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Babylon 5 - The Complete First Season | 
 enlarge | Actors: Michael O'hare, Claudia Christian
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $59.98
Buy New: $24.36
You Save: $35.62 (59%)
New (51) Used (21) from $22.24
Rating:  229 reviews
Sales Rank: 2446
Format: Anamorphic, Box Set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Number Of Discs: 6
Running Time: 956 Minutes
Operating System: Windows
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.5 x 1.6
MPN: WARD22855D
ISBN: 0790770113
UPC: 085392285525
EAN: 9780790770116
ASIN: B00006HAZ4
Theatrical Release Date: January 26, 1994
Release Date: November 5, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | The award-winning series about the space station that's the tumultuous center of the 23rd Century's bid for peace among humans and aliens hyperdrives onto DVD in a Deluxe 6-Disc Set. |
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Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 03/14/2006 Run time: 990 minutes Rating: Nr
Amazon.com
The epic sci-fi series Babylon 5 was a unique experiment in the history of television. It was effectively a novel for television in five seasons, consisting of 110 episodes with a clear beginning, middle, and end. The first season introduces the main characters, headed this year by Commander Jeffery Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) and Security Chief Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle), and familiarizes the audience with the unique environment of a five-mile-long space station in the year 2257. The first episode, "Midnight on the Firing Line," plays at a breathless pace, introducing Commander Susan Ivanova (Claudia Christian) and establishing the conflict between the Narn and Centauri races as represented by their ambassadors, G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas) and Londo Mollari (Peter Jurasik). Then follow several mediocre episodes that initially give the impression that B5 is a Star Trek clone afflicted with "silly alien of the week" syndrome. With "And the Sky Full of Stars," B5 really begins to hit its stride, Sinclair being forced to relive his mysterious experiences during the Earth-Minbari war. Filler shows such as "TKO" are notable only for being controversially violent, while the disappointing "Grail" points to writer-creator J. Michael Straczynski's fascination with Arthurian mythology. "Signs and Portents" introduces the sinister Mr. Morden (Ed Wasser) and offers the chilling first appearance of the Shadows, an ancient alien threat. B5 hits warp speed with a run of exceptional episodes building to the season finale. The two-part "Voice in the Wilderness" has Mars breaking into open revolt against Earth and the discovery of a "Great Machine" on the dead world Epsilon 3. Referencing 1950s sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet, the story leads to the superb time-travel-based "Babylon Squared." Season finale "Chrysalis" proves more than just the usual television cliffhanger, placing Minbari ambassador Delenn in conflict with her ruling Grey Council and forcing on her a decision that laid the groundwork for Babylon 5's eventually becoming a great love story. --Gary S. Dalkin
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| Customer Reviews: Read 224 more reviews...
 On its way to greatness October 31, 2008
Captain Awesome
I was still pretty young when Babylon 5 first debuted, so my initial reaction to it was mostly based on the cool-looking aliens and (for that time) great special effects. Having rewatched the entire series since then, with a better ability to discern what actually does make it great, I realize that I wasn't far off in considering this the greatest sci-fi series I've ever watched.
The first season starts off somewhat slowly, though, and has occasional missteps as JMS finds his way in balancing the need to push the overarching narrative forward while still finding time for the one-shot episodes and character development. I like Michael O'Hare as an actor, but I don't think he quite worked as Sinclair here; better work is done by the supporting case, though, particularly as the duo of Peter Jurrasik and Andreas Kastulas find their comfort zones.
All in all, Season One is well worth watching so long as you're willing to accept a few bumps in the road - it isn't perfect, but you can see where JMS is going. By Season Two, you realize how good the show can be.
 A fine, if faltering, beginning to the epic September 30, 2008
A. Whitehead (Colchester, Essex United Kingdom)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
By 1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation was a smash-hit, the biggest and most successful space-based SF show in history pulling in over ten million viewers weekly. It was unsurprising that other studios would start looking for a piece of Paramount's space opera pie. Warner Brothers chose to go with a proposal by J. Michael Straczynski, a respected scriptwriter with a huge output and a solid background working in animation and on live-action shows such as Captain Power and Murder She Wrote. JMS, as he prefers to be known, had created an ambitious five-year plan. Unlike other series, Babylon 5 would have an unifying 'story arc' that would progress throughout the series. Characters would die, empires would fall and others would rise to replace them, but these epic events would be told through a relatively small number of characters located on a single space station.
