I’ve mentioned before in other reviews that I am a big fan of good science fiction. I have a passing interest in “Star Wars” and “Star Trek”, and though I watch both, am not really into them. Off the top of my head I can only think of two sci-fi shows that I do get into, one of them being “Babylon 5.” In case you’re curious, the other one is “Stargate SG-1”, but the main focus of this review is the first. I can’t tell you how psyched I was when Warner Brothers started releasing the various seasons of “Babylon 5.” Every new set would remind me of just how well written this series was. I think in part, that had to do with creator J. Michael Straczynski’s having taken the time to plot out an entire five-year story arc. Having done so, events in one episode often had a direct affect on other episodes. This is what made the series so darn compelling.

I can’t tell you how many times I’d catch some odd piece of business that happened in one episode, only to find out it was a foreshadowing of something else. Sometimes these ‘links’ were cross-seasonal.

This is so different from most other TV shows. In most, all the characters pretty much stay the same with few minor changes. That kind of predictability can become dull. But in “Babylon 5” you never really knew what was going to happen next. It was full of shocks and surprises, and offered a multitude of emotional payoffs. And if you were looking for realistic special effects, look no further. Up until the premiere (and ultimate demise) of "Firefly", no other series had ever generated such realistic effects shots.

While the survived through a near cancellation, which caused Straczynski to do some quick revising of the scripts, it dud ultimately live out its life to deliver 5 full seasons, 5 TV-movies and a short-lived spin-off "Crusade." And the only time the series hit a weak point came in the final TV Movie, "A Call to Arms." Oddly (and somewhat stupidly), this weakness had nothing to do with that story's premise, but more the loss of composer Christopher Franke and the hiring of Evan Chen.

If anything "A Call to Arms" proved just how important the music can be to a movie or TV show. Chen's music lacked the lavish symphonic tones of Franke's and sounded more like they were churned out on a really, really old Casio keyboard. It was all Electronica, and did not fit the look of the series one bit. Even worse, it often seemed completely out of place to the events that were being watched. Chen was kept on to compose the music for the spin-off series, "Crusade," with the same results. For all intents and purposes, "Babylon 5" was dead.

Then Straczynski opted to try and bring it back with an all-new TV movie, "Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers." It aired back in 2001 and featured only one of the actors from the original series. Andreas Katsulas (who unfortunately recently passed away and will be sorely missed) returned in the role of Ambassador G'kar. He finds himself onboard an old Ranger ship, on his way to an interstellar conference. Along the way he, along with the crew of the lone ship, encounters an ancient alien race bent on destruction. Alone, they must face this threat, with little chance of success… or survival.

I missed "Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers", when it originally aired and waited patiently for it to be re-run. To the best of my knowledge, it never was. I had pretty much given up hope that it would be released on DVD, in spite of the release of the entire "Babylon 5" series and the previous TV-movies. If anything, I thought it would have been included on the TV-movie set, but it was not.

Fortunately, Warner Brothers has seen the error of its ways and is releasing it all by it lonesome this month. When it came in, I was hesitant to watch it, despite my excitement. I was concerned that I would have to inflict the pain of listening to Chen's music again and further butcher my memories of the series' final moments.

However, I turned the case over and took a quick look at the credits and read… "Music by Christopher Franke." I couldn't have possibly been happier. I put in the disc, watched the movie and breathed a sigh of relief that if this were indeed the last of the "Babylon 5" series at least I knew the music would be good.

As it turns out, the movie itself was actually really good, and while it did not completely recapture the magic of the original series, it was extremely close to what I hoped for. The inclusion of Katsulas helped a lot, and the 'new' cast did well enough with the material given them. I believe there was hope that this would be turned into a new series, and I believe it would have been a good one if given the chance, but it was not to be.

But at least the series finally went out on a high note.

Starring: Dylan Neal, Alex Zahara, Myriam Sirois, Mackenzie Gray, Andrea Katsulas
Extras: None
Specifications: Widescreen, English Dolby Surround Stereo
Studio: Warner Brothers Home Video
Release Date: 3/14/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Babylon 5: Legend of the Rangers a B-.