Story of Valen

[WalkingEagle]

has anyone discussed a theatrical movie about the life of Valen?

How would you like such a movie to start and end?

Would you like such a movie to happen?

Who would you like to be in it?

Of course I don't believe TMOS has anything to do with this. Just like to know what you think.

[AmyG]

I'd enjoy seeing it, but I also think that it would be a difficult movie to sell because of comparatively few humans in it (Sinclair before he becomes Valen, potentially, for a few scenes, and Catherine Sakai).

Aisling

[NotKosh]

Agreed. While the concept is interesting, the target market is small. Namely B5 fans. You don't get new people into the theaters when the majority of the cast are aliens.

[Mariel]

A book or comic would be a good way to tell that story though.

[WalkingEagle]

All of that may only be a small factor. Remember JMS is planning to start filming TMOS next year possibly. So a movie about Valen may not be as farfetched as you may think.

[Dipper]

I think "To dream in the city of sorrows" really raps the Valen thing up pretty good, because the are aspects that I rather let be (like did Sinclair ever find Sakai) than be told up front. What's the interesting part about Valen if all the mystery is taken away?


-Dip

[iamsheridan]

Originally posted by Dipper
I think "To dream in the city of sorrows" really raps the Valen thing up pretty good, because the are aspects that I rather let be (like did Sinclair ever find Sakai) than be told up front. What's the interesting part about Valen if all the mystery is taken away?


-Dip

I want to know!

/IamS

[WalkingEagle]

Originally posted by Dipper
I think "To dream in the city of sorrows" really raps the Valen thing up pretty good, because the are aspects that I rather let be (like did Sinclair ever find Sakai) than be told up front. What's the interesting part about Valen if all the mystery is taken away?


-Dip

Leaving books aside. You may have read the B5 books and so have many other people. But remember there are many many many more who have not read the books. If JMS is anyway like other creators of SF epic tv shows then he will always keep the books separate from films. Roddenberry and his successors have done it completely. George Lucas have done the same. Call the books EU but they have very little to do with the actual movies themselves. That is why they are called Expanded Universe.

JMS may even create a whole new mystique concerning valen. What I am asking is simple... who would you like to see in such a movie playing what parts and what details would you like to see realized and enhanced? That is all. Not whether or not a movie should be made.

[Satai Delenn]

stric t ly speaking I would like to see the character of Catherine Sakai killed off in some fashion and see Valen marry someone else other than her.I have always hated the character of Sakai and never thought of them as a couple in any since.

[WorkerCaste]

If JMS is anyway like other creators of SF epic tv shows then he will always keep the books separate from films.

Actually, I think this is another area where he is different. In other SF arenas the books are usually not considered terribly canon. JMS seems to have made an effort from the start to keep the books mostly true to his vision. IIRC, he was disaapointed with the first batch of books. Only two of those are generally considered important, but because of that he exerted more control on the 3 trilogies that came later. It seems like he takes a story in the B5 universe and decides where he wants to tell. They mesh and overlap, but don't tell the same story more than once.

[WalkingEagle]

I don't read the books so I gather you are saying that Catherine Sakai somehow winds up with Valen 1,000 years in the past and marries her? That doesn't track because Valen/Sinclair went alone and not other human was with him. Only other being on that ship was Zathras. Anyway Sinclair never married Sakai. By the end of the first season of BABYLON 5 she was gone.

[Dipper]

Well, To dream in the city of Sorrows was written by JMS' wife, so I think it's considered canon.

Given it a good night's sleep I've slightly altered my attitude about a movie of Valen. If it should be done, I think there is no other acceptable actor for Valen than Michael O'Hare and in my opinion Catherine Sakai shouldn't be shown in the movie to preserve even that little bit of mystery. As the other minbari aren't known to us, it doesn't matter who plays the roles .. as long as they can act .. even a little bit.

To Walkingeagle:

<<<<<<<<<<<<SPOILER WARNING>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Highlight to read.

In the book, Catherine Sakai, Sinclair and Marcus Cole attack a group of shadow fighters who are trying to open up the temporal rift in sector 14. In this battle Sakai is lost in time.


It is a great book. Maybe the best of all, though as a whole the TM trilogy is the best.


-Dip

[NotKosh]

Originally posted by WalkingEagle
I don't read the books so I gather you are saying that Catherine Sakai somehow winds up with Valen 1,000 years in the past and marries her? That doesn't track because Valen/Sinclair went alone and not other human was with him. Only other being on that ship was Zathras. Anyway Sinclair never married Sakai. By the end of the first season of BABYLON 5 she was gone.

You have no idea what you are talking about. The 3 trilogies (Psi-Corp,Centauri,Techno-Mage) and two books "To Dream in the City of Sorrow", "The Shadow Within", have as much validity as anything that was broadcast. The other books are rubbish for the most part.

That is not my opinion, that is fact. There may be a few indiscrepancies, but that is life. They were produced from detailed outlines that JMS provided the authors. They are considered "canon" meaning they count. You are wrong if you think the books I mentioned are like ST books, which are voluminous piles that have nothing to do with the series/movies. JMS has done everything to make it known that this isn't trek, and you are lumping it together still.

These 11 books provide very good background on several areas of interest in the B5 universe. You are depriving yourself for no reason.

[WalkingEagle]

All the creators of SF shows do that (or did that). They provide information. Some call it a "bible" and the writers would follow those guidelines and then submit their works for approval. But it is the other authors' stories. They are not JMS' stories out of his own head. That makes a very big difference. I would read the books if he had written them himself. I'm discriminating in that respect.

Nobody seem to have answered 2 of my questions.

1. Who (actors actresses) would you like to see play key parts in a movie about Valen?

2. How would you like the movie storyline to start and end?

3. Who would you like to direct such a film?

I added a 3rd question.

[Dipper]

Originally posted by WalkingEagle
All the creators of SF shows do that (or did that). They provide information. Some call it a "bible" and the writers would follow those guidelines and then submit their works for approval. But it is the other authors' stories. They are not JMS' stories out of his own head. That makes a very big difference. I would read the books if he had written them himself. I'm discriminating in that respect.

Nobody seem to have answered 2 of my questions.

1. Who (actors actresses) would you like to see play key parts in a movie about Valen?

2. How would you like the movie storyline to start and end?

3. Who would you like to direct such a film?

I added a 3rd question.

JMS has outlined the stories. I think it's wrong to say they are not HIS stories when hasn't written them himself. So those books are as valid as the series itself, even if he hasn't directed the whole thing himself.

-Dip