Babylon 5: The Gathering/In the Beginning

This pair of features is a mixed bag. One is excellent, the other is ...well...not. 'The Gathering' (the lesser of the two) was essentially shot as a technical test to prove to disbelieving Warner Bros. executives that the production could actually be done within the required time and budgetary constraints, and on the scale promised. It was a technical proof of concept practice run to prove that it could actually be done, but was, unfortunately, not an example of great story telling. The producers made many wrong turns creatively and learned from this film what needed to be changed to make the series work as intended. The subsequent series thus included many of these much needed changes. Because of this, 'The Gathering' no longer really fits in with the rest of the series or movies--or even with the 'Babylon 5' universe we know. Much of the focus while making 'The Gathering' went into simply figuring out the details of how to actually shoot the show--and the performances, character development and story were not on the same level of later efforts. 'In the Beginning', on the other hand, is everything that 'The Gathering' isn't. It is GREAT storytelling and an excellent opening chapter for the series 'Babylon 5'. Since the creators of the show had always been so disappointed in the original pilot, 'The Gathering', they had always dreamed of redoing the opening film for the series and doing it RIGHT the second time around. 'In the Beginning' is the very successful culmination of that dream. It is the very best of all the 'Babylon 5' films by a far margin. 'In the Beginning' sets the stage beautifully for the series by showing us the great Earth/Minbari War, the war between humankind and the alien Minbari Empire, which nearly led to the total extinction of the human race--and the aftermath of which the bulk of the television series takes place in. It tells of the foolish refusal of the governments of the expanding human empire to heed warnings about the dangers of impinging upon the incredibly powerful and advanced Minbari Empire's territory, of the egotistical diplomats and over confident military commanders who thought they were prepared to take on anyone, of the errors and sadly lamentable missteps in first contact that led to misunderstanding and an outbreak of violence, which then propelled the Minbari to seek mankind's utter obliteration in a holy war of genocidal destruction. The Minbari would not take prisoners and refused to even offer so much as a reply to humanity's pleas to surrender. Their killing spree would never end until all human life was excised from the universe. In the Beginning also tells of humankind's heroic two year long struggle to fight off this civilization thousands of years in advance of them and seemingly irrevocably bent upon humankind's total obliteration. It is a story about simple misunderstandings between different cultures which can lead to unimaginably terrible consequences. It is riveting entertainment. Notes about 'Babylon 5': 'Babylon 5' was the first television series to use CGI instead of models and miniatures for it's special effects (something that wasn't believed possible for television at the time--even though that is how it is almost exclusively done today). Although the CGI is incredibly primitive by modern standards, 'Babylon 5' laid the groundwork for the way genre television is made today and was truly revolutionary in it's time. As an opening to the series, and as a stand alone film as well, 'In the Beginning' comes very highly recommended. 'The Gathering', on the other hand, does not. In my opinion, this package is well worth the price for 'In the Beginning' alone. Just consider 'The Gathering' a free extra.

What a strange release this is, especially if you're new to Babylon 5. Here we have the original series pilot "The Gathering," introducing us to the fantastical B5 universe, and one of the outstanding highlights of the entire 5 year run, the stuffed-to-the-gills-with-spoilers-and-plot-revelations film, "In The Beginning," both on the same double sided disc. And if that wasn't odd enough, "The Gathering" seems to be JMS's "Special" edition, complete with Chris Franke soundtrack, but shown in the original full-frame ratio, instead of a fake matted letterbox format... this is strangeness of almost Kosh-like proportions! Oh well, after seeing the entire 5-year run on TV, plus the attendant films and the sadly short-lived "Crusade" spin-off, it's funny to watch "The Gathering" again. You can see the B5 universe coming together, although there are a few stumbles; even in this re-edited/tightened version it's still a little stodgy. However this is really only apparent with the perfect 20/20 hindsight that comes from having watched the entire five-year series! Michael O'Hare's "Sinclair" is somewhat wooden, Jerry Doyle's "Garibaldi" is definitely Bruce Willis-lite; if he'd growled "Yipee-ki-yay MoFo!" after dispatching a bad guy I wouldn't have been in the least surprised! Mira Furlan's "Delenn" and Andreas Katsulas' "G'Kar" both had noticeable cosmetic changes to their appearances once the series proper got underway. In particular, the pilot Delenn had quite masculine features, as was the original intention, especially, it seems, in profile, and Furlan herself appeared to be consciously reaching for `weird' in her performance; the Series 1 Delenn was obviously female, with the `weird' factor toned down considerably. G'Kar's makeup also changed, and became much smoother and `natural' in the series, especially `round his jawline and chin; Katsulas' wonderful characterization of G'Kar, however, was nailed from the very beginning! The one character that seemed to explode onto the screen fully formed and exquisitely realized, was Peter Jurasik's "Londo Mollari." Watching "Gathering" again I was amazed at how Jurasik created "Londo" so completely; the good-natured bantering with Garibaldi, the dry humor, the sadness, the pain, the pride, the crushing sense of loss and despair at what his people had become, the dark introspection, guilt over his family's past, the vicious politicking that drives the upper echelons of Centauri society. His "My god, man! We've become a tourist attraction..." and, "Nice shark, pree-ty shark..." speeches are superb performances, foreshadowing - sorry! - the entire Mollari arc for the next five years! "In The Beginning" is set between the events of Series 4 and Series 5, and starts with Londo telling a story, "...a true story," to two children in the Emperor's palace, of how the Humans changed the universe, "...but in doing so, paid a terrible price." Once again a simply exquisite performance by Jurasik, the film starts like a dark fairytale, full of foreboding and menace, as Londo recounts how the Humans - "Ah, arrogance and stupidity all in the same package. How efficient of you!" - were almost exterminated after an unprovoked attack on a Minbari starship, ten years prior to the commissioning of Babylon 5 itself. For anyone new to the series watching this film would be a disaster, as it recaps so much of what went before, and even has a major revelation about one of the central characters that certainly took my breath away the first time I saw it! The CGI/SFX on "Gathering" was cutting edge for the small screen at the time, but does look rather dated today, "Beginning," on the other hand, looks beautiful, as you would expect; five years is an absolute eternity in the field of computer generated visual effects! As I said, a very strange release indeed, but even with "Gathering" being a work in progress, it's essential viewing for those looking to get into the Babylon 5 universe for the first time, as it introduces the five main space-faring races, the Earth Alliance, Minbari, Centauri, Narn, and ever mysterious Vorlons. It also sets up the main characters from each race, and introduces us to the interstellar political intrigue that would drive the story forward for the next five wonderful years!

I always thought babylon 5 was a bit of a thinking man's star trek with the politics and story twists and turns.this disc is a great way to start watching a great show.2 great films.

Cette édition zone 1 qui comprend la nouvelle version du pilote (effets numériques retravaillés, nouvelle musique du compositeur de la série, 16:9 anamorphique comme le reste de la série), est la seule depuis l'édition belge devenue collector à offrir un sous-titre français, le DVD fourni dans l'intégrale britannique Babylon 5 - The Complete Series (Inc Lost Tales) [Import anglais ] ne comportant que la VO sous-titrée en anglais. Ce DVD offre également le téléfilm "In The Beginning" sur la face B (VF,VOST, se situe à la fin de la saison 4), le même que celui de l'intégrale.

this came early. It was before its time in sci fi tv series. story line, good actoring. I loved it years ago and still love it. not going to get rid of this copy.

It's Bab 5, the prequal helps fill in some of the gaps, gives extra depth to the story, if you enjoy the series then you will like the movies.

Nice to finally get the pilot. Ty