Babylon 5-Season 4 (1997) |
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Babylon 5-Season 4 (1997) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Science Fiction |
Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Trailer-Episode Previews Introduction-Babylon Season 4: No Surrender, No Retreat Audio Commentary-Actors - Falling Toward Apotheosis Audio Commentary-J. Michael Straczynski & Mike Vejar- The Face Of The Enemy Audio Commentary-J. Michael Straczynski - The Deconstruction Of Falling Stars Featurette-Celestial Sounds Featurette-No Surrender, No Retreat Suite Featurette-The Universe Of Babylon 5 - Personnel Files, Data Files Featurette-The Universe Of Babylon 5 - Gag Reel |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1997 | ||
| Running Time | 928:00 (Case: 923) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (6) |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4,5 | Directed By |
Menachem Binetski Richard Compton John Copeland Kevin G. Cremin |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Warner Home Video |
Starring |
Michael O'Hare Bruce Boxleitner Claudia Christian Jerry Doyle Mira Furlan Richard Biggs Bill Mumy Stephen Furst Andrea Thompson Jason Carter Tracy Scoggins Julie Caitlin Brown Mary Kay Adams |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | $119.95 | Music |
Christopher Franke J. Michael Straczynski |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English French Dutch Arabic English for the Hearing Impaired |
Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Before I begin I should point out that I was not familiar with Babylon 5 before reviewing this season. Of course I had heard about it and knew that it had a loyal following and had been successful enough to allow its creators to fulfil their desire to create several season long story arcs, but I was not a fan. No, although a devotee of science fiction, my last encounter with television sci-fi had been with Captain Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager when I was about nine or ten years old. It was the one night of the week when I was permitted to stay up late - a big deal on a school night. Having heard raves about this particular series I was intrigued and wanted to see if the hype was justified. Doing some investigation, I was relieved to discover that because of the structure of the stories - each season is independent - coming in midstream was not completely ill-advised. To be sure it took me a while to get a grip on the political machinations of the world and the large cast of characters, each with their individual traits - longer than someone who had been watching since day one - but by about episode six I was fairly cognizant of all the essential information. Lucky for me, too, that this season is considered by many to be a high point (others prefer the apparently more cerebral previous season) - it certainly is bold in its creation of its large and complex galactic canvas.
Babylon 5 is of course the brainchild of J. Michael Straczynski. He and his creative team have really pulled out all stops for this season - which features not one, but two wars, enough political intrigue to fill fifty seasons of The West Wing and the further evolution of the central characters, whose paths continue to lead them into unexpected circumstances. The caption of this season is "No Surrender, No Retreat" - an epithet that symbolises the less acquiescent, more combative stance of the protagonists in shaping their own destinies, refusing to shy away from the powers of darkness that threaten them with destruction. For those who are a little sceptical of sci-fi or television shows be warned that the style of the show does take a little adjustment. The language is more theatrical and declamatory than one is normally used to, and occasionally verges (I thought) on parody. The special effects are very cheesy but this is more than made up for by the interesting sets, fantastic costumes and a cast of actors who look like they're having a ball.
The who's who for this fourth season are:
There are of course, many other important characters, but these seven are the core around which the story revolves (forgive the planetary pun).
The season consists of twenty two episodes, which are as follows:
Ep. 401: The Hour of the Wolf
Ep. 402: What Ever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
Ep. 403: The Summoning
Ep. 404: Falling Toward Apotheosis
Ep. 405: The Long Night
Ep. 406: Into the Fire
Ep. 407: Epiphanies
Ep. 408: The Illusion of Truth
Ep. 409: Atonement
Ep. 410: Racing Mars
Ep. 411: Lines of Communication
Ep. 412: Conflicts of Interests
Ep. 413: Rumours, Bargains and Lies
Ep. 414: Moments of Transition
Ep. 415: No Surrender, No Retreat
Ep. 416: The Exercise of Vital Powers
Ep. 417: The Face of the Enemy
Ep. 418: Intersections in Real Time
Ep. 419: Between the Darkness and the Light
Ep. 420: Endgame
Ep. 421: Rising Star
Ep. 422: The Deconstruction of Falling Stars
Now you can find episode commentaries, deconstructions, and synopses everywhere, but I would definitely recommend http://www2.warnerbros.com/babylon5/ for a comprehensive look at everything Babylon 5.
This is a very entertaining sci-fi show that, whilst hampered by now outdated special effects and some ham and cheese overload, is a must for fans (whom I apologise to profusely if they want to burn my effigy now) and well worth a look for those who enjoy some intergalactic intrigue in their television diet.
