Babylon 5

B5 took a whole season to get to the point of the show. Then after another season and a half it ended. Well it should have. But for some reason it started up again and pointlessly limped along for another one and a half seasons to a pathetic conclusion. B5 had too many filler episodes and not enough meat on the arc episodes. It had poor scripts and wooden acting. I dont know why I bothered to watch every episode as it was very tedious. Star Trek was so much better.

Incredible writing. You know those television moments that seem fake, artificial and constructed without much coherence? Fear not - you will get almost none of those with B5.

If you like something of substance that honestly tries explore what the near future could look like for humans - this is it. You get to watch it start and you get to watch it end.

The story is so well crafted that the writers have accounted for almost any kind of event to be accommodated by the main plot. You can not understand that when watching the show as everything is running smoothly. The script was so well written that they could have and on occasion they did write off characters and actors out of the film with practically no damage to the series.

Acting is not the one crafted to artificially impress the audience - but the kind where things go naturally.

The series is more about social development than sci-fi. So if you need the constant flashy cgi bits and ludicrous stunts. Its not for you.

It is the finest show I've ever seen in my life. Even people who dislike the substance compliment it on a job well done.

This series was unique.. and still is. The ONLY television series written like a novel with a beginning a middle and an END. Planned with a 5 year story arc right from the beginning. I watched every episode live when it came out and haven't watched it for almost 15 years now, but I STILL remember it. You won't be disappointed. It is NOT one of those series that ropes you in.. and never ends..like they seem to like doing these days...leaving story lines unresolved.. until the show gets canceled. If you watch Babylon 5, when you're done you will have that same feeling you get when you turn the last page of the last chapter of a fantastically written novel.. that feeling you get when you close the book and think.. aahh.. now THAT's how things should be done! That's B5.

I love babylon 5 bcz its my number 1 favorite movie & television program in the whole wide world & never missed an tv program of this show & wish that it came back on television that I can watch it again please bcz I would love to see it again on tv. I don't think my sister Tiffany Weber has ever seen this program before but I wish that it was back on tv so my sister Tiffany Weber could have the chance to see this program please can u guys put it back on tv please for me & the rest of the fans that love Babylon 5 too please.

I love sci-fi, so I bought the entire DVD box set unseen. What a mistake that was! Everyone raves about this show, but I can't see why. Juvenile plots, asinine dialog, terrible special effects (in fact the worst I've seen in modern science fiction, bad acting, and this big so-called story arc shot full of holes. There are SO many things left unanswered and the 5 movie set that does absolutely nothing to further the story or answer any of the several questions that are brought up and left to die during the regular season. I'll certainly be on the lookout for anything with J. Michael Straczynski's name attached... I'll avoid it like the plague :(



My DVDs now for sale... anyone?

I don't know all that J. Michael Straczynski had to do to produce this epic series but I am glad he did it.



A large number of science fiction series these days suffer from the 'reset button' complex. This means that, while an individual episode might be interesting, it will rarely ever have any effect on any future episodes. A perfect example of this is Star Trek: The Next Generation. In 90+% of the episodes the actions of one episode are completly independant of any other episode. Yes, there are some exceptions (Q episodes etc.) but they are in the minority.



When they moved onto ST:DS9 they improved this significantly but it was never even close to the continuity of Babylon 5.



In Babylon 5 the entire series was a continuous story with only a handfull of episodes that did not have at least some effect on others. The fact that J. Michael Straczynski wrote the whole series beforehand meant he was able to tell the story continuously with few "unconnected" episodes.



Babylon 5 was a 110 episode long story that kept you entertained with fascinating characters who evolved throughout the series. They did not just play a character that had certain traits and repeated them in each episode. G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas) and Londo Mollari (Peter Jurasik) are perfect examples of this. G'Kar goes from the "bad guy" in the beginning and transforms almost spiritually to the selfless "good guy" in the end whereas Londo travels in the opposite direction.



Over all I would give this series a 10 out of 10 with all but 3 or 4 episodes getting a 9 or better out of 10.



Favourite Quotes:

"I'll be in the car" Commander Susan Ivanova (War without End)



"Ivanova:Find what you need and lets get out of here, we are running out of time.

