SPOILERS - Babylon 5: The Road Home

[Jan]

Another JMS post in answer to the 'Why didn't we see ______?" folks. In this case they were asking about Vir and pushing that he should have at least been seen. JMS wrote:

J. Michael Straczynski - Hang with JMS
Robert ________There was simply no room in the story. It's not just a matter of shoving in a character to shove in a character, being there to be there, if the character isn't essential to the scene s/he shouldn't be there. If Vir was there, some would ask where's Zack, or Marcus, or others. You can't fit in everyone just to please everyone. As when we made the show, and some characters were in ascension and others were off screen, the characters present served the plot, it can't be the other way around. It can't be a class reunion.

[AstroBoy]

Well, That was worth the wait.. I liked it. It was a solid B5 outing. I watched it on my phone becasue I couldn't wait to get home and watch it on the big screen TV, A couple of minor things I didn't overly love, but I througly enjoyed it.

I really missed Franke's score, and though there's hints of it in this, there's not enough. I thought the music was serviceable though a bit overbearing/overpowering at times. One of the things i liked about Franke's music is he knew when quiet was called for. not so much here.

The space shots/anication was great, got to see exterior views of the station that we'd not seen before with more detail. I wasn't blown away by the character aanimation. by any means. I was hoping for a more realistic maybe GCI animated style.

The replacement voices were well done and captured the spirit/feel of the original actors. But I really missed Zathras's clicks etc...

I thought the

Lost in Space

joke was just bad. I know he was going for a Deep Space franchise type of joke, but IMO it didn't work.

More once I rewatch it on the big 4k UHD screen.

[Looney]

I LOVEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD IT!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! !!

Going around for a second time now.

(I want to say my one disappointment is that some of the scenes that are supposed to be scenes from the show don't match what actually happened, but I can't because we don't really know that we are in the exact show arc and not an alternate arc.) MIND BLOWN 🤪🤪😵😵😵🤪🤪

[AstroBoy]

Good thing this is a Spoiler allowed thread, cause I've got plenty of them.

Well, That was worth the wait.. I liked it. It was a solid B5 outing. It really was a love letter to the fans and the missing cast members.

There were a few minor things I didn't overly love, but I througly enjoyed it.

I loved Londo. Peter Jurasik nailed it as usual. Young Sheridan meeting his older self was awesome. Lyta!! Nothing else needs to be said.Pat was perfect.

The space shots/animation was great, we got to see exterior views of the station that we'd not seen before with more detail. I wasn't blown away by the character aanimation by any means. I was hoping for a more realistic CG animated style. But I can live with it.

I really missed Franke's score, and though there's hints of it in this, there's not enough. I thought the music was serviceable though a bit overbearing/overpowering at times. One of the things i liked about Franke's music is he knew when quiet was called for. not so much here.

I thought the Lost in Space joke was just bad. I think he was going for a Deep Space franchise type of joke, but IMO it didn't work.

I didn't care for the terminator styled time jump effect, and there was an inconsistency in how the jumps were presented. Sometimes it was the terminator version with or without some destruction/damage to the surroundings, and other times he just vanished in a flash of light.

On Za'ha'dum why didn't John ask for Anna? Although by that time it was probably too late anyway.

A big missed opportunity, they should have had Garibaldi make his last stand speech from Babylon Squared flash foward.

During the destruction of earth at one point the wave looked like the Japanese woodcut The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Pak'mara? Stephen's pronunciation was wierd.

The replacement voices were well done and captured the spirit/feel of the original actors. But I really missed Zathras's clicks etc...

Now for the ending, it's obviously a new/alternate timeline, but it raises so many questions for me.

1: I have to presume that no one in the hanger bay actually saw Delenn, I know her name was never mentioned.

2: Was John married to Anna in this final timeline? With no IPX, she never went to Za'ha'dum and woke the shadows. No shadow war, no need for Delenn to transform into a Minbari/Human hybrid. Based on the conversation between Sheridan and Delenn I have to guess that John is single. It would be interesting to get the back story of this universe.

3: Without the shadows, there was probably no Narn/Centauri war, but seems like there's still some tension between the two of them.

4: Was Sinclair ever commander of B5? Will Lochley be? Why was she on B5 at the end?

5: What's the story with Earthgov and Psycorp?

I will have to watch it again with the commentary track on.

But B5 is back and I couldn't be happier.

And if the live action reboot ever goes forward we'll have three distinct timelines/B5 universes, The original or what I'll call B5 Prime, The Road Home/Animated universe, and the reboot universe. That just blows my mind.

[Jan]

JMS just answered a question I've seen several people ask regarding the 'salute' scene.

[LateArrival]

Good thing this is a Spoiler allowed thread, cause I've got plenty of them.

Well, That was worth the wait.. I liked it. It was a solid B5 outing. It really was a love letter to the fans and the missing cast members.

There were a few minor things I didn't overly love, but I througly enjoyed it.

