Babylon 5: The Movie Collection [5 Discs]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

The wait is over -- now fans of the popular television science fiction series Babylon 5 can find all of the feature-length episodes in one place thanks to Warner Brothers Home Video. All five movies including The Gathering, In the Beginning, Thirdspace, The River of Souls, and A Call to Arms are presented in their original aspect ratios and feature closed-captioned audio rendered in English Dolby Digital 5.1. In addition to the features, this release also includes such bonus materials as all-new introductions to and commentaries by series creator J. Michael Straczynski and select cast and crew, and the featurette "Creating the Future: How Science and the Series Have Influenced Each Other." ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 5
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Pan and Scan
• Subtitle: English, Spanish, French
• Features:
  • • cc Soundtracks remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1
    • All-new introductions to and commentaries on each movie by series creator J. Michael Straczynski and select cast and crew
    • "Creating the Future": How science and the series have influenced each other

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Richard Compton, Mike Vejar

• Producer:

  Robert Latham Brown

• Screenwriter:

  J. Michael Straczynski

• Cinematographer:

  Bill Dickson

• Composer (Music Score):

  Stewart Copeland

• Editor:

  Robert Sinise

• Production Designer:

  John Iacovelli

• Co-producer:

  John Copeland

• Executive Producer:

  Douglas Netter

• Costume Designer:

  Catherine Adair

REVIEW:

• Produced for broadcast on TNT as a way of introducing the episodic series to new viewers, Babylon 5: In the Beginning starts in the series' future with Centauri Emperor Londo (Peter Jurasik) whiling away some free time (prior to events in War Without End from the series' fourth season) by telling the story of the Earth-Minbari War to a pair of children. While much of the material here is old news to series viewers, the movie format has given writer/creator J. Michael Straczynski room to expand on the events and to provide background for the war story. The result is an engaging film that barrels along at a nice pace, even when situations seem somewhat unlikely -- having these specific characters involved in so many key events stretches credibility at times. On the plus side, Christopher Franke has turned in a tremendous, rousing score that fits well with the plethora of fast, fiery visual effects -- the CGI-effects team outdid themselves on this production. Director Michael Vejar, alas, did not manage to raise himself above the journeyman level of television directing, so the film is sometimes rather plain to watch. Satisfying for the fans of the series, and interesting enough for newcomers, In the Beginning is worth seeing. ~ Steven E. McDonald, Rovi