The transfer is in widescreen 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. The episodes were originally broadcast in 1.33:1 (standard television) but were they were shot with an intended aspect ratio of 1.78:1 so this will be the first time many have seen them "as intended". The opening titles remain in 1.33:1, much like E.R. and from what I can gather special (and not so special) effects shots were also done full frame, which leads to some matting and stretching that unfortunately seems to exacerbate problems.
Reviews of past seasons have commented on the improving visual quality. This is hardly surprising as a year can be a long time in visual quality - it is amazing just how rich and vibrant shows look now compared to prior seasons (think Law and Order or Friends - ahh, the wonders of digital). Without having actually sampled the quality of seasons one, two and three I can't comment definitively, but the quality of the transfers here suggests it is another step up, be it a small one, as there are still some problems.
Of course this isn't film, nor is it even last year's TV, so the sharpness and levels of detail are not brilliant. They are, however, very good - much better than other shows of a similar vintage. The whole frame special effects are the most affected - they look blurry and almost like a Gameboy screen.
Colours are good but not brilliant. The palette is a little muted for my liking, especially for someone who revels in the sometimes garish hues of Farscape. Skin tones are mostly realistic.
MPEG artefacts are not intrusive but do pop up on occasion. They were certainly not a major distraction, although spacing the episodes out a little more may have alleviated some of the compression problems. Cost-wise though that would have been an issue so one can't complain too much.
Film artefacts are minimal - the prints are nice and clean.
In sum, a decent effort.
| Sharpness |   |
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We are presented with two language tracks - English 5.1 Dolby Digital and a French Dolby Surround track.
I sampled the French track (with accompanying English subtitles) and found it to be much thinner sounding than the English track.
The English track is uniformly good, with dialogue well presented, if lacking the fullness one expects from more recent fare.
Audio sync is excellent and there were no obvious blemishes or dropouts.
Surround channel use varies from episode to episode, but considering the more action-oriented plots of this particular season I would guess this is the most active the subwoofer and rear channels have yet been in the world of Babylon 5. There are some nice moments of ambience, and the subwoofer adds some depth to proceedings. The mix is still focussed forward, but not exclusively so.
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The presentation is commendable, and includes some decent extras.
Audio Commentaries
For this release we get three audio commentaries, each from different sides of the creative team.
On Disc 1 we get a commentary track for Falling Toward Apotheosis from cast members Bruce Boxleitner, Jerry Doyle, Peter Jurasik, and Patricia Tallman. This is quite humorous as much of the actors' comments are quite derisive jokes about hair and makeup. It reminded me a little of the banter between the cast on the set of the original Star Wars. We don't get much specific or technical insight into the making of the series, but we do I think learn that everyone really enjoys it, and thankfully, doesn't take it too seriously.
Disc 5 has a commentary track for The Face of the Enemy by Straczynski and director Mike Vejar. This is a much more informative track. It is equally good to hear the final effort from Straczynski alone, found on Disc 6 for The Deconstruction of Falling Stars. The creative team is obviously very passionate about their work and the level of detail Straczynski is able to go into is excellent.
Introduction to Series (Disc 1)
I wouldn't advise watching this introduction if you hate finding out plot spoilers as there is some information divulged that would deaden the impact of the events in the series. Presented at 1.33:1, this six minute intro features interviews with the creative team and snippets of footage from the series.
Celestial Sounds - The Music of Babylon 5 (Disc 6)
An all-too-brief look at the production of the musical soundtrack for the series. It features interviews with Christopher Franke who I believe was once a member of Tangerine Dream who, among other things, wrote a replacement score for Ridley Scott's Legend. This runs for barely five minutes and could have been very interesting had it not taken such a superficial glance at what is to me at least one of the most fascinating parts of television and film.
No Surrender, No Retreat
The catchphrase of this season entitles this suite of music which accompanies video of the series in a nice neat little montage.
Data Files - The Universe of Babylon 5
This proved invaluable for this rookie Babylon 5 viewer, as it lays out in clear terms the background information necessary to fully appreciate the complex storylines. It also features a good gag reel.
Biographies
Two brief bios of producer Douglas Netter and executive producer/writer J. Michael Straczynski.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region 4 release appears to be identical to its Region 1 counterpart so I would definitely opt for the cheaper local product. There are isolated reports on past seasons that the Region 1 edition has a better mixed soundtrack but I unfortunately cannot confirm or deny that. Perhaps someone will be able to assist in this matter.
Babylon 5 is an entertaining, intelligent sci-fi series that deserves its loyal following.
The video is of very good quality.
The audio is equally commendable.
The extras are good but more would have been welcome.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Yamaha DVR-S100, using Component output |
| Display | Sony 76cm Widescreen Trinitron TV. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to DVD Player, Dolby Digital and DTS. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. |
| Amplification | Yamaha DVR-S100 (built in) |
| Speakers | Yamaha NX-S100S 5 speakers, Yamaha SW-S100 160W subwoofer |