Zathras:Cannot run out of time. There is infinite time. You are finite. Zathras is finite. This is wrong tool" (War without End II)

Babylon 5 is one of the most original Sci-Fi shows to air on television, it had creative writing, great stories, it had a perfect cast, great characters, it had a complex and engaging mythology, and easily connected with viewers. I thought the characters were portrayed brilliantly, the plot lines flowed smoothly and revealed answers in a timely fashion. There was so much depth to this series. I enjoyed all the different types of aliens, especially the Vorlons and Shadows, two ancient races. I thought it was interesting how the Vorlons portrayed themselves to others. I think this show touched upon many human curiousities, questions of the soul, and moral matters relevant through out time and space. I will enjoy this show for all time and hope others will come to find the value of this show in the future as well. By far a unique and legendary series. It has entertained me and given insight into our own nature.

I remember the night I got hooked on this show: "Garibaldi" was riding a motorcycle around the station, and it seemed so out of place in the dark and futuristic setting that I had to watch and see what came next. What...or who...came next was "Cmdr. Jeffrey Sinclair", and then I was in every week like clockwork. I especially loved the early story, with Michael O'Hare and less so once he was gone and replaced by Bruce Boxleitner. But by then the story had become much darker too.

Nevertheless, I do have the DVD's and every now and then they come out and I revisit one of the most successful sci-fi shows ever with a surprisingly long run for a series in this genre. Just shows the decision makers it can be done!

...and should be done again, and often!

The first time i saw only until the end of third season. I didn't saw all the episodes becouse i was at school. I was really disappointed with the end of that chapter and the tv channel left it there.



Years later i watched all the first season in dvd. It was fantastic. I was looking for Deep Space 9 but couldn't find it so i got Babylon 5. I saw the second and the third learning all about that extraordinary characters ( i love G'Kar and Londo characters ). And then , with all that, i had the oportunity to see the 2 episodes called "War without end" and that was GREAT. After that i went to internet to search for webs about Babylon 5 and i red all about it.



Stgraczynski wrote almost all the episodes. He was some kind of god for me until the end of the 5th season.



When i recomend this show (and i do always to every one) i say: all chapters are important, you have to see it from episode 1 season 1 to last episode of season 5 (all them are one big season), all is like open a history book and read about the Space Station Babylon 5 (the history is not good or bad, is what it was).

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................why was this made. Who invented this genre of shows. What the hell were they thinking when they made this. There are many unanswered questions to these types of shows, but one sticks out to me most : Why. Why did they dicide to make a type of show that would hypnotis nerds world wide to watch them.

Well I'm sorry I thought this show was stupid. Thats just my personal opinion Im just glad that some people like it. Again this is just my personal opinion I didn\'t think this show had much of a point, and lost my intrest and got me confuesed. Once again this is just my opinion

The epic multi-layered story of Babylon 5 takes place over the 5 year run of the series. The cast is superb, the writing is generally excellent, and the sense of place is perfect. Sci-fi grew up with "Babylon 5" and it stands a giant above all that went before. There is much more to the whole alien aspect. Never before had I seen something like this. Each episode got more complicated and thrilling by the minute. Almost every episode ended with a twist for things getting worse. The acting on the series is also outstanding. Watching Andreas Katsulas as G'kar and Peter Jurasik as Londo Mollari, work, is sheer joy.

this is my favourite show. i have it on video and dvd.. bablyon 5 is a space station that houses aliens and humans who work and live together.. what i love about this show is the story lines and the cast. it has a start and a middle and a ending.. gkar and londo are amasing together. the can steal a scene. garabadi is head of security and my favourite character. i never get sick of watching this show. it has a lot of laughs and some tears. with great character this is one show worth watching. the special effects are ground breaking. watch it once and you get hooked..

A show long before its time. The storyline was so complex and wonderfully done. The characters were, and probably still are, some of the most complex in the history of sci-fis. The creation of this show was sheer genious on the part of Joe. Each season just kept getting better and better, keeping me on the edge of my seat, wanting to know what was going to happen next. The religious aspect of some of the stories was just completely fascinating to me. I loved every episode of this show, and wish it had not ended as it had, going out slowly with the creation of several movies that were meant to be the pilots they never got the chance to be.

