|
Jet Jaguar posted:Watching "The Gathering" and "Midnight on the Firing Line" this evening and while I enjoy the continuity of having the Christopher Franke score, I wish there was an option for the original one still. Dr Kyle is a ton of fun, I wish some of the other folks in the first pilot got to come back the way Lyta did. Johnny Sekka retired from acting after the B5 pilot, due to health issues I believe. In-universe Ben Kyle was appointed as the Earth Alliance presidential physician and died aboard Earthforce One with Luis Santiago.
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 09:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 21:45 |
|
|
Watched several of my favorite Delenn episodes last night, ending with Sleeping in Light. That last scene hit hard 
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 10:26
|
|
|
Stay back or I'll click this mouse.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 13:50
|
|
|
Doctor Zero posted:Stay back or I'll click this mouse. Stay back, or I'll shave off her bangs!
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 14:11
|
|
|
Question about the remasters - have they fixed the opening credits for the first few episodes of Season 2 and showed Delenn as she appeared in Season 1 as it was broadcast originally? Likewise with the opening credits to the Season 4 finale which should have removed Ivanova’s credit.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 14:15
|
|
|
Zaroff posted:Question about the remasters - have they fixed the opening credits for the first few episodes of Season 2 and showed Delenn as she appeared in Season 1 as it was broadcast originally? Likewise with the opening credits to the Season 4 finale which should have removed Ivanova’s credit. Almost certainly yes. They already fixed them for the European DVDs, and later the Vudu versions. Only the original US DVDs have these issues.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 14:20
|
|
|
Jedit posted:Johnny Sekka retired from acting after the B5 pilot, due to health issues I believe. In-universe Ben Kyle was appointed as the Earth Alliance presidential physician and died aboard Earthforce One with Luis Santiago. Dr. Kyle didn't die during the series. He was head of xenobiologic research on Earth until retiring at the end of season 5. He asked Dr. Franklin to take over for him which was Franklin's reason for leaving the station at the end of the show.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 16:59
|
|
|
SnagglePuss posted:Dr. Kyle didn't die during the series. He was head of xenobiologic research on Earth until retiring at the end of season 5. He asked Dr. Franklin to take over for him which was Franklin's reason for leaving the station at the end of the show. I'll check, but I'm sure I heard otherwise. It might have been a JMS throwaway that he later forgot about.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 17:36
|
|
|
I thought the president's doctor was the guy who had proof that Clarke was lying about being too sick to be on the ship that blew up.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 18:20
|
|
|
Eighties ZomCom posted:I thought the president's doctor was the guy who had proof that Clarke was lying about being too sick to be on the ship that blew up. Yeah, and he was the focus of a mid-season 2 episode.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 18:43
|
|
|
Not to be morbid but do we know what happened? It sounds like cancer but I can't find any info. Just one of those things, a function of having lived in a warzone, undeterminable because of the time passed, ???
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 18:50
|
|
|
VinylonUnderground posted:Not to be morbid but do we know what happened? It sounds like cancer but I can't find any info. Just one of those things, a function of having lived in a warzone, undeterminable because of the time passed, ??? Lung cancer and he appears to have been a smoker for much of his life.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 19:35
|
|
|
pentyne posted:I specifically mean the stuff from the pilot they had dropped already by s1 and then had refined more by s2. Even the way they shoot the actors way in close during conversations and things like that, major hold overs from the 80s. Y'know, people called the TNG phasers "dustbusters" but, those original PPG cannons... *sucks teeth* Actually the whole tactical getup looks like something you'd see on one of the latter-day MST3K "totally not a Star Wars ripoff" episodes. I'm glad they decided to make some major aesthetic changes going forward.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 19:36
|
|
|
SnagglePuss posted:Dr. Kyle didn't die during the series. He was head of xenobiologic research on Earth until retiring at the end of season 5. He asked Dr. Franklin to take over for him which was Franklin's reason for leaving the station at the end of the show. That's correct, according to the B5 Encyclopedia. And I found the scene in "The Ragged Edge": "I got a call from Dr. Benjamin Kyle, head of Xenobiology at Earthdome...he's retiring at the end of the year." Eighties ZomCom posted:I thought the president's doctor was the guy who had proof that Clarke was lying about being too sick to be on the ship that blew up. This is an easy mistake to make because they keep calling him the president's doctor in "Hunter, Prey," but Clark is the president at that point. Sarah, the contact Sheridan has from General Hague, spells out that he's Clark's personal physician, so at the time Earthforce One blew up he was the vice-president's doctor. In any event, Kyle was neither president's doctor, he was head of xenobiologic research until he retired.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 19:37
|
|
|
Midjack posted:Lung cancer and he appears to have been a smoker for much of his life. I know that was Katsulas. Eastern European smoking like a chimney is on-brand though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 20:14
|
|
|
Jedit posted:Johnny Sekka retired from acting after the B5 pilot, due to health issues I believe. Ironically he still outlived Richard Biggs, the actor who replaced him. VinylonUnderground posted:Not to be morbid but do we know what happened? It sounds like cancer but I can't find any info. Just one of those things, a function of having lived in a warzone, undeterminable because of the time passed, ??? Do you mean Furlan? She had West Nile Virus. Action Jacktion fucked around with this message at 21:36 on Jan 28, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 21:25
|
|
|
Wow. West Nile Virus. Haven't heard of that in a long time.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2021 22:57
|
|
|
Narsham posted:That's correct, according to the B5 Encyclopedia. And I found the scene in "The Ragged Edge": "I got a call from Dr. Benjamin Kyle, head of Xenobiology at Earthdome...he's retiring at the end of the year." OK, that's my mistake then.
