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| Babylon 5: The Complete Collection + The Lost Tales (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk) | 
 enlarge | List Price: £109.99
Buy New: £78.97
You Save: £31.02 (28%)
Buy New from £78.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 9 reviews)
Sales Rank: 398
Category: DVD
Actors: Bruce Boxleitner, Michael O'hare, Claudia Christian, Jerry Doyle
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Studio: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Label: Warner Home Video
Format: Pal
Language: English (Unknown)
Rating: To Be Announced
Media: DVD
Number Of Items: 42
Shipping Weight (lbs): 7.4
Dimensions (in): 9.8 x 8.1 x 6.1
EAN: 7321902209159
ASIN: B000WDSRG4
Release Date: November 5, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
sweet May 15, 2008
Still amazing, I love this show. This box set has everything- every last Babylon 5 related thing ever, packed into a relatively small space. Its quite aesthetically pleasing. I think its good value for money, and hopefully if the Lost Tales part of it sells well then they might make some more! You never know.
I hadn't watched this show in 11 years, but I loved it at the time. So recently I rented a few discs, out of curiosity to see what it would be like to watch again. After two discs I was completely hooked, again, and decided instead to buy the whole lot.
It holds up so well, its so story-rich in comparison to every sci-fi show since. Its also so inventive, you can see how subsequent shows have ripped it off. What makes it for me is the darker side of the conflicts portrayed, internal and external, and the zen/mystical aspects of the stories. I also love the fact that the entire created world is explored so in depth and that they spent so much time developing the characters, the cultures, and the complex political backgrounds. Just brilliant.
Breadth of imagination May 6, 2008
All TV science-fiction is flawed. It shares this with its book and short-story antecedents: so often real science overtakes future fantasy. However, there are a few TV SF series that stand out despite their flaws as milestones. Babylon 5 is one of them.
What Babylon 5 had which its predecessors did not was an extraordinary breadth of imagination. Dozens of races, thousands of worlds, whole histories of conflict and culture, a complex and fully realised network of alliances and enmities, a number of religions, all of which are taken seriously by the writers, and very distinct groups of technologies belonging to the various races and factions.
This imagination also extended to the plot. Babylon 5 was not the first series to use story-arcs, but it was by far the most extensive continual storyline. The plot flows directly from the first episode through to the close of season 4, and is essentially told as one enormous narrative. Season 5 was made after an initial closure, but is itself a new, complete storyline. The exception is Crusade, which begins but does not properly finish, following network unenthusiasm.
Like everything else, this breadth of imagination comes at the price of the difficulties in realising it with the technology available at the time. The CGI, largely confined to space scenes and views of other planets, is in most cases very rough, with substantial artefacts and pixellation. Babylon 5 relies very heavily on CGI, rather than the traditional disciplines of model-making and matting. At the time it was praised for the absence of 'wobbly models', but in retrospect the CGI has not stood the test of time. On the other hand, the prosthetics used for alien faces are very good, with especially the Narn seeming fully organic, allowing a complete range of facial expression.
In this, the storyline plays to its strengths: Babylon 5 is primarily about human and alien relationships and personalities, rather than exciting battles in space.
It is possible, but ultimately fruitless, to compare Babylon 5 to Star Trek, Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Lexx and Farscape. Each have their own strengths. Babylon 5, though, has the greatest breadth and internal consistency. The depth and resonance of the world of Babylon 5's imagination will outlive criticisms of its graphic realisation, or even of its acting.
If you like watching science-fiction, and you want something big enough to really get your teeth into over many evenings, then there is really nothing to compare with Babylon 5.
This set is powerfully recommended.
2008 just got better!!! February 20, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
babylon 5 is supreme sci fi stuff the very best so far of any star whatever series, and i love stargate etc. do not delay buy this total boxset without delay, the cosmos is changing all the time ha ha ha ...
Excellent Value February 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I ordered this set after reading other customer reviews and I wasn't disapointed. I own all the Babylon 5 series' on VHS having collected them as they were issued originally, and now have a whole cupboard full of videos I no longer even have a player for. I am very impressed with the quality of this set. The box is nice and study and looks good (and takes up not alot of space!) I am also very impressed with the value, I didn't buy the original Complete Collection due to the price. Overall this is a bargain for an excellent product and a must buy for anyone who loves Babylon 5.
A must Buy January 27, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
What an absolute bargain, 5 series of B5, the pilot (feature length) and 4 films including Crusade and lost tales. I paid over 300 for the lot seperately a few years ago, i wish i'd waited. Put Quite simply Babylon 5 was the best and most logically consistant science fiction to grace our screens. I was brought up on written sf and star trek which i loved. It has depth, lots of it and is texturally woven with massive references to its inspirations and influences in the sf genre. JMS the main writer of the show has a very deep knowledge of the SF genre and his love of this genre comes across. Its 5 year arc (overall story)quietly set a trend for shows like "24", "lost" and more recently "battlestar galactica" for an unfolding storyline and character development within a dramatic context. OK there are a few bad episodes in here ie "grey 17 is missing" & "infection" but the sub plots give a lot of valuable background information. There are only half a dozen below par episodes out of over a 100 so that's not bad going is it? Later seasons Deep space 9 were influenced a great deal by the story arc of B5 and DS9 gained more popularity while doing it very poorly. This is not the naive world of trek, but a metaphor for our dark political times, power hungry individuals and patriotic races, ideaologies and alliances set against a galactic background. This is not just about the great macro background of political events, but filtered through the micro world of the individuals taking part. There is some astonishing acting and script writing in here especially from actors andreas katsulas, peter jurasik and mira furlan. Set against this darkness is the light of Humanism which is at its core. This is a rich and well realised tapestry with hidden subtexts which begs repeated watching and analysis. The main characters are developed throughout the arc sensibly and coherently and this is B5's main strength- its wonderful characters, you have to follow them through to their personal conclusions. This was a pioneering show in the use of CGI and the effects stand up very well indeed even compared to todays standards. This was done on a really tight budget too. The ships and designs used on the show were highly individual and distinctive with amazing ship designs by Ron Thornton, inspired by veteran SF illustrator Chris Foss. The CGI underpins the beautiful storylines and does not detract from them like much bad SF nowadays. I cannot do B5 justice in this paltry review. Do yourself a favor buy the whole set- you will be hooked from beginning to end - and at this price you can't go wrong.
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