Babylon 5 is finally on bluray and there’s a new animated movie.

Babylon 5 on Blu-ray

We finally have Babylon 5 on blu-ray and it’s been a long time coming. HBO upscaled most of it to HD and put it on their steaming service a few years back. I know there were some issues with the masters not being in 16:9 while the special effects were. (Or something like that, it’s a very odd situation.) The blu-ray release isn’t terrible, but it’s not perfect. There are 4 discs per season plus a disc for the pilot for a total of 21 discs. The packaging, discs, and slipcase are quite plain and there are no other physical or digital extras. This is a very barebones collector set and I’m not impressed. While I love to see B5 in HD and this will easily replace my DVD copies, I really wish they could have at least included the commentary tracks that were on the DVDs, or had some packaging with a little more pizazz. I’m sure the problem is licensing. The problem is always licensing.

Good:

  • B5 in HD!
  • Most of the shows look good for a mid-1990’s show upscaled to HD.
  • The set includes the pilot show: Babylon 5: The Gathering
  • Good price.

Bad:

  • No commentary tracks from the DVD’s.
  • No movies or any other physical or digital extras.

Unknown:

The first and last discs for each season have 5 episodes on them each at ~8 GB, while the second and third disc for each season has 6 episodes, each at ~7 GB. I haven’t taken a close look at the episodes but that is significant file size difference. I would have rather had all the episodes been similar sized and then, if they really wanted to cut down on the number of discs, mix the end of the season with the beginning of the next on the same disc.

Babylon 5: The Road Home

B5 The Road Home PosterThis animated movie takes place after Sheridan leaves B5 to head up the Interstellar Alliance on Minbar. An accident causes him to jump back and forth in time and to alternate dimensions.

I don’t know how I feel about this one. On one hand, I want more B5 and it genuinely has good moments. On the other, this just isn’t up to the same standards. Some of the dialog is cringy and sometimes doesn’t fit with the characters. The animation was smooth and I even liked the new jumpgate style, but the character design is terrible to the point where I had difficultly telling Lochley apart from Ivanova because they looked so similar. The story wasn’t terrible but I thought it was a little basic.

But as always, Peter Jurasik steals every scene when he plays Londo.

Good:

  • More B5!
  • Some moments are pretty good.
  • Some of the funny dialog lands well.
  • Peter Jurasik as Londo.

Bad:

  • The character design is terrible. Don’t let the cover art fool you.
  • Time-travel is never my favorite plot device.
  • Why are the Minbari worried about pollution from a power generator for a city? It makes no sense, the Minbari have clean energy sources.
  • Some cringy dialog moments.

Sad:

  • Having so many of the original cast gone.

In Memoriam