Man, have I been waiting for this.
The first season of Babylon 5 can only be described as uneven. Just look at disc 4, where the pivotal Signs And Portents shares space with the much-less-pivotal Grail and TKO. But even while the show was finding its legs, its potential was clear. And when it delivered on that potential, it was something very special.. The five-year-arc for television has been discussed over and over again, but to me that’s not the strength of Babylon 5. Series creator J. Michael Straczynski mentions it repeatedly in his episode commentaries…it’s a series that passionately argues that we all can make a difference in the world, that we all need to believe in ourselves and each other. It’s a show that has something to say, and is willing to take risks in order to say it. And thanks to this DVD set, I get to watch its beginnings over and over again, with a much better picture than the faded videotapes a certain webmaster sent to help me catch up on the show when I first became hooked.
My favorite episode of the season, And The Sky Full Of Stars, is a perfect example of the show clicking. It takes Sinclair’s battles with his survivor’s guilt and missing memories and transforms them into gripping drama, drama that is played out more through words than action. Straczynski doesn’t completely hold back from the action, though – he would wait for season 4’s Intersections In Real Time for that – as we get to see the Battle of the Line for the first time thanks to some terrific CG animation work. (Christopher Franke’s Requiem For The Line is but one reason why I find the sequence here to be vastly superior to its expanded treatment in In The Beginning.) Michael O’Hare’s performance in the episode makes even a fan of Bruce Boxleitner’s Captain Sheridan such as myself wish that Sinclair hadn’t been moved off the chessboard quite so soon.
That move is one of the behind-the-scenes stories Straczynski relates in his episode commentaries for Signs And Portents and Chrysalis. Those fans who have gone through the bulk of Straczynski’s Usenet and GEnie postings over the years probably won’t find much new to chew on (although they will find some), but those who haven’t will likely feel more enlightened when they’re done. And even if the material’s not fresh, Straczynski’s delivery of it is. His combination of wit, pride, and self-deprecation are huge fun to listen to. Although when you are done, two facts will be burned into your mind – he really wanted to create a saga for American television even though no one said it would work, and Ivanova’s Russian pessimism reflects his own heritage.
Other extras include two documentaries, The Making of Babylon 5 and Back to Babylon 5. The former is a 1994 piece hosted by Walter Koenig made to promote the first season, filled with cast/crew interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. The latter is a brand new featurette wholly comprised of interview clips with select cast and crew reflecting on the show and its beginnings. (Among the interviewees: Straczynski, fellow executive producer Douglas Netter, series stars Jerry Doyle, Richard Biggs and Stephen Furst, production designer John Iacovelli, makeup artist John Vulich, and producer John Copeland.) On its own, the new documentary would be rather thin, but it provides a very nice bookend to the old one, since you can see everyone express their hopes and plans for the series and then see them after they know how it all turns out. (Kind of like the virtues of rewatching these early episodes knowing where everyone’s going to wind up, in fact.)
There’s also an interactive guide to the Universe of Babylon 5, which has some brief nuggets of info on the station and characters, an introduction from Straczynski, and biographical info on Straczynski and Netter. My favorite little extra is the previews for each episode, which in a previous life served as the “Next week on Babylon 5…” promos. Watch some of these, and wonder if the people who watched them could have gotten any farther from the actual plotlines of the episodes in question.
The episodes are presented in a widescreen format, which has caused some controversy and confusion within the fan community. The live action footage was shot on Super 35 film, which can then cropped into either full-frame or widescreen ratios. However, all the CG animation and any composite shots were composed exclusively on the full frame versions. So on the DVDs, shots that are completely live action will show more than the old full frame versions, although the new version might still lose some content from the old. CG shots or shots with composited elements are cropped from the original full frame, so these shots are always “missing” something from the top and bottom. Some, like myself, think the widescreen versions generally have an improved composition. Others prefer the original format. You’ll have to come to your own conclusions, but here’s a site that explains the process and shows side by side examples of the difference between full frame and widescreen B5.
Regardless of your stance on the aspect ratio, if you have any fondness at all for Babylon 5, you’ll enjoy having this set. As I said, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, and I can say the wait was worth it.
Of course, now the wait for season 2 begins…
