So, this 'Babylon 5' thing better be good...

[Angel4576]

I couldn't disagree more. imo, Chen was vastly superioir to Franke. Franke, for the most part, had one musical style: orchestral synth. Yeah, every once in a blue moon you had something cool like the scene when Sheridan gets taken out in S4, but most of the time it was Franke-by-numbers and was bland.

Chen, on the other hand, went all over the place with his music. he did orchestral, tribal, folk.... you name it. And he did it well. The problem most B5 fans have with Chen, and Crusade in general, is that it's not B5 and doesn't fit their definition of the B5 world. Crusade wasn't canned like B5, and the music should, and did, show that. Crusade was all over the place, as was the score. It was kinetic, stretched the boundaries of sci-fi music, and simply kicked ass.

Certainly respect your point of view, but for my money you're right,I thought it was too different. It just didn't seem to fit. Franke's stuff on B5, even when by the numbers complemented the show perfectly, but Chen's just seemed to distract you and felt out of place.

I can understand Joe wanting a different sound to Crusade, but for me, as I said, it was too out there.

 

[Lindley]

Yeah, every once in a blue moon you had something cool like the scene when

Bud-nipping mode: ON.

Remember that this is a newbie thread.

 

[Mr Light]

Does anyone have a screencap of the gorilla bartender? I'm dying to see how horribly cheap and fake it looked // I loved the B5 score and I loved the Crusade score. I'm glad they went with something different, and it completely added to the different, weird, alien, otherworldly tone of Crusade.

 

[Jan]

Of course, both Franke and Copeland are far superior to Evan Chen who managed to undo all of Franke's hard work in giving the B5 universe a synonymous tone, by completely ruining the scoring of Crusade. IMO.

Really? Seems to me that Franke's scores are still there so how was anything undone? (Yes, I know that's too literal but the statement just struck me as way over the top.)

I loved Chen's opening sequence for Crusade and could see an improvement in his work as Crusade progressed. Just as you can see an improvement in Franke's work as B5 progressed.

Jan

 

[Angel4576]

^^ It detracts from the 'universe' in the same way that sub-par episodes like Infection and Grey 17 is Missing do. Ultimately, the quality of the series still shines through, but it's tarnished somewhat.

Obviously I'm talking from a personal perspective, but Chen's style of music didn't do it for me. At the start of Crusade, during its run, or at the end, just didn't do anything for me at all, other than to draw comparisons with Franke's work. If Joe wanted a different sound then that's fair enough, and for people who enjoyed it, fair enough, but for me, it was the wrong choice, and it detracted from my enjoyment of the series. Not to the extent of me disliking it though. It wasn't that bad.

 

[glindros]

While the title music was interestingly different, the music on an episode by episode basis never did much for me. I often wondered what would the show would have been like with Copeland doing the soundtrack.

 

[RandyS]

Gorilla bartender?! Guitar music?! Is this stuff that that edited out of the TNT-recut edition of The Gathering? I've only seen the TNT version and this stuff sounds completely unfamiliar to me...

Me too. Although I did see The Gathering when it was new in 1993, the TNT and DVD versions are the ones I'm familiar with.

 

[RAMA]

Its a good show, but be prepared to be disappointed. It doesn't quite live up to the hype.

RAMA

 

[Neroon]

Depending upon whom you ask, what show DOES live up to the hype?

 

[Lindley]

Well, Buffy, but mainly because it's so easy to underestimate it going in.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Everyone... Can we *PLEASE* not fill this thread with the 1673890th edition of the usual B5 rocks/sucks/"is similar to"/Chen-vs-Franke talk?

What I find interesting to read is the new insight Ethros might bring us as a new viewer, and the immediate discussion about questions raised by him/her in the process viewing the show.

 

[RoJoHen]

^He needs to start watching it first!

 

[Hyperspace05]

^He needs to start watching it first!

He has... And there has been some discussion about "the Gathering". It's just the rest of the 95% stuff in this thread I'd rather not see.... So I will stop contributing myself to the noise now.

 

[RoJoHen]

Oh right, "The Gathering."

Let me know when we're in Season 2.

 

[Ethros]

Well I've watched the first six episodes so far of Season 1, just watched "The Mind War" this morning

The thing is I'm not one for writing big reviews, so "not bad" kinda sums it up so far
The second episode about the Soul Hunter was kinda dull, and ep 4 with the robot monster thing was a little cheesy. But then from what I've heard of the show's first season I expected that sort of thing going in so I'll live.
The other episodes were good though, Garibaldi, Londo & G'Kar are easily the most interesting and fun charatcers to watch so far.
Glad they replaced the First Officer and Doctor from "The Gathering" as they weren't overly exceptional, but so far Ivanova has been somewhat drab too.

I might have missed something but now Sinclair is having relations with Catherine Sakai; what happened to his wife* from the pilot?
*I think it was his wife anyway, can't recall


Also just a quick question, what's the planet behind the station? Is there anything/anyone on it?

 

[Mr Light]

Ivanova wasn't interesting in S1, but in S2 she became one of my favorite characters when she evolved a sense of humor. Carolyn was just his girlfriend and she disappeared into the ether, to be replaced by Sakai. The planet they orbit is Epsilon Three and later in S1 there will be an episode about it.

 

[ATimson]

I might have missed something but now Sinclair is having relations with Catherine Sakai; what happened to his wife* from the pilot?
*I think it was his wife anyway, can't recall

Nope, just girlfriend. They apparently broke up in-between.

Also just a quick question, what's the planet behind the station? Is there anything/anyone on it?

Epsilon III, though it's more properly Epsilon Eridani III, I believe. As far as everybody knows, it's uninhabited (otherwise it wouldn't be doing a terribly good job of being neutral space!).

 

[Angel4576]

First six episode;

Midnight on the Firing Line - Far more interesting in retrospect and hindsight than on first viewing IMO for reasons that will become apparent as you make your way through the series. That being said, it's not a bad series opener.

Soul Hunter - It took me three goes to really get into B5, largely because I fell asleep during this episode twice. There are a few interesting bits in it, and some groundwork laying, but for me, it was just a bit on the dull side like you said.

Born to the Purple - Hated it, and continue to do so on subsequent rewatches. If Soul Hunter was dull, this is worse. The Garibaldi b-story is easily the better part of the episode.

Infection - Woeful. No other word for it. A guest slot for David McCallum completely wasted.

The Parliament of Dreams - As bad as Infection was, this is good. The first real glimpse of what B5 could do. The Centauri festival scene was superb, especially considering that it was just one long, largely unscripted take. The final scene, brilliant. Sakai's first appearance as well. Hubba hubba.

Mind War - Simply brilliant. Bester, for me, is one of the best characters in the entire series. A great introduction of the Psi Cops.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Yeah, Midnight on the Firing Line really does have an *amazing* amount of foreshadowing for a 1st season premier of a TV series... It does in a way foretell a lot. Won't say more.

 

[Jan]

The Parliament of Dreams - As bad as Infection was, this is good. The first real glimpse of what B5 could do. The Centauri festival scene was superb, especially considering that it was just one long, largely unscripted take. The final scene, brilliant. Sakai's first appearance as well. Hubba hubba.

Completely scripted. Though I gather that some of the actors weren't really expecting Londo to do what he did. There was very little in the way of improvisation on B5, even back in the beginning.

Jan