Spoilers after watching TLT

[Lunan]

ok there are plenty of threads about TLT, bu ti thought a place for use to talk after watching it would be a good idea(the mods may feel diffrently and movie/merge this of course)

so i have just watched it. the demonic possestion was a great story and it felt like something joe has had in him mind for some time, good story and i was very happy

the prince virini(sp?) story was also very enjoyable. its been quite some time since i read the centuri books it seemed to be completely in continuity, please correct me if i am wrong

the talk about g'kar and stephen gpoing off to explore beyond the rim was a very emotional send off, also its a way to explain why that are gone for future tlt productions, the mention of garibaldi(i know thats misspelled) on mars could easily lead to his tlt story (if we get more)

also joe laid some groundwork for some mimbari stories with delen and centuri with londo and vir if he does it at the smae time period

i did feel that the prince/sheridan story could have been slightly longer with a bit more expostion, particulary with galen, i liked the "why me?" bit when taken back into a dream by a technomage it suggests that it wasn't JUST call to arms that it happened in, also it suggests that galen has rejoined the technomages at thier hiding place

the CGI was GREAT except for 1 thing, lockley in her quaters with the window in the back, that wasn't as smooth as i KNOW can be done

the opening was GREAT. the music i enjoyed. i did like hereing lockley's bit on why she was still there, the longest commander in b5 history and can ONLY be the longest as we know when the station goes kablewy

i have to watch sleeping in the light again i forget if g'kar and stephen were there(if i recall correctly stephen was but g'kar wasn't having died with londo, which means we could get some interesting side mentions of what happens to stephen and g'kar if tlt has more life in it)

hmm some spoilers not too much here.
so what did you guys think?

[Babylon5fan07]

As I've said before I'm saving reading these posts until next week. I was going to purchase the dvd this week and was hoping to get it; However, because my wife and I just moved into a new apartment I have to wait exactly one week due to finances. Next week Tuesday I'm planning to get my copy of the new movie.

I feel bad because everyone here is going to talk about it and I have to wait but again next week I'm hoping to chime in.

Alex

[Lunan]

thats why i taged it spoiler

[Sindred]

I must admit I really noticed the CGI effects when they were in Lockley's quarters.

I miss all the extras the original series had. The first story seemed a little barren in way of details and extras and probably felt a bit colder because of it. I really enjoyed the tight nit Prince/Sheridan story though. I always find Galen as a very interesting character because he has his own motives that may or may not align with others.

I for one am looking forward to the next DVD.

[Babylon5fan07]

I haven't had the opportunity to see the new Transformers film yet but one of my friends reaction was just .."wow." Well let me repeat that in this new Babylon 5 film "WOW!!!"

From the introduction (prologue) seeing Babylon 5 in 2281 and then reversing seeing all the characters again leading up to the Main Title was absolutely amazing! The special effecs in this movie were masterful! This took my breath away! If you include the special features and movie this DVD is still up to approximately 2 1/2 hours long. Seeing Peter, Bruce and Tracy again and step up to their roles was like 1998 never happened. They didn't miss a beat! I know a lot of people have given JMS some flack for not being able to make a good film especially over at the other board but I'm sorry this was tremendous and it had the feeling of Sleeping In Light all over again. I agree that 72 minutes I wish was 172 minutes. However, I'm sure that enough people were interested in this dvd that JMS will do another in the future. I hope that we will see Garibaldi and Delenn again and of course Londo in the future because hair was standing up watching this dvd even the special features!

Congrats JMS I do believe this is the Babylon 5 future..straight to dvd!

I do admit the first half was just a little weak but not much..it was a little dark but also reminded me of the Exorcist meets End of Days some sorts. Overall this isn't an A+ but it's not an A- either it's on the verge of being an A+ only because of the first half but only a very little bit. The 2nd half was absolutely wonderful. I'm assuming that the prince character's father they were talking about was Cartagia being the fact that Vir killed him or was it something from the Centauri Trilogy? If it's from the Trilogy don't give me the answer.. I will read it again.

Oh and yes the music was nicely done with the main theme from the 5th season and of course Sleeping in Light!

Cheers for now! Great Movie!

