I bought the new Babylon 5 DVD today and watched it. Overall, not terrible, and certainly not great. Here's the rundown.
It basically is comprised of 2 "lost" stories that JMS never got to do. Great. And standing alone, both "episodes" are as good as any stand-alone stories of B5. They both center on the theme of "perinormal," ie those unexplained phenomenon that intersect science and the mysticism. I don't have a problem with that theme; I would expect us to find such things should we ever explore interstellar realms.
The first story involves a man believed to be possessed. The discussion around him, and the religious implications involved, are pretty cool. But the ending is, well, underwhelming in a Star Trek fashion. No explanation, just a tidy conclusion.
The second story has Sheridan being told by Galen that he must kill someone in order to prevent a future holocaust. Ah, Galen. We all love him. And the ending: turns out that Galen is more Galenier than we thought. Is that it?
Sadly, that's it: weird shit happens and Galen is coy. All these actors were reunited, all this money was spent on new sets (but not that many) and on good special effects (mostly), and all for two stories about the perinormal? I'm underwhelmed. Scant decent was contributed to the grand narrative, both stories--though shoved together--were not connected other than by their themes, and nothing was resolved.
I had hoped for 2 stories linked together cleverly plot-wise, ones that helped fill the vast, uncharted holes in the B5 story. I was sorely disappointed. But it could have been worse, I suppose. Mostly, it just made me sad, like a sick pet that needs to be put down but that you love too much.
I would have thought that JMS would have done some sort of spectacular. At least he didn't kill it (IMHO), like the X-Files movie did. But doesn't suggest he expects to make more since he didn't make a conclusive epic ala Farscape:Peacekeeper Wars. Although I've seen rumors on that front as well - link.
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