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Babylon 5 coming to Amazon Prime in June

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May 19, 2018, 12:11 PM
redstone
Babylon 5 coming to Amazon Prime in June
Just loved this show. Will be fun to watch it again.



This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it. -Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Joshua Painter Played by Senator Fred Thompson
May 19, 2018, 01:11 PM
flesheatingvirus
Sweet! But is it going to be like much of the other stuff Amazon offers with their "subscription" and be $2 per episode?

That crap is why Amazon is at the bottom of my streaming services compared to Hulu and Netflix.


________________________________________

-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --
May 19, 2018, 05:10 PM
Orguss




"I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet raised to an alarming extent by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak!" - Calvin, "Calvin & Hobbes"
May 19, 2018, 05:24 PM
K0ZZZ
I've been slowly watching this the last couple months. Some of the effects are cheesy, some of the acting not so great, it's still a story I like to see.


... Chad



http://shotworkspro.com - Much better than scrap paper! Use 'Take5' to get 5 bucks off.
May 19, 2018, 05:29 PM
Orguss
It'll be very dated, for sure. But I'm sure the storywriting and characters will hold up well.



"I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet raised to an alarming extent by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak!" - Calvin, "Calvin & Hobbes"
May 20, 2018, 09:08 AM
redstone
MJS created a well written show. It had great characters and stories. Some very memorable stories dealing with religion and sacrifice, but yes it has a solid 90's visual vibe.

I look forward to sitting through it with my girls.



This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it. -Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Joshua Painter Played by Senator Fred Thompson
May 20, 2018, 09:24 AM
Chowser
It’ll be nice if they don’t charge. My VHS recordings are not that great.



Not minority enough!
May 20, 2018, 08:20 PM
BB61
Thanks for the info. I’ll be watching this with my boys.


__________________________

May 20, 2018, 09:10 PM
DanH
Do anyone know if we're getting Crusade and the TV Movies? Hell, just having it on Amazon Prime is enough, but it would be nice.
May 21, 2018, 08:50 AM
redstone
What is interesting is that amazon has it at all. MJS has stated that they would never release the BluRay or HD version. That it was being buried etc.

Now it shows up on amazon and the rumors are flying....
Reboot? New movie?



This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it. -Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Joshua Painter Played by Senator Fred Thompson
May 21, 2018, 09:30 AM
PASig
Are we talking about the old Babylon 5 series being shown, or are they going to be making new episodes of it?


May 21, 2018, 10:43 AM
redstone
quote:
Originally posted by PASig:
Are we talking about the old Babylon 5 series being shown, or are they going to be making new episodes of it?


It's the old babylon 5. But USA refuses to allow it out of the vault. They wont even allow it to be syndicated or released to BluRay. Strazynski (the creator and writer) has said they are burying it to cover up the past.

Now it is on amazon. So clearly they are allowing the series back into play. Which then makes everyone wonder if it amazon bought it and will maybe do something with it.



This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it. -Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Joshua Painter Played by Senator Fred Thompson
May 24, 2018, 01:27 AM
DanH
Not quite. Warner Bros. owns the rights, but they treat it like it doesn't exist. Verizon's go90 had had the series itself for several years. As far as Blu Rays go, there's no point in realeasing them in its current state. WB barely kept good care of the of the film elements, the series was edited on video, and the CGI was restricted to 4:3 and either 480i or 480p and ask files have been lost or are too old for modern programs to read.

I'd love to see jms get the money to do a full restoration like TNG where all the film elements are rescanned and all of the CGI replaced to modern standards (don't forget B5 was also the first to do CGI set extensions). Until then, there's no point in a Blu Ray release.

jms still has complete movie rights to the property.
May 24, 2018, 05:56 AM
xwesler
I watched the entire series on Hulu about ten years ago. Looking forward to watching it again!


----------
The first 100 people to make it out alive...get to live.
May 24, 2018, 07:30 AM
Hound Dog
quote:
Originally posted by redstone:

It's the old babylon 5. But USA refuses to allow it out of the vault. They wont even allow it to be syndicated or released to BluRay. Strazynski (the creator and writer) has said they are burying it to cover up the past.


Why the heck are they trying to 'bury' one of the best sci-fi shows ever made (if one ignores the entirety of Season 5)?

These 'creative' people make me want to puke sometimes. So JSM won't release B5 on Blu Ray for *insert reason here*, and george lucas REFUSED to release the theatrical versions of Star Wars on Blu Ray because *ScrewYouFansThat'sWhy*. . .



Fear God and Dread Nought
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Jacky Fisher
May 24, 2018, 08:32 AM
DanH
No, Warner Bros doesn't want to spend anything resembling money and/or cash on Babylon 5. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with jms not wanting anything to do with Babylon 5, which cannot be farther from the truth.

If you want to know what Babylon 5 will look on Blu Ray, take a DVD and let your player upconvert the DVD. There is zero benefit to a blu ray release because what there's nothing to improve on what is currently released without spending lots and lots of money than Warner Bros. refuses to spend because they know how to make Justice League make as much as Avengers...
May 24, 2018, 08:48 AM
DanH
And just to prove this isn't George Lucas "Greedo Shot First" crap, here's an even better article on the problems with bring Babylon 5 to Blu-Ray:

http://b5books.com/2017/05/02/...obably-never-happen/

Also keep in mind, Warner Bros. wants to spend $0.00 on doing any of this.
May 24, 2018, 08:50 AM
Orguss
quote:
Originally posted by Hound Dog:
Why the heck are they trying to 'bury' one of the best sci-fi shows ever made (if one ignores the entirety of Season 5)?

I researched it. Apparently, Strazynski tried to sell the concept to Paramount a few years before Deep Space Nine was released. And people started noticing that there were too many similarities between the two shows. DS9 came after B5 started but they ran concurrently. Since Star Trek is so popular, they're burying B5 in order to keep the controvery from resurfacing.



"I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet raised to an alarming extent by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak!" - Calvin, "Calvin & Hobbes"
May 24, 2018, 09:23 AM
Expert308
quote:
Originally posted by Orguss:
quote:
Originally posted by Hound Dog:
Why the heck are they trying to 'bury' one of the best sci-fi shows ever made (if one ignores the entirety of Season 5)?

I researched it. Apparently, Strazynski tried to sell the concept to Paramount a few years before Deep Space Nine was released. And people started noticing that there were too many similarities between the two shows. DS9 came after B5 started but they ran concurrently. Since Star Trek is so popular, they're burying B5 in order to keep the controvery from resurfacing.

And that's unfortunate, because B5 is sooooooo much a better story than DS9. IMO the only really good thing about DS9 was the 'Trouble With Tribbles' episode. And I will now go and don my flame resistant suit.
May 24, 2018, 01:17 PM
sadlerbw
I managed to pick up the original series on DVD, and even there the quality isn’t exactly up to the standards of what DVD can do, so a blu-ray probably wouldn’t be worth it without spending lots and lots of money on restoration. Even as a fan, I can see how there may not be a good business case for that. Not selling the streaming rights was a much dumber move, and it looks like someone in accounting realized that. Whatever the reasons, I’m glad to see it will be available to a wider audience again.

Also, I don’t really buy the shadowy WB trying to bury controversy bit. Their lack of interest is far more easily explained by not seeing enough potential money in the endeavor.

- Bret