Text 16844, 119 rader
Skriven 2007-08-06 19:32:39 av StarFuryG7 (3321.babylon5)
     Kommentar till en text av rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Ärende: "Babylon 5: The Lost Tales" - A Review
==============================================
***SPOILER Warning: I don't give much away, but read at your own risk
nonetheless if you haven't seen this movie as yet.***

        Okay--what we have here in my view is an A-story and a B-story
and a failure to incorporate and edit the two together to make one
interwoven picture rather than showing the two stories back-to-back
individually. During the television series we often saw episodes in
which this was rather commonplace: an A-story and a B-story, with the
A-story being the primary, more central focus, while the B-story
provided the viewer with something else to pay attention to and take
note of, but which was of lesser importance. Why Joe didn't do it that
way here I can only guess. His direction was fair, but since "Babylon
5" has been out of commission for nearly a decade (not counting either
"Crusade" or "Legend of the Rangers," both of which were spin-offs
with different casts and characters while nevertheless inhabiting the
same universe), I also wonder if this feature would have fared
somewhat better with an experienced director, preferably one who had
helmed episodes of the original series, taking the reigns instead.
        Lochley's story lacked the feel of the station somehow despite
the scenery being accurate, and in that initial scene in the docking
bay, Tracy Scoggins and Alan Scarfe (a fine actor) came off as though
they were just reciting lines and were less than comfortable in their
respective roles. This may have had a lot to do with the fact that
both actors were performing on a bare green screen stage, without the
benefit of an actual constructed set around them to help give them a
feel for where they were supposed to be and put them in the right mood
to more properly deliver their lines. But regardless of the reason,
another take should have been done of that scene. (An experienced
director probably would have noticed this immediately and likely would
have re-shot the scene, although I understand that Joe and the crew
were working under tight time and budget constraints.)
        The ending to this first story was also very anticlimactic,
and came across as a Twilight Zone episode that just didn't quite cut
it. And given the long gap since the series left the air, Joe
definitely should have offered up something with more of an adrenaline
surge to it. The dialogue was for the most part quite good in many
places, but it lacked much needed action.

        In the Sheridan story, which was much better than the first,
you could feel things picking up, and this truly started to feel like
a "Babylon 5" feature, but again, it lacked action unfortunately.
Boxleitner seemed very comfortable in the role, as though he had never
left it in fact, and that was good to see. I believe he really likes
his character. I was also unexpectedly impressed by the actor who
portrayed the Centauri Prince, mainly because his accent was so
reminiscent of Peter Jurasik in the role of Londo Molari and so
utterly dead-on in that regard that I was forced to wonder whether
this actor was a longstanding fan of "Babylon 5" himself. In that
respect, he was utterly superb in the role he played. I also liked the
scene between Sheridan and the reporter early on (and yes, that was
the actress from "Stargate SG-1" if anyone was wondering, not that I
really cared because I never liked that series anyway, and stopped
watching it ages ago, back when it was still airing on Showtime.) That
scene may have struck people as just a throw-in of little or no value
to the overall plot, but it adequately served as a reintroduction to
Sheridan's character, briefly covering the long ten-year gap
(practically) since we last saw him. It was also nice to see that he
hadn't lost his sense of humor after all this time (I rather enjoyed
what he did to the reporter at the end of that scene, and for me
personally, it harkened back to "The Illusion of Truth," and even
though it wasn't the same reporter, she still got what she deserved.)

        The special effects work was good, and it pains me to say
this, especially since it was one of the better attributes of this
production, but I nevertheless think the CGI work in "Legend of the
Rangers" was better. Part of this may well have had to do with the
production budget for this feature. I know, for example, that the
people working on producing the special effects here were putting in
overtime at no charge in order to get the work done, and the lack of a
budget showed, even though Straczynski and his team were able to
squeak by and finish out this feature. That's not necessarily saying
much, however. Why would Warner Bros. issue an enthusiastic press
release concerning their venturing into the direct-to-DVD market
beginning with this release, and then not provide adequate funds to
make the production a bit more impressive? After all, it probably
wouldn't have taken a whole lot more in order to accomplish that
particular goal. Think of what Babylonian Productions was able to
accomplish less than ten years ago with a budget of under a million
dollars an episode for the television series. The sparseness of a set
for Sheridan's interview with the ISN reporter was but one example,
although JMS did a pretty good job of trying to address it by talking
about the Minbari's Spartan way of living, which also had the
convenience of being true within the context of the series.
        At any rate, this story, as with the first, was also
anticlimactic unfortunately. Sheridan does the nice thing rather than
behaving as just a cold-blooded murderer. Did anyone not see that
coming? And both Sheridan and Lochley, in each story, have revelations
based on the words of their counterparts that lead them to a way to
try and resolve the situation.  It smacked a little too much of the
written workings of a singular mind.
        I liked the battle sequence in space in this second story, but
it was too short and seemed out of place. More of that would have been
nice, however, especially if it was contextually relevant to the
story.

A few other things that bothered me:

        Why was Galen able to see thirty years into the future even
though he's a techno-mage?

        Wouldn't Sheridan have some apprehension about taking the
Centauri Prince into his home knowing what Galen said he saw as his
future?

     I want to see more, and I'd love to see the Station bustling with
activity especially the next time. I realize this was something of an
experiment, but more money and resources should have been devoted to
its development. A non-initiated, non-fan of this saga who decided to
buy this DVD and give it a look just wouldn't have been grabbed by it,
sadly. On the plus side, however, is that we know this will be sold to
the Sci Fi Channel and other Basic Cable and syndicated stations
throughout the country and will air as a ninety-minute commercial
movie, even though it's two stories in one. (I'd love to edit this one
myself, and weave the two episodes together more dynamically for my
own private collection.)

Overall Grade opinion: B-
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