My rewatch of Babylon 5

[tomswift2002]

All the best on your rewatch! I did as much a few months ago.

Season 1 was surprisingly watchable. When I first discovered B5, it was with my brother on Saturday afternoons. It never aired on prime time in New Zealand. I think we got into it around the end of S4. Bit of an odd jumping in point but we were young and weren't paying that much attention.

When I gave the series a proper go it was renting VHS videos and they only stocked S2 onwards. It was enough to get the jist of the arc. It was only on my last rewatch this year I watched S1 proper. As I said, it was surprisingly watchable (there were some real clunkers - let's not kid ourselves).

I'd love to see this series remastered - not holding any hope out of course.

Funnily Enough, Those VHS are the best way to watch the entire series nowadays. Sure there’s Laserdisc, but Laserdisc only got the complete seasons of 1 & 5, and half seasons of 2 & 4 and no Season 3 episodes. Whereas VHS got all the episodes & movies in the original 4:3.

 

[Neroon]

I have renamed this thread to allow such worthy discussion to exist on its own. ^_^

Seriously though... the discussion regards a fan's rewatch of the series. After all, I may have been born warrior caste, but the calling of my true heart is religious, so who am I to deny such a profession of faith?

 

[Forbin]

Funnily Enough, Those VHS are the best way to watch the entire series nowadays. Sure there’s Laserdisc, but Laserdisc only got the complete seasons of 1 & 5, and half seasons of 2 & 4 and no Season 3 episodes. Whereas VHS got all the episodes & movies in the original 4:3.

Did they all finally come out on VHS? I got seasons 1,5,2 and 4 (released in that order, IIRC!!), and then the DVDs came out before I got S3, so I stopped buying the VHSs.

 

[tomswift2002]

Did they all finally come out on VHS? I got seasons 1,5,2 and 4 (released in that order, IIRC!!), and then the DVDs came out before I got S3, so I stopped buying the VHSs.

Columbia House here in North America released the entire series on NTSC VHS. I’ve heard different reports that on the retail side through Warner Home Video only the same episodes as released on Laserdisc were released to brick-and-mortar stores, while other reports indicate that all episodes got a VHS release. But for sure Columbia House did a Complete Series release,

Also I’m not to sure about PAL/SECAM VHS releases.

 

[MacLeod]

Columbia House here in North America released the entire series on NTSC VHS. I’ve heard different reports that on the retail side through Warner Home Video only the same episodes as released on Laserdisc were released to brick-and-mortar stores, while other reports indicate that all episodes got a VHS release. But for sure Columbia House did a Complete Series release,

Also I’m not to sure about PAL/SECAM VHS releases.

I think they all seasons (not 100% certain on S5) got a VHS PAL release, but it was a while ago and I can't fully remember.

 

[Cyrus]

I watched it during its first run, never liked it that much, though it kept my interest enough to keep watching it to the end. Maybe I will do a rewatch in the future but don't feel like doing it now.

 

[Marsden]

I have renamed this thread to allow such worthy discussion to exist on its own. ^_^

Seriously though... the discussion regards a fan's rewatch of the series. After all, I may have been born warrior caste, but the calling of my true heart is religious, so who am I to deny such a profession of faith?

Spoiler

I was so upset when you burned up to ashes.

 

[RPOW0614]

Great show and I re-watch the entire series every few years.
The special effects are a little dated but the story is good enough to overlook that.

 

[haddie moonfall]

Great show and I re-watch the entire series every few years.
The special effects are a little dated but the story is good enough to overlook that.

I agree it's been great so far, enjoying it again and also noticing some DS9 similarities and of course, an evil Chekov

 

[RPOW0614]

I agree it's been great so far, enjoying it again and also noticing some DS9 similarities and of course, an evil Chekov

Chek-who? If he isn't remembered for Bester I'll feel bad for Walter.
Chekov was just teeny-bopper fodder.
Put in the seat because "The Monkees" was doing well against them.
Bester was a great role of a very complex character.

Try to find the video of Walter, in costume, walking into some "Con" with about 100 Psi-Corps soldiers, hilarious.

 

[haddie moonfall]

Chek-who? If he isn't remembered for Bester I'll feel bad for Walter.
Chekov was just teeny-bopper fodder.
Put in the seat because "The Monkees" was doing well against them.
Bester was a great role of a very complex character.

Try to find the video of Walter, in costume, walking into some "Con" with about 100 Psi-Corps soldiers, hilarious.

Interesting history, glad to know.. makes sense too.. I was just making Star Trek connections to B5

 

[RPOW0614]

So many on B5.
Even Majel Barret was on as a Centauri.

The old rumor was JMS shopped around B5 to all the major studios and was turned down.
But then out of nowhere the idea for DS9 pops up.
Suspicious timing at best.

 

[DigificWriter]

So many on B5.
Even Majel Barret was on as a Centauri.

The old rumor was JMS shopped around B5 to all the major studios and was turned down.
But then out of nowhere the idea for DS9 pops up.
Suspicious timing at best.

JMS himself debunked the "DS9 was a ripoff of Babylon 5" speculation.

 

[Forbin]

JMS himself debunked the "DS9 was a ripoff of Babylon 5" speculation.

That may have just been politics.
Whatever the truth, we got two great series, so it doesn't matter.

 

[Sakrysta]

Chek-who? If he isn't remembered for Bester I'll feel bad for Walter.
Chekov was just teeny-bopper fodder.
Put in the seat because "The Monkees" was doing well against them.
Bester was a great role of a very complex character.

Try to find the video of Walter, in costume, walking into some "Con" with about 100 Psi-Corps soldiers, hilarious.

I went to a Dragon*Con panel with Mr. Koenig and Mira Furlan last year, and I was very moved by how both of them spoke about their experiences on the show. Mr. Koenig in particular was very articulate about the difference between the disregard and utter lack of respect he received working on Star Trek vs. the joyful memories he had of the family atmosphere and mutual respect he experienced on Babylon 5. It was sad & wonderful all together in one interview.

 

[MyCylon]

I've been re-watching as well and having a blast. I only saw the show once and missed most of the movies so a lot of it feels new to me which is fantastic. I wish the DVDs were better quality but, really, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter that much.
As an aside, I went from dismissing it at first to really appreciating it much later when I was able to see past my own bias. I was squarely on the DS9 side of the fence back in the day. Today, I really enjoy both shows which is fantastic.

 

[diankra]

I think they all seasons (not 100% certain on S5) got a VHS PAL release, but it was a while ago and I can't fully remember.

The entire series was released on VHS in the UK, though some episodes were flawed (for instance, in Convictions the cctv monitors the characters are reviewing are blank, without the relevant footage matted in)