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2021 01:30
|
|
|
McSpanky posted:Y'know, people called the TNG phasers "dustbusters" but, those original PPG cannons... *sucks teeth* Actually the whole tactical getup looks like something you'd see on one of the latter-day MST3K "totally not a Star Wars ripoff" episodes. The originals were very clearly not-phaser Star Trek knockoffs and the series redesigns are much more militaristic-looking in keeping with the EarthForce aesthetic.
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2021 10:46
|
|
|
In some ways, the pause between the pilot and the series really helped, the props and makeup in “Midnight on the Firing Line” are miles ahead of “The Gathering.” Trying to remember if Delenn’s cabinet of magical rings ever showed up again in the series. I think it went away, down the same hole as the recorder drones.
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2021 17:29
|
|
|
Jet Jaguar posted:In some ways, the pause between the pilot and the series really helped, the props and makeup in “Midnight on the Firing Line” are miles ahead of “The Gathering.” Didn't recorder drones show up in the couple of reporter-themed episodes?
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2021 13:39
|
|
|
Dirty posted:Didn't recorder drones show up in the couple of reporter-themed episodes? Yep. The gravity rings did not, though - they were replaced by the Triluminaries.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2021 14:44
|
|
|
She had to give them back to The Mandarin.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2021 16:05
|
|
|
Just for the heck of it, I bought one episode (Babylon Squared) on Amazon and on Vudu for comparison, and it pretty much confirmed (for me) what CainFortea already showed with his screencaps. Even on my really old TV, the Vudu version was a little softer with a more filtered look. The CGI is certainly helped by keeping the 4:3 ratio, but a couple of things bugged me anyway. My impression is that the CGI looks like the contrast may have been "boosted" a little too much. Spaceships and the station are almost overbrightened compared to what I remember. (It's space, it's supposed to be pretty dark unless you are close to a light source.) Also, there is noticeable judder in the motion of spacecraft, which may be the result of converting the 30 FPS CGI to...something else. Is this a 24 fps stream? Anyway, Vudu has the "bundle" of all 5 seasons at a good price, but I'd rather get the Amazon version, which is effectively twice as much to buy per-season as the Vudu bundle...
