Babylon 5- the movie

That would be great. I'm a big huge B5 fan. I hope for IC to get a license to develop a B5 edition of Sins.

1) yippie! imo bab5 was the best sci fi series ever, maybe even the best sci fi materiel on screen, so I'd be more than happy to see more of it, if it keeps the same quality.

2) well, the story is basically told, so ... what could you possibly do? plus, the series relied on continuity, gradual building of tensions, character development. a lot of it I just don't see possible in a movie. I' ready to be surprised, I have the dvd sets and read some on fan forums and JMS seems like a very clever person who thinks and plans a lot before he does a project like that.

3) I'm also pleased to see that JMS himself admitted that some of the films were not that great. ItB was really good, but the others were ... not bad, but just not so special. admitting there is a problem is the first step to correct it as they say.

4) hope WB keeps to its promise and let's him do it his way. when you read some of the stuff that went on in crusade, it makes you shudder. the show had quite some premise and even in the episodes that were aired and in the comments, you see how much outsiders interfered with what would have been a good concept.

No doubt. It always seemed like WB treated B5 as a bastard stepchild it liked to slap around. I never really understood why JMS simply did nto get the all the rights back and shop it around to other production houses.

yeah. but then, before or during the serie's run, long story arcs, even across seasons all this just was not so common. I mean now we have bsg, I think lost is fairly arc driven and a few others. episodic format was probably seen as the saver way to go. and after the series ... well, he had told his story, so buying the rights without knowing exactly what to do with them is also risky. I mean what I really do wonder is when they made crusade, why they blocked him so much. I mean by then bab 5 was already established and I'd say successful even. why would they not trust in his ability to make a good sequel series? but then, that's what happens when you let managers take decisions that have no clue about the business or audience or content. (I hope to do better is such situations)

Aren't there already five B5 movies?

I think they are talking about a theatrical release, i.e. a cinema movie. big difference here.

That they are.

Oh, then this might be nice!

You just know Bester and John will be there for it but the others - hmmm....

Andreas Katsulas certainly cannot be in it, since he died (G'Kar).

I also noticed that Forbidden Planet is mentioned as upcoming.

I think the actor that played Dr. Frankling (Richard Briggs or sth?) also passed away. tragedy of real life I guess.

People, sorry to burst your bubble, but not even the direct to DVD release of The Lost Tales made it farther than the first part because JMS didn't want any more cheap solutions to feed the fans. And considering the failure of the Memories of the Shadows movie project BECAUSE WB wanted to make it cheap and a recast I hardly hold any high hopes.

Oh, and: Yes, Richard Biggs also passed away.

Well there is still hope, Londo Mollari is still alive and kickin' or did Peter kick the bucket as well? After all the entire B5 story was really oriented around him.

I hope it happens, and that they do something with the drakh war and how they eventually save earth from the plague

No Spartan, Peter Jurasik ist still alive - thank goodness.

I would also like to see him in a potential movie. "Oh, it would be quite annoying, yeees?!" *grin*

Though my guess is that the story would revolve more about Earth and the ongoings on B5 itself than the Centauri.

The Centauri story was well told in the Legion of Fire Trilogy.

The TMoS story as far as it was outlined by JMS sounded pretty promising. Maybe he would give it another try to give people a conclusion to the Crusade story.

We wil see...

one of my biggest sources of scepticsm is how he can strike a balance between making a movie for fans and for the general crowd. I mean, the b5 universe is fairly extensive, so a couple of things would need to be explained to newcomers. but the more you do that, the less time for story remains. so also for that reason, I can barely imagine he would conclude an open storyline, just because it would take too much time explaining what had gone on before, who the people are and why they are doing what they are doing.

but as always I'm ready and more than happy to be surprised.

@Star - that would be fun nonetheless. After all defeating them is not enough, we have to break them. 

In general for one would like to see the Drakh and the poising of earth resolved - Crusade focus or not. As a devoted fan there are many stories I would like to see followed up on.

... strike a balance between making a movie for fans and for the general crowd. I mean, the b5 universe is fairly extensive, so a couple of things would need to be explained to newcomers.

End of quote

Not nescessarily. Dunno if you have seen the Serenity movie. But this one also didn't care about the general crowd. It was made for the Firefly fanbase to wrap things up. If it, as a side effect, hooked up more people with the origial series all the better, but that was not the main intention, unlike the SW Prequels (*BLEH*).

 

@Spartan:

Personally I don't care THAT much about the cure to the plague. The solution to the Drakh problem in general however would be quite interesting. Those who read LoF know how the Centauri got rid of 'em, but that's just one part of the story...

A number of people hoped that TMoS would also show a good portion of the Teep War, but I don't care about that story very much either. More Byron?! *vomits*

There are so many possibilities... I mean: Theoretically he has a 1 million years timeline to cover. Even a longer one into the past.