Season 1's role in the narrative is to introduce the races, concepts and underlying themes of the series. There is a huge amount going on, and it's impossible to deny that JMS has created a fantastically rich universe. In many ways it is the antithesis of Star Trek. Earth is riven by corruption and political dissent, and ranks only somewhere around the middle on the technological scale, centuries behind races like the Minbari, and they don't even have artificial gravity (B5 and the larger Earth warships have to spin to simulate gravity; most ships are weightless environments). There's also a concentration on the 'little man', with several episodes focusing on the homeless and working class of the station, and one even heavily featuring labour and union relations of the 23rd Century. However, there are also several major space battles and some very impressive early CGI, most of which still stands up well today (aside from the slight problem that the CGI shots were not rendered at full film quality, meaning they look a little fuzzy on DVD, but not enough to impair enjoyment of the show).
Season 1 mostly consists of stand-alone episodes, but each episode usually has something to add to the overall tapestry of the story, and the late-season episodes Eyes and Chrysalis do an excellent job of showing what role those apparently unrelated tales in the grander narrative. The quality of the episodes and performances also varies tremendously. A key problem is Michael O'Hare as Sinclair, whose performance is a little too stoic and stiff. When he is forced to come to life, he overacts somewhat badly. Notably his better performances come when he strikes the right note between the two, but these moments are rare throughout the first season. Elsewhere the cast is first-rate, particularly the late Andreas Katsulas as Narn Ambassador G'Kar and Peter Jurasik as Centauri Ambassador Londo Mollari. Both have comic elements to them and the actors pull them off, but it is the dramatic tension between them as their races squabble for power that impresses the most. Jerry Doyle also makes an impression as Garibaldi. Not a trained actor (he was a stockbroker before taking on the role), he lacks confidence at the start of the season but improves throughout.
Of the episodes, the highlights are And the Sky Full of Stars, in which Sinclair starts uncovering why the Minbari gave up on the brink of their victory; Signs and Portents, in which Londo inadvertantly strikes a bargain with an enigmatic faction; Babylon Squared, a time travel story in which we get some clues as to what is going to happen several years down the line; and the magnificent Chrysalis, one of the best episodes of TV SF ever, which gives the viewer the feeling that the writer has gone completely insane, torn up the show's bible and now anything can happen. However, to balance this out are episodes which are simply dire, such as Infection, Mind War (despite a heroic performance by former Star Trek alumni Walter Koenig as Psi Cop Bester), TKO and Grail.
Season 1 of Babylon 5 (*** ) successfully intrigues the viewer in this vivid and fascinating world. It is well worth a look, even if it fails to match the dizzying heights of the successive two seasons.
 the magic of babylone 5 September 6, 2008
Roxanne Blake (New York)
Love the adventures of Babylon 5! Will watch it over and over again...It came within a week and was factory sealed....Kudos for a job well done..thanks...roxanne
Stick with it! It does get good ... eventually July 7, 2008
Christopher H. (California)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This was my first taste of Babylon 5. After the first episode, I thought 'Why did I buy this?' Only the prospect of real quality sci-fi to come kept me watching. Looking back, I'm glad I did. About the first third of this is dreck: the special effects were very dated, the acting was forced, and the storylines were not cohesive, making it difficult to care about what was happening or the characters' plight. However, everything about the show improves drastically closer to the end of the season: the storylines tie together, the characters are better portrayed, the dramatic moments become actually dramatic, and even the special effects seem to look more sleek. The season ends with a bang, and I can't wait until Season 2 arrives in the mail! I give the first season only three stars because, as I mentioned, the first few episodes really are bad.
 Not Great April 21, 2008
Veil_Lord
I'm a big fan of the series, but you have to look at it like a book. This season is the preface, then the middle three are great, the final is an epilogue. I picked up the middle three, but not the first or last. Purely my opinion, and if you didn't see this season by all means watch it, but it's not on par with the later ones.
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