On Za'ha'dum why didn't John ask for Anna? Although by that time it was probably too late anyway.

3: Without the shadows, there was probably no Narn/Centauri war, but seems like there's still some tension between the two of them.

4: Was Sinclair ever commander of B5? Will Lochley be? Why was she on B5 at the end?

And if the live action reboot ever goes forward we'll have three distinct timelines/B5 universes, The original or what I'll call B5 Prime, The Road Home/Animated universe, and the reboot universe. That just blows my mind.

I also lack access to the commentary (Hi Jan!) until I get both a physical disc and a player, but was mentioned on B5TV that in the commentary JMS confirms it WAS Anna's voice on the radio. Perhaps Sheridan was either "disoriented" from being Unstuck in Time (See Patreon WWE commentary), he might have been in shock at hearing her voice again, was too late to matter, or JMS couldn't cram ten pounds of exposition/action into a two pound bag. Guessing the original Centauri invasion still took place, although perhaps G'Kar and Londo still had their drink when the Centauri emperor visited, but this time without the consequences of Londo's actions. Does this mean Londo is still "at a joke posting" since his rise/fall did not begin till he met Mister Morden?

It's possible Sheridan did-or-did-not marry Anna in other timelines, but the ???? I've got is what about Sinclair/Valen/Sector 14/B4?
Would be an interesting Alternate Universe Twist if Lochley quick-married Sinclair instead of Sheridan.

[Bonehead]

Wow, its been so long.... not been here for a while.
Its so nice to watch something with a grin on my face from start to finish. I cant remember the last time.
Loved every second, even the weird rim bit......cant understand some of the hate online. Lets hope this leads to....something more

[Jan]

Wow, its been so long.... not been here for a while.
Its so nice to watch something with a grin on my face from start to finish. I cant remember the last time.
Loved every second, even the weird rim bit......cant understand some of the hate online. Lets hope this leads to....something more

Good to see you back, Bonehead! I loved it, too, but it was inevitable some just wouldn't like it. As JMS has said (paraphrasing), "Something for everybody is nothing for anybody."

[Looney]

I can't believe we got such a logical answer to the biggest question I had. Hopefully with success the digital likeness issue won't be an issue in the future.

FYI I'm sure this is other places, but if you haven't seen it ..... with the MOVIES ANYWHERE DIGITAL the BEHIND THE SCENES Video - BABYLON 5 FOREVER is attached. 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 is good they include a Blu-Ray with the 4KUHD.

Commentary is also really good. That is on the 4K Disc. 😁👍

[Jan]

I can't believe we got such a logical answer to the biggest question I had. Hopefully with success the digital likeness issue won't be an issue in the future.

FYI I'm sure this is other places, but if you haven't seen it ..... with the MOVIES ANYWHERE DIGITAL the BEHIND THE SCENES Video - BABYLON 5 FOREVER is attached. 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 is good they include a Blu-Ray with the 4KUHD.

Commentary is also really good. That is on the 4K Disc. 😁👍

Commentary and featurette are also both available via the Apple TV purchase.

[LateArrival]

I can't believe we got such a logical answer to the biggest question I had. Hopefully with success the digital likeness issue won't be an issue in the future.

FYI I'm sure this is other places, but if you haven't seen it ..... with the MOVIES ANYWHERE DIGITAL the BEHIND THE SCENES Video - BABYLON 5 FOREVER is attached. 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 is good they include a Blu-Ray with the 4KUHD.

Commentary is also really good. That is on the 4K Disc. 😁👍

Is the commentary included with the Movies Anywhere version? Seems like Amazon (Prime Video) is shouting GIVE YOUR MONEY TO SOMEONE ELSE as if Apple TV has Bonus Features and Prime does not, seems like Prime/Digital is not worth it.

And regarding the commentary, have heard that JMS says (at the end) that Lyta is still a P5, NOT "transcended", and still not part of the Psi Corps, which would explain why she isn't wearing a Psi Corps pin. JMS was speaking rather quickly, so it might have gotten garbled, but is that what everyone else heard?

[Jan]

Not really a spoiler but since it mentions a major aspect of the movie I'm putting it here. For those who enjoy speculating about future animated movies, there's this post from the other night:


And to go one step further, a post about the reimagining:

[alpha128]

I know I'm late to the party, but I saw the movie for the first time today and I enjoyed it very much.

The actress who voiced Delenn, Rebecca Riedy, sounded so much like Mira Furlan it was uncanny. We also got pretty close voice matches from Paul Guyet as Zathras/Jeffrey Sinclair and Anthony Hansen as Michael Garibaldi.

One part that moved me was when Dr. Franklin told Garbaldi that he lied to Sheridan about being eighteen years in the future. In reality it was twenty-three, and the future Sheridan had been dead for three years. It hit me that the characters having this conversation were originally played by actors who are no longer with us.

As others have mentioned the music was serviceable but nothing special.