This episode is where we see the Narns being sorta the bad guy in the show. It show's just how kniving the Narns can be, to be more blunt, how revengful they are. I understand that they had been conquered at one point. In this episode they shows ya how greedy they are, with selling of a Command and Control base for the raiders. As a side note it shows why Lt. Commander Ivonova does not like Psi-Corp very much due to what they did to there mother. I imagine we will be seeing more of the Raiders storyline and information about Cmdr. Sinclairs memory. I don't think we'll see that much of it, but enough to get our curiosity peeked. BTW, the graphics were great again. Can't wait to see more again. It has been a long time since I last saw B5 and seeing the show takes me reminds me how good it really was.

So far my favorite shows where farscape, firefly and bsg, and others but i must say babylon 5 is starting to make its mark in my top 5. Very good show, love the attention to details, i don't know how to describe it but it really is that great.



Before watching it i read reviews and so on and thought its going to be ok. Watched all the startreks including Deep space nine and thought it would be exactly or close to that. Nope its way better than DS9. The characters, story, screenplay, history is way better written. I love every character in this show. Like i said this is the only show that instantly grabbed me and pulled me into the story. Love it, Got the dvd collection.. Just writing this makes me want to watch it, so i guess im off for now.. I highly recommend this show. If you are a sci fi fan and haven't watched this, WATCH it now!! haha

What can I say? This show might be a bit old, but it's still as addictive as it was when it was launched. It has it all; good laughs, the drama, action, suspension that gives you the chills, dark conspiracies... but most of all, it has a touch of sometimes bitter and scruffy realism which combined into extra ordinary good filming and settings quality (for that time) gives this series that kicking creditability that makes you come back again and again for long marathons and leave you crying for more.

In a nutshell, this is one of those cornerstones that defines sci-fi and others will be measured against. Babylon 5.... We salute you!

I used to watch this show religously. I thought all the characters were great. And the relationships between all the chracters were so deep. I did not particularly like Sinclair, but when Sheridan came aboard I really got interested. Sinclair was firey. I also liked Garibaldi. His humorous quipps always brought a some comedic relief to almost every episode. I miss this show. I wish someone would bring it back or at least make a movie or even better continue the story where it left off when the series ended. A Babylon 5 big screen movie would be great. I would go see it. For those who never got to see it, you would never understand.

Babylon 5 was, to me, and others, well ahead of its time. The storylines were great, the actors were good, and the CGI (for its time) was second to none. Even shows such as TNG & DS9 (Star Trek) weren't keeping up in regards to CGI. Babylon 5 handled that aspect of it quite well.



It is no secret that the main aspect of Babylon 5 was the Shadow War. Those guys were indeed evil, and the Minbari were an awesome race to go up against. Even in the film "The Beginning" the Minbari stood true to their word, and were a force to be reckoned with.



I no doubt stand alone when I say it would be nice to see a remake, or at the very least, a re-animation, doing up the CGI aspects of the show, much alike paramount are doing with TOS (again, Star Trek). Whether we ever see this or not wont have any huge difference, as this show will continue to be a classic, nomatter what.

Babylon 5 in some ways is better than the Star Treks....

It had a set amount of time/series, they knew it would only go on for 5 years and they stook to that.

It is also more realistic, rather than everybody having various types of shields and cloaking devices, if you get one direct hit on babylon 5 you have basically had, which is what would happen in reality, if humans got into space

Also no warp engines, simply a few jump gates that link different sections of space together, like motorways, although depending on your view, that could me more unrealistic that warp engines



I have the complete Babylon 5 box set, with all the films and every single episode.



All of the characters were great, the costumes their attitudes towards each other and their difference in superiority!!

Actually having some species that have also not long ventured into space like the humans was a good idea and a breath of fresh air, as usually we seem to be the only noob species in the galaxy.

Every character apperas to have it's enemies and my personal favourite was embassador Kosh, the way he always speaks in riddles due to his species being so old and wise



Then in the later episodes where the two old giants meet, when the shadows appear is just amazing some of the battles there with the shadows nearly always winning.....



On the whole what a great show!!!!

Babylon was a show that really grew on you over time and especially once the ramifications of some of the apparent stand alone episodes began to be played out. seemingly insignificant things would take on new meaning sometimes in the next or following seasons. The only show that comes to mind that does this as well is the new era of Doctor Who.



