In the second Babylon 5 movie made for TNT (though the first produced), a gigantic alien object of unknown origin is discovered, and the crew of B5 form an uneasy alliance with an unscrupulous Earth research company to investigate. The origins and purpose of the huge device turns out to be more horrific than anyone suspects. Thirdspace, as a story, was less than original, though tremendous production values and the usual sure-fire appeal of the Babylon 5 cast kept it from seeming totally derivative.
If there was one aspect of Thirdspace I liked, it was a recurring theme for Lyta’s psychic connection with the artifact. Its strong resemblance to one of my favorite classical pieces – Holst’s “Neptune” – caught my attention on the first viewing (even if most of the movie’s storyline didn’t). There’s also another motif for the artifact, the unmistakable howl of the theremin, which works in some situations and becomes a clichè in others. This was an instance of the latter – Thirdspace‘s plot already seemed to be borrowed from countless sources, but the theremin-laden musical passages gave me flashbacks to black & white 1950s Universal horror flicks. The subliminal effect of a musical score can work against a production sometimes, and in this case, that vague pop-cultural association with cheesy horror movies stuck in my mind immediately. A somewhat more specific element borrowed from elsewhere shows up with a horn call in the “Bots Destroyed” cue – it sounds an awful lot like a motif from “The Dish” cue on the Star Trek: First Contact CD. In all fairness, I can’t honestly say that these things detracted from the show or made me think any less of it, but the similarities to other works did register on a subconscious level.
Overall, however, I have to give Franke credit for creating a score which borrowed only minimally from his previous Babylon 5 music, a complaint I had with the otherwise outstanding soundtrack from In The Beginning, the first of the B5 movies to air on TNT. Even with the subliminal associations to other music and other movies, Thirdspace makes for an enjoyable soundtrack.
- Act One (7:13)
- Battle To Survive (3:21)
- Back To the Station (0:40)
- Telepathic Mindflash (0:17)
- Vision Of A Shade (0:20)
- Hearing The Sound (0:33)
- The Bizarre Object (2:00)
- Act Two (9:00)
- The Monstrous Artifact Arrives (2:14)
- Truth Is Inconvenient (3:10)
- There Is Danger (1:51)
- We Have A Deal (1:13)
- Lyta’s Nightmare (1:14)
- Bots Take Off (1:19)
- Act Three (13:50)
- Bots Destroyed (0:50)
- You Have To Stop It (1:07)
- Lyta’s History (2:10)
- A Distant World (2:12)
- It Could Change Everything (1:11)
- The Black Tower (0:40)
- Ivanova’s Wild Dream (0:42)
- It’s Calling All Of Us (0:42)
- The Vision Of Thirdspace (2:34)
- We Have Contact (1:39)
- Act Four (11:51)
- Activated Artifact (1:02)
- Under Outside Control (1:34)
- Launch The Fighters (1:15)
- The Vorlon Legacy (6:45)
- Ivanova Arrests Dr. Trent (1:15)
- Act Five (15:09)
- Mobilization (0:44)
- Start The Attack (2:46)
- Vir’s Fight (1:38)
- Inside The Artifact (6:02)
- Sheridan Drifting In Space (0:56)
- One Mistake Out Of So Many (1:48)
- End Credits (1:15)
Released by: Sonic Images
Release date: 1999
Total running time: 59:22
