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Just watched into the fire and wtf thats B r y a n C r a n s t o n. Good they had someone with skills, that was a good scene. For season 5, are there a few worth skipping?
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Oct 6, 2019 21:28
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You could try hunting the VHS releases of the show. There are plenty of listings on eBay, but it would take a while to gather the full series.
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Oct 6, 2019 21:31
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sebmojo posted:Just watched into the fire and wtf thats B r y a n C r a n s t o n. Good they had someone with skills, that was a good scene. Ericsson  Don’t skip anything. As painful as it seems , there’s still good things woven in.
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Oct 6, 2019 21:40
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Delthalaz posted:Hiya thread- I'm watching Babylon 5 for the very first time and know nothing about the show other than it has a few recognizable costumes, some similarities to DS9, and a war with the "shadows" (spooky!). I'm going through this view order right here: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/master/eplist.html I'm roughly a month ahead of you and halfway through Season 2. It took no time once I hit Season 2 to realize that all of the difficulty of getting through Season 1 was WORTH EVERY MINUTE, even the worst of the worst. So slog through it and my god does it pay off, even only through Season 2. The world and plot feels much fuller having experienced Season 1 totally. I think all of the movement in Season 2 would have been slightly cheapened had I skipped over the 'monster-of-the-week' and the just rough episodes. I've also been watching on Amazon prime, and the quality gets better after Season 1 also, but not perfect. I had gone to Sweden for some copies that looked better but couldn't get any that would play properly on my Plex/AppleTV setup so went back to Prime. I figure that most people watched this show in 4:3 Standard Def on a 20" TV on top of a broken down cabinet television that has been there since the late 70s so I can suffer a little hokey CGI. Get over the visuals, they're not why you're here. Lastly, I have really enjoyed listening to two podcasts while watching through the episodes. Check them out to enhance the experience. - The Name of the Pod (of which a goon is a host) - The Audio Guide to Babylon 5 Be seeing you.
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Oct 6, 2019 21:46
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sebmojo posted:For season 5, are there a few worth skipping? Nah. The storyline people hate in 5 doesn't actually take up that much time in the episodes. The first time I rewatched after hearing people bitch about it for so long I was surprised how minimal it is. If you mashed it all together it'd only be like three full eps worth of stuff, maybe four?
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Oct 6, 2019 21:46
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Vavrek posted:Hi! We'll go back to spoiler-tagging even things about Season 1. On non-cropped CGI: Time travel. I don't think it's available with original 4:3 CGI shots anywhere. Maybe on VHS. On widescreen: It was shot originally in widescreen, so it doesn't really detract anything, just usually add some empty space around the characters. I'm neutral on it. Technically, there's also the laserdisc releases. (which I am slowly getting, as and when I can find them cheap) They are all 4:3, so none of the busted CGI, with resolution not far off the DVDs. The main issue (aside from laserdisc in general), is that they didn't release all of B5. They released all of S1 and S5, half of S2, none of S3 and the first 6 eps of S4. Mark my words, however. I will have Sleeping in Light on LD one day Adaptabullshit posted:You could try hunting the VHS releases of the show. There are plenty of listings on eBay, but it would take a while to gather the full series. I saw someone in the UK selling all 5 seasons on VHS about a month back for ~£10. It was collect only from nearby. I gotta admit, I do regret not getting all of that. I could have worried where to put it later.
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Oct 6, 2019 21:46
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There was someone in this very thread who had a bunch of VHS copies, recorded off broadcast.
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Oct 6, 2019 21:47
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CainFortea posted:There was someone in this very thread who had a bunch of VHS copies, recorded off broadcast. I do. Anyone want em? I’ll send em to you.
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Oct 6, 2019 21:55
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TraderStav posted:I'm roughly a month ahead of you and halfway through Season 2. It took no time once I hit Season 2 to realize that all of the difficulty of getting through Season 1 was WORTH EVERY MINUTE, even the worst of the worst. So slog through it and my god does it pay off, even only through Season 2. The world and plot feels much fuller having experienced Season 1 totally. I think all of the movement in Season 2 would have been slightly cheapened had I skipped over the 'monster-of-the-week' and the just rough episodes. Good to know Season 2 is a big step up! Regarding aspect ratio, I'm hearing Vudu has Babylon 5 in the original aspect ratio, but I'm not sure about the quality.
