Babylon 5 Movie through Studio JMS

[Delenn_of_Mir]

Hurraaaays! Thanks Jan!

For a long time I used to forget there even were other forum categories. "giggles"

Even if we do have fewer posters here, it's nice we don't have all the trolls they have on IMDb.

As for the movie, I think it would be cool if it was like distorted mirror.

[Jan]

You mean like I did in the post above yours Tom? Is that what you mean?

Just sayin'...

ETA: By request and given that there's so little concrete info (much less possible spoilers), I'm putting this thread back in the B5 forum as it has the most traffic, I think.

Jan

[Triple F]

He never wrote a script for THOR, he wrote an outline, and wasn’t sure if what was left of it in the final movie even warranted a story credit (which he got).. You’d think on a forum dedicated to the man that at least someone (other than terrible old me) would point that out for clarity and accuracy if nothing else. Because saying, and then arguing (as some do), that he wrote Thor (or even WWZ for that matter) in the wider internet full of people who know the facts of the matter, is one sure way to give him and his fans a bit of a negative reputation for...... Just saying, guys.

[Jan]

I simply don't get it, I really don't.

Question #1: why reboot such a great series? Why try to fix something that isn't broken?

Question in return: why let such a rich universe fade into obscurity? Because that's its fate if something doesn't happen.

Question #2: are you sure JMS will actually make it better this time? I mean, look at the stuff he did after B5. 75% of it makes me cringe (Thor... Ninja Assassin... Underworld 4...), and the other 25% is on the same level of quality at best.

Who can be sure of anything? However, aren't you trying to compare unlike things? Thor: Not the script writer (though I did see hints of JMS-isms in it), Ninja Assassin: RE-written to order, Underworld 4: Again, written to order and in an existing franchise. The B5 movie is designed to be under JMS' complete control.

Also don't forget he's been writing comics for a long time, and this invariably takes its toll on people.

Wow, there's a loaded statement! By implication, you seem to think that writing comics makes somebody a worse writer? How so? JMS is proficient in several very different forms and in my opinion, that makes him a much better writer.

Jan

[Delenn_of_Mir]

As the old saying goes, "you can't step into the same river twice". Old B5 was magical, and I'm afraid this can't be redone.

As for JMS' post-B5 work, just take a look at Crusade. A good, solid series (which would have gotten even better, had it been given proper time to grow), but significantly more comic-like than B5.


This movie would account for the 25% I was talking about

To each their own. We can't all like the same thing.

I do understand the fear that maybe the magic can't be recaptured again, B5 was very, very special, but I think that if we're willing to set aside our expectations and start the B5 journey over again we will stand a better chance of being able to enjoy it. And who knows, maybe Joe will pull it off and the new movie/movies will be brilliant and just as wonderful as the first ones. "giggles"

I am super excited and hopeful, anyway.

[Delenn_of_Mir]

Thanks Jan! I had subscribed to babble on through itunes, spent an entire day downloading all of them onto my ipod, then after listening to 11 or 12 every single one was removed from my ipod! When I went back to try downloading them again they only had one left: the Peter Jurasik interview. So I was very happy to see I can still dl them from the main website.

As far as the reboot, I don't get why people think that changing something ruins it or in any way changes what has gone before. Classic B5 will always exist and no matter what Joe does with the reboot, it won't change the original at all.

So I don't see the reboot as Joe trying to fix anything. He just wants a second chance to see what he can do now. His original 5 year plan did get sideswiped and derailed several times. Sinclair having to leave, WB dropping him after season 4, etc.

I like that he loves B5 so much that he wants to do it all again. And I want to see more B5 soooo bad that I'll accept anything he comes up with. As long as it still feels like B5 universe it will be good.

I haven't seen a lot of the new stuff he has done, but I have liked everything I saw except for Jeremiah, and that was only because of Joanna. "giggles"

He made me care for Thor, a character I would never have cared much for before. Changeling was amazing! I watched an eppy of Murder She Wrote, that he wrote, the other day and it was leaps and bounds better than most of the eppies I had seen. JMS is a fantastic writer and I seriously doubt by all the awards he has won and the success of Studio JMS that his work has suffered any since B5 ended.

