B5 Lost Tales

[Phily B]

Ok, I watched it yesterday and thought it was pretty good. Just, what was the point in it? Was it just a way of saying to the studio who owns the rights to B5 that there is still a lot of life and interest left in the franchise? It felt really low budget, like they had blown 90 percent on all the beautiful CGI and the rest on about 4 actors. It was good, but it just felt like it was testing the waters for something bigger.

 

[Tulin]

What is B5:TLT?

Well, in the aged care industry I have worked in, it would actually be evidence in an ACAT study for why JMS needs more, shall we say, "special services".


Between the Lucas-styled revising of his own personal history over the past few years, along with the fact that his initial words were actually put out to the world on the internet, thus making his revising seem even more alzheimerish(and that's being kind)and his copying his one good story idea(which he copied from other writers anyway)being recycled endlessly over and OVER, to the point where former slavish fans like me now see him as an addled senior, I'd say the guy needs a really good, long rest somewhere without a keyboard and some nice relaxing activities.


Short answer:TLT is REALLY bad and actually HURT his perception amongst his fans.

 

[Pilot Ace]

A less bitter and more informative answer would be yes, it was a test of the feasibility for a straight to DVD anthology series within the Babylon 5 universe.

Originally it was going to include 3 stories, the two present plus one involving Garibaldi. However, that was quickly scaled down with the Garibaldi story to be done in a future installment. For more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voices_in_the_Dark

No more have been made because JMS wasn't being given a larger budget than he got for the first one (IIRC). He probably felt too limited since these two episodes did feel empty from a production standpoint and probably felt as though he couldn't do justice to the show without a bigger monetary commitment from Warner Bros.

I thought they were okay and would've liked to see more, personally. But, there were definitely problems that needed to be resolved... Including a bigger budget to properly flesh out the product.

 

[Phily B]

What was wrong with it? The only thing that was a bit weird was the Emperor. I just thought that there are more tales to tell.

 

[Trubinator]

I liked TLT enough to buy it. It was true to his original vision of the show, even ten years after the fact. And the CGI was much improved over the regular program.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Not a very good test of the feasibility of more B5. The stories were tired, the acting was wooden, and the production values looked like they were worse than the original series - or maybe it's just that they are so far behind the times - if you wanna do sci fi, you gotta at least try to keep up with the state of the art. Stargate-level crap is tolerable, but this level of crap is not.

There's probably a market for good B5. Maybe someone will test that out someday.

 

[Harvey]

The visual effects were gorgeous to look at--a rarity in the Babylon 5 universe. I bought it in hopes of further, more expensive, more story-arc related installments. Now it appears the purchase was for naught. And for two average, standalone stories, no less.

 

[Jan]

I liked the Lost Tales that we got and wish we'd gotten more. I think that many fans were expecting something that was never promised but I was there when the project was announced and I transcribed it faithfully for the JMSnews.com archives:

So I thought about it and I came back to them and said, “Here’s what I’m thinking. When we did Babylon 5, what I liked were the small little stories that we did as ‘B’ plots and as short stories. What if we did a whole bunch of short films? Little mini-movies, each one worked around established B5 characters, not somebody else. One that’s worked around Sheridan, one that’s worked around Delenn, one that’s worked around Lochley or Garibaldi or whoever it is, and put these things out on DVDs and sell them to networks, whatever you want to do, make them short stories. An anthology show set in the Babylon 5 universe.

Small stories. B stories similar to Londo and G'Kar trapped in the turbo lift. I'll admit that they seemed rather claustrophobic to me, with too few sets and too few background actors but still, nothing huge had been planned or promised.

Yes, it was testing the waters, because that's what WB has always done from the shooting of the pilot to releasing the VHS tapes to releasing B5 on DVD. They're never sure there's a market and so they do something bare-bones to test the waters.

Later on we learned that the buget for the entire disk was only two million dollars although they had to start from scratch with all of the ships and other effects since WB had lost the original files. No wonder there were only two segments instead of the planned three.

As far as I'm concerned, the entire thing was worthwhile if only for the opening sequence with G'Kar's voiceover. If I regret anything, it's that we're not likely to see more of the Prince Regent.

Jan

 

[Phily B]

Yes, I thought it was worth it for the amazing opening sequence. It just felt like it was an opening for more, I'd like to see one with Bester, Garibaldi. Sometimes I get the feeling that a ground work has been set for a sequel set in the future with Sheridan's son, the Prince Regent etc but JMS will probably be dead by then. Ah well.

 

[Jan]

Yes, I thought it was worth it for the amazing opening sequence. It just felt like it was an opening for more, I'd like to see one with Bester, Garibaldi. Sometimes I get the feeling that a ground work has been set for a sequel set in the future with Sheridan's son, the Prince Regent etc but JMS will probably be dead by then. Ah well.

There was a segment planned for the first disk that featured Garibaldi but it had to be dropped due to budgetary concerns. JMS did say that we'd see the Prince Regent again and that we'd also see Sheridan's son David. He also mentioned that he might play with the Telepath War and Lyta.

Even as the disk was being released, Doug Netter and JMS both said onstage at San Diego Comic Con that there'd need to be a much bigger budget for any future disks.

Who knows? Maybe WB will wake up and pony up the dough to do it right. As Lorien said, "Hope is all we have."

