Babylon 5: Cinquième dimension

Okay, admit it. You've wondered about TNT's influence over B5 after it moved to that channel. Well, this movie proves it. Okay, would JMS have written something as violent and effect-full if TNT HADN'T been shoving the whole 'demographic' thing down his throat? I mean, all those shots of the fist-fighting was a little over the top. But on whole I'd have to say that it was a terrific movie anyway. Okay, a LITTLE dull. But the special effects were GREAT!!!! One complaint though. (Same complaint as the one I have with the ep 'Day of the Dead'.) They missed a PERFECT opportunity to bring back Marcus.

Holy Lovecraftian influence! Saw this on a b5-movie marathon between 'In the beginning' and 'River of souls', and this got me excited the most. Anyone who reads good ol' H.P. Lovecraft's novels should know why.

The story at the beginning is like a sci-fied up of 'Call of Cthulhu', with the addition of all those inevitable B5-elements. However, in the latter part of the movie, the plot entangles to itself badly. Too much happening with so little time, leading to a slightly disappointing end. Oh well. At least it was enjoyable.

An excellent movie for all B5 fans, quite interesting plot-wise and in the spirit of 2nd Season. I watched it with pleasure, and it definitely adds another dimension to the B5 universe. I thought the opening was quite majestic, and there were some hilarious moments too, mixed with much tension, which is quite typical of Babylon 5 material. The movie can stand on its own, although a viewer who has followed Babylon 5 storyline right up to the Second and the Third Seasons will be able to appreciate it best. This is not so much due its content and story, but to realise certain implications that are discussed in the film, which may not stand out otherwise. A good addition to the genre.

Enjoy!

The basic story of "Thirdspace" is rather straight and simple, it could have been told in the time span of a regular B5 episode without being hasty. So, what makes "Thirdspace" interesting to watch, if you like this kind of sci-fi movie, more than the story or the not-too-overwhelming quality of acting, is its strong symphonic side - the synthesis of (CGI) images and Franke's score into a "space symphony" sometimes even resembling "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". It's not as elegant, though. "Thirdspace" is faster and somehow rougher, there is less sheer grandeur (well, it's a TV movie), but still... one can enjoy much of it indeed, literally, as a moving picture with music. What I also would like to mention, though, is Patricia Tallman's performance - distinctly more inspired and refined than what we saw in the preceding B5 episodes.

A reasonable outing.

B5 - and JMS writing in particular - works better when not contained to standalone episodes. Give him space to breathe, and his musing flows far better. He has room to comment, moralise and philosophise beautifully. Give him a single story and he tries to cram in too many explanations and plot movements which start to clog up the script. This is a pity as the script is what he is good at.

So a nice story, but a little uneven. Sometimes continually underlines the same plot points over and over killing room for nice stand alone dialogue or character exposition. Other times, the character scenes (the lift scene ) are too long an neither help the story or offer any depth for their duration.

That said, the SFX is very nice, the music from Franke is far more classically orientated than before and it's a nice chance to try and highlight some of the minor characters. The story idea is reasonable, if a little unusual in scifi tone for B5 (befitting Trek more) and it lacks some of the regular B5 heavyweight actors (G'Kar and Londo are sadly missing and Delenn has few scenes).

Nevertheless, an enjoyable if a little vacuous compared to what one comes to expect from B5. The aural and visual experiences are good, the actors are solid and the story good enough to standalone. Not perfect, but still a good slice of pulp scifi action.