Babylon 5 is one of the great science-fiction properties ever, right up there with Star Trek, Star Wars, (the new) Battlestar Galactica and others. The five-year run that Babylon 5 had on television is also a singular achievement in TV history - without its 110 episodes of a serialized novel for television, there might be no Lost or other must-tune-in-every-week shows.A feature film seemed inevitable at some point, and one may yet
be in the offing, but now comes what is likely the first in a series of "Lost Tales" DVD releases (in bonus features, reference is made to shooting "these DVDs"; this volume is subtitled "Voices in the Dark"). This one stars Bruce Boxleitner and Tracy Scoggins from the series and Peter Woodward from the spinoff Crusade. It's a mixed bag, really, with the first half of the program being a fairly generic supernatural possession story, and the second half a more satisfying adventure into the character of the show's lead.Scoggins is back as Lochley, a character we never got to know very well in the show's fifth season, but who acquitted herself well into an already established series. She is thrust into determining a supernatural menace and calling for aid from the Catholic Church, which sends her a priest. Alan Scarfe has some nice moments as a skeptical, realistic man of the cloth. His commanding voice reminds us of appearances he made as a Romulan leader in Star Trek: The Next Generation. But there isn't enough of a personal stake in this part of the story, and Lochley simply shows herself to be the smart leader we already knew she was.
Boxleitner's return as John Sheridan comes off much better. Shown a vision of the future by Woodward's Galen, Sheridan confronts a question that has fascinated men for generations: If you could kill a genocidal maniac before he commits the terrible acts we know he will, would you? Boxleitner appears to relish the role and his time in it. He's the best thing about the entire program.The show uses a lot of CGI effects, and technology has improved since the days of the show, which makes for some beautiful footage in space. Some of the interior shots fare less well, with the actors appearing to be standing or sitting in empty rooms, but that's a minor quibble and one as much due to a lack of camera movement as anything. But the station and the spacecraft have never looked better.
J. Michael Straczynski, creator of the show, wrote and directed, and his abilities are as strong as ever. Unlike Gene Roddenberry, who had less of a hands-on approach with Star Trek as the years went on, Straczynski has remained the driving force behind the show, and it remains very much his vision.
Hopefully, The Lost Tales will continue, and will explore the other great characters of the show - Londo, Lennier, Garibaldi, Marcus, Ivanova, Delenn and others, including the cast of Crusade, which was cancelled by TNT before it had a chance to develop. If The Lost Tales allows Crusade to wrap up in some fashion, it will make many fans happy. Of course, if a feature film ever happens and Straczynski can take advantage of a bigger budget and tell a more epic story, Babylon 5 may reach an even wider audience.
For now, though, this volume of The Lost Tales is a worthwhile effort, and a welcome visit to one of the great alternative universes of imagination.
