B5_Obsessed
Regular
Hello all! I’ve been extremely unavailable lately but I wouldn’t be Obsessed if I didn’t manage to get in here and drop off a review.
Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers, To live and Die in Starlight
I’m sure that by now a lot of similar points may have been made, but I’m gonna go through my laundry list anyhow. I’ll break it up into area both dramatic and technical and count off my likes and dislikes.
Here goes.
CHARACTERS:
For the most part, I like the characters even though there simply was not enough room for them all to be showcased. If it goes to series, I’m sure JMS will fix this problem.
David Martell - Dylan Neal is excellent. I was able to quickly overlook his meticulously chiseled features (bastard!) and focus on his acting. Very natural. Very confident and at ease with the role. Quite an interesting vocal quality as well. His standout scenes were the expository scene with G’Kar and the interrogation with Minister Kafta.
Dulan – Alex Zahara was also very good. He looked to me like Lennier’s big brother. Very similar in humor and headbone design. He speaks softly but most assuredly carries a big pike. However, unlike Lennier, I think Dulann is one of the few B5 characters who may actually be at peace with himself. He’s not carrying some tortured secret at the moment. Some critics have complained that he didn’t have much to do in this movie once he was injured, but that’s all a point of perspective isn’t it? If he moved the story forward, he had something to do. He serves to open the mystery of the Liandra’s former crew.
Sarah Cantrell – Myriam is good and has great chemistry with Dylan. And yes, I hated the screech as well. She seemed to have been momentarily caught in an episode of Dragonball Z. I understand where the screech came from but it doesn’t make it any more pleasant to watch from the couch. >
Kitaro Sasaki – Man, I’m disappointed. I expected a little more screen time from Kit but he was more or less restricted to the role of Lt.Uhura in this outing. I heard of a scene where David had to fight Kit to get him to join his crew, but it either got edited or I was hallucinating. Warren also seemed a little shy or nervous in the delivering of his lines. Am I off base?
Malcolm Bridges – Speaking of nervous, Dean was unexpected. I was figuring Malcolm for this macho type but instead his character was very human, particularly when being caught by G’Kar invoking his image.
Firell, Na’feel, Tafeek, and Tirk – I like ‘em all. Hope we get to see them do something next time.
G’Kar – was, well, G’Kar. He was great. He was strong, he was sarcastic, he was refreshing. He was certainly not useless.
STORY:
Okay, so the story reminds us of the Shadow War and Thirdspace. That’s okay. I’ll watch it anyway. As previously mentioned, this story does not come across with the scope and grandeur of The Gathering. It is a “smaller” film with less lofty aspirations.
Or is it?
Like The Gathering, this movie has already let us know what some of the questions may be: What happened to the last crew of the Liandra? Who was the traitor? And what are The Hand and how will they be stopped? Once again the fate of the universe is in danger from a God-like enemy - hardly a small problem.
As for the writing, I hear JMS was rushed because of the impending strike. Okay. But why in Hell did we have to hear “We line for the One, we die for The One” so many times, even where it had no business being said. A wise man once said….?? What the hell was that about? I know JMS doesn’t go for focus groups and viewer opinions but most of the things that I disliked about the film are universally disliked about it by all fans, so there is credence to floating it past a test audience. We’re talking about editing 6 or 8 lines - a change of 30 seconds at most. I think it would’ve been nice to have an introductory explanation of the gunnery pod before they dropped Sarah into it. Even my wife, who has slept though more Babylon 5 than some of us have watched asked me how they could have a system like that when we’ve never seen one before. So then it was MY job to explain it, rather than JMS’s. And I was making it all up! I was very relived to hear that the enemy ships were not The Hand. I said the word “cool” out loud when I heard that. This apparently was a point even Glen Oliver missed. All in all, more was good about the story than bad. And have you EVER seen the good guys strap a hostage to 50 grenades? Damn, I love JMS’s sense of justice. I had been thinking the same thing myself and then decided, “No, they wouldn’t!”
TECHNICAL MINUTAE:
Bitch session.
I was not a big fan of the effects. I love Babylon 5’s effects but I found the FX in Rangers, although technically proficient, to lack the excitement of the good old days of Mojo Leibowitz. There almost no continuity with regard to ship designs, Minbar exteriors, jumpgates, Babylon 5, etc. When they jumped though the Epsilon jumpgate…..where was the Epsilon jumpgate? Furthermore, where was Epsilon 3? I have nothing against the effects being improved with time and new technologies, but JMS should stand up and make sure his product has a cohesive fit in the universe he has created. Anyone who thinks these effects were the greatest should go back and watch “In the Beginning” and “Thirdspace”.
Set Design - The bridge of the Liandra was unique and different. I don’t think it looked cheap at all. The bridge of the Emfalli, however, looked horrendously like a Star Trek set considering it was supposed to be a Minbari-designed ship. I was glad when the teaser sequence was over. It was pretty ugly.
Final complaint. Design aesthetic. Minbar was supposed to be based on feudal Japan but the Ranger training facility WAS Japan. I mean, c’mon! Let’s try and make it look like an alien planet, not a trip to Beninhana’s.
May sound like I’m complaining a lot, but nope! I liked the movie. I want more. These points I bring up are minor in the scheme of things. Good work to all involved, good luck for the future. Let’s see them ratings!
Final Grade: B+
------------------
"Draal gave Zathras list of things not to say.
This was one. No.... *tsk tsk*
No. Not good.
