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Commander Lochley, who was the first officer which replaced
Ivanova around eleven years before in this timeline, is faced
with a Babylon 5 worker who seems to be possessed by
a demon - or maybe the Devil himself. A priest is caught in
a dilemma of whether or not to perform an exorcism, as the
incarcerated man debates theology with them. But Lochley discovers
the demon is tied to the Earth and, in an attempt to escape,
is trying to trick the priest into performing an exorcism
in space...
Technomage
Galen appears to President Sheridan as he travels to Babylon
5 for the tenth anniversary celebrations of the Interstellar
Alliance. He shows Sheridan the destruction of New York and
says that in 30 years Prince Ventari of the Centauri Republic
will destroy the Earth in his quest to return his race to
their former glory. This can only be prevented by Sheridan
killing Ventari.
Having
decided the time was right for more Babylon 5, and
to cater to a fanbase crying out for more, after the hugely
lucrative DVD box set sales of seasons one to five, Warner
approached writer, creator and visionary J. Michael Straczynski
with the idea of perhaps making a feature film version. JMS
reportedly told them he couldn't imagine a movie without G'Kar
(Andreas Katsulas) and Dr Stephen Franklin (Richard Biggs)
- both of whom have died since the series ended - and instead
proposed a number of short, straight to DVD stories concentrating
separately on major characters from the series.
The
first of The Lost Tales consists of two stories loosely
connected to form the TV movie Voices in the Dark
(a typically poetic JMS title). The Lochley (Tracy Scoggins)
tale is lacklustre at best, and would barely have passed as
a stand alone episode in the old first season. Aside from
Lochley, who hasn't got the presence of Ivanova as first officer
in the series, the priest is convincing, but the whole fails
to carry as a story in its own right. The second tale is much
better. Bruce Boxleitner slips easily back into his role of
Sheridan like he's never been away, and Peter Woodward, briefly
in Babylon 5 and a main character in the spin-off series
Crusade, is engaging
as the sometimes dangerous, sometimes humorous technomage
Galen. Of course, this dramatic plot dilemma has been played
out several times previously, but it is well-handled here.
The
potential continuity problem of the Babylon 5 station
exploding at the conclusion of the five-year story arc is
overcome here by rolling back time a few years, setting these
tales before that momentous event. Credit should be given
to returning music composer Christopher Franke, who creates
effective fresh dramatic enhancement rather than relying on
any of his major themes from the series. The visual effects
are utilised to their best order within the obvious confines
of the budget (exterior views of the station appearing somewhat
darker and more sinister), but haven't the same impact as
the groundbreaking CGI seen on the series. Having recently
re-watched all of Season
One, the old effects hold up remarkably well
considering we are now more than ten years down the line.
The dialogue, as you would expect from JMS, is one of this
release's strong points, with lines like "I've never
known hope when it wasn't on a diet," from Sheridan.
On
the menus we are given the option of watching Voices in
the Dark as a TV movie, or selecting one or the other
of the two half-hour segments. Extras include: Fireside
Chats (18 minutes of questions posed by fans which are
answered by JMS); The Straczynski Diaries (21 minutes
of production information and nonsense about glove puppets);
Memorials (JMS and cast talk about Andreas Katsulas
who played G'Kar, one of the best characters from the series,
and Richard Biggs who played Dr Stephen Franklin). Some interesting
snippets of information can be collected here, such as the
fact JMS would watch his main actors off-set and then incorporate
the witnessed traits into their characters. JMS also mentions
what I remember as being one of the strongest scenes in the
entire Babylon 5 series. Londo is trapped in a broken-down
lift with G'Kar. G'Kar is happy to die because his sworn enemy
will die too. Andreas Katsulas introduced the madness of laughter
into the scene, which JMS okayed because it made the moment
so powerful.
I
could probably talk all day about Babylon 5; it was
after all one of the greatest TV serials of all time. However,
The Lost Tales is quite obviously a nostalgia trip
for established fans, of which I'm certain there are plenty.
This feels like Babylon 5 but is missing the interaction
of its loved characters. It's rather like saying this is a
good stew because there are potatoes - even though there's
nothing to go with them. There should be more of these releases
to come, whereas I would personally prefer one release with
as many of the ensemble that can be collected together.
Ty
Power
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