[Jan]

On a side note, I found a Babble On podcast from back in 2011 where JMS discusses the rebooted TV series that didn't happen when the proposed distribution system didn't materialize. It's worth listening to again where JMS talks about the reboot. The interview starts about an hour and ten minutes in and JMS talking about the reboot at about 2:25

http://www.geekplanetonline.com/hosting/originals/babbleon/?p=episode&name=2011-07-31_gpo_babbleon_012b.mp3&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBabbleOnProject+%28GeekPlanetOnline%3A+The+Babble+On+Project%29&utm_content=FeedBurner

Jan

[babylonlurker]

He could do an alternate timeline B5, so that the timeline we know and love still exists, but allows for a new version to be told.

No alternate timelines, please - that is JJ Abrams' expertise

I have very little doubt that JMS will surprise us, and in a good way, telling some untold, but B5 related story ...

[Delenn_of_Mir]

He could do an alternate timeline B5, so that the timeline we know and love still exists, but allows for a new version to be told.

[Sinclair's Fan]

But personally, I'd prefer either a continuation of the original, or a reboot that somehow incorporated the original into the plot in some clever JMS way, (perhaps as a sequel or prequel..., maybe 'pre' by 1000 years or something).

...still got my fingers crossed for this, ha-ha!

[sarthaz]

Back to B5...

I'm guessing, with JMS here, there will be No Bester, No Psicorps, No Sheridan, No Sinclair, No Valen, No Londo, No G'kar, and No Delenn, and possibly No Shadows or Vorlons. He will almost certainly make a whole new story and a whole new universe ...

... with at least one Laurel and/or David, a major character with the initials JS, a Russian who frequently reminds us how Russianly Russian s/he is, and someone whose first lesson from Dad was never to start a fight, but always finish it?

[Jonas]

It's peculiar. As an artist, I understand the desire for a reboot - a chance to explore the show's themes from other angles, with modern technology. Seeing the visual quality of modern sci-fi TV/film does make you wonder how great it would be to see Babylon 5 like that. And the freedom of doing a reboot lets you engage with a new audience without all the baggage of a show they haven't seen and the confusion introduced by Crusade and Legend of the Rangers... it could be exhilarating.

On the other hand, as someone who loves the original deeply, who loves those specific characters, those specific episodes... as someone who loves the show as it is, considers it one of the great storytelling achievements of our time... it's not easy to take. Part of me doesn't want to see the same actors playing different characters, or the story happening in a different way.

But it's JMS, so I'm definitely not going to judge the result before seeing it.

[Jan]

He will almost certainly make a whole new story and a whole new universe.

Then that's not Babylon 5, is it?

Jan

[Marsden]

... I realise people love the show, but for me personally, there was stuff going on that should never have been called Battlestar Galactica. They should've called it something else. As I said, it's just my opinion though.

This is exactly what bothered me and I just could NOT get past it. I don't really even know if I might have enjoyed it, in some way, but after I watched the 4 hour miniseries I couldn't stand the thought of watching anymore. If it was a whole new thing, I might have liked it, but it stole the name and character names from something I liked, rendering that completely dead, and made some other thing out of it. I hardly ever watched Voyager, but one of the handful of them I saw had these aliens that stole body parts to survive and one of them stole one of the generic crew person's face and had it sewed on as it's own face. Everytime someone reboots something I think of that scene. I can't seem to forget that because it was so creepy, the alien actually thought it would be easier to deal with him because he had "a familiar face" but that's exactly what studios are doing with all of this remaking/rebooting going on.

Back to B5...

I'm guessing, with JMS here, there will be No Bester, No Psicorps, No Sheridan, No Sinclair, No Valen, No Londo, No G'kar, and No Delenn, and possibly No Shadows or Vorlons. He will almost certainly make a whole new story and a whole new universe. And, as I said in the middle of my previous bitching, that's my main hope, a whole new thing that he makes and it's good. No robbing the graves of our beloved characters. No character introduced as "Sheridan" and then the story flies on without any real type of introduction because were supposed to know who he is because of who he was on some past show. Cough New Star Trek. puke.

[Dan Dassow]

I would love to see the cast of DS9 do a B5 episode for a giggle.. or would that make the universe explode?

Much like if jms and I ever met face-to-face.