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Babylon 5 - The Lost Tales [2007]

RRP: £13.99
Our Price: £4.99 (subject to change)

Glad to see more of this show.
Review date: 2008-06-16 Rating: 8 out of 10

Not a feature length piece, more like finding two unseen episodes of series 5. The two pieces are stand alone, relatively slow paced episodes, focusing on a single dilemma in each.

They lack the interconnected richness of the greatest arc episodes, and of course they lack the full cast and station atmosphere, but I enjoyed them both and was glad for the new additions to the series.

The cast, old and new, was excellent, the special effects have jumped forward again, and the new look slightly edgy cinematography was intriguing.

Not having particular expectations of The Lost Tales helped me take it at face value. Since I'd only just caught up with series 5 for the first time, I didn't have a 9 year wait for this release to build up the show in my mind and become nostalgic about it.

If you have neutral expectations you'll welcome this; if you expect a return to the heights of seasons 3 and 4 after a long wait then I can see why you'd be disappointed.

Reviews

Some boring bits of the B5 universe
Review date: 2008-06-16 Rating: 6 out of 10

I am a huge B5 fan. I watched the series on Channel 4 UK TV and purchased the videos (yes, that's VHS - this was before it became available on DVD). So I bought this DVD with great anticipation that it would be up to the mark. I should have been warned, because Legend of the Rangers - well acted and reasonably entertaining as it is - fell well below the punching level of B5. Lost Tales falls even farther behind. I understand the concept, and theoretically it's a good one, but if these two 40-minute episodes are anything to go by, it's failed. Why? Well because these are fairly simple, stand alone SciFi stories that could exist in any universe: Star Trek, Andromeda - you name it. There is nothing about them that is uniquely B5 or that adds to what we already know about the B5 universe. What a missed opportunity, when there's so much scope. For example, the history of the technomages, or how the shadows engaged their allies, or even resolving the unfinished story of Crusade. If you're a real B5 fan like me you'll probably want to get this just to complete the collection, but otherwise, if you're looking for something special, don't bother.

I thinks you complain too much...
Review date: 2008-05-23 Rating: 8 out of 10

Having watched Lost Tales today, I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was (having read the reviews I was expecting far worse). Considering it was made cheaply I thought it was a polished production, the CG was clearly much better than previous attempts (good to see B5 and the old, and some new, ships looking soooo good!).

Personally I didn't mind the stories being a tad weak, I was just happy to have another 'slice' of the B5 universe. Clearly it's never going to be possible to recreate the 'good old days' of the original (the sad loss of Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar and, to a lesser extent, Richard Biggs as Dr Stephen Franklin has seen to that). However, as a START, I enjoyed Lost Tales, and that is the point - if people don't rally round and support this project it will most likely be the END as well.

Disappointing and missed the mark
Review date: 2008-04-29 Rating: 2 out of 10

JMS may have been exploring a new more compact storytelling format. The budgets probably were tight. But there is no excuse for this poor result!

For example: there was so much hype about how they had to reconstruct all the sets and the cgi backgrounds. The compositing of actors and background has been done to the same standard as ten years ago, rather than to the more 'realistic' approaches of today. Come on guys - why not keep up with the times and produce sharp clean results rather than the fuzzy low quality efforts that you did?

The storylines should have at least been put in the opposite order - the producers should not have let JMS jump in with both boots and bore the audience rigid (or offend them in some cases) with a heavily religious pontificating episode like they did. By the time the second episode started, I was so annoyed that I didn't appreciate what little the latter story had to offer. Yes, JMS has looked at religious/moral topics before, but he's done it in a much more accomplished manner.

Personally, I think both scripts should have been rewritten. I cannot recommend this as a good dvd to buy. I'm still wishing I hadn't. I really really hope that no-one is put off the rest of B5 by this - the worst offering yet.

Maybe Should Have Stayed Lost
Review date: 2008-03-29 Rating: 4 out of 10

I am a huge fan of Babylon 5. It was one of the best and most clearly thought through Sci-Fi series of all time. There was a distinct beginning, middle and end to the whole production. Not just a morality tale extravaganza as bedogs the whole Star Trek ouvre. The characters were rounded, accessible, real. In Ivanova, Garibaldi, Franklin, Molari, G'Kar and Linear J Michael Stracinski created some of the best to ever grace a series, Sci-Fi or any other. Sadly though none of them is in this two mini episode movie. Franklin & G'Kar because the actors Richard Biggs and Andreas Katsulas have died. The others because no approach was made. What you are left with is Bruce Boxleitner, Tracey Scoggins and Peter Woodward in two short tales which would never have made the original series. Whereas the thought processes and ideas are good the execution is poor. B5 has never looked so false. It looks as if it were done on the cheap, even the sets are wrong. The one major selling factor of the original series was the aliens, none of whom are even visible, either as characters or extras in this hodge podge. My only reason for 2 instead of 1 star is the originality of the story lines. Not to everyones taste. I will not be recommending this to anyone.

Product Details/Specifications

Actor(s):
Tracy Scoggins
Peter Woodward
Bruce Boxleitner

Director(s):

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321902129846
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2007-09-03
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 69 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2007
Language: English (Original Language)

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Babylon 5 - The Lost Tales [2007]

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