Alex

[I love Lyta]

if i recall correctly stephen was but g'kar wasn't having died with londo

If I'm not totally out of my mind Stephen was one of the people getting the letter, yes.

g'kar and stephen going off to explore beyond the rim

Hmm... Granted I haven't watched the DVD yet. But it sounds kind of repetative. First G'Kar heading off wit Lyta, now with Stephen...
On the other hand it's a nice reference to what happened to them in real life, that's for sure. And this is what I shall consider it to be.

Can anyone give me a heads up as to which time period the story of LotR movie was set in?

[Ausir]

I don't like the demonic possession part. While in itself, it was a good story, and would make a good episode of e.g. The Outer Limits or Twilight Zone, for me it didn't fit the Babylon 5 world at all. Seems like Joe had a good idea for a science ficiton Exorcist story and forced it into B5. If the demon was a "demon" only in the same sense that Vorlons were angels (i.e. an incorporeal being that possesses people), I would be OK with it. But it's specifically a Judaeochristian demon that can be exorcised by a priest. Aside from Lochley's and the station's names, this episode could have easily been set in any other science fiction universe, e.g. Star Trek, while the second one was much more connected to the series as a whole.

IMHO, the first thing Lochley should have done is finding a telepath, not a priest. After all, in this world, for all she knew, he could have believably been a strong psyker.

And LotR was set in 2265, 3 years after B5, 2 years before Crusade and 5 years before TLT.

As for Vintari, I think it's implied that he's Cartagia's son.

[someguy]

Part I

Didn't care for it at all. While I was watching it, I thought for sure there was going to be some nice plot twist coming up. At first I thought, a left over old one? No, they're all supposed to be gone. Then I thought, Oh! Maybe a rogue Technomage was hired by The Church to drum up business! No, wait, that's stupid. And then I thought for sure I had it - a rogue Technomage was hired by some unknown force to whip up religious fury to start some crazy holy war with some unknown ulterior motive! Yes! That's it! - No! It wasn't! Instead it was freaking Sunday school in space. I suddenly figured out what that smell was - it was a giant, stinking turd. Deamons? In space? Like, real actual Judeo-Christian deamons that need to be exorcized? By a Catholic priest? You've got to be fucking kidding me. Is JMS just getting old and thinking too much about his own impending death, or what?

That being said, I'm sure the more Christian types will love it. However, I think that many of the rest of us will just feel like we're being preached at. All I could do was roll my eyes and wait painfully for the sermon to be over. I will say that the actor who played the possessed guy gave a good performance, though.

I don't get the people who refer to the dialogue as "heavy." "Trite" is a little closer to the word I would use. Perhaps I'm just way too familiar with religion for my own good.

Part II

Much better. I liked it. It actually looked, felt, and smelled like a real B5 episode. Kudos. Though I do have some comments about this "Quantum Space" thing. What the hell is this, and why? It can't be Thirdspace, because we all know how bad that is. And if it's something adapted from the Vorlons, why did they previously travel through normal Hyperspace? Why were the Shadows seen traveling through normal Hyperspace? Surely, if mere humans and Minbari could whip something up in just ten years, Vorlons and Shadows would've had this technology, or better, ages ago and not bothered with mere, poke-a-long slow-slow Hyperspace. It just seems so unnecessary and silly to introduce this. I'm sure it will figure in to some future tale as a necessary plot device, but Jesus, man. It just makes no sense.

Also, just a comment to those people who are gushing about the special effects. This is 2007. You could create these kind of effects on your home computer. To have special effects that are worse than this would be inexcusable.

[grumbler]

Both stories suffered from being much too short; the conundrum is laid out in some detail, and then there is a flash of inspiration, and it is resolved. Not enough time is spent on pondering the consequences of choices, which is JMS's long suit, because the episodes were not long enough to allow it, even if there had not been the comic relief B stories like the Teryl Rotheray interview or the side-dialogues like Lochley discussing her religious beliefs.

I also did not like the resolution of the Lochley saga. Demons will die when the Earth is destroyed? WTF? These are supposedly celestial beings! The whole mix of Judeo-Christian religious dogma and science didn't fly; if a demon is "bound to earth by God" then it presumably cannot "tunnel under the wire" using tricks like possessing a space farer; God is omniscient and would have seen that coming. The acting was so good I wasn't disappointed in the episode, but Ausir was right that this was not a B5 story. Joe should have let this one cook and done the Garibaldi story.