As mentioned above it was the first sci-fi to be shot on the 16:9 widescreen format and in many other ways was head of it's time. Although they may not look much now the special effects where cutting edge for it's era (just think how corny some of Star Wars effects appear today). I think that critizisiums that it is a Star Trek want to be are unfair. It was produced in the early 1990's and while episodes can be enjoyed seperately they really come into their own over the five year arch of the underlying story.

Babylon 5 is the most intelligent and groundbreaking show I have ever seen in my life. Nothing else on television offers the same scope and quality of thought. I recommend this show to any fan of science fiction. Non-genre fans will likely not have the endurance to make it through due to its complexity, but we don't care about them. If you love SciFi though, you owe it to yourself to check B5 out. The first season is a bit sluggish, but it immediately picks up in season 2 and does not let go. On future viewings, episodes that you had previously thought were unimportant will suddenly become more interesting to you as well. Remember, this is a show meant to resemble a novel. There is a clearly defined beginning, middle and end. It will not disappoint!

This has to be one of the least liked shows on my favorites list. I don't exactly hate it, but I like it the least of them all, you follow me? I stopped watching this right after the first few episodes of the first season... some people have told me repeatedly that the show gets better after that, but to be honest I cant sit through Babylon 5 for that long just to enjoy something mediocre. The acting, right from the start, of the aliens and the humans was so "similar" and over the top that you'd thing the same hyperactive guy was playing them all. They could've done a whole lot better.

This was one of my favorite shows when I was younger. Most everyone on the show were unknown actors at first, but they were all great. This show has some of the best storylines and great acting. Even the special effects were good. The writers were very consistent with the timing of things in the show. I loved the way the characters interacted with each other. It was funny and suspenseful at the same time. I miss seeing this show. I can't even find anyone showing re-runs. This show was in a class by itself. Hope to get some of the DVD sets someday.

I have never been a Sci-Fi fan until I came across Babylon 5 years ago. This lead me to all the other genre shows I am watching today.



Babylon 5 is a monumental show, its idea envision and executed with brilliance by its creator JMS.

Its story arc spans all five seasons and it was more or less executed the way it was intended to.



The first season is the weakest of it, very cheesy and sometimes hard to get through (especially if you have never seen it before), but nonetheless has some important hints and foreshadowing of what is to come in later seasons. Nothing is a coincidence.



The cast is mostly great, the best being Peter Jurassik and Andreas Katsulas. But I also like Mira Furlan's Delenn.

Today the special effects may look cheesy and oudated, but when the show was first shown it was new to use this kind of CGI.



Anyone who likes Sci-Fi should have seen this show.

Like I said in my summary, this is the best Science Fiction show ever next to Star Trek. It revolutionized science fiction television with magnificent story lines, writing, acting and visuals. As a viewer, you genuinely grow an affection for the members of the cast, and that is something that just does not happen all that much in the television world of science fiction. Many shows fail where this one succeeded - too many science fiction shows do not have the charisma that this show always had. If you have never seen this show, all 5 Seasons are available on DVD and are well worth the price. A wonderful show.

Despite my fanboy wish for Straczinsky to deliver a monumental masterpiece, Babylon 5 will in my mind mostly be remembered for some bad choices in casting, some worse choices in dialogue and scenes which make you wail.

