Babylon 5: In the Beginning

I actually cried, Can you beleive it? This film was so good, it touched me. That part where Londo is talking about loving Centauri Prime, and then it goes back to the war, showing the little shelter full of crying humans, powerful stuff. Mira Furlan and Bruce Boxlietner played their roles to perfection. And I have never seen Peter Jurasik perform better, and I've seen a lot of his stuff. Simply put, this film should have won an Emmy. It was incredible.

Before watching In the Beginning I had only ever heard of Babylon 5 in passing. I knew it was well respected amongst its fans and had earned critical acclaim. After watching this film I became an avid fan of the series. In the Beginning tells the tale of the Earth/Minbari war, Earth was on the rise as an interstellar power and filled with confidence after defeating the Dilgar. Many races were courting Earth's favour, in particular the Centauri, a former power in the cosmos now in the twilight of its Empire. The tale is told in retrospect by Londo Mollari (Peter Jurasik), then just a lowly liason to the Earth government, but now an aging and sad Emperor. Through his narration you get a sense of the importance of the events surrounding the war and the consequences for all life in the universe as a result of it.

The special effects are of good quality, on par with the series but not of the same quality you'd find in a cinema release. Some of the scenes have been recycled from the first season of Babylon 5 (particularly those shots involving the Battle of the Line and Michael O'Hare) but coupled with Peter Jurasik's voice over they prove to be very effective in portraying the relentlessness of the Minbari and the courage of the humans in the face of destruction.

Despite the conspicuous absence of Micheal Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle), all of the series regulars make an appearance. It was interesting to see a young looking John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) in his much talked about battles with the Minbari and the events surrounding Delenn's (Mira Furlan) proclamation of war against the humans after the death of the Minbari leader Dukhat. However, it must be said that the star of the film is Londo Mollari. Anyone familiar with the regular series will appreciate Peter Jurasik's performance and his subtle references to the mistakes he made in the past.

In the Beginning can be watched by anyone. I came to it with no knowledge of the regular series and enjoyed myself immensely. It tells a stirring story of heroism, courage in the face of overwhelming odds and hope for the future. Those fans of the series that haven't seen it yet will no doubt come away with a greater appreciation for Babylon 5. It fills in a lot of the history surrounding the Earth/Minbari war and has a great ending that links in directly to the double episode War Without End from the third season of B5 (it my confuse those not familiar with the series though). That said, those interested in good sci-fi would do well to see this telemovie as it shows what can be done with good writing, wonderful acting and good special effects. The best of the Babylon 5 telemovies.

As with most TV movies that are effectively a story arc, "In the Beginning" is only attractive to fans of the series. But for these people, this movie adds critical background information only hinted at in the series, and as well, casts one of the significant characters of the show into a different light. Now we can see a little of why the first four Babylon stations were destroyed, and how Sinclair and then Sheridan were fated to be the keystones in the development of Earth-Mimbari relations.

Finally the linked histories of Delenn, Sincliar and Sheridan that are alluded to throughout the series are explained, revealing some of the deep background created by J. Michael Straczynski that helped add to the series strength. The acting is well crafted, highlighting the depth of skills in their craft of the major cast. What I found particularly intriguing was the manner in which Straczynski rounded out the character of Llando by having him slightly distort the historical events covered in the series (only apparent to someone who had paid particular attention to the original TV screening).

I adore BABYLON 5. It's my all-time favorite sci-fi series because unlike any other show, it is almost like one huge movie--where almost all the episodes connect into one large and captivating tapestry. This made for TV movie is meant to fill in the gaps for die-hard fans, as it goes back in time BEFORE the series opener to explain a lot of the back story. People who have seen all the prior episodes will probably not be all that surprised by the events of the film, as you've already heard and seen bits and pieces. More importantly, you already know the outcome of the Earth-Minbari war as well as WHY the whole conflict was just "called off". However, for someone who hasn't seen the show before or isn't a huge sci-fi fan, I could also see that they could find the film pretty dull--especially since the first 20 minutes or so is filled with so much talking and no action. So who is the movie for? Well, die-hard lovers of the show and those who like the show but haven't seen most of the episodes of seasons 1-4. Intesesting, well acted and written, yes, but nothing compelling enough to merit making the film in the first place.

This B5 movie was AMAZING. It fit together all the complex plot lines of the series, answered many questions, and still left open some uncertainties. It does have some cute kids which usually kills a movie, but they are not plot devices but instead a way to segue to more important things. If you kept up with the entire series, by the end of the movie you know exactly where the movie is chronologically, and you know the tragedy that is about to unfold. Thankfully the movie doesn't cover it, because as the emperor of Centauri said, "That is another story, for another time". Great acting by everyone.

An interesting tidbit about one of the alternate language tracks is if you turn on the German language dubbing, Reiner Schone, who plays Dukhat does his own dubbing because he's from Germany.

This is a must-have movie for a B5 fan, Its the best of the bunch.