#180: Babylon 5 , Movies recommended or seen lately... les films a voir

Genre: Sci-Fi/Science-Fiction

Annee/Year: 1994-1998

Format: DVD

Babylon 5. Arguably one of the best science-fiction TV series of all times. This is a 5 year story arc which takes place in the year 2258 on a neutral space station far from earth and which is a meeting point for multiple races who try coping to live together. A beautiful story of how people and races struggle to live together in the best way possible. The races struggle with their differences in attitude, religion, ethics, aggresiveness and technology as some are very advanced and others barely able to travel in space.

The series is made of 110 episodes of action packed adventure. The special effects were rudimentary back then as they represented the true begininnings of computer graphics use in such a series. They look now quite poor but it does not take us out of the frame as the story is SO good! This is story telling at it's best and J. Michael Strakzynski gave all he had to complete this series and deserves all the credit for succeeding against all odds.

This series takes us through a pan galactic war between the dark (Shadows) and the light side (Vorlons) two mega advanced races who fight on a 1000 year cycle. The other races: Membari, humans, N'arn, Centauri,Brachiri, and many more, struggle to survive and aling themselves to their individual advantage. All races have ambassadors on Babylon5 and this is the main point of interest. The station is under human control under the strong hold of commanders Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) and Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) and Lockley (Tracy Scoggins) and their crew (Garibaldi, Ivanhova, Zack, Dr Franklin, and more. The real interest lies in the interractions between the different humans and the ambassadors. A true study of social interactions and some philisophy pitched in. The series highlights the interactions between rich and poor, men and women, different religions, different military groups, political groups, terrorists, class struggles, racial tensions between earth and it's regions (Mars), between normal humans and telepaths and the militarized telepaths named psychore. All the way through we see the struggle to survive and make one's place in the universe; as one weaker human race helps to pave the way to unite races together in a galactic nations for the common good and forcing the more ancient advanced race to give them a fighting chance.

Special highlight on the Narn and Centauri ambassadors (G'Kar played by Andreas Katsulas and Londo Mollari played by Peter Jurassik) who have the most interesting interplay. Being of two races who hate each other they manage to become friends only to get them struggling again as the Centauri destroy the Narn homeworld (after they get manipulated by the mighty Shadows). The two descend to the worst depths of hate before their mutual respect finds hope in remaining best of friends in these worst circumstances possible. G'kar becomes a spiritual leader for his race as Londo becomes pure political beast and becomes the leader of his race in the worst conditions possible.

The FX are not the best but i would never dream of trading them for better if this had any chance of loosing the first class acting done in this series which has best of class story line and true human meaning behind it all.

Babylon 5. Une des meilleures séries de Science-Fiction que vous pourrez trouver. Les effets spéciaux sont moins réussis et reflétèrent les premières tentatives d'effets générés par ordinateur. Par contre l'histoire racontée dans les 110 épisodes est de première classe et touche beaucoup de sujets qui sauront garder tout le monde intéressé. Les interactions entre les personnages humains et autres races sont le bonbon qui gardera cette série un classique pour la postérité. À voir par tous. Bravo à J. Michael Strakzynski qui a écrit et produit cette série.

Great quotes:
Opening narration, season 1] Commander Jeffrey David Sinclair: It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, ten years after the Earth-Minbari War. The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal: to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call, home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last, best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5.
...
[Opening narration, season 3] Susan Ivanova: The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It failed. But in the year of the Shadow War, it became something greater: our last, best hope for victory. The year is 2260. The place - Babylon 5.
...
Delenn: I am Grey. I stand between the candle and the star. We are Grey. We stand between the darkness and the light.
...
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Ah, arrogance and stupidity all in the same package. How efficient of you!
...
Lord Refa: Why should I do as you say?
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Because I have asked you; because your sense of duty to our people should override any personal ambition; and because I have poisoned your drink.
...
Citizen G'Kar: The Earthers have a saying: "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." I believe they stole it from us.
...
Citizen G'Kar: If I take a lamp and shine it toward the wall, a bright spot will appear on the wall. The lamp is our search for truth... for understanding. Too often, we assume that the light on the wall is God, but the light is not the goal of the search, it is the result of the search. The more intense the search, the brighter the light on the wall. The brighter the light on the wall, the greater the sense of revelation upon seeing it. Similarly, someone who does not search - who does not bring a lantern - sees nothing. What we perceive as God is the by-product of our search for God. It may simply be an appreciation of the light... pure and unblemished... not understanding that it comes from us. Sometimes we stand in front of the light and assume that we are the center of the universe - God looks astonishingly like we do - or we turn to look at our shadow and assume that all is darkness. If we allow ourselves to get in the way, we defeat the purpose, which is to use the light of our search to illuminate the wall in all its beauty and in all its flaws; and in so doing, better understand the world around us.
...
Captain John Sheridan: No surrender, no retreat.
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Sinclair: They say God works in mysterious ways.
Michael Garibaldi: Maybe so, but He's a con-man compared to the Vorlon.
...
Kosh Naranek: Ah, you seek meaning?
Talia: Yes.
Kosh Naranek: Then listen to the music, not the song.
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Citizen G'Kar: We all believe in something... greater than ourselves, even if it's just the blind forces of chance.
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Delenn: The third principle of sentient life is the capacity for self-sacrifice, the conscious ability to override evolution and self-preservation for a cause, a friend, a loved one.
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Delenn: We are star stuff. We are the universe made manifest trying to figure itself out.
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Captain John Sheridan: If more of our so-called leaders would walk the same streets as the people who voted them in, live in the same buildings, eat the same food instead of hiding behind glass and steel and bodyguards, maybe we'd get better leadership and a little more concern for the future.
...
Zathras: Zathras is used to being beast of burden to other people's needs. Very sad life... probably have very sad death, but at least there is symmetry.
...
Citizen G'Kar: I believe that when we leave a place a part of it goes with us and part of us remains. Go anywhere in these halls, when it is quiet and just listen. After a while you will hear the echoes of all of our conversations, every thought and word we've exchanged. Long after we are gone, our voices will linger in these walls for as long as this place remains. But I will admit that the part of me that going will very much miss the part of you that is staying.
...
Commander Jeffrey David Sinclair: Mr. Garibaldi was right. He said this was going to be trouble.
Susan Ivanova: There's nothing more annoying than Mr. Garibaldi when he's right.
...
Ambassador Vir Cotto: As Mr. Garibaldi would say, it's been one hell of a day.
Lennier: Yes. A hell of a day.
Ambassador Vir Cotto: And a hell of a year.
Lennier: A hell of a five years.
Ambassador Vir Cotto: Hell of a life.
Lennier: You win.
...
Citizen G'Kar: [to Londo after they discover the Centauri are still building warships during peace time] Well, with everyone now on the same side, perhaps you're planning to invade yourselves for a change. I find the idea curiously appealing. Once you've finished killing each other, we can plow under all the buildings and plant rows of flowers that spell out the words, "Too annoying to live" in letters big enough to be seen from space.
...
Captain John Sheridan: You know, I just had a thought. You've been back and forth to your world so many times since you got here. How do I know you're the same Vorlon? Inside that encounter suit you could be anyone.
Kosh Naranek: I have *always* been here.
Captain John Sheridan: Oh, yeah? You said that about me too.
Kosh Naranek: Yes. [starts to walk away]
Captain John Sheridan: I really *hate* it when you do that.
Kosh Naranek: [turns around] Good!

Link: http://www.babylon5tv.co.uk/home.html

Rating perso: 8.5/10