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Oct 6, 2019 22:10
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CainFortea posted:There was someone in this very thread who had a bunch of VHS copies, recorded off broadcast. I used to, with the commercial breaks snipped to boot, but they're long gone I'm afraid.
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Oct 6, 2019 22:11
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TraderStav posted:That was an excellent moment. Anyone who stalls out in S1 is advised to skip forward to the Coming of Shadows as an alternative to quitting. It's masterful hour of television, and should leave them motivated to get through S1.
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Oct 6, 2019 22:11
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Just finished Soul Hunter! Do they spell "security" differently in the future? 
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Oct 7, 2019 04:37
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One of my housemates just found the Psi-Corps and Centauri trilogies in hardcover in very good condition at a thrift store for $6 each.
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Oct 7, 2019 21:45
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See-to ree-cho mal-to-ray. Finally started my rewatch, and while there's a lot of the early show to cringe about, the soul hunter's a real wild premise to pull. Not just some weird sci-fi thing, but a weird religious sci-fi thing.
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Oct 7, 2019 23:24
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Dominus Vobiscum posted:One of my housemates just found the Psi-Corps and Centauri trilogies in hardcover in very good condition at a thrift store for $6 each. 
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Oct 8, 2019 00:12
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SlothfulCobra posted:Not just some weird sci-fi thing, but a weird religious sci-fi thing. yeah dude it is cool as heck
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Oct 8, 2019 00:13
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Delthalaz posted:Just finished Soul Hunter! I always wondered why they used odd font. I mean, I get that it's ~the future~ or whatever, but that poo poo should be easily legible to the thousands/millions of visitors from multiple worlds that you get. Unless it's stylized, like the Zocalo.
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Oct 8, 2019 20:12
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Yeah, they should have used something nice and legible, like the LCARS font
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Oct 8, 2019 21:57
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B5 makes a couple of design choices for no apparent reason other than just to look extra sci-fi. The doors, for example. They have those weird teeth on them instead of just being plain ol' rectangles. I think it's a little more reasonable to have them pivot up instead of sliding off to the side, but there's still the lingering question of why exactly you need to reinvent the door for space rather than just using what has worked terrestrially.
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Oct 8, 2019 22:10
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I think the teeth thing is just to make it look more like an airlock door. You'd imagine a pressure door would have extra bits and bobs to lock it harder, so they did.
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Oct 8, 2019 22:12
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It was the 80s - 90s. Using the Stop font was pretty much required in sci-fi during that time.
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Oct 8, 2019 23:03
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Talking down an alien bioweapon is cool, but the bizarre subplot where all the normal cast talk down to a reporter and complain about how all the news media is just determined to make them look bad was uncomfortable. Oh neat the next episode opens with Garibaldi detaining a space-sikh. Sometimes this show just makes me feel weird. But then there's G'kar chowin' down on a whole pig's head, that's nice.
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Oct 9, 2019 00:10
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SlothfulCobra posted:Talking down an alien bioweapon is cool, but the bizarre subplot where all the normal cast talk down to a reporter and complain about how all the news media is just determined to make them look bad was uncomfortable. This was a very normal feeling in the military when this was made. Since media representation of your average enlisted was someone too stupid to get a real job, and only barely kept from pissing indoors.
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Oct 9, 2019 02:08
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Delthalaz posted:Hiya thread- I'm watching Babylon 5 for the very first time and know nothing about the show other than it has a few recognizable costumes, some similarities to DS9, and a war with the "shadows" (spooky!). I'm going through this view order right here: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/master/eplist.html Oh noooooooooo In the Beginning spoils like 50% of the show and shouldn't be watched until after season 3 (when it aired) The best order imo is skip the gathering, watch the episodes in order and In the Beginning after season 3.
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Oct 9, 2019 02:27
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Pretty sure ITB aired on TNT after they picked up the order for season 5, didn't it? I remember it filling the time in between s4 and s5
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Oct 9, 2019 02:50
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hope and vaseline posted:Pretty sure ITB aired on TNT after they picked up the order for season 5, didn't it? I remember it filling the time in between s4 and s5 Yes but it does spoil seasons 1-3 so....
