Babylon 5: The Lost Tales preview videos now available

Omega18 · Post by **Omega18** » 2007-05-24 12:14pm

Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, "Voices in the Dark" is going to be released directly to DVD July 31st in the US, and a UK release September 3rd.

Video diaries with some sneak peeks at what will be in what will hopefully be a series of releases have now been released. While spoilers are involved, other than who is fighting whom in one space battle scene, the spoilers shouldn't give that much away on their own.

Here's a link to a video diary featuring JMS in which he talks about the special effects behind the release. You get a glimpse of various CGI graphics that will appear in the release as well as a brief glimpse of a full fledged space battle.
http://www.vmix.com/view.php?id=2422707 ... type=video

Here's a link to an interview by Bruce Boxleitner (who played Sheridan in the Babylon 5 series of course). He reflects back on his role in the show and talks about what it was like to be back and in character again for the DVD's filming. You get to hear him deliver a variety of lines which should appear in the actual DVD, along with a couple of brief scenes he's in being filmed. (The movie is basically shot in green screen, so thing are generally blank with the CGI effects filling in everything later. I'm including both a link in Windows Media Player format and Quicktime (in that order).
http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbol/us ... er_300.asx
http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbol/us ... qt_300.mov

Here's a link to one of the locations where you can preorder the DVD, along with getting a glimpse of the box art.
http://www.amazon.com/Babylon-5-Tales-B ... B000PHX8RA

Anguirus · Post by **Anguirus** » 2007-05-24 04:06pm

Nice find! I'm fairly psyched about this.

Darksider · Post by **Darksider** » 2007-05-24 04:43pm

Were those EA warlocks fighting the Centauri?

This must be set during the time period glimpsed in War Without end, when IIRC the Centauri were once again attacking everything in sight.

Omega18 · Post by **Omega18** » 2007-05-24 05:00pm

Those were EA Warlocks, but the context of that particular scene is not completely clear.

Anguirus · Post by **Anguirus** » 2007-05-25 12:28am

Yeah, one of the animators mentioned something about a "dream sequence."

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2007-05-25 01:52am

Darksider wrote:Were those EA warlocks fighting the Centauri?

This must be set during the time period glimpsed in War Without end, when IIRC the Centauri were once again attacking everything in sight.

Remember, Context. In B5, we've had the station exploding (good thing, that seemed terrible), dozens of battles (again, context), and Garibaldi with a minigun getting pasted (dream)

It's gonna be an alternate future. You know it.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2007-05-25 02:48am

Nephtys wrote:
Darksider wrote:Were those EA warlocks fighting the Centauri?

This must be set during the time period glimpsed in War Without end, when IIRC the Centauri were once again attacking everything in sight.
Remember, Context. In B5, we've had the station exploding (good thing, that seemed terrible)

Which time was this? Iirc B5 has exploded multiple times on screen.

FedRebel · Post by **FedRebel** » 2007-05-25 03:34am

General Zod wrote: Which time was this? Iirc B5 has exploded multiple times on screen.

Only two times by my count

1. A prophetic vision in season 1
2. The ceremony in the series finale

I'd think that it's obvious (considering known variables) that this takes place during or after the timeframe covered in the "Legions of Fire" novel trilogy

Omega18 · Post by **Omega18** » 2007-05-26 01:26pm

FedRebel wrote: I'd think that it's obvious (considering known variables) that this takes place during or after the timeframe covered in the "Legions of Fire" novel trilogy

The DVD actually takes place specifically in 2272, or ten years after Sheridan left Babylon 5 to relocate to the new ISA headquarters towards the very end of season 5 of Babylon 5.

However the battle scene could very well be a prophetic vision of a possible future.

Skylon · Post by **Skylon** » 2007-05-27 10:38am

Darksider wrote:Were those EA warlocks fighting the Centauri?

This must be set during the time period glimpsed in War Without end, when IIRC the Centauri were once again attacking everything in sight.

As noted, we'll wait and see the context.

I for one was rather happy to finally see the Warlock in action.

Darksider · Post by **Darksider** » 2007-05-28 12:00am

Skylon wrote:
Darksider wrote:
I for one was rather happy to finally see the Warlock in action.

Why? They were getting beat down by Vorchans. Aren't the Warlocks supposed to be the EA's answer to the Minbari heavy cruisers? They should have been swatting the Vorchans left and right.

Aeolus · Post by **Aeolus** » 2007-05-28 04:08am

Darksider wrote:
Skylon wrote:
Darksider wrote:
I for one was rather happy to finally see the Warlock in action.

