Legend of the Rangers

[Crom]

I was wondering if there was an analysis up on LotR.

For instance, the introduction of the Hand has confused me on the issues of the First Ones. Are the Hand First Ones, or do they predate them? I assume this may have been addressed in the novels.

[Solid Snake]

I watched that movie last night, and frankly, i was very disappointed. I could have sworn that it was written by one of those dumbass Trek writers. The Hand must be one of the First Ones, because according to the dialoge of that incredibly boring movie, the Hand was advanced in technology a billion years ago. That ugly fish-faced dude compared the Shadows as insects, while the Hand were uber-kill First Ones.
And wtf was with the grey jump gate openings?

[Wicked Pilot]

I liked some of it. Especially some of the new CGI effects like hyperspace and the Mimbari homeworld. Big improvement over the origional series.
However, there are some points I really hate. One is JMS's obsession with the Rangers being only hand to hand fighters. Why can't we see them train on firearms, like modern day special operation soldiers? For example, in "Grey 17 is Missing" Marcus could have dropped Naroon within a second if he had a PPG. The other thing that pissed me off was the "use your whole body to run the ship weapon system" nonsense. How about a freakin' computer, or something like a targeting console? Must we really go so far out of the way to make something so stupid?

[XaLEv]

Imagine if Sarah had been on speed.

[Stravo]

WORST B-5 RELATED MOVIE/TVEPISODE EVER!!!!

I stared at the screen, slack jawed thinking this CAN'T be JMS' work. This has to be B&B hijacking B-5.

[Crom]

I didn't understand the human based targeting system either. Maybe it's a holdover from Mimbari culture, which may have emphasized personal combat.

As for the Rangers being focused on hand-to-hand combat, a few guns would have been nice. I think that if you're building an army, in an era with space ships, limiting them to pikes would be a big mistake.

[Solid Snake]

That targeting system is the most retarded thing i have ever seen. As was the whole movie

[Patrick Degan]

Legend Of The Rangers was pretty much a bog-standard ship-with-a-new-crew-under-siege story. It was alright once the thing really got going and sunk itself into the actual meat of the plotline, but it was slow starting, almost painfully so.

Definitely not one of JMS' best efforts. In fact, I get the sense that this was something he had to deliver on to fulfill whatever contractual arrangements he has with Sci-Fi in connection with the syndication of Babylon 5 but that his heart was really not into the project. From all indications, J. Michael Straczynski's moved on from Babylon 5 in favour of the projects which fire his imagination these days. This would be in line with his statements ine past that he had never been particularly interested in creating a large, far-flung franchise with sequels and spinoffs. There was Crusade of course, but that seemed more of an experiment than anything else. JMS may not have particularly cared if B5LOTR had sold or not, and is probably as relieved that it didn't.

Overall, it is probably just as well that the thing didn't sell. I don't think it would have turned out as anything particularly special or significant; just another chase story and probably one which would not have lasted all that long and certainly nothing that would have had the same impact as B5 managed to have.

BTW, as for the CGI effects, those were all new for the reason that Warner Brothers lost all the original CGI models for the ships, the jump vortices and hyperspace, and several of the locales of B5 such as the Minbari homeworld.

Yes, I think that it is probably best that B5LOTR had its time on the stage and didn't get anywhere beyond a pilot film.