Babylon 5: In the Beginning (1998)

This B5 movie was AMAZING. It fit together all the complex plot lines of the series, answered many questions, and still left open some uncertainties. It does have some cute kids which usually kills a movie, but they are not plot devices but instead a way to segue to more important things. If you kept up with the entire series, by the end of the movie you know exactly where the movie is chronologically, and you know the tragedy that is about to unfold. Thankfully the movie doesn't cover it, because as the emperor of Centauri said, "That is another story, for another time". Great acting by everyone.An interesting tidbit about one of the alternate language tracks is if you turn on the German language dubbing, Reiner Schone, who plays Dukhat does his own dubbing because he's from Germany.This is a must-have movie for a B5 fan, Its the best of the bunch.

Another poster here commented that as soon as B5 strays from it's 5-year arc it fails, I agree with that.(Though...truth be told, the pilot episode of B5 was horribly silly as well)In the Beginning is the story of how the Earth and Minbari went to war, and the stories of many of the people we know from the B5 show, all told by Peter Jurasik as Londo Mollari. A masterful choice since Jurasik has a charisma that to me is only matched by Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar.From the start the movie is a feast for fans of B5, the great war is explained in all it's horrible stupidity with leaders of both races too arrogant to see their own faults; The humans by sending an armed force of ships to Minbari space when advised against it by Londo "Send only one ship.", their folly is shown when they fire upon a minbari ship and kill the spiritual leader of the Minbari. Though for all their alleged wisdom the Minbari show themselves as prideful as the humans when they set the wheels in motion for total genocide of the human race. With the warrior caste driving it forward the war takes on a life of it's own, as Delenn so eloquently puts it.It is when the war begins that the real highlight of the movie starts, the 10-or so minutes of eerie scenes of battles and defeats, hauntingly backed up by Christopher Franke's 'Battle on the Line'So what about the rest of the movie? Well, the actors plays their roles with mostly the same energy as they did in the shows, something which lacks in other B5 movies like Thirdspace. Some of the other characters are quite simply just fillers, the Earth officials that send the Expeditionary force to Minbari space feels too much like the 'crooked politician' to be of any real worth to the movie. The special effects are rather good, on par with the show. The greatest weakness with the movie is the feel that maybe..It is too much flirting with the fans, like "Look! There's all our favorites!", and the fact that I cant' grasp how the war could last for years when the Minbari slice through fleets in seconds. Sure the ground battles could last for awhile but it's hard to have ground battles if the fleets transporting soldiers get shot out of the sky. And it is good to know that even with genocide as their goal the Minbari ignore the civilian populaces.8/10

I was a fan of Babylon 5 as a kid, but I didn't remember the story before seeing this movie. However, seeing this brought out a whole lot of goosebumps. Not because I am the greatest fan, but because of the amazing acting and setting in some of the scenesWithout doubt the movie that has brought me closest to crying in a whole lot of years. An absolute recommendation goes out to all! But be bewared: It will be tempting as hell to join the wagon and see the series :DIf you are already a fan of the series, you have no choice. An absolute must-see for fans, and a "should see it anyways" for all others!

I will not try to sell you on Babylon 5. If you're actually reading this review, my guess is you have already seen the greatest sci-fi series of all time in one form or another.I am an ultimate Bab-5 junkie. I confess to the typical crimes: I own the pewter figures (both the black omega star fury and the space station) as well as the halloween outfits. I have taped each episode 4 times. Yes, I have the pilot with the original Stewart Copeland soundtrack, as well as the Chrisopher Franke version, tiwce. Before you ask, yes, I have the DVD version (which I finally saw tonight).Now, with all the formalities out of the way... let me tell you, in viewing the DVD for the first time, I feel like I've SEEN BAB-5 AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME!Coming from a viewer with a less than stellar cable company - in other words, my reception sucks - viewing it on DVD for the first time is a complete and total treat.Babylon-5 set a recent trend, which has been noticed not only by the viewers, but by everyone. It has set a new fad if you will; it transmits television in the widescreen format. In the modern television spectrum, such shows as Enterprise, Angel, and 24 are all shown in the widesreen format. Babylon 5 was the first to even contemplate this format.Now there are legions of fans demanding this format.I still find it amusing that the fact that in "The Gathering", the Babylon-5 pilot aired in 1994 (?) most of the concepts and graphics are far bayond what most sci-fi has achieved to date.Any way you look at this, whether Babylon-5 fan or not, this the best DVD released to date. Does it have an of those "extra features"? No. Does it have any of those "unreleased scenes"? No. However, does it have the best video and audio transfer, which you haven't seen, throughout the days of PTEN, TNT or the SCI-FI Channel? Yes. Buy it. For quality. Not for extras, simply for quality. It is that good, on its own. The quality of the story is that good; the quality of acting passes: and the innovation surpasses anything within the past 30 years.-Tim