Remake of Babylon 5 ?

[Lighthammer]

I'm probably very naive in saying this and really under estimating fans reactions, but I have a hard time thinking that the fans would have a problem with redoing the FX and CG for the show,

A lot of hardcore fans who fit the same type that complained about TOS getting updates, I'd like to think might actually like to see B5 get graphic remakes for a few reasons.

First and foremost, to them, I'd think that they would see having a new batch of CG on file would be like a nod to something might happen down the road. As many know, a big hit to the franchise was when Warner Studios had a fire --- damn, over 10 years ago now --- and lost most of their footage.

I'd also like to think a lot of fans would agree that this was the first series to use CG as heavily as it did. It pathed the way for more shows to do it. Since it was among the first series to do it, a lot of their graphics are really dated and an update wouldn't be bad.

Finally, the reason I think B5 fans wouldn't have a problem with CG updates is, unlike many other series, the series is much less about what's going on space and more about the story behind whats going on. In series like Star Trek and Star Wars (among others) space served a bigger transitory role then it ever did in B5. Even the "End all, be all" battles during B5 focused more on the events and less on what was going on in space.

All and all --- going back and cleaning up CG I'd hope would be interrupted as "Touch up" and "Reconstructing" the library.

I might be off base --- but as a huge fan of the series, thats how I'd look at it.

 

[MacLeod]

^I personally have no problem with them redoing the FX in B5.

 

[Jan]

As far as I know, the only one's who have a 'problem' with redoing the B5 CGI is WB, who JMS has said on many occassions will simply never fork over the money it would take.

BTW, I don't have any way of knowing if this is B5-related or not but JMS seems pretty excited about something he'll be unveiling at Comic-Con this coming Saturday:

I’ve never done this before. Never convened a meeting of the clans before. But this is important.

If you’ve ever enjoyed the work I’ve done in comics: the bulk of my run on The Amazing Spider-Man, or Thor, or Silver Surfer: Requiem or Supreme Power or Rising Stars or Midnight Nation or Superman: Earth One –

If you’ve ever been entertained by the work I’ve done in television, going all the way back to He-Man to The Real Ghostbusters, Twilight Zone, Babylon 5, Crusade or Jeremiah –

If you’ve followed the work I’ve done in movies, from Changeling to Thor or Underworld Awakening –

If the work I’ve done has moved you or touched you or made you think about a few things in new ways...and if you’re going to be at San Diego Comic Con on Saturday or you know someone who will...then I’m inviting you to come to my spotlight at 2:00 in room 7AB, where something extraordinary will be launched into the world.

I can guarantee that you will see at least one thing that you have never seen before.

And how many times in life does that happen?

jms

 

[Kegg]

^
Given the way he phrases it Jan I really doubt it's a Babylon 5 project. It sounds more like he has a new property to unveil, possibly one that has TV/comic/movie potential.

Redoing or touching up the CGI in B5 would be good for many reasons, not least of which is the CGI used on the show doesn't meet the aspect ratio of the live action footage, which caused some awkward issues in the DVDs.

Yeah the same could said for Red Dwarf and Lexx for that matter.

Red Dwarf was a sitcom and used sci-fi premises largely then for the purposes of comedy (the ingenious Kennedy assassination episode comes to mind). Lexx was an indulgence in some comedy, erotic material and general (typically nihilistic, let's blow up the planet) absurdity. They were not doing quite the same thing as Farscape, which was delivering a pretty serious space opera show just as much as it was screwing the premises of space opera shows.

 

[MacLeod]

Iit'll drive the conspiracy theorist nuts, but they'll never figure it"

That was a decent episode of RD. It'll be intersting to see how the new season pans out when it starts in a few months time.

 

[DWF]

^
Given the way he phrases it Jan I really doubt it's a Babylon 5 project. It sounds more like he has a new property to unveil, possibly one that has TV/comic/movie potential.

Redoing or touching up the CGI in B5 would be good for many reasons, not least of which is the CGI used on the show doesn't meet the aspect ratio of the live action footage, which caused some awkward issues in the DVDs.

Yeah the same could said for Red Dwarf and Lexx for that matter.