Jan
feeling rather Pollyanna-ish

 

[Neroon]

The details have pretty much already been listed, so no need to repeat. Count me as one of those who was looking forward greatly to a series of these. Maybe my enthusiasm got the better of me just a tad, because I was just a teensy bit disappointed in that first - and seemingly only - installment. TLT continued most of what I loved about the show: always beautiful music, ever heightening exquisite special effects and solid acting. The stories intrigued me, but ... I think that as much as I liked them there was a vague sense of "it could have been more". Personally, I chalk that up to the format and the time it would take to smoothe it out.

It was a test alright... and for the dyed-in-the-wool fan in me it passed. But then it wasn't my decision to make. It's unfortunate that the whole project's fate rested on this one chapter, with this small budget, because whatever faults it had could have beem improved with a bigger budget. But it was a good shot even so, and I'm glad we have it.

 

[Captain Worf]

As you can probably tell, I've been on a big B5 kick lately. I never got around to getting this. The completist in me wants to pick it up, but it seems pointless to do so now since there almost certainly won't be any more of these.

 

[Harvey]

I doubt WB waking up at this point will matter much. JMS has already drawn his line in the sand. Even bigger budgeted Lost Tales will be less than what he's asking for now. Who knows--maybe it's a bluff--but that doesn't strike me as the way JMS operates. I think Babylon 5 is effectively done in its original form.

A remake, reimagining could be interesting, some years down the line. But still, it's too soon. Wait until the series has aged 25 years like Battlestar Galactica.

 

[Phily B]

I think in a few years, its feasbile - Sci-Fi will be looking for some decent programming and B5 has always been a ratings winner, especially considering their current ratings across the board. A BSG type show would work with B5, just don't touch the original.

 

[Harvey]

I wonder if the big hurdle will be the rights issues. Will it be easier for Sci-Fi to develop an NBC/Universal property (like Battlestar Galactica) than try to license and develop a property from out of house (for example, Babylon 5 at Warner Bros.)?

 

[Elemental]

I personally loved the stories of TLT. I'd actually been planning to start a similar thread to find out where we were with getting a volume 2 because I remember the first reaction after its release was that it brought in a fair chunk of dough and we'd be seeing volume 2. Damn it all if there isn't more because of budgetary reasons.

 

[crouteru]

To be honest, most things to spin-off from the main B5 series have been awful/medicore. Only the movie 'In The Beginning' was reasonable, though a retread of things we already knew.

When I watched 'The Lost Tales', there was initial excitment, but it felt like two low key b-stories edited together. Very dissapointing. I really don't understand why nobody has enough faith in the B5 universe to either give JMS the budget to make a decent movie or a new television series.

 

[ATimson]

I wonder if the big hurdle will be the rights issues. Will it be easier for Sci-Fi to develop an NBC/Universal property (like Battlestar Galactica) than try to license and develop a property from out of house (for example, Babylon 5 at Warner Bros.)?

It might be cheaper (easier to convince Universal to pony up extra cash and make BSG at a loss and try to make it back on DVD sales), but I'm not sure easier is really the case; they don't seem to have had any problem with three Stargate shows in a row, all from MGM.

 

[mandragora]

Between the Lucas-styled revising of his own personal history over the past few years, along with the fact that his initial words were actually put out to the world on the internet, thus making his revising seem even more alzheimerish(and that's being kind)and his copying his one good story idea(which he copied from other writers anyway)being recycled endlessly over and OVER, to the point where former slavish fans like me now see him as an addled senior, I'd say the guy needs a really good, long rest somewhere without a keyboard and some nice relaxing activities.

Well, that's the problem with slavish fans; they're the most likely to turn into bitter ex-fans, once disappointed. I've never been a slavish fan of anyone, accordingly I've never turned into a hater, even of creators who disappointed me much more than JMS ever did. I wouldn't know about revisions of his personal history, as I don't really follow that sort of posts. What bugs me more lately are certain interview statements on professional stuff that have me wondering if that's still the same guy that used to post a couple of years ago.

As for TLT, I'm one of the rare species who likes the first story better. Though I found Scoggins' acting had room for improvement, the story was unconventional and it gave me plenty of questions to think about (some of them still unanswered). It was the second I was disappointed with: As much as I enjoyed seeing Sheridan and Galen again, I found the story utterly predictable. In addition, the abandoning of certain B5 canon elements, like the introduction of the quantum space, the idea that Starfury pilots don't need spacesuits (and don't try to justify that with "budget reasons"; the budget for introducing the quantum space was obviously there), the White Star "warps" out of quantum space, the Centauri fleet are a thread like never seen before (so apparently they've surpassed both Vorlons and Shadows within a very short time), the logical stretches that are required to make sense of the Centauri throne succession given Legions of Fire information ... all problems that could have easily been avoided, and that they haven't been avoided suggests a certain carelessness dealing with the original series that really disappointed me.

If I didn't know about the budget problems, I'd rate TLT "mediocre"; as it is, given the circumstances I thought it still was certainly not above average for B5, but overall a decent attempt. I know, though, that probably the majority of the fans have been disappointed by it.

 

[Markas]

I didn't love TLT. I loved getting new B5. I was never a slavish fan, but the series is in my top 3 ever. Any opportunity to see something new, or have a hope of some future storytelling is fine by me.