Babylon 5: The Gathering/In the Beginning

This pair of features is a mixed bag. One is excellent, the other is ...well...not.'The Gathering' (the lesser of the two) was essentially shot as a technical test to prove to disbelieving Warner Bros. executives that the production could actually be done within the required time and budgetary constraints, and on the scale promised. It was a technical proof of concept practice run to prove that it could actually be done, but was, unfortunately, not an example of great story telling. The producers made many wrong turns creatively and learned from this film what needed to be changed to make the series work as intended. The subsequent series thus included many of these much needed changes. Because of this, 'The Gathering' no longer really fits in with the rest of the series or movies--or even with the 'Babylon 5' universe we know.Much of the focus while making 'The Gathering' went into simply figuring out the details of how to actually shoot the show--and the performances, character development and story were not on the same level of later efforts.'In the Beginning', on the other hand, is everything that 'The Gathering' isn't. It is GREAT storytelling and an excellent opening chapter for the series 'Babylon 5'.Since the creators of the show had always been so disappointed in the original pilot, 'The Gathering', they had always dreamed of redoing the opening film for the series and doing it RIGHT the second time around. 'In the Beginning' is the very successful culmination of that dream. It is the very best of all the 'Babylon 5' films by a far margin.'In the Beginning' sets the stage beautifully for the series by showing us the great Earth/Minbari War, the war between humankind and the alien Minbari Empire, which nearly led to the total extinction of the human race--and the aftermath of which the bulk of the television series takes place in.It tells of the foolish refusal of the governments of the expanding human empire to heed warnings about the dangers of impinging upon the incredibly powerful and advanced Minbari Empire's territory, of the egotistical diplomats and over confident military commanders who thought they were prepared to take on anyone, of the errors and sadly lamentable missteps in first contact that led to misunderstanding and an outbreak of violence, which then propelled the Minbari to seek mankind's utter obliteration in a holy war of genocidal destruction.The Minbari would not take prisoners and refused to even offer so much as a reply to humanity's pleas to surrender. Their killing spree would never end until all human life was excised from the universe.In the Beginning also tells of humankind's heroic two year long struggle to fight off this civilization thousands of years in advance of them and seemingly irrevocably bent upon humankind's total obliteration.It is a story about simple misunderstandings between different cultures which can lead to unimaginably terrible consequences.It is riveting entertainment.Notes about 'Babylon 5':'Babylon 5' was the first television series to use CGI instead of models and miniatures for it's special effects (something that wasn't believed possible for television at the time--even though that is how it is almost exclusively done today). Although the CGI is incredibly primitive by modern standards, 'Babylon 5' laid the groundwork for the way genre television is made today and was truly revolutionary in it's time.As an opening to the series, and as a stand alone film as well, 'In the Beginning' comes very highly recommended. 'The Gathering', on the other hand, does not.In my opinion, this package is well worth the price for 'In the Beginning' alone. Just consider 'The Gathering' a free extra.

Babylon 5 - The Gathering (Series Pilot Film) is one hour and thirty-four minutes long and premiered on the PTEN network on February 22, 1993. The movie deals with the opening of the space station Babylon 5. Think United Nations and you get the idea. All of the key ambassadors have arrived with the exception of one; Ambassador Kosh from the Vorlon Empire. Within minutes of coming off his ship Ambassador Kosh is poisoned. The rest of the movie deals with finding who poisoned Ambassador Kosh and why. We find out who did it; a Minbari from a renegade warrior caste but, we never find out why. Also we are introduced to the key characters in the series. Ambassador G'Kar from the Narn Regime, Ambassador Delenn from the Minbari Federation, Ambassador Londo Mollari from the Centauri Republic and we also get a brief glimpse into their history as well. When season one kicked off, major changes were done to the characters and new one are introduced as well. This is not a bad pilot episode.There are two versions of this movie; the VHS and the DVD version. In the VHS version the music score is composed by Stewart Copeland of Police fame. In the DVD version there is a new score composed by Christopher Franke. Also gone in the DVD is the trip Commander Jeffrey Sinclair and telepath Lyta Alexander take through the alien sector to get to her quarters. The fans said the alien sector looked like a zoo. Also the DVD version has an extra fourteen minutes film. Babylon 5 - The Gathering won an Emmy Award in 1994 for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Special Visual Effects. I am giving Babylon 5 - The Gathering a B+.Babylon 5 - In The Beginning (Prequel Film) is one hour and thirty-four minutes long and premiered on the TNT network on January 4, 1998. This movie deals with the Earth-Minbari War and how the war happens and why the Minbari surrender at the Battle of the Line. The movie opens 35 years after the Earth-Minbari War on Centauri Prime in the Emperor's Palace. Londo Mollari is a very aged Emperor and his home world is nothing more than a ball of fire. There are a couple of children playing in the Royal Throne Room and Emperor Londo orders them to come here. He lets the boy in the room to be Emperor for five minutes and in that time Londo will grant him one wish. The boy asks for a story of war, battles, heroes, and villains and the girl there wants a true story so Londo gives then both what they want.The story begins sometime after the Dilgar War and Earth is doing a sphere of influence campaign and has heard of the race called the Minbari. The ask Earth Ambassador Londo Mollari for any information about this race. Mollari warns them that they are a very old and powerful race and should be left alone. If Earth does insist on going then send one ship. Earth does not take his advice and sends an expedition fleet they are led by gun-ho Captain. The Captain ignores Earth orders not to engage with the Minbari and when the Minbari cruisers arrive with gunports open as a sign of respect and strength. Captain Michael Jankowski does not know this and opens fire on the cruisers accidently killing Gray Council leader Dukhat. This would trigger the start of the Earth-Minbari War which would last three years.In The Beginning have some actors in the movie that appeared in the Babylon 5 television show. Theodore Bikel plays Lenonn, Ranger 1, in the movie and Rabbi Koslov in Season One episode TKO. Robin Atkin Downes as Morann in the movie and Byron and Morann is Season Five. Tricia O'Neil as the Earth Alliance President in the movie and M'Ola in Season One episode Believers. Babylon 5 - In The Beginning gets an AAA+++ for the special effects and answering some of the questions from the television show.DVD FEATURESPlay MovieScene SelectionsCast & CrewLanguages

Nice to finally get the pilot.Ty

I always thought babylon 5 was a bit of a thinking man's star trek with the politics and story twists and turns.this disc is a great way to start watching a great show.2 great films.

Cette édition zone 1 qui comprend la nouvelle version du pilote (effets numériques retravaillés, nouvelle musique du compositeur de la série, 16:9 anamorphique comme le reste de la série), est la seule depuis l'édition belge devenue collector à offrir un sous-titre français, le DVD fourni dans l'intégrale britannique  Babylon 5 - The Complete Series (Inc Lost Tales) [Import anglais ] ne comportant que la VO sous-titrée en anglais.Ce DVD offre également le téléfilm "In The Beginning" sur la face B (VF,VOST, se situe à la fin de la saison 4), le même que celui de l'intégrale. Babylon 5 - The Complete Series (Inc Lost Tales) [Import anglais

In all honesty, its not really worth the price. Taking into consideration the show aired on tv in the '80s or early '90s and sales of the of the 5 season boxsets sold at £50 a pop! I think they've made enough money on this drama over the years and anything else is just greed.

It's Bab 5, the prequal helps fill in some of the gaps, gives extra depth to the story, if you enjoy the series then you will like the movies.