The Sheridan story was better, though also much too short and also lacking in some story aspects. how does galen know that NYC will be destroyed by Emperor Vintari? Can the Technomages suddenly see into the future? If (as i suspect) they cannot and Galen is simply making a prediction, then why not spend the time wasted in the ISN interview on Sheridan speculating as to galen's real motives for wanting Vintari dead.

And why, oh why, would JMS have called him "Prince Regent" when he clearly was not a regent? Did he just confuse "Prince Royal" with "Prince Regent?" And who is second in line to the throne if he is, as stated, third in line? Vir is first in line.

The special effects glitch I noted was that these beams were coming down on New York, but nothing was actually being destroyed, just hidden behind the beams.

Overall, these were enjoyable stories and very well acted. Dialogue was the best JMS has given us to date.

[grumbler]

Oh, and the other thing I was really unhappy with was the senseless (as far as I can tell) introduction of "Quantum Space" to replace hyperspace. Why didn't Sheridan use it ten years later, if it is so much superior?

Anyone seen anything from JMS where he explains this apparent anomaly?

[I love Lyta]

And LotR was set in 2265, 3 years after B5, 2 years before Crusade and 5 years before TLT.

Cheers man. Was just trying to see if there is any inconsistency concerning the timeline. Would have been pretty weird if it would have been set later than this part of TLT and still have G'kar appear in it.
Guess I'm just too suspicious after the partially big fuck up storywise by the Lucas dude.

God is omniscient and would have seen that coming.

And done what in your opinion? Make a big show up? I don't think so, Tim...
Also as far as I remember JMS has never indicated any existance of "God" in B5.
Other than Londo shouting Grrrrreat Makerrr! from time to time that is.

[grumbler]

Cheers man. Was just trying to see if there is any inconsistency concerning the timeline. Would have been pretty weird if it would have been set later than this part of TLT and still have G'kar appear in it.

I am not sure what your point is. G'Kar is still around in 2278 to kill Londo, so he clearly was intermittantly exploring (left B5 in 2262 to explore with Lyta, came back in time to appear in 2265 aboard the Liandra, was gone again with Franklin in 2271, was back in 2278 when he died).

And done what in your opinion? Make a big show up? I don't think so, Tim...
Also as far as I remember JMS has never indicated any existance of "God" in B5.

If "God' had bound the fallen angels to earth, they could not leave, even by trickery, or he/she/it is not "God." In part 1 of this DVD, JMS makes the existence of "God" very explicit. You have seen it, right?

[Ausir]

And the demons can't be the brightest people around if it took them 200 years to figure out how to leave Earth.

[JDSValen]

Almost every tv episode has 2, maybe 3, plots per episode. They weave together and have some connection, more often than not a vague one. This felt like 2 of those plots separated from any and all subplots.

I liked each story on its own but each felt too short. If JMS wanted them to stand seperately, then each should have been at least 5-10 minutes longer. The other thing he could've done was combined them - weaved each story's progression together - then have them intersect at their mutual climax. Personally, I would've prefered the latter, but the only obvious problem with it is that it would've created a much bigger story with a much bigger budget, which was scarce at best.

That being said, the only scene were I felt that the lack of budget hurt the DVD was when Lochley was in her quarters talking to the computer. All it contained was her, a wall, and the cgi backdrop in the window (which felt awkward in this scene but was great everywhere else). For someone who has been on the station for as long as she has, there should've been a lot more stuff in the room, but there was only an empty wall. The shot was left wide too, which just made the emptiness of her room that much more apparent.

On a whole, though, I loved it. The acting was great (Scoggins was a little rusty, but still good). The cgi sets worked. I noticed them a lot in the beginning but as the story went on JMS' writing was so good that I was completely sucked into the story and never noticed it again (exceptin the bedroom scene).

I hope WB decides to make more of these. It was great watching these characters again.

Quick aside: The sock puppet thing came out of nowhere and was overplayed, so whatever humor it had was lost quickly, IMO. Peter Woodward next to the Galen puppet was hilarious though, lol.

[Milkman]

Much too short... Thats my main comment. The stories to me felt very B5... but for $16.95 or whatever i payed for it i would like a bit more time. I realise this was a pilot type program and so im ok with it. However future DVDs should have like 4+ episodes or something per disk to make me feel like im getting my money worth.

But, i enjoyed it and it was nice be be at "home" again for a little while.