Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

ablebravo Well, somehow, I missed this B5 film the first time 'round. I think I may have been in the middle of a move to a new state. I finally had a chance to watch this today and I must say I was... ahem... disappointed. The very first thing I saw appear on the screen was "TNT PRESENTS". I should have taken this as a warning but no, I thought to myself: "Well, its a B5 product; can't be *too* bad, no?" Ten minutes into the film, I began to smell something. I thought one of the cats missed the litterbox or maybe the roast I took out of the freezer for dinner had gone bad but it turned out to be the stench of the TNT suits all over this abomination.Everything about this film was so un-B5. Yes, JMS was credited with the script/screenplay but I have to wonder how many TNT hands were laid on the paper after poor JMS turned it in. Everything was just a little... off. It looked like some sort of fan-fiction story using (nearly) the entire great cast of the show itself as well as the production and SFX crew. More smoke... more explosions, more fights, more ships, more everything except ... ummm, well... QUALITY! This is one B5 film which can be skipped by everyone except the completest. I'm a huge fan of the series. The other MfTV B5 films are fair to decent, but this one was like the semi-Lovecraftian beasties in the "artifact": best left alone.(I know I said there were spoilers but really, there weren't. Better safe than sorry.)

teppo-2 The premise of this movie isn't all that original (but then what is, these days). An old artifact is found in Hyperspace, and brought to B5. An Interplanetary Expeditions researcher group them comes to examine it. Odd things start happening at the same time, including violent outbreaks inside the station. Eventually the device is activated, and it turns out to be effectively the gate to hell (as in some other dimension) from which super-advanced aliens hellbent on the destruction of everyone else they come across pour out, and the B5 crew have to shut the gate down before it's too late.As said, not all that unique. The concept of a way more advanced enemy trying to invade has been seen elsewhere. Even if not exactly a similar happening, the Borg in Star Trek come to mind (as well as the race from another dimension in Star Trek Voyager, but that actually came out later than this movie). And of course this has been seen in other formats, such as fantasy and horror, as well - as said, it's pretty much the whole "gates of hell" theme. In this sense it is also reminiscent of the great sci-fi horror movie Event Horizon, in what comes to the portion before the gate is activated, and also loosely tied together by the link to attempting to find new travel methods.Even though the main plot line is what it is and quite predictable indeed, and even though it doesn't really tie in to the series that much, I found this to be a quite nice movie. There's always something to be said for the excitement of theoretically hopeless battles and ancient evils, but the whole ominous feel of the movie from the moment the gate device is first found in hyperspace is quite gripping.The acting is good throughout, featuring many of the B5 regulars. The CGI effects are slightly better than even in the late parts of the series, and are enjoyable to watch. Music is done by Christopher Franke, composer for the whole main B5 series, guaranteeing a suitable and familiar mood for the story.Overall while this movie doesn't reinvent sci-fi plot lines to new dimensions (bad pun only half-intended) and isn't up to par with some of the best episodes of the series, it's an enjoyable flick with a nice mood, and definitely worth a watch for any B5 fan. Those not familiar with B5 might not get as much out of it since they won't be familiar with the back story, but it should still definitely be watchable without being hopelessly confusing.

junk-monkey I'm a long time fan of Babylon 5 but watching this for the second time I am struck by how much clumsy exposition there is in this movie. So much back story is filled in by characters telling each other things that are (within the Babylon 5 universe) such common knowledge that it is absurd for people to talk about them (Dr Trent's conversation with her companion Bill Morishi about the history of the Jumpgate falls into this category) or characters tell each other things they already know (or think they know) just so we the audience can be told as well. Sorry I don't buy it - at one point one of the characters actually says "...as you very well know". This is soap opera writing. Does the job but it's hardly elegant.I don't know the schedule JMS was working to on this one but it looks like it was written in a hurry. The writing is no way up to the usual standard for this show. The humour isn't there either. Having said that the SFX are good...

casarbi A reasonable outing.B5 - and JMS writing in particular - works better when not contained to standalone episodes. Give him space to breathe, and his musing flows far better. He has room to comment, moralise and philosophise beautifully. Give him a single story and he tries to cram in too many explanations and plot movements which start to clog up the script. This is a pity as the script is what he is good at.So a nice story, but a little uneven. Sometimes continually underlines the same plot points over and over killing room for nice stand alone dialogue or character exposition. Other times, the character scenes (the lift scene ) are too long an neither help the story or offer any depth for their duration.That said, the SFX is very nice, the music from Franke is far more classically orientated than before and it's a nice chance to try and highlight some of the minor characters. The story idea is reasonable, if a little unusual in scifi tone for B5 (befitting Trek more) and it lacks some of the regular B5 heavyweight actors (G'Kar and Londo are sadly missing and Delenn has few scenes).Nevertheless, an enjoyable if a little vacuous compared to what one comes to expect from B5. The aural and visual experiences are good, the actors are solid and the story good enough to standalone. Not perfect, but still a good slice of pulp scifi action.