Wonderful character development!

The Worst Film Ever

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I think my father summed it up perfectly with the breakfast question about 30 minutes into this film. Both of us were huge B5 fans and had been chomping at the bit ever since we'd heard a new B5 series was in the works, and one that focused on Rangers. You'd think B5 had nowhere left to go but up following the embarrassing Crusade, but that's not the case here. There is a perceptible and curious decline in the quality of JMS's scripts since Season 5 ("Sleeping in Light" withstanding since it was produced during the fourth season): The TV movies beginning with Thirdspace, up to and including A Call to Arms, then Crusade and now this. His dialogue is rough and unpolished, the humor weak and generic -- nothing like the original four seasons which are incredibly sharp and rewatchable; exceptional storytelling. Quite simply, Babylon 5 the series is the best fictitious television series I've ever watched. But it's as if JMS became too comfortable within his own universe, or else burned out. Were it not for the writing credits to identify those responsible, one could mistake Season 5 onward as being helmed by an all new writer or staff; that's how distinct the styles are. The Legend of the Rangers really plays out like something a teenager could have written in study hall. I swear by this time they must have been locking and shooting his first drafts. There's also a problem with the actors here: Dylan Neal and Andreas Katsulas seem to be the only ones capable of subverting the trite material with thoughtful performances. The visual effects are passable for a 2002 telefilm, but what's with the unnecessary makeover for planet Minbar, and the TOTALLY DISTRACTING absence of Epsilon III when we see Babylon 5? Let me throw in a compliment: I actually liked the idea of the (notorious) virtual gunnery port. Notice I said THE IDEA OF.In closing: B5 the series is amazing, however JMS's later excursions into his universe have done nothing but dilute its legacy. The Lost Tales was a marginal improvement over Crusade and Rangers, but still fair game for B5 skeptics who may never give the series a chance after discovering such weak ancillary material.

I can't understand why so many negative reviews appeared here. The only problem I had was the "even worse than the shadows" bad guys. However, the interactions between the crew, especially between David and his first officer were nothing short of perfect. I immediately started to care about these people, and could see each of them developing into truly fascinating characters. As to the VR weapons targeting system only one thought occurred to me; TOO FREAKIN COOL! Being able to fight as if you were the ship itself. Woof! It truly stinks that network morons, correction, idiots killed this show and Crusade. Both were gems, as was Firefly. Why do networks seem to do everything they can to cancel shows with depth and imagination? Star Trek, Crusade, Legend of the Rangers, Firefly, Brimstone, & American Gothic. It's as if depth of characterization is anathema to them. All I can think is that it requires them to think and that is something they refuse to do, or believe we want to do.

I have noticed some criticisms of this film which I don't agree with like...The Hand' don't come off at all either. We are told they are billions of years old, and only their servants show themselves in this movie. Despite their superiority though, their technologically superior ships (which tear the Valen to pieces in seconds) have a really hard time taking out a damaged patrol vessel and its escape pod slinging captain. Their leader, glimpsed in transmissions is hardly menacing: he simply wears a horned hood and speaks in a vaguely legalistic sense. The Hand are a carrot dangled before us we should want to watch the rest of the series to see them. The Minions of the hand are not supposed to be menacing they are races of aliens who are far more primitive than humans yet have been given 'Toys' by the hand to do their bidding, as explained in the film.I believe the idea was to make the minions appear to be defeatable and believe that there was some hope until we saw their masters. If so it would have been more relevant to what we saw here. Sometimes the bigger picture reveals the hidden brilliance.

By far one of the best B5 movies put out. Compared to the last B5 movie that was released (A Call To Arms) this on stands out very well. The acting was good, graphics outstanding, music scores that fit the scenes, and a storyline that not only followed the B5 scenario but captivated its audience, me.I was especially impressed with the 3-D holographic control panels and the weapons room where one fired at objects using their whole body and not just a control panel. The ending was done well in that it quoted and followed what Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid did. The music in "A Call To Arms" was so tiny and cheaply done I had a very hard time sitting through the movie and it distracted me from the acting and the graphics of the film. In comparison the music score in this film resembles the score from the 4th season, "No Surrender, No Retreat" which was done very well.If one is tired of the stories of B5, one should not watch them or comment on them especially if they want the series to end. But don't spoil it for the rest of us that want the story to continue, and resolve some of the issues that were left hanging in the original series. I am a major fan of Babylon 5 and am still wanting to know what happened in the war between telepaths and normals, if Mr. Garibaldi ever got Bester, what happened with Lita Alexander and G'kar since Lita wasn't with G'kar in this movie and they left together to explore the universe. If anything this should have been the movie that tried to shoot off the spin off series Crusaders (or whatever.) I can't blame Mr. S for wanting to try to continue the series and hopefully resolve some of these issues and probably bring up new ones to be solved.In the end I would have to say this is the best B5 movie put out so far. Even though I am a fan of the B5 Universe and enjoy its story lines, I really don't agree with the main religious view point of B5, namely that the universe is God. It is not. However stories that show that there is good and evil and that there are decisions to be made for good or for evil and that there are consequences for those actions that have been made. People don't get tired of those types of stories. In my mind and in the story tellers mind the motto should be "Stay away from the grey."