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Oct 9, 2019 03:13
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SlothfulCobra posted:Talking down an alien bioweapon is cool, but the bizarre subplot where all the normal cast talk down to a reporter and complain about how all the news media is just determined to make them look bad was uncomfortable. There's long-term context with the latter. The majority of Babylon 5 builds on top of what you see as it goes, there's very little one-and-done moments beyond season 1. CainFortea posted:I think the teeth thing is just to make it look more like an airlock door. You'd imagine a pressure door would have extra bits and bobs to lock it harder, so they did. That's my take too. You don't just stop with big heavy doors at the outer layer of a station, you have them everywhere in case the worst happens.
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Oct 9, 2019 03:34
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Blindeye posted:Oh noooooooooo It’s okay, I don’t feel particularly spoiled. The movie was kind of a mess though.
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Oct 9, 2019 05:55
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Delthalaz posted:It’s okay, I don’t feel particularly spoiled. The movie was kind of a mess though. It feels like more of a mess if you haven't seen the first few seasons. Even though it is technically a prequel, it builds on what you know already, rather than being a stand alone thing. I mean I don't think it'll destroy your enjoyment of the series or anything, I just always found it weird when people suggest seeing it first even though it wasn't meant to be viewed chronologically.
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Oct 9, 2019 05:59
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Didn't Straczynski say once on Usenet that he felt ItB would be a pretty ideal introduction to the series, despite the spoilers?
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Oct 9, 2019 06:58
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He did indeed: http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=9093 http://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=8677
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Oct 9, 2019 07:53
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Eyud posted:He did indeed: That's cool and all but I've seen too many people not grasp In The Beginning as well as those that waited and watched it later. I honestly think he's too close to his own work here to have the perspective of someone who knows absolutely nothing about the B5 universe. If it works for some people, that's cool though.
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Oct 9, 2019 09:23
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In the Beginning was probably a good intro to the show while it was airing, and you didn't really want to accept your friend's loan of three or four years of home-recorded VHS tapes. I think I saw it when I first was introduced to the show and just found it confusing.
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Oct 9, 2019 13:49
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Eyud posted:He did indeed: He said this as someone trying to promote both the movie and the newly airing reruns, so take it with a grain of salt. Actually, just take everything he says with a grain of salt.
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Oct 9, 2019 14:11
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Best intro to the show is any random episode in Season 2, imo.
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Oct 9, 2019 14:11
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Season 2, episode 20 Oh, I don't think I like Londo anymore. Friendship with Londo has ended Friendship with G'Kar has begun
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Oct 10, 2019 21:57
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It's neat to read the Lurkers' guide and see JMS be more raw than I'm used to show people being. I guess the rest of the production people didn't see any danger in the internet and the series creator getting drawn a bit more than he should into forum arguments. It's still cool to learn about things like Spoo herding. Weird that the Soul Hunter cop is the shot the opening uses to represent wanderers. I know that The Gathering is really rough, the first season also starts pretty rough to begin with, so adding the pilot onto things further complicates the matter, and the bulk of the human cast is cycled out after the pilot anyways, but I think it's worth it for viewers to see G'kar at his absolute most sinister and sleazy to set the grounds for the later swapperoo. There's also things like how the story really wanted to imply that G'kar was going to kill Catherine Sakai to protect a sector that the Narn had their eyes on.
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Oct 10, 2019 22:59
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SlothfulCobra posted:G'kar at his absolute most sinister and sleazy to set the grounds for the later swapperoo. There's also things like how the story really wanted to imply that G'kar was going to kill Catherine Sakai to protect a sector that the Narn had their eyes on. i always liked g'kar and thought it was weird how likeable they were making the evil space mans
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Oct 11, 2019 00:18
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Rewatching S1, what comes across to me is that both Londo and G'kar come across as buffoons. Londo has a tragic and sympathetic angle ("open 9 to 5, Earth time"), while G'kar is a sex pest with more comedic lines ("These are Ambassador G'kar's quarters, this is Ambassador G'kar's meal ..."). They both seem funny and not to be taken too seriously. Then, the show keeps going. S1, ending spoilers: "You killed ten thousand Narns." "I didn't know you cared."
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Oct 11, 2019 01:57
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Vavrek posted:Rewatching S1, what comes across to me is that both Londo and G'kar come across as buffoons. Londo has a tragic and sympathetic angle ("open 9 to 5, Earth time"), while G'kar is a sex pest with more comedic lines ("These are Ambassador G'kar's quarters, this is Ambassador G'kar's meal ..."). They both seem funny and not to be taken too seriously. Then, the show keeps going. "Don't give away the Homeworld!"
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Oct 11, 2019 05:08
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