He could easily tell the story how things lead to the cursed Earth, mankind's evolution to incorporeallity or it'S move to the Vorlon Homeworld, or even what happened while the First Ones inhabited the known universe...

I would really like to see the adventure's of Lyta and G'Kar, but that is out of the question - sadly.

 

AND: I would also REEEALLY like someone to continue the B5 Mod for Galciv2...

Btw. the same could be done for Sins. So there is no need for an official B5 edition.

 

@Star - yeah I would love a series on the adventures of G'Kar but that is likely not possible now due to death. I never really got into Lyta for some reason. Delenn was more my type (after the change) but I have to admit that I preferred Lochley since (she is my type) for late show character. My most favorite female character after Delenn, has to be Catherine Sakai but I digress...

The takeover of the Vorlon HW would be something sweet to see if it was done correctly. I would also like to see a lot more of the First Ones. I'm also interested in those things from the other dimension.

Hehe, my nick on the JMS B5 Board is "I love Lyta" (little tribute to "I love Lucy") so guess who MY favorite was.

Though I always considered Lise Hampton Edgars to be very beautiful.

As for C. Sakai:"I don't want to startle you, but it seems your pants are talking to you."

You mean the ones from Third Space or from Legend of the Rangers (The Hand)?

@Star - The ones from TS of course.

Regarding the story arc, sadly enough, I never thought JMS ended it correctly. The going beyond the "rim" exit was a rather lame ending. Additionally I guess Lorien was a precursor to God or something like that. Moreover I was shocked at how child like the Shadows and Vorlons became with him.

actually that's just the portion I liked. well, not necessarily going beyond the rim, but moving on and letting go. and the shadows' and vorlons' reaction to lorien showed that to a degree they were also just lonley and without a purpose. so, yeah, despite all the tech, the physical development, they're not perfect yet and can lose their way.

@ Star Adder: sry, didn't see it. was it in theatres also or a tv release? because in a tv release you don't have that big a risk, ie you don't have to attract as large an audience to break even. I mean, let's get this straight, I'd be all in for a pure fan movie, I know the series, I don't need introduction or anything. I was just wondering that if the movie was really done, how he would approach it. relying on fans alone can only work to a degree, as long as the projected revenue will cover the cost. it's business after all.

I read a WiKi article that the Hand might somehow be related to the TS race. But that might very well be just be more of a wild guess than a fact. I'd also have liked to see more of both, but sadly LotR flopped so badly...

As for the the whole beyond the rim thingy: Well, what else could the old races have done but to ride into the sunset and head for new frontiers after the younger races proved to be self sufficient and they grew tired of their childish squables?

And even fully grown ups like Vorlons and Shadows are entitled to feel like kids again when in the presence of a parent. And even more so when he/she raises a finger and tells them they did something wrong. So I don't have a problem with how this arc was ended.

And Lorien being somewhat like "God" I wouldn't say. He does not seek the admiration and worship of his creations. I always thought the Ori in Stargate:SG-1 are more fitting in that respect.

Serenity was a theatrical release, Shadwohal. Even here in Germany, where the Firefly series didn't even make it to the local TV broadcast, it hit the theatres. Joss Whedon gave a damn about the revenue in this case. He wanted to give the loyal fans kind of a satisfactory ending to the story after the series was cancelled.

Agreed that it's business, and that WB would of course have a great interest in making as much money from the movie as possible. So THEY would want to make it attractive to more people than just the existing fanbase. But trust me: JMS will not have WB's suits dictating what he movie has to be like. He'd rather drop it just the way he did the TMoS project and the Lost Tales project.

Maybe he finds a golden middle way to achieve both. Satisfying the fans and attracting a new audience. Who knows?

Six. TNT commissioned 4 when the bought the series, 3 of which are ok and one of which ("In the Beginning") is actually quite good.

The Sci Fi channel commissioned "Legend of the Rangers" as a potential launching point for a new series, it was an abomination of untold proportions.

JMS then made a direct to DVD movie (originally intended to be the first of a series) "Lost Tales." It, too, was horrible.

At this point it's all too clear that the magic's gone, I'd prefer they let this wonderful TV series rest in peace, rather than continuing to find newer and more grotesque ways to zombify it. That Richard Biggs and Andreas Kastulas are both gone (RIP) just furthers the point.

I agree, the series is finished. But, in a grand way. There can never be 'a new series', because the first was so complete.

Bab5 might be the best SciFi series of all time. But to simply create a new movie to bring it back would be to do a disservice to the entire series. What more can be said?

A better tactic might be to air clips from the original series, get it back on the air (from the beginning) through SciFi, and bring in a new generation of viewers (and buyers for the DVD's).