The reason I’m asking is instead of just giving it a go is it isn’t available to stream in my region. So I would have to acquire it in some other way if I give it a go.
I have never seen it before. I’m not a huge sci-fi fan or anything. I watched some Star Trek: TNG and liked it just fine. Do not like OG Star Trek at all.
I just landed on the B5 wikipedia page and the synopsis intrigued me.
Has it aged ok or does it feel like old? I don’t care all that much if the effects or make up is a bit dated. It’s more that the acting and storylines in 90’s tv shows isn’t always the greatest.
Is it heavy handed with trying to give the viewer moral lessons like some older shows tend to?
Also not looking for a action show nor do I care all that much about shocking story twists that newer media tends to lean on.
So TLDR I guess: Is the story and acting good?
I know it’s hard to recommend things to people you don’t know so any kind of input would be appreciated.
B5 is fantastic.
Let me start with the bad though: The CGI, especially the spaceship CGI in the first couple of seasons is bad. Really, really, really bad. Like listen, I have a high tolerance for bad scifi CGI (I watch Starhunter!) and I can tell you in some of the space battle scenes I literally can’t keep track of what is happening sometimes. The CGI improves in the later seasons, but it goes from “I don’t understand what I’m even seeing” to “Playstation 2 cutscene” level.
Ok, that’s mainly it. If you can get past that, it is an amazing show. The most impressive thing it does is character growth. There are characters that you start out hating who end up becoming very sympathetic. There are characters who make face heel turns and it never feels unearned.
One amazing thing about the show is the running dispute between two alien races which is very similar to the Cardassians vs Bajorans in Star Trek Deep Space 9. To me, in DS9 I never really liked the Bajorans as a people, I know that I was supposed to but for various reasons I kind of just didn’t care about them. In Babylon 5, I really care about the conflict and about the ambassadors from each species and what they are going through, and how their personal and professional relationship evolves. It was very smart to make the ugly alien reptile species the one which was being unjustly oppressed.
Without going on too much longer, the setting of the show is strong. You can see how dystopian earth is and how principled the main human cast is, and how every so often those distant dystopian tendrils from the earth government start reaching into the affairs of the show.
As a side note, if you like Star Trek TNG but don’t like the “moral of the week” kind of thing, I do highly recommend Star Trek Deep Space 9. Great acting, very good effects that hold up well, and a fun cast of characters. A little slow in the beginning but once the main conflicts start kicking off it starts feeling very modern in how the story arcs are presented. Worf returns from TNG, but DS9 actually finds a purpose for his character and he really gets to shine.
Another great reply! Thanks man!
This show does seem like my kinda deal. I don’t think I will mind the effects. If being honest I kinda hoped there wouldn’t be any space battles in it. Not to many I hope. I am really looking for more of a drama than a action show.
Is there any kind of “slice-of-life onboard the station” elements in it. The thing that stuck out to me in the snippet I read about the show was that it portrayed how individuals were affected by bigger events in the story.
I think I’ll check out DS9 too. One thing I learned is when people describe movies and shows as “a little slow” I tend to like them.
It’s crazy that they made all the CGI with Amiga computers.
You seem like maybe someone who would love the anime Planetes, or the manga (the anime’s good but the manga is much longer). It’s a near-future scifi about a crew who clean up space debris, and there was obviously a heck of a lot of research put into it. It’s the most realistic portrayal of space travel I know of in an animated show, and mostly slice-of-life. It’s not a very “anime” anime either, if you’re not normally one for anime.
Ok, so I don’t like most anime I tried watching, but as you described it as not very anime, I looked it up and it seemed kinda neat. I borrowed the first season from the internet and just watched the first two episodes.
So far it’s really good, thanks a bunch for the rec! I would never have found this show and given it a chance on my own.
Also when I looked it up I saw it described as hard science fiction. Never heard that term before. After some cursory research I think this might be the kind of sci-fi for me.
The space battles are mainly just in the beginning as flashbacks to inform the setting, and the later in the end of the show. The bulk of the show is attempts at diplomacy mixed up with some cosmic mystery, so I wouldn’t exactly call it slice of life but it is more thoughtful than just blasting away at things. There are often battles but they have a habit at least in the middle of happening distantly and the main cast having to deal with the political fallout.
DS9 has some slice of life episodes, I actually just listed my two favorite episodes in another thread and both of them are slice of life with one being very emotionally impactful and the other extremely silly. DS9 has such well defined main and reoccurring characters that you can combine any two of them in a scene and get an entertaining outcome, and the show leans on that a lot.