More Babylon 5

[Mr Light]

I'm telling you right now a Telepath War movie is not going to be visually entertaining. Telepath on telepath action is just not something that was ever portrayed to be visually interesting, though they came close with the visual metaphor in "Corps is Mother". Not to mention the fact that it would be impossible to make that story understandable to the general viewing audience.

 

[RandyS]

I'd personally be up for more B5 books.

Yeah. So would I.

 

[Phily B]

I'm telling you right now a Telepath War movie is not going to be visually entertaining. Telepath on telepath action is just not something that was ever portrayed to be visually interesting, though they came close with the visual metaphor in "Corps is Mother". Not to mention the fact that it would be impossible to make that story understandable to the general viewing audience.

Yeah, the telepath angle put me off Babylon 5 at first. It was just so damn cheesy and stupid looking. The best parts tended to be simple mind reading tricks, or Bester. When they got all the CGI effects going for telepaths, and STARING REALLY HARD it got stupid. I think a show with a clean slate set around the time of the war we saw in TLT? It'd certainly need to be accessible to new audiences; I'm not sure how popular B5 is amongst younger audiences.

 

[Reverend]

I found the "telepath stuff" actually works quite well in the novels, as that medium really lends itself well to getting inside a character's mind and I think reading it actually helps make some sense of what was sometimes going on on the show itself.
Personally I think the human telepaths added an interesting dimension to the show that you don't often get in TV science fiction and really explored what the social and cultural consequences would actually be if a certain percentage of the population could read minds, implant thoughts and suggestions, erase or alter memory and silently communicate with one another.

 

[RAMA]

I hate the telepath sub-genre. Its too much like magic for me. Definitely do not want to see a movie about telepaths.

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ I agree. When it comes to mental powers I am at best tolerant (although I did love how Asimov justified his inclusion of them in later years). In the world of B5 the biggest dangling thread is still Crusade; I'd love to see that storyline resolved.

 

[Tulin]

This shouldn't even have been reported as news. Seriously...they commented on a reply on his facebook page?

So, you're new to AICN.....right?

 

[Saga]

i could see the Telepath War as a tv movie but not as a feature film. as for Lost Tales it wasn't that the stories were terrible, just seemed a bit unnecessary.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I've never really used AICN as a news source so yeah you could say I'm new lol.

 

[JoeD80]

With the existing cast? It'll never happen. THE MEMORY OF THE SHADOWS was the last chance this franchise (unless it is rebooted) had of a theatrically-distributed feature film, and it was a long-shot before it fell apart due to the financiers.

Yeah you know because once one movie idea is pushed aside, you can never try a different one.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Exactly. Joe came up with "The Memory of Shadows" I'm sure he can come up with (and maybe already has) another idea for a feature film. This is his universe and I'm sure that there are any number of interesting stories he thinks he still can tell that would entertain us. The thing is I don't think that he will be able to recapture that magic that the original series had. He wasn't able to do so with "Crusade" (although he wasn't exactly given a chance to) and "Legend of the Rangers" was just horrible but all of these ideas would indicate that the well isn't dried up. Personally I think it's just a matter of desire for him.

 

[Harvey]

With the existing cast? It'll never happen. THE MEMORY OF THE SHADOWS was the last chance this franchise (unless it is rebooted) had of a theatrically-distributed feature film, and it was a long-shot before it fell apart due to the financiers.

Yeah you know because once one movie idea is pushed aside, you can never try a different one.

My comment has nothing to do with the idea, but with the timing. Simply too many years have passed since the series was on television for a revival of this sort. Two of the primary actors, Andreas Katsulas and Richard Biggs, have since passed away. The series is rarely repeated on American television. Those aren't conditions that are at all conducive to the production of a feature film with theatrical distribution. A DVD or TV movie? It might happen, though Warner Bros. doens't seem interested in spending a lot of money on the franchise.

 

[Kegg]

My comment has nothing to do with the idea, but with the timing. Simply too many years have passed since the series was on television for a revival of this sort. Two of the primary actors, Andreas Katsulas and Richard Biggs, have since passed away. The series is rarely repeated on American television. Those aren't conditions that are at all conducive to the production of a feature film with theatrical distribution.

Bingo.

If you're going to make a Babylon 5 title aimed squarely at the niche market of fans, then you'll get a budget like The Lost Tales, to which JMS has expressed his disapproval. I believe his stance is a decent budget or nothing and we've had resounding silence on the subject since (and I personally don't think that'll change).

A feature film will have to try to appeal to people who do not even know what Babylon 5 is.

 

[David cgc]

^Like that thing in the Drew Carey Show, "Babylon 5 After 5."

 

[Forbin]

Wait 30 or 40 years, and somebody will dredge B5 up for a "reimagining."

 

[Harvey]

30 or 40 years? If somebody wants to remake the series, I doubt it will take that long for it to happen.

 

[Forbin]

Well, it took that long for Galactica, and the spate of movies based on 60s & 70s TV shows. That's what I was referring to.

 

[Reverend]

You really can't compare the original BSG with B5. For one thing B5 lasted more than one season and actually got better as it went on, not worse. A more apt point of comparison would be the 10 years it took to reboot Star Trek the first time around...and you know, it's been about 10 years since B5 ended, so I don't see it as too short a period.

 

[JoeD80]

Simply too many years have passed since the series was on television for a revival of this sort. Two of the primary actors, Andreas Katsulas and Richard Biggs, have since passed away. The series is rarely repeated on American television. Those aren't conditions that are at all conducive to the production of a feature film with theatrical distribution.

If Tron can have a sequel 28 years later, anything can happen.

I believe his stance is a decent budget or nothing and we've had resounding silence on the subject since

Joe has had talks with WB about this issue after his comments about budget. What came of those talks, is between him and WB, but this isn't something WB just ignored. If B5 will still make them money, they'll want to do something. Studios love to do remakes/reboots/sequels because they can guarantee an audience that way. My prediction: A B5 tv series on HBO or Showtime, because you expect niche audiences there and it would give complete freedom to do what you want on a series without worry for censorship issues.

 

[Forbin]

You really can't compare the original BSG with B5. For one thing B5 lasted more than one season and actually got better as it went on, not worse. A more apt point of comparison would be the 10 years it took to reboot Star Trek the first time around...and you know, it's been about 10 years since B5 ended, so I don't see it as too short a period.

Actually, I can compare anything I want with anything else I want. There are no rules. And I actually wasn't comparing anything with anything ANYway, I was just making a wise crack riffing off the way old things are being remade these days, and throwing out a few random examples. But feel free to pick my offhand comments apart anyway, if it gives you joy.