Description
This article is from the Babylon 5, UK
FAQ, by Anthony Naggs amn@ubik.demon.co.uk with numerous
contributions by others.
4.1 Which Babylon 5 TV movies can I get on video?
There are five feature length Babylon 5 stories. The original pilot,
known as "The Gathering" but distributed as "Babylon 5", didn't fulfil
JMS's, (Joe Straczynski), hopes for various reasons, including the
director not quite sharing Joe's vision and PTEN requiring it to be
edited into four acts instead of three. In 1997 Joe re-edited The
Gathering, recovering missing scenes, (despite difficulties such as
rats having dined on some of the original film), and using a new Chris
Franke score that makes it feel more harmonious with the rest of the
story. Although the re-edited version has shown in the USA there is
as yet no sign of either a UK broadcast or video release.
The original version of the pilot has been shown several times on
Channel 4 and is available on video.
There are four other tv movies, which have all been released on video:
1. In the Beginning, is a prequel story to the whole Babylon 5 story.
UK release; 27th July 1998.
HMV have a limited edition twinpack of book & video.
Rating: 10 out of 10. Excellent!
2. Thirdspace, leans to the horror/adventure genre - with strong
undercurrents of H.P. Lovecraft.
UK release; 14th September 1998.
HMV have a limited edition twinpack of book & video.
Rating: very good (8 out of 10) for people who like this genre,
but unsatisfying or worse (3 out of 10) for others.
3. River of Souls, mediocre transplant of one of those awful Star Trek
TNG or Voyager holodeck stories, set early/mid season 4.
UK release; 22nd February 1999.
(The novelization fell through, so there is no HMV twinpack.)
Rating: 2 out of 10. Poor compared to the rest of Babylon 5.
4. A Call to Arms, segues from the Babylon 5 story into setting up the
premise for Crusade.
UK release; 2nd August 1999.
HMV have a limited edition twinpack of book & video.
Rating: 7 out of 10. Good, but a few story weaknesses.
From 1st November 1999 a special boxed set of widescreen editions of
the four movies have been available from HMV, see below ...
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