25th Anniversary of Babylon 5

Harkonan

Space Marshal
Nov 22, 2015
403
1,268
2,450
RSI Handle
Harkypoo
I confess I've never seen the show. What is the closest comparison that I might have seen?
At its core it is a sci-fi space show similar to say a Star Trek. The show focuses more on the inter-relationships of the main characters while slowly diving into a pretty epic story line involving the evolution of all sentient beings and our purposes. The way it tackles social, economic, and political issues is very well done and not preachy ... often laced with a small dash of witty humor.

It's just an all around good show IMHO. And the further down the storyline rabbit hole you go, that harder it is not to keep watching. Babylon 5 literally invented the long-form storyline tv show that people have grown accustom to ... long before HBO or Netflix were pumping out shows with long multi-season story archs.
 
Last edited:

Graptor

Space Marshal
Jul 21, 2016
210
779
2,300
RSI Handle
Graptor
1) Holy Grap, you're back! Long time no talk old boy. How the hell ya doing?
@Blind Owl!! Good to see you! HAH!! Took a bit of a break from it all. Not just here. Life has tossed in some pretty good curve balls on me! Took leave for a bit to put my head back on straight. This is neither the time or place for *that* conversation though. I need lots more beer for that. But, yes, I'm lurking in the background again. Now I need that computer upgrade so I can play proper SC, not slow, herky-jerky SC. LOL.

At its core it is a sci-fi space show similar to say a Star Trek. The show focuses more on the inter-relationships of the main characters while slowly diving into a pretty epic story line involving the evolution of all sentient beings and our purposes. The way it tackles social, economic, and political issues is very well done and not preachy ... often laced with a small dash of witty humor.

It's just an all around good show IMHO. And the further down the storyline rabbit hole you go, that harder it is not to keep watching. Babylon 5 literally invented the long-form storyline tv show that people have grown accustom to ... long before HBO or Netflix were pumping out shows with long multi-season story archs.
I'll add one thing to the above excellent synopsis. I love the fact that the set was kept low budget. It's almost a cheesy set by comparison to what they could have done in the 90's already (think Star Wars special effects). But they kept it purposefully low budget, and the acting and the story line carried the show.
 

Harkonan

Space Marshal
Nov 22, 2015
403
1,268
2,450
RSI Handle
Harkypoo
@Blind Owl I love the fact that the set was kept low budget. It's almost a cheesy set by comparison to what they could have done in the 90's already (think Star Wars special effects). But they kept it purposefully low budget, and the acting and the story line carried the show.
I'm not sure about that. Babylon 5 received a lot of praise (they won an Emmy) for its ground breaking special effects for a television show back in the day, they're simply heavily outdated with the advances in CGI the past 25 years.

And as far as practical effects go, they still hold up to this day. In fact, people are starting to crave practical effects again due to CGI being heavily saturated.
 

Harkonan

Space Marshal
Nov 22, 2015
403
1,268
2,450
RSI Handle
Harkypoo
This article explains how and why the digital copies of the special effects look worse on todays resolutions .... in more detail than just about anyone would care to learn honestly. lol

But yeah, it wasn't a high budget show ... but there use of CGI was grounding breaking at the time in tv (Most of Star Trek's special effects were still simple particle effects) .
Looked much better back on everyones 27" 200lbs 4:3 tv screen back in the day. 😆


Luckily the outdated effects will not sway 99.9999% of people from watching the show. I can safely say it takes nothing away from the show. But seeing it in its original glory was pretty spectacular when we were gaming with graphics like this:



 

Blind Owl

Hallucinogenic Owl
Donor
Nov 27, 2015
20,862
73,607
3,160
RSI Handle
BlindOwl
Good to see you! HAH!! Took a bit of a break from it all. Not just here. Life has tossed in some pretty good curve balls on me! Took leave for a bit to put my head back on straight. This is neither the time or place for *that* conversation though. I need lots more beer for that. But, yes, I'm lurking in the background again. Now I need that computer upgrade so I can play proper SC, not slow, herky-jerky SC. LOL
Well then, we shall have to have a chat offline over a few beers sometime. To be honest my friend, I also took a major hiatus for quite some time. Been focusing on my family, spending a massive amount of time playing in the rain, Legos, drawing pictures, going sledding, etc. I've really taken a keen interest in being present. So social media has taken a backseat, and I can't say that I miss it.

Good to see ya back old boy. Cheers to you my friend. I pray that everything has sorted itself out for ya.
 

Harkonan

Space Marshal
Nov 22, 2015
403
1,268
2,450
RSI Handle
Harkypoo
Man, I didn't even remember the season finale (Episode 22) of Season 4. What a beautifully poetic episode. This episode just might embody the spirit of the entire series. What a wonderful way to use flashbacks to convey what happens in the far future. And to cap it off with a brief glimpse of humanities evolution (very Vorlon'ish btw) and our ascension towards the rim as our own sun dies. Good grief, what good writing.

Plus, Garibaldi kicking ass even as a hologram made me smile. lol
I think this has become my favorite episode of all-time now that I am re-watching the series after so long. I appreciate the writing of this episode much more now.
 
Last edited:
Forgot your password?