Red Dwarf was a sitcom and used sci-fi premises largely then for the purposes of comedy (the ingenious Kennedy assassination episode comes to mind). Lexx was an indulgence in some comedy, erotic material and general (typically nihilistic, let's blow up the planet) absurdity. They were not doing quite the same thing as Farscape, which was delivering a pretty serious space opera show just as much as it was screwing the premises of space opera shows.

B5's CGI was rendered in PAL instead of NTSC so they'd have to rereneder ever shot with CGI in it and there's no way Warner Brothers would pay that much to update B5's visual effeects. And in no way shape or from could I ever call Farscape a serious space opera, if you want that check out Blake's 7.

 

[Kegg]

B5's CGI was rendered in PAL instead of NTSC so they'd have to rereneder ever shot with CGI in it and there's no way Warner Brothers would pay that much to update B5's visual effeects

That's true. I'd still be in favour of it though.

And in no way shape or from could I ever call Farscape a serious space opera, if you want that check out Blake's 7.

Then you're not getting the statement here.

Whether or not you like the series or think it succeeded is one question, but it did pretty obviously take its narrative and its characters seriously. John Critchon's dilemma about wormhole weapons, the morally ambiguous agenda of Scorpius, Aeryn Sun grappling with her past as a quasi-fascist soldier, the whole nine yards.

And I'm familiar with Blake's 7. I don't like Blake's 7, I think it's boring as all hell, but it, too, obviously took itself seriously.

 

[RoJoHen]

This is like asking the Battlestar Galactica fans do you want a remake a few years before Ron Moore got a hold of it... so ask me in a few years.

I disagree. The original Battlestar Galactica was a cheesy cult classic whereas Babylon 5 had a very strong following and showcased a lot of great characters and stories. More importantly, Babylon 5 told a definite and mostly finite overall story while the original Battlestar Galactica didn't completely tell its story.

This is exactly my problem with a rebooted B5. B5 is not just a collection of characters on a space station. It is a very specific story. You could reboot TNG and it would be fine; that's just people on a space ship flying around. You could reboot BSG because, while it may have a very specific beginning, it's quite open-ended with where it can go. If you rebooted B5, you would need to keep events the same, otherwise it isn't B5. So many of the events in B5 are directly related to each other; change them too much and you end up with a completely different animal, and if that's what you're going to do, I don't see the point in calling it Babylon 5 at all. At that point you may as well start from scratch.

 

[DWF]

Then you're not getting the statement here.

Whether or not you like the series or think it succeeded is one question, but it did pretty obviously take its narrative and its characters seriously. John Critchon's dilemma about wormhole weapons, the morally ambiguous agenda of Scorpius, Aeryn Sun grappling with her past as a quasi-fascist soldier, the whole nine yards.

And I'm familiar with Blake's 7. I don't like Blake's 7, I think it's boring as all hell, but it, too, obviously took itself seriously.

Wormhole weapons were Checkov guns they were meant to be used and it was Chricton who used them both times. A rather quick fix to an out of control situation, it's nice that B5 didn't go down that route.

 

[RoJoHen]

I took Crichton's wormhole weapons a whole lot more seriously than Sheridan's "Now the get the hell out of our galaxy!" speech.

I loved B5, but the end of the Shadow War required turning the bad guys into whimpering children getting sent to their room.

 

[DWF]

I took Crichton's wormhole weapons a whole lot more seriously than Sheridan's "Now the get the hell out of our galaxy!" speech.

I loved B5, but the end of the Shadow War required turning the bad guys into whimpering children getting sent to their room.

JMS said that B5 was about killing your parents and other than him I don't think too many people get that. I'd hate for someone who has little or no understandiing B5 to remake it. For whatever flaws B5 has it's JMS's baby and IMO shouldn't be given to anybody else and he's already passed on the idea of a remake.

 

[Kegg]

Wormhole weapons were Checkov guns

Wormhole weapons were the atom bomb, with Crichton in the role of the scientist both responsible for the knowledge and dubious that it can have any proper usage, with the threat of the entire thing being co-opted by an aggressive military-industrial complex (Scorpius) that justifies itself by portraying its antagonists as a threat to everyone, ever (the Scarrans).