First, the good: Straczinsky was one of the few people (ever?) on television to envision 5 seasons and execute no more and no less. That means the script could remain tight and stories unblemished. The basic premise was monumental indeed - galactic wars, the change of the galactic guard, the alliance... All this is truly deserving of a very high place in the pantheon of SF. And filler episodes, most often despised, were right on the money, sometimes even excellent; and when the main story kicked in the high gear - I got goosebumps. It was a satisfying 5-season movie which logically ran to its conclusion. So what was the problem, you ask? To begin with, the main cast. I thought O'Hare (Sinclair) was bland until Boxleitner's (Sheridan) 'spunk' came along - then I wished O'Hare was back. Doyle (Garibaldi) didn't really get into his character until he shaved his head (strangely enough), while Christian (Ivanova) was simply miscast as a tough Russian. Yeah, right. And then there was Furlan (Delenn). Oh my. Let me say first that I'm Croatian (former Yugoslavia) and have watched this incredible actress kick the hell out of difficult character roles like very few actresses in the world could. In Babylon 5, and I say this with no exaggeration, there was hardly a scene where my inner voice wasn't shreaking "STOP OVERACTING"!!! It was uncanny how she managed to do that for 5 complete seasons. This was overshadowed only by worse acting when Sheridan and Delenn had joint happy scenes. My God. The first couple of seasons supporting actors shone and for me, it saved the show: first Katsulas (G'Kar) and Jurasik (Londo), then Furst (Koto), Mumy (Lenier), Conaway (Allan) and Carter (Marcus). In fact, character-wise, the greatest stories on B5 werte those of Lando's rise and fall and G'Kar's transformation from a warrior to a space Homer/Buddha-like character.

I will admit it must have been difficult to get the tension/emotion in SF settings, but BSG does it with ease in so many ways, while B5 resorted to few cliches which kept on repeating. For example, try counting the number of times anyone leaving the room would ever leave it cleanly. Not a chance. There was always a turn before leaving, right on cue. In fact, the best name for it would be "SF emotions for dummies". As all TV shows, this one too suffers from "overhumanizing" the galaxy, like no matter how bad we are, we still end up being far superior to just about every darn race that ever existed - from the first being in the universe to the present day. Hogwash, but I guess we'll always have to live with it.

The thing it does well is juggle alien races and goals. For example, the Vorlons and the Shadows both bring to the table valid points of expanding and weeding out the universe - even though they start out as plain "good and evil". The same can be said for Centari-Narn and, in the end, humans-Membari. Still, I would REALLY like someone envisioning that some races might just have an edge over the human spirit. This ego trip must end some day -I hope.

So, in the end, a good, valiant try of a well-rounded, capital story with wobbly execution. Rest in peace, you deserved it B5!

To me Babylon 5 is a multi-faceted series that leaves me with mixed emotions from the first time I've watched the pilot up to the final series denouement.



Now first the redeeming qualities: The production value of this show is adequate which makes heavy use of CGI generated outer-space scenes with 3D modeled spacecraft versus traditional models and miniatures. With most of the effects work done on relatively low-cost workstations at Foundation Imaging and later inhouse by Netter Digital Imaging, run by Douglas Netter one of the show's producers, there is an obvious attention to detail. The 3D generated models take full advantage of breathtaking lighting effects, expertly done integration into space battles and exterior shots of the Babylon 5 station. The only weak point is the sometimes poor keying of live action with CGI during the first few seasons, but subsequently improved in latter seasons, probably thanks to the acquisition of Flint workstations by Netter. Otherwise their team of animators have obviously done well, earning the show an Emmy award for Special Visual Effects for the pilot movie "The Gathering". Another great accomplishment is the makeup by Optic Nerve Studios in Los Angeles which has a long list of well known shows and movies to its credit as makeup prosthetics, props, animatronics and effects designers which has helped the show win another Emmy award for Makeup for the episode "The Parliament of Dreams".



Set production is mixed, with adequate construction of station backdrops and props. Budget constraints are obvious in other sets. For example the excessive use of drapes to cover up the walls of the Centauri imperial chamber denotes scenes whose preparation seemed rushed into production. You just don't get a sense of the elaborate flourish and gawdy detail you would expect from the seat of the Centauri Empire and the white drape-covered walls has persisted in being the standard look for the throne room throughout the series. However there is never too much of a sense of cheapness in the sets and shouldn't really detract from the experience. It is overall quite acceptable.



Costume designs achieve their task of conveying the individual styles of the races and for the most part are rather well done.



The music score is to say the least, interesting. Much as the special effects, the music is almost completely synthesized and despite this it does well to convey the symphonic grandeur of the themes and the incidental emotions of the moment. I wasn't expecting John Willliams, but I was far from disappointed from the result of Chris Franke's efforts, even if I do think he has sort of a thumb cymbal fetish.



I have some problems with sound editing. Very often you find scenes on the station where there would be a crowd, and all you hear are the actors talking and the shuffling of feet from people walking on set. Background noises of people talking and arguing, rattling of equipment and goods being carried, public vidcoms and music, the humming of power generators or other machinery, all of that is completely forgotten. You would expect at least the Zocalo to be noisy, but it's not.