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2021 22:09
|
|
|
Rewatched "Signs and Portents" again today and it's still a pretty drat good episode. Even if The Eye looks like something somebody might cobble together at a wine-and-crafts night. So sad that Ed Wasser didn't get more work after this show. His cheery, polite Rod Serling vibe is great.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2021 23:43
|
|
|
Number_6 posted:Just for the heck of it, I bought one episode (Babylon Squared) on Amazon and on Vudu for comparison, and it pretty much confirmed (for me) what CainFortea already showed with his screencaps. By the way, that particular episode is also missing the last 3 minutes or so. https://www.reddit.com/r/babylon5/comments/k05mw9/all_episode_on_itunes_have_been/ Number_6 posted:Also, there is noticeable judder in the motion of spacecraft, which may be the result of converting the 30 FPS CGI to...something else. Is this a 24 fps stream? Yeah, 23.976 fps. Converting it to that has perhaps improved the overall consistency of the visuals but definitely hurt the fluidity of the space CGI; I always liked the choice of having 30 fps space CGI with 24 fps filmed stuff given that it was meant for TV anyway. It made the series look more unique and I kinda wish they kept the alternating framerate here (although it would've probably complicated distribution-related stuff, and also Blu-ray supports 1080p only at 24 fps, so this way it's all simple and standardized). edit: BTW, the Vudu stream was 30 fps. This caused a slight judder in the 24 fps footage (which is most of it) but the space shots were smooth as butter. Zat fucked around with this message at 02:54 on Jan 31, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2021 00:52
|
|
|
It looks like composite shots are still upscaled from a 480p or similar source. It's pretty jarring once you start noticing it. It's noticeable whenever someone fires a PPG, there is a greenscreen scene or similar. It's VERY noticeable in the finale of the Ironheart episode in season one where the shots switch rapidly between HD scans and SD scans. It can also be seen in the following episode with the eloping Centauris when the racists decloak. That's as far as I have gotten on my rewatch.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2021 09:46
|
|
|
evobatman posted:It looks like composite shots are still upscaled from a 480p or similar source. It's pretty jarring once you start noticing it. It's noticeable whenever someone fires a PPG, there is a greenscreen scene or similar. It's VERY noticeable in the finale of the Ironheart episode in season one where the shots switch rapidly between HD scans and SD scans. It can also be seen in the following episode with the eloping Centauris when the racists decloak. That's as far as I have gotten on my rewatch. The same thing happens on the White Star: shots looking towards the front of the captain's chair are good, reverse shots looking out the front windows are not good. And the battle scene bridge for the Narn cruiser in The Long Twilight Struggle must have been a green screen set or something because they also look upscaled. Actual HD shots are really good though considering this was a TV show from the 90's with not the world's biggest budget.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2021 19:20
|
|
|
Wow, so I only just now found out about the Babylon 5 HD remaster. I somehow still haven't seen Season 5 but I'm wondering if I should give the show another watch through in glorious high definition first. Is there a consensus on the new version?
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2021 21:56
|
|
|
Delthalaz posted:Wow, so I only just now found out about the Babylon 5 HD remaster. I somehow still haven't seen Season 5 but I'm wondering if I should give the show another watch through in glorious high definition first. Is there a consensus on the new version? It's without a doubt the best version yet, though with a few caveats: Zat fucked around with this message at 22:31 on Feb 6, 2021 |
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2021 22:21
|
|
|
Zat posted:It's without a doubt the best version yet, though with a few caveats: That's weird! But awesome. Hmm, maybe I'll watch season 5 in the original SD (I have it already) and then swing around for a new watch-through. Are the movies in HD too?
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2021 22:49
|
|
|
Delthalaz posted:That's weird! But awesome. Hmm, maybe I'll watch season 5 in the original SD (I have it already) and then swing around for a new watch-through. Are the movies in HD too? Unfortunately no.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2021 22:55
|
|
|
Zat posted:Unfortunately no. Welp. I'm sure that will happen some time in the next thirty or forty years.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2021 23:05
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/1358213197426163713
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2021 01:50
|
|
|
Zat posted:It's without a doubt the best version yet, though with a few caveats: The missing scenes have actually been restored; I was watching Babylon Squared on Max last night and they were there (albeit with the credits music playing over them).
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2021 18:23
|
|
|
Cross-Section posted:The missing scenes have actually been restored; I was watching Babylon Squared on Max last night and they were there (albeit with the credits music playing over them). lol, well that's great to hear at least, even if it still isn't quite perfect. At least we can be pretty sure then that that issue will be corrected for the inevitable Blu-ray release.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2021 20:44
|
|
|
Cross-Section posted:The missing scenes have actually been restored; I was watching Babylon Squared on Max last night and they were there (albeit with the credits music playing over them). Yeah HBO Max has updated with the restored scenes, ITunes and Prime still have them missing but it can’t be long till they get updated too.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2021 22:03
|
|
|
hope and vaseline posted:Yeah HBO Max has updated with the restored scenes, ITunes and Prime still have them missing but it can’t be long till they get updated too. Cool, they weren't restored when I watched them a week or so ago. Might have to check them out again. Thanks! I'm now in Season 3 and I keep wondering how Sinclair, who studied with the Jesuits, would have enjoyed talking to Brother Theo and his crew.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2021 22:26
|
|
|
I think people also need to discuss how B5 gives comprehensive insight into the mind of an incel terrorist. Very prescient and much more timely now than in the '90s.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2021 03:22
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 21:45 |
|
|
VinylonUnderground posted:I think people also need to discuss how B5 gives comprehensive insight into the mind of an incel terrorist. Very prescient and much more timely now than in the '90s. Lennier or Marcus??
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2021 06:19
|
|
