Thanks for that link. Much longer statement by JMS.
He has been around the block a few times, I doubt he would put in all this effort without a good indication the project is going somewhere.
I do expect it we will be waiting a couple years.
Babylon 5 reboot coming
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He has been around the block a few times, I doubt he would put in all this effort without a good indication the project is going somewhere.
I do expect it we will be waiting a couple years.
The Verge link above explains JMS's reasoning. Reboots seem to be in vogue these days.
I'm curious what could be done with current special effects but I'm not sure I would be interested in retelling the same story.
CW Pushes Babylon 5 Reboot to 2023
The CW pushed the much anticipated reboot to fall of 2023 amid the upcoming sale of the network.
movieweb.com
B5 given time to wait as dust settles with CW sale. Not the end of the world, but history has forced a sense of anxiety for all things B5.
B5 would be strange without the original actors. I'm trying to remember that one follow on series based on B5 where some starship crew was searching for a way to neutralize that plague on Earth. Apparently it wasn't popular.
Crusade was the series, it focused too much on the Techno Mages and just didn't have the high caliber actors (imo). Just like the BSG 2nd gen spin off, Caprica.
But at least with this B5 Reboot JMS the original creator is highly involved with it.
Didn't help that Crusade episodes were shown all out of order (as shown by outfits flipping back and forth), which really screwed with people trying to follow the story.
As for Crapica, well the name I give the show tells what I thought of it.
I'm still having a hard time with seeing the need for a reboot. As I said before, the show isn't that old. And I don't see advances in special effects being that much a difference. Retelling the same story also removes any suspense there might be.
- Nov 29, 2003
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I own the show in HD on Vudu, the effects look just awful compared to today’s world, they also look awful compared to material made years before the show, look at Return of the Jedi final space fight, that was done in 1983.
Just started watching Season 4 of Discovery to get my mind off certain events, there is just no comparison as far as effects go.
Found this-
What was Babylon 5 rendered on?
For the pilot, the effects were rendered on a network of Amiga computers; later, Foundation used 12 Pentium PCs and 5 DEC Alpha workstations for 3D rendering and design, and 3 Macintoshes for piecing together on-set computer displays.
Updated effects wouldn't really matter, as the show was plot driven, with effects really being secondary.
With all the plot twists and surprised being known, it's really hard to do a remake. It's not like Battlestar Galactica where the original story was just a "story of the day" show without an overall story plot.
Those Amigas were using NewTek’s Lightwave software to design and render the scenes. Lightwave was also used for “SeaQuest DSV” and some other Saturday morning animated shows.
NewTek is still around, as is LightWave.
NewTek is still around, as is LightWave.
I don’t see much interest in redoing the same story with different actors. JMS hopefully knows this and will give us a somewhat different show.
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Babylon 5 is coming back, via animation. Some of the articles on it seem poorly written, but it appears not only is it coming back, the animated show is already produced and will be distributed via streaming this summer. I can't parse if this is produced by the creator himself or by WB. If WB, I'm thinking it'll be exclusive to Max (and then likely purchasable elsewhere).
They got those still alive to get into the voicing, including Season 5 jettisoned Claudia Christian... the Russian who lost her accent as the show progressed. Differing details out there regarding when the plot is. Also, not easy to tell if this is a single movie, mini-series, extend mini-series. I'd personally love a Game of Thrones sort of set up with 5 or 6 extended episodes covering a great plot (obviously GoT in the final season wasn't great). A single movie would likely feel like the Veronica Mars movie, good, but not as good as the series because of having the resolution too quickly.
They got those still alive to get into the voicing, including Season 5 jettisoned Claudia Christian... the Russian who lost her accent as the show progressed. Differing details out there regarding when the plot is. Also, not easy to tell if this is a single movie, mini-series, extend mini-series. I'd personally love a Game of Thrones sort of set up with 5 or 6 extended episodes covering a great plot (obviously GoT in the final season wasn't great). A single movie would likely feel like the Veronica Mars movie, good, but not as good as the series because of having the resolution too quickly.
Read about this a while back. Disappointing to me. I have no interest in watching animated series.
I would say it depends on the style of animation they use. DisneyXD did quite well with ”Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Star Wars: Rebels”, where you lose yourself in the stories and accept the characters as “drawn”. Disney was smart to use a “clay-like” style for the characters and avoid the ”Uncanny Valley” where the characters are almost lifelike, but the difference interferes with the believability of the character and takes you out of the story.
And in a Space Opera, the ships and battles started using CGI beginning in the 1980s (“The Last Starfighter”), and “Babylon 5” was a pioneer in that regards for a TV Series. All of the CGI was done with Commodore Amigas with Newtek’s Video Toasters and Lightwave software. So, Animation. But it remains to be seen which path this new “Babylon 5” project will go down…
It needs to look good, but voice acted well too. Time will tell. It can be good in many different formats, if produced and written well.
- Nov 29, 2003
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Well Straczynski wrote it and the same actors are doing the voices ( except of those who have died of course), so that tilts to it could be good, if crappy animation, that will take away even if a good/great story
Michall Straczynski also writes comics and graphic novels, if you like his works, read Midnight Nation, best thing he has ever written.
Saw the movie. I had some credits on Amazon so saved on the price. Mixed feelings. The problem with a B5 movie is the same problem I had with a Veronica Mars movie. The two were based on long, brilliantly sewn story arcs. So when you get it in a much smaller package, it feels unnaturally rushed and not genuinely B5. Knowing this, I think Straczynski built this on something that could fill the cracks of the series (metaphor for information gaps, not flaws), be its own story, brain candy for the devoted.
And I think he managed that well. The voice acting was good for me, trademark qualities of the show's comedy at points, and the animation mature enough to get over the fact it was animated pretty quickly. Unlike Serenity, however, which gave us all that we needed for the premature cancelling of Firefly, and rewatchable over and over, the B5 film feels as if it was watched and needed only to be watched once. Kind of like the Pilot, but more interesting than the Pilot.
Not a spoiler, as I don't even know if it is a spoiler...
And I think he managed that well. The voice acting was good for me, trademark qualities of the show's comedy at points, and the animation mature enough to get over the fact it was animated pretty quickly. Unlike Serenity, however, which gave us all that we needed for the premature cancelling of Firefly, and rewatchable over and over, the B5 film feels as if it was watched and needed only to be watched once. Kind of like the Pilot, but more interesting than the Pilot.
Not a spoiler, as I don't even know if it is a spoiler...
I will say, I'm curious whether the events in the movie set up a potential reboot timeline for a new show (if that ever happens), not particularly as ended in the movie, but possibly adjacent during it.
Rented the new movie via Appletv last night. Decent story but I just don't enjoy the animation.