So yeah, Farscape did take its wormhole weapon storyline seriously.

 

[Jan]

For whatever flaws B5 has it's JMS's baby and IMO shouldn't be given to anybody else and he's already passed on the idea of a remake.

It should be noted that JMS was ready, willing and about to do a reboot of B5 only a year and a half ago. The contracts were signed but the new venue that had been proposed fell through. What that reboot would have ended up looking like, nobody knows. But he did mention bringing in the original cast in different roles.

Jan

 

[DWF]

For whatever flaws B5 has it's JMS's baby and IMO shouldn't be given to anybody else and he's already passed on the idea of a remake.

It should be noted that JMS was ready, willing and about to do a reboot of B5 only a year and a half ago. The contracts were signed but the new venue that had been proposed fell through. What that reboot would have ended up looking like, nobody knows. But he did mention bringing in the original cast in different roles.

Jan

I was under the impression that it he who passed on the idea after a cetain that is.

 

[Sindatur]

I took Crichton's wormhole weapons a whole lot more seriously than Sheridan's "Now the get the hell out of our galaxy!" speech.

I loved B5, but the end of the Shadow War required turning the bad guys into whimpering children getting sent to their room.

JMS said that B5 was about killing your parents and other than him I don't think too many people get that. I'd hate for someone who has little or no understandiing B5 to remake it. For whatever flaws B5 has it's JMS's baby and IMO shouldn't be given to anybody else and he's already passed on the idea of a remake.

No he didn't. He was all set to do it, the funding for the new dispersal method fell through.

 

[DWF]

JMS kept denying any conversations with Warner Brothers about a possible remae though as this post from Slice Of Sci-Fi showed even from last year.

"B5" Reboot Not Happening

August 19, 2011 By Michael Hickerson 10 Comments
Yesterday, we brought you news that J. Michael Straczynski could be prepping some kind of new Babylon 5 project. At least that’s according to series recurring star, Walter Koenig.
Turns out a new Babylon 5 project isn’t happening.
Straczynski tweeted yesterday that Koenig misspoke and that he’s not in conversations to bring back Babylon 5.
That may get some of us down today, but it was fun to hope for while it lasted.

 

[Sindatur]

JMS kept denying any conversations with Warner Brothers about a possible remae though as this post from Slice Of Sci-Fi showed even from last year.

"B5" Reboot Not Happening

August 19, 2011 By Michael Hickerson 10 Comments
Yesterday, we brought you news that J. Michael Straczynski could be prepping some kind of new Babylon 5 project. At least that’s according to series recurring star, Walter Koenig.
Turns out a new Babylon 5 project isn’t happening.
Straczynski tweeted yesterday that Koenig misspoke and that he’s not in conversations to bring back Babylon 5.
That may get some of us down today, but it was fun to hope for while it lasted.

"Ask me after April" was the remake project, but, it fell through.

 

[Jan]

"Ask me after April" was the remake project, but, it fell through.

Exactly. As JMS said on Facebook regarding the reboot:

Originally Posted by jms
Re: B5...the studio offered a full season of a new and rebooted B5 as part of a new distribution venue they were creating
...
The negotiations (not between us but between the participants of the venue) dragged on for over a year, we were told repeatedly this is going to happen, but finally, the participants couldn't make the math work. So we and the other three shows that they were hoping to put out there got set aside.
...
But again, B5 was never created to be a Deep Space Franchise, we wanted to do our 5 years and get out clean. That was my intent going into this, and if that's where this ends up, I'm happy to stick with that.

Shortly after, Walter Koenig said that JMS was in negotiations with WB and that's when JMS said that there was nothing going on at that time (since the venue had dead-ended). The timing of the two discussions was confusing.

Jan

 

[Romulus Prime]

I'm with the "no remake" camp.

What writers and/or Hollyweird need to do is watch the series from start to finish, then do it again, get inspired by what they've seen AND understand why it succeeded, then come up with their own NEW ideas from that.

 

[Mr Light]

I thought that B5 couldn't be put into blu ray high def or given an CGI upgrade because of the extensive use of live action / cgi mixed shots?