under contract who could do the job. I'd mistakenly thought that ISN reporting would have been a frame for the story but I was wrong. The part didn't really warrant including the 'Jane' character. Similarly, fans have asked why Jason Carter's not voicing Marcus but the fact is, he has almost no lines. My memory (possibly faulty) says that he had a few reaction sounds and maybe one or two actual lines. Again, not cost effective, though it would have been nice for the warm fuzzies. Maybe in the next film.

The animation was good, in my opinion. I think some people may have expected more when JMS said they'd gone with a fairly realistic style? I don't really know the language of animation but I found that the expressions on faces, the actions and motions and particularly the space battles were well done.

While sadly, Christopher Franke is semi-retired and not able to return for this, we do get a taste of his music in the opening theme and that was enough to say to me "ah, B5 is back". The rest of the music served this film well, IMO. Not as operatic as Franke, perhaps, but not obtrusive in being too different.

Finally, and most importantly, this is a FUN movie! The things you loved, emotion and humor and friendships and love - they're all there. I saw it twice at SDCC (on big screens-heaven!!) and I and the audiences really enjoyed this.

One last comment - another thing we loved about the show was the lack of a reset button. In THE ROAD HOME, we don't end exactly where we started.

Lots of people have lamented that JMS chose a different approach from what they'd wished but I hope they'll approach this with open hearts. It's a worthy into the B5 universe and I'm hoping there are more.

(Feel free to share and quote with attribution. I hope others who've seen it will also chime in.)

[Looney]

AHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I am so ready for this!!!!! I can't wait people!!!!

[Looney]

As the insanity continues, some of my multiple pre-orders say shipped, others do not. One says it arrived a facility 55miles from me and is expected today, but that is the last update as of 11pmCST last night. 9:15amCST it does not say OUT FOR DELIVERY. Come ON - - - I CAN'T WAIT ANYMORE!!!!!! .......

[Jan]

Quick note from JMS for folks who are interested in helping get more animated movies. Also his estimate on how many might be expected per year.

[Jan]

So...I just started it on Amazon Prime and...call me a softie, but on my THIRD viewing and no telling how many times I watched the trailer, I still get chills at the "I was there..." opening. LOVE it so very much!!!

[AstroBoy]

This is the 1st official review of the movie I've seen. I can't say I disagree with it.

https://movieweb.com/babylon-5-the-road-home-review/

[Looney]

Just getting the word out to everyone and since I posted this info in the SPOILER THREAD I thought I should mention it here as well. The MOVIES ANYWHERE DIGITAL has is the BEHIND THE SCENES Video - BABYLON 5 FOREVER attached to it. It was great. I do not see it attached to the VUDU or Amazon Digital Versions. It is also NOT on the 4KUHD, which is ridiculous, but it is on the BLU-RAY disc, so it's good there is one of those with the 4KUHD.

[Jan]

This seems like good news sales-wise:

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=33155

[LateArrival]

...moving this here rather than in the Spoilers/Not Section...

Not sure if this helps, but the "results" on Amazon UK/US for The Road Home are listed below for August 23rd. Or at least these are the numbers/ratings given for the two disc products under the descriptions. The Blu-ray seems to be doing "better" than the UHD version, although I thought the trick was to be Forward Thinking and get the higher-res version for when one Upgrades their stuff. Since the UHD version comes with a Blu disc, can use the Blu disc and shelve UHD for the Future. Also seems that TRH is doing "better" in the UK than in the US, as the highest US rating is 66/100 while the UK's is 10/100. Can check again in a week or two and see how the numbers are holding up, and would assume these will drop as sales peak and decline.

Edit: No idea how the Amazon numbers are reached, but looks like the UK Blu-ray improved between the 23rd and the 28th, and still in the Top 100 as of September 10th.


Amazon UK (Aug 23)
UHD: 127/100 in DVD/Blu-ray, 18 in SF and 77 in Blu-ray
BD: 10/100 in DVD/Blu-ray, 1 in SF and 6 in Blu-ray

Amazon US (Aug 23)
UHD: 88/100 in Movies and TV, 8 in Kids and Family (?!) Blu-ray Discs
BD: 61/100 in Movies and TV, 6 in Kids and Family (?!) Blu-ray Discs
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Amazon UK (Aug 28)
UHD: 212/100 in DVD/Blu-ray, 30 in SF and 116 in Blu-ray
BD: 7/100 in DVD/Blu-ray, 1 in SF and 3 in Blu-ray

Amazon US (Aug 28)
UHD: 313/100 in Movies and TV, 16 in Kids and Family (?!) Blu-ray Discs
BD: 108/100 in Movies and TV, 8 in Kids and Family (?!) Blu-ray Discs
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Amazon UK (Sep 10)
UHD: 298/100 in DVD/Blu-ray, 37 in SF and 137 in Blu-ray
BD: 65/100 in DVD/Blu-ray, 6 in SF and 31 in Blu-ray

Amazon US (Sep 10)
UHD: 480/100 in Movies and TV, 27 in Kids and Family (?!) Blu-ray Discs
BD: 2,179/100 in Movies and TV, 86 in Kids and Family (?!) Blu-ray Discs

[Looney]

The Blu-Ray doing better is what is expected. 4K is still not taking a huge hold with the mass consumer market. Many still have Blu-Ray players and have no intention of upgrading to 4K players, which is why 4K players can be difficult to find. I believe I read somewhere that DVD still out sells both because the mass market just isn't investing in upgraded physical media, which people will likely regret in twenty years - I am seeing some of that, on a small scale, now. I was actually surprised TRH didn't get a DVD release.

The fact that it is selling better in the U.K. is no surprise. B5 was a much bigger success in the U.K. than the U.S.

Personal experience
Local Walmart had sold, from what I can tell, maybe 5 Blu-Rays with 5 left. They stocked no 4Ks to my knowledge.
Nearest Best Buy sold out of their first set of 4K and Blu-rays, but has since re-stocked.
And I believe I've said that one of the 4Ks I received from Amazon was exchanged because it arrived damaged. Amazon did not have the stock to replace it immediately, so the replacement is scheduled to ship in early September.

[Looney]

And updating my last post, Walmart has 3 Blu-Ray Editions left. Nearest Best Buy down to 2 4KUHD Editions and 5 Blu-Ray Editions. I am pleasantly surprised how well it is selling locally considering I live in a rural area.