Last night I watched the new B5-Lost Tales (I know its Friday night, I should get out more) and to be honest I was frankly disappointed.
The first tale was about a guy possessed by ‘the devil’ arriving on B5 and being analysed by a priest and Lockley; this has been done before and much better by other Sci-Fi programmes. There were very few external shots and not much inside action (no doubt the budget didn’t run to the cost of extras). However, there were a couple of good CGI moments, the demon guy on the cross and the station being enveloped by flame were pretty snazzy! Finally, the lame ending, the ‘demon’ was a possible ancient being who had been on earth for ages and decided a jaunt into space was on the books, no doubt it needed a vacation! Overall, only a 4 out of 10.
The second tale centred on Sheridan being interviewed by ISN on his way to B5 for the 10th anniversary of the ISA. Galen also popped up with a plot to kill the 3rd in line to the Centauri throne (Ventari – Catagia’s son) as he posed a threat to earth in the future. There were some good CGI shots of Sheridan’s ship and the new ‘Quantum’ Space drive. They have also sharpened up the B5 graphic as well, and that looked pretty neat. But alas the wooden acting and the terrible Centauri accent (reminiscent of those old Dracula movies – “I vant to drink yor bluud”) did tend to spoil it a wee bit. Overall, a 7 out of 10 though.
There were a couple of good extras on the DVD though and I thought the memorials to Andreas Katsulas and Richard Biggs were moving and heartfelt. The bit about the ‘Beyond the Rim’ phrase certainly made me aware of how much they will be missed and JMS’s description of the funeral brought a lump to my throat.
Let’s hope that the rest of the series will improve, not a promising start!
The first tale was about a guy possessed by ‘the devil’ arriving on B5 and being analysed by a priest and Lockley; this has been done before and much better by other Sci-Fi programmes. There were very few external shots and not much inside action (no doubt the budget didn’t run to the cost of extras). However, there were a couple of good CGI moments, the demon guy on the cross and the station being enveloped by flame were pretty snazzy! Finally, the lame ending, the ‘demon’ was a possible ancient being who had been on earth for ages and decided a jaunt into space was on the books, no doubt it needed a vacation! Overall, only a 4 out of 10.
The second tale centred on Sheridan being interviewed by ISN on his way to B5 for the 10th anniversary of the ISA. Galen also popped up with a plot to kill the 3rd in line to the Centauri throne (Ventari – Catagia’s son) as he posed a threat to earth in the future. There were some good CGI shots of Sheridan’s ship and the new ‘Quantum’ Space drive. They have also sharpened up the B5 graphic as well, and that looked pretty neat. But alas the wooden acting and the terrible Centauri accent (reminiscent of those old Dracula movies – “I vant to drink yor bluud”) did tend to spoil it a wee bit. Overall, a 7 out of 10 though.
There were a couple of good extras on the DVD though and I thought the memorials to Andreas Katsulas and Richard Biggs were moving and heartfelt. The bit about the ‘Beyond the Rim’ phrase certainly made me aware of how much they will be missed and JMS’s description of the funeral brought a lump to my throat.
Let’s hope that the rest of the series will improve, not a promising start!
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