Not supposed to mention... "one", or... THE one.
Hmmmm.
You never heard that."
Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers, To live and Die in Starlight
I’m sure that by now a lot of similar points may have been made, but I’m gonna go through my laundry list anyhow. I’ll break it up into area both dramatic and technical and count off my likes and dislikes.
Here goes.
CHARACTERS:
For the most part, I like the characters even though there simply was not enough room for them all to be showcased. If it goes to series, I’m sure JMS will fix this problem.
David Martell - Dylan Neal is excellent. I was able to quickly overlook his meticulously chiseled features (bastard!) and focus on his acting. Very natural. Very confident and at ease with the role. Quite an interesting vocal quality as well. His standout scenes were the expository scene with G’Kar and the interrogation with Minister Kafta.
Dulan – Alex Zahara was also very good. He looked to me like Lennier’s big brother. Very similar in humor and headbone design. He speaks softly but most assuredly carries a big pike. However, unlike Lennier, I think Dulann is one of the few B5 characters who may actually be at peace with himself. He’s not carrying some tortured secret at the moment. Some critics have complained that he didn’t have much to do in this movie once he was injured, but that’s all a point of perspective isn’t it? If he moved the story forward, he had something to do. He serves to open the mystery of the Liandra’s former crew.
Sarah Cantrell – Myriam is good and has great chemistry with Dylan. And yes, I hated the screech as well. She seemed to have been momentarily caught in an episode of Dragonball Z. I understand where the screech came from but it doesn’t make it any more pleasant to watch from the couch. >
Kitaro Sasaki – Man, I’m disappointed. I expected a little more screen time from Kit but he was more or less restricted to the role of Lt.Uhura in this outing. I heard of a scene where David had to fight Kit to get him to join his crew, but it either got edited or I was hallucinating. Warren also seemed a little shy or nervous in the delivering of his lines. Am I off base?
Malcolm Bridges – Speaking of nervous, Dean was unexpected. I was figuring Malcolm for this macho type but instead his character was very human, particularly when being caught by G’Kar invoking his image.
Firell, Na’feel, Tafeek, and Tirk – I like ‘em all. Hope we get to see them do something next time.
G’Kar – was, well, G’Kar. He was great. He was strong, he was sarcastic, he was refreshing. He was certainly not useless.
STORY:
Okay, so the story reminds us of the Shadow War and Thirdspace. That’s okay. I’ll watch it anyway. As previously mentioned, this story does not come across with the scope and grandeur of The Gathering. It is a “smaller” film with less lofty aspirations.
Or is it?
Like The Gathering, this movie has already let us know what some of the questions may be: What happened to the last crew of the Liandra? Who was the traitor? And what are The Hand and how will they be stopped? Once again the fate of the universe is in danger from a God-like enemy - hardly a small problem.
As for the writing, I hear JMS was rushed because of the impending strike. Okay. But why in Hell did we have to hear “We line for the One, we die for The One” so many times, even where it had no business being said. A wise man once said….?? What the hell was that about? I know JMS doesn’t go for focus groups and viewer opinions but most of the things that I disliked about the film are universally disliked about it by all fans, so there is credence to floating it past a test audience. We’re talking about editing 6 or 8 lines - a change of 30 seconds at most. I think it would’ve been nice to have an introductory explanation of the gunnery pod before they dropped Sarah into it. Even my wife, who has slept though more Babylon 5 than some of us have watched asked me how they could have a system like that when we’ve never seen one before. So then it was MY job to explain it, rather than JMS’s. And I was making it all up! I was very relived to hear that the enemy ships were not The Hand. I said the word “cool” out loud when I heard that. This apparently was a point even Glen Oliver missed. All in all, more was good about the story than bad. And have you EVER seen the good guys strap a hostage to 50 grenades? Damn, I love JMS’s sense of justice. I had been thinking the same thing myself and then decided, “No, they wouldn’t!”
TECHNICAL MINUTAE:
Bitch session.
I was not a big fan of the effects. I love Babylon 5’s effects but I found the FX in Rangers, although technically proficient, to lack the excitement of the good old days of Mojo Leibowitz. There almost no continuity with regard to ship designs, Minbar exteriors, jumpgates, Babylon 5, etc. When they jumped though the Epsilon jumpgate…..where was the Epsilon jumpgate? Furthermore, where was Epsilon 3? I have nothing against the effects being improved with time and new technologies, but JMS should stand up and make sure his product has a cohesive fit in the universe he has created. Anyone who thinks these effects were the greatest should go back and watch “In the Beginning” and “Thirdspace”.
Set Design - The bridge of the Liandra was unique and different. I don’t think it looked cheap at all. The bridge of the Emfalli, however, looked horrendously like a Star Trek set considering it was supposed to be a Minbari-designed ship. I was glad when the teaser sequence was over. It was pretty ugly.
Final complaint. Design aesthetic. Minbar was supposed to be based on feudal Japan but the Ranger training facility WAS Japan. I mean, c’mon! Let’s try and make it look like an alien planet, not a trip to Beninhana’s.
May sound like I’m complaining a lot, but nope! I liked the movie. I want more. These points I bring up are minor in the scheme of things. Good work to all involved, good luck for the future. Let’s see them ratings!
Final Grade: B+
------------------
"Draal gave Zathras list of things not to say.
This was one. No.... *tsk tsk*
No. Not good.
Not supposed to mention... "one", or... THE one.
Hmmmm.
You never heard that."