The other thing that bugs me is lighting in the first two seasons: everything was generally too bright and spotlights were used too often for effect.



As one would expect, the episodic stories range from mildly entertaining to exceptional. Where Babylon 5 shines is the longer story arc of an epic tale of interstellar wars, political scheming and grandiose revelations of ancient races whose battles millenias past still have dramatic repercussions on the newer races who have to unite in order to fight for their survival. This story arc which starts as soon as the first few hints of one of these ancient races, the Shadows, appear well into the first season is what helps get the viewer hooked into the series and continue on until the end of the fifth season, as I did.



The premise for the show is a bit weak in my opinion. The idea of the human race expending a huge amount of resources in building up to five space stations whose goal is "to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully", after the first four were lost or destroyed, seems way up there on the contrivance scale. Without getting too technical into why it would be more feasable to create a planetary base versus two-million five-hundred-thousand tons of metal spinning in space in the middle of nowhere (multiplied by five) and the staggering logistics involved, I am still willing to believe in it since this is after all, science-fiction. And there no doubt would be plenty of nerdy technical justifications discussed on internet forums as to why a space station would be more worthwhile an endeavour than finding some moon or planet to build a base on. It seems that, in this future, building ships incapable of atmospheric flight is all the rage.



And then... there's the acting. Some of it is great and some of it is absolutely atrocious. Quite often I had to wince at some of the pathetic performances of the regular cast and some guest appearances. I admit to having been surprised when I heard that Martin Sheen would make an appearance as a Soul Hunter in the made for TV Babylon 5 movie "The River of Souls" but wasn't all that impressed with the role he was given which I consider a horrible waste of the man's talent. What really gets to me is the uneven performances of Jerry Doyle (Michael Garibaldi) and Claudia Christian (Susan Ivanova) which varied from appalling line delivery which seemed like artificial recitations, to some rare and almost believable poignant and emotional scenes. In all fairness, it took a bit of time for them to grow into their roles and put a bit more emotion and believability into their lines. I have to say that I was never particularly fond of the performance by Michael O'Hare (Jeffrey Sinclair) and had some serious doubts at first about a show that has Bruce Boxleitner (John Sheridan) as its main character even though he didn't turn out as bad as I had expected. On this front, what really saves the day are the stellar performances of Peter Jurasik (Londo Mollari) and the late Andreas Katsulas (G'Kar). Those two really made the series go up a few notches in my esteem and I always enjoyed watching them.



To summarize, Babylon 5 is an enjoyable science-fiction series with good writing, decent character development and special effects with fair acting overall. I will always enjoy re-watching this show and let myself slip into some otherworldly escapism when time permits.

B5 is about so much, change, consequences, and taking reponsibility for your actions. JMS has created such art with this show, and I grew to love it. It had such incredible acting, by the late great Andreas Katsulas and Peter Jurasik, who should have won Emmy's. It has a lot of meaning in todays world, Clark being Bush incarnate. It put me on a journey I have yet to conclude. Thank you JMS,, you really made a masterpiece with this series, and I am so glad we got the 5 years. I got to meet JMS and all the principle actors and it was so special to me. B5 is just so deep and rich. One of the only problems with the show is introducing it to a novice, because it takes much extra attention and it needs to build itself. Most people won't take the time. I started with Gropos, a 2nd season show and each show just blew my mind and impressed me and when I got to Severed Dreams, Wow, I cried when my station was attacked and I knew I loved this show so much. I shall never forget it for many reasons. It is just a masterpiece.

what can I say? Babylon 5 blew me away. after finishing the series, I immediately began re-watching it from the beginning. truth be told, I was a little wary at first. the CGI were not up to standard (especially when compared to Star Trek: DS9) and year 1 isn't exactly what I would describe as "good television" but in the end, sitting through it payed off.



Babylon 5 is an example of a story arc done right. I'm just floored by the attention to detail and consistencies in the plot. This is some of the best writing I have seen on television to date and I'll be damn if I ever find anything that'll top it.



J. Michael Straczynski-Thank you!!!