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EpDis: A Call To Arms

A Call To Arms

  • A -- Excellent

    Votes: 20 58.8%
  • B -- Good

    Votes: 12 35.3%
  • C -- Average

    Votes: 2 5.9%
  • D -- Poor

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • F -- Failure

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    34
Excellent. No doubt about it. The only thing that tarnishes it is Sheridan's stupid move of firing the main guns into the null space while the ship was still moving. Don't look now folks, but we've got no brakes.
 
I voted A, but I had a rough time deciding if it should be A or B. ACtA is a very good movie, but it just seems to be lacking a little something. I can't quite figure out what that something is though.
 
Excellent. No doubt about it. The only thing that tarnishes it is Sheridan's stupid move of firing the main guns into the null space while the ship was still moving. Don't look now folks, but we've got no brakes.

He had little choice, you do not stop in space.
 
It was tactical oversight. His main concern at the time of firing the weapon was not allowing the drakh ships fleeing that way, to escape. It didn't occur to him until it was too late, that he might need a very quick escape plan because he had been remiss about what might be about the other side.

Everyone makes mistakes, Sheridan is not a god.
 
I can only really look at this movie as a prelude to Crusade. Since that series never really got going, I haven't felt a desire to re-watch it since I bought the DVDs.
 
And even if you can't literally stop (which I'll have to read up on) you can still come to a relative stop compared to another object in space ... in this case the null region.
 
Anderson did (stop in space), by firing the retros.

I think the poster was referring to the fact that by firing the main guns, it forced the Excalibur to drift along it's forward course for a minute before they'd be able to fire the retros
 
I think the poster was referring to the fact that by firing the main guns, it forced the Excalibur to drift along it's forward course for a minute before they'd be able to fire the retros

Yes, and that was me (the OP), and they were less than a minute from the null space and heading right for it when they fired the main guns.
 
I voted A, but I had a rough time deciding if it should be A or B. ACtA is a very good movie, but it just seems to be lacking a little something. I can't quite figure out what that something is though.

I rate "A Call to Arms" just a hair below "In the Beginning." The bit about Sheridan firing the main guns while close to and moving toward the null space is the only part of the movie that stuck out as bad, to me. So, as far as I'm concerned, it's a strong A, just not quite as strong an A as "In the Beginning."
 
Yes, ACTA was lacking that something that is hard to explain. ITB was a much better movie. More thought out but then it had to be. The battle scenes against the planet killer looked pretty bad at times. Or maybe it was the music that seemed to throw everything off a bit. And Sheridans hair ? Who had that idea to comb it forward ? To me it looked silly. As others stated earlier, even though Sheridan is not perfect. His decision to enter the null field was a bonehead manuever. I remember when I watched ACTA when it first aired. I was thinking......No he is not doing what I think he is about to do. Goodbye to the president of The Interstellar Alliance.
On the postive side of things, we were introduced to Galen and Durenna. It is a shame that we did not get a chance to see there story continued when Crusade was cancelled.

thanks
dennis
 
It was lacking a successful Crusade series.

Nevertheless, I find 99% of that series enjoyable, even lacking a resolution. Crusade certainly had some great characters. :D

I have no qualms about watching A Call to Arms or Crusade today, and hope that some day Crusade gets a high quality resolution, not just a hasty tie-up.
 
I voted A, but I had a rough time deciding if it should be A or B. ACtA is a very good movie, but it just seems to be lacking a little something. I can't quite figure out what that something is though.

I can only really look at this movie as a prelude to Crusade. Since that series never really got going, I haven't felt a desire to re-watch it since I bought the DVDs.


First for RW7427 and of course everyone else. I wonder if the reason why this movie isn't an A+ because Evan Chen is the composer and Christopher Franke didn't come back. Watching the new Battlestar Galactica series especially the mini-series I understand what Evan was trying to do but I hate to say this but the music was terrible. The movie itself was GREAT! but I have to give this movie a B+ because not Franke in the movie. Plus as GKarsEye says it's a prelude to the crusade so I actually rate this more for the spinoff..I'm just really really really sad that the series never got off the ground but I'm glad that the the B5 finished the story a little more in the novels in the books...

The Long Night of Centauri Prime (Babylon 5: Legions of Fire, Book 1)
Armies of Light and Dark (Babylon 5: Legions of Fire, Book 2)

and of course... Out of the Darkness (Babylon 5: Legions of Fire, Book 3)
which are available at amazon.com or you can look for it at your local book store. Trust me these 3 books really are worth it in every way. It really puts the icing on the cake for the series.
 
The soundtrack to ACtA is actually pretty good, but that's not why I think there's a little something missing. I can't quite put my finger on what that is, so if anyone asks me exactly WHAT it is, I can't give them an answer. :LOL:
 
The soundtrack to ACtA is actually pretty good, but that's not why I think there's a little something missing. I can't quite put my finger on what that is, so if anyone asks me exactly WHAT it is, I can't give them an answer. :LOL:

For me it's the music..I thought in context of the movie it was ok at best but overall the movie was very good but the soundtrack left a dry taste in my mouth. I realize a lot of you like the ACTA soundtrack but for me it just didn't do it.

I wonder if its because the main Babylon 5 saga was finished and this was a prelude to the Crusade series?..I one thing I really miss Deleen in this movie..Is it the beard? Or watching Sheridan lay to rest in SIL and then showing up in this movie perhaps? Of course this movie is very dark too maybe that's it? It would be cool to find out what the dry taste in your mouth is for this B5 movie.

Alex
 
For me it's the music..I thought in context of the movie it was ok at best but overall the movie was very good but the soundtrack left a dry taste in my mouth. I realize a lot of you like the ACTA soundtrack but for me it just didn't do it.

To me, Chen's music added just the right amount of alien-ness to ACtA and Crusade (except for the end "music" from "Ruling from the Tomb" - the pops, boings, baby crying and dog barking was utter crap.).

I wonder if its because the main Babylon 5 saga was finished and this was a prelude to the Crusade series?..I one thing I really miss Delenn in this movie

Well, not everybody could be in every movie.

..Is it the beard? Or watching Sheridan lay to rest in SIL and then showing up in this movie perhaps?

Stuff is filmed out of order. You have to put it in context. No big deal.

In B5 Seasons 1 through 5 (2258-2262), Sheridan had no beard. In ACtA (late 2266/early 2267), he had one. In SiL (2281), he didn't. Nothing wrong with that. Guys do that all the time, grow a beard, live with it for awhile, get tired of it, and shave it off. Perfectly normal.


Of course this movie is very dark too maybe that's it?
A Call to Arms had an unhappy ending, that will have produced a large reduction in the amount of enjoyment it gives.

Too dark? Nooooo. It's that "voltage" that's needed to get Crusade started. Some might say that because you know the Drakh plague is cured by the time you get to SiL (2281), it reduces the effect of the end of ACtA, by making that not dark. You know the cure is found so the peril is defused. Personally, I think that is partly true, but I would have been able to watch Crusade and enjoy the ride, i.e. enjoy finding out how they found the cure and what happened to them along the way. Enjoy the moment, people! If you get on a roller coaster, you pretty much know that you'll be OK when the ride ends, but you still enjoy it, right?
 
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