Babylon 5 Lost Tales reviews needed

[Capt.Montoya]

It's unfortunate, but a negative review is still a legitimate viewpoint. The only inaccurate thing in them is that there was no old footage used. Couldn't be-the CG files were lost by WB.

To be completely accurate... even if WB had not lost the CG files (software backups of the computer graphics models) and those CG files were used to render new animations, no footage would have been re-used.

And apparently they did get access to some old files, in addition to files created independently by B5 fans for their own renderings, according to the CG Society piece on TLT VFX. However those 3D computer models had to be re-done for higher resolution rendering.

Nit-picks aside:
I agree that negative reviews are legitimate viewpoints. In any event what I tend to do is not to pad the positive review count. I prefer to mark as helpful any balanced review I agree with. After all even reviews that are mostly positive but mark legitimate criticisms should be more helpful than "fanboy" raves that do not seem sincere.

[nova]

It's unfortunate, but a negative review is still a legitimate viewpoint. The only inaccurate thing in them is that there was no old footage used. Couldn't be-the CG files were lost by WB.

The unfortunate thing is that so many people simply can't wrap their brains around the different format and tone. Not much we can really do to change that, I'm afraid. By all means, if you liked the disk, do post a review, though.

Jan

I agree. The dvd was good for what it was. I guess it's also tough sometimes to look at a creation like this when you know the creator is capable of a lot more. By that I mean capable of more within this new format as well as the old stuff. I do notice a lot of the really disgruntled and disappointed folks mellow a bit when you remind them that this Lost Tales series is (once again for B5) breaking new ground and thus will not only have an impact on the future of this B5 universe but also for other shows that have been off the air for a while and future shows as well. Star Trek may have made the line famous but JMS seems to have made a career out of going where no man has gone before...

[Jan]

Oh dear, it all comes flooding back now. IÆm afraid I have to accept a bit of blame in this situation, because I was actually responsible for putting said organizer in touch with his first couple of B5 guests for the very early events, which I suppose in retrospect gave him the impetus to continue.

No way you could have known, Joe. Heck, even JMS endorsed the guy and the conventions at first.

Jan

[RMcD]

I was just browsing Amazon UK and took a look at the Babylon 5 Lost Tales page (without art cards ) and found the following "reviews" right up to the top. I've knocked them down the page a little with my review but if others could follow suit it certainly couldn't harm the cause. Better some well-rounded comments rather than bogus or inaccurate "reviews".

I would actually like to post another 5-star review there now that I've seen it, but I think I'm only allowed to post one.

But those two reviews you cite and the others in the same vein really annoy me. Knocking B5 for being low-budget seems a bit like knocking gold for being yellow..

Not that it seems to have mattered. People aren't being deterred from buying it, it seems.

[Joe Nazzaro]

Jan, I wonder in hindsight if there were other factors that caused things to go downhill. The really cynical part of me believes that once sums of money get involved, they change people who may have had good intentions. SF fandom as a group has always had very deep pockets, and during the heyday of B5 fandom, I get the feeling there were lots of people who were willing to spend money as it pertained to their favorite show, be it books, autographs, conventions; whatever. And looking back on some of the previous posts, when you work your way backwards, most of them seemed to involve money in one way or another.

Ironically, this all comes back full circle to the topic at hand, because it's obvious there are a lot of fans out there willing to pay money for more B5. Warners, while they believe that to be true, was unwilling to put a lot of their own money on the line, which means the first DVD had to be done on relatively modest budget. Does that mean future DVDs would be done for a bigger budget? Again, the cynical part of believes not, although I would love to be proved wrong. But if the powers-that-be can look at a balance sheet and say if they spent X money and made Y profit, it would make sense to spend the same amount of money next time around, rather than saying, let's spend X plus whatever.

[AmyG]

The other thing to remember is that the film/tv industry is trying very hard not to be the dying dinosaur that the music industry has become. So they're at least making attempts to try a few new things -- witness all of the major networks' streaming video delivery systems, and the ability to watch their programming for free, whenever you like -- and I think they're spending money like never before on some of those things...which makes them reflexively defensive about spending money on certain other things. Like, the things they've been historically afraid of. Like...sf programming of any kind. So, sure, WB will make an attempt to re-start an old sf television series in a direct-to-dvd format, but you can hear them scream every time a penny is let out of their wallets. :-p

[raw_bean]

Ironically, this all comes back full circle to the topic at hand, because it's obvious there are a lot of fans out there willing to pay money for more B5. Warners, while they believe that to be true, was unwilling to put a lot of their own money on the line, which means the first DVD had to be done on relatively modest budget. Does that mean future DVDs would be done for a bigger budget? Again, the cynical part of believes not, although I would love to be proved wrong. But if the powers-that-be can look at a balance sheet and say if they spent X money and made Y profit, it would make sense to spend the same amount of money next time around, rather than saying, let's spend X plus whatever.

Let us hope that the fact that the one constant through all reviews and opinions on TLT, positive and negative, is that the show was too cheap and small scale might convince them that spending X plus some more will get them Y plus even more.

[princevintari]

I would actually like to post another 5-star review there now that I've seen it, but I think I'm only allowed to post one.

But those two reviews you cite and the others in the same vein really annoy me. Knocking B5 for being low-budget seems a bit like knocking gold for being yellow..

Not that it seems to have mattered. People aren't being deterred from buying it, it seems.

you can post on 3 B5 TLT DVDs. With art cards, without, & R1

Ironically, this all comes back full circle to the topic at hand, because it's obvious there are a lot of fans out there willing to pay money for more B5. Warners, while they believe that to be true, was unwilling to put a lot of their own money on the line, which means the first DVD had to be done on relatively modest budget. Does that mean future DVDs would be done for a bigger budget? Again, the cynical part of believes not, although I would love to be proved wrong. But if the powers-that-be can look at a balance sheet and say if they spent X money and made Y profit, it would make sense to spend the same amount of money next time around, rather than saying, let's spend X plus whatever.

Joe you will be proved wrong because JMS has stated that he won't make any more Lost Tales unless there's a suitable budget to make each one better. Mind you I would have thought given all the CGI work done for this one it would bring down the costs for the next, meaning they should be able to make it bigger for the same money... Right?

[Joe Nazzaro]

Vintari, believe me, I would love to be proved wrong!

[Shabaz]

Just sort the reviews on amazon.co.uk on helpfulness. I thought the review that comes out on top for both the version with and the version without the art cards is pretty decent.

(Since I kind of am the person that wrote it. Kind of nice to see people liked that write-up though.)