Why? They were getting beat down by Vorchans. Aren't the Warlocks supposed to be the EA's answer to the Minbari heavy cruisers? They should have been swatting the Vorchans left and right.

In the background there is at least 1 Balvarin Carrier and quite a few fighters as well.

Omega18 · Post by **Omega18** » 2007-05-31 09:50am

The following Myspace page, (set up by Warner Brothers) currently has another couple JMS diaries and the following temporary teaser video showing some additional glimpses of what the new CGI graphics will be like.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... 2025422973

It turns out that the exact year things will be set is 2071. I suspect Sheridan was approximating rather than being precise when he gave his ten year figure, although maybe he was talking about the date of the founding of the Interstellar Alliance, which could explain the statement.

An official trailer is supposed to be released soon.

FaxModem1 · Post by **FaxModem1** » 2007-05-31 10:16am

Why are they showing both G'kar and Dr. Franklin?

Omega18 · Post by **Omega18** » 2007-05-31 10:30am

FaxModem1 wrote:Why are they showing both G'kar and Dr. Franklin?

Obviously by the way they re-used a monologue of G'kar from the original show. I think it was basically in tribute to the original show and those now deceased actors. I believe there was a longer version of this particular trailer released at an earlier science fiction convention, presumably with more glimpses of the new material.

Omega18 · Post by **Omega18** » 2007-06-01 10:19am

The official Babylon 5: The Lost Tales trailer is now out.

Go to the following link, which also now features other information about the production, check on the main menu option, and select the button above the video screen labeled "Babylon 5 The Lost Tales" to see the preview video."
http://babylon5.warnerbros.com/

I'm REALLY looking forward to this coming out.

FaxModem1 · Post by **FaxModem1** » 2007-06-01 10:58pm

Is it just me, or does the B5 docking bay look odd?

Anguirus · Post by **Anguirus** » 2007-06-01 11:26pm

The area around it is different/more detailed. That's all I noticed.

I would imagine they are taking advantage of technology to intentionally redesign B5, make it look much cooler and more seamless. They even did that with "Call to Arms," and that was much closer to the time that the show aired.

Omega18 · Post by **Omega18** » 2007-06-04 10:48pm

By the way a very slightly altered version of the trailer is now out at the Warner Brothers website, where you see the logo for the title of the production at the end.

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2007-06-05 02:46am

Mmm. The station looks really clean now. That's all I have to say.

I'm a little alarmed by what seems to be an overreliance on that technomage stuff. Whatever happened to simple politics? Space fascists? aliens? Or time travel? Or uh. The other stuff that the show got right?

Lovely sight of that Sentri splashing an Aurora though.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2007-06-05 02:54am

Nephtys wrote:I'm a little alarmed by what seems to be an overreliance on that technomage stuff. Whatever happened to simple politics? Space fascists? aliens? Or time travel? Or uh. The other stuff that the show got right?

I got the distinct impression that B5 had been moving further and further in that direction ever since the very start of the show, really. It was a slow drift, at first, but it seemed to pick up speed, until the TV movies and the spinoffs seemed to veer off into really weird territory.

I have to admit that I really prefer the "space politics" B5 over the "space wizards" B5.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-06-05 02:58am

As someone who hates everything, the technomage rubbish was easily the worst part of B5. It had a lot of flaws, but when it was concentrating on people and politics it was good. When it was 'King Arthur' this and 'zomg firballz' that, it was retarded.

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2007-06-05 03:00am

Stark wrote:As someone who hates everything, the technomage rubbish was easily the worst part of B5. It had a lot of flaws, but when it was concentrating on people and politics it was good. When it was 'King Arthur' this and 'zomg firballz' that, it was retarded.

It doesn't take a genius to figure that Space Nazis > Space Mages.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-06-05 03:03am

Yeah, which just shows that the writers really didn't know what worked and what didn't. Oh no, will the fanboys be mad I said that?

Maybe they were going for SW-style magic stuff, and just didn't notice all people cared about was Londo being a cagey bastard and shit.

Anguirus · Post by **Anguirus** » 2007-06-05 12:09pm

I'm a big B5 fan and I'm not offended. The techno-mages were okay in season 2 when they were mysterious and only seen once, but by "A Call to Arms" they were assuming a totally different role. I didn't bother with "Crusade" or "Legend of the Rangers."

It's possible that the technomancy effectively replaced the First Ones as the source of "mystery and wonder" in the B5 universe. One would think that the great success of seasons 4 and 5 despite few fantasy elements would have shown that those elements weren't necessary. As Delenn herself said, "Now we make our own magic."

Also, we need not beat around the bush. The best and worst of B5 is JMS' fault.