Babylon 5: The Lost Tales - Voices In The Dark

Overview

The Lost Tales is the first in what is hoped to be a DVD-based series of 'short stories' set in the Babylon 5 universe. It is around 110 minutes long, and features the characters of Sheridan and Lochley from the series, as well as Galen from Crusade.

Plot Synopsis

Plot and ending details follow. Please do not read on if you wish to avoid spoilers.

The story begins with Lochley calling a priest to Babylon 5 to conduct an exorcism. She is convinced that an ex-security guard has been possessed after a trip to Earth. The priest is skeptical until the man demonstrates his powers. After much discussion, Lochley confronts the man and decides he should be exorcised on Earth, since that is clearly where he was trapped originally.

The second half of the story centres on Sheridan's journey to B5 for the tenth anniversary of the Interstellar Alliance, where Galen tries to convince him that he must kill a passenger on the ship. The passenger in question is Vintari, third in line to the Centauri throne and, according to Galen, destined to order a strike fleet to perform a brutal attack on Earth itself. Despite Galen providing him with the opportunity, Sheridan eventually realises that he can guide Vintari rather than kill him, by inviting him to stay with his family on Minbar.

Production

The series relies heavily on the use of green screen and virtual sets or set extensions. Physical sets are extremely sparse, and Babylon 5 itself does not seem to be as heavily populated as it used to be. A low budget is clearly evident, despite some ambitious sequences. However, the heavy used of CG in place of physical sets and models reflects the production of the original series, where CG was often used as a cost-saving measure in place of physical sets. It was something Babylon 5 was well-known for at the time.

Reception

Earning neither strongly negative or positive reviews, Voices in the Dark is a way of testing the market. The stories are dialogue heavy, and engaging enough. It has been described by many as being similar to watching two good episodes of the original series.

Future Instalments

Dependant on the success of this DVD, J Michael Straczynski has said that he would like to produce more. It's also worth noting that neither of the stories on the DVD are entirely wrapped up, with some possibilities for threads to be picked up in later stories.

Record 1464 - film - Last update 26 Oct 2007, 15:13:44

Entry written by: DiscoBurgess

Update this entry - Your update will be submitted for moderation.