Babylon 5: The Road Home (2023 Video) User Reviews

Fairly decent (for fans of B5)

[veinctor · 7/10 · 12 August 2023]

You will like this movie (for the most part), if you like the original show, 3D cartoon animation in general, and if you don't mind that this is the 3rd multiverse movie of 2023 (after Flash and Across the Spiderverse).

My two major complains about this movie are the weak direction and the face design of most of the characters. Their eyes are too far apart and sometimes it is hard to recognize them (I confused Lockley with Ivanova a couple of times). Also the Shadows are not terrifying at all and they look like a generic bug-like enemy, as it is the first time we see them so clearly. The movie would have looked great 20 years ago, but now, these 3D models and the spaceship action scenes feel a bit amateurish and visually outdated, to the point where it looks more like a cel-shaded videogame. And I say that as someone who tried to create 3D cartoons back in 2004. That said, most of the characters are here, and there are many different settings, that must have been a lot of work to model and animate.

Thankfully, I'm here for the story, which I find it to be fine for a cartoon movie (but perhaps not for a live action movie). Plot-wise, it might feel a bit too convenient that Sheridan travels to the most important places, in the time of need for the plot to happen, but at least it is explained in a "scientific" way (unlike the convenient teleportation of only spidermen in the movie Into the Spiderverse). Of course, if you've seen the series, you must suspect that everything should return back to normal by the end, without perhaps any world changing events. So, it's not so much about Sheridan's destination, but about the journey. And as far as his journey goes, it is decent one and it has a few surprises, but it also has some flaws.

The dry humor is somewhat amusing, but it didn't make me laugh, and sometimes it was placed in serious situations where it didn't fit. For example, when Sheridan jokes about Celsius and Fahrenheit after everything he has been through... it feels very out of place. Also, I do think the Celsius and Fahrenheit debate should have been solved by 2260. Then, they waste time talking about Sheridan's story, but they don't believe him and THEN they call a telepath to confirm the story. Man, you are in a hurry and you talk like it's the most relaxed day of your life! Come on! It's times like these when the pacing feels off. If I was on a tight and unknown deadline, I wouldn't make jokes or engage in small talk... I would get straight to the point and get things done.

I love that the story visits almost every familiar character, and that wouldn't have happened in a movie otherwise, because most of the cast has sadly passed away. I'm glad that their cameos wasn't a mere a checklist to be shown for shock value or fan-service (like in the Flash movie). We get to witness many key events and alternative timelines, like what happened with the Icarus in Zahadum and the destructive creativity of the Vorlons if they lose the war. It is like a gallery of the best events that the creator, JMS, could come up with, to please the long time fans and to lure new audience. I suspect that the target audience was also kids, due to PG-13 rating, which is understandable from a financial point of view.

This is essentially a mini anthology of what-if scenarios that don't add a great deal to the B5 lore. This is good because it is a neat stand alone story, and it doesn't conflict with the B5 lore and there are no plot holes. But it also may be bad, because it could feel quite all over the place if you haven't watched the show. On the other hand, the many plot points may spark the curiosity of any new viewer that may want to learn more about what happens in the show. I guess it feels like a piece of a puzzle that you didn't know that it was missing. So, even though I'm not crazy about the visual style or some lighthearted story beats, we must accept that the only way to have more Babylon 5 on the screen, is through animation. And I would love to see the B5 comicbooks and novels converted in this format!

If this is a pilot for a new series (like the first B5 movie was), please, have someone to check the animation and the story quality. For example, the Shadows could run instead walking fast, Lyta could use her own weight to pull the lever (or telekinisis), the dramatic moments feel weak and lack a punch, and in the final scene when the camera moves away from the Babylon station... the background remains static! This is a mistake only an amateur would do. Of course, translating characters into "drawings" is a huge challenge. And the director has done many LEGO DC films that I like. So, I don't know what went wrong here. Again, if this is a pilot, it can be excused, because even the first B5 movie was rough around the edges and we moved past it. All that said, I prefer watching a series of this quality, than Star Trek Lower Decks or any of the Star Wars animated series. I tried them, and I find their stories, humor, character arc and action to be very weak and childish.

Animated movies are not cheap or easy to make and direct. And it is easy to judge and nitpick every tiny detail. But we should admire and respect the work and effort that went in on this project, despite its flaws. The Babylon 5 spirit is there, and that's what matters the most. And if this movie is a proof of concept that sparks an animated TV series of some lost B5 chapter... that would be awesome!

Nostalgia journey for the seasoned fan

[cpsm-47065 · 8/10 · 12 August 2023]

Watching this took me right back to the 1990s when I started Babylon 5. The characters were fairly accurate, with Zathras getting a lot of scene time with Sheridan, which was nice. Some scenes were quite funny as well, with really dark moments to balance it out. I just wish there was more Londo, as he was only in a few scenes. The voice acting was very good, with Delenn being very well done by Rebecca Riedy. The storyline covered many memorable moments from the original show, and added some more information to events only depicted lightly previously. The animation was ok, but could have been more accurate on a few of the characters, and poor Marcus Cole barely got any screen time.

Not bad, but fire the face designer

[pmpbds · 6/10 · 14 August 2023]

The history is not bad, and is fun to revisit so many beloved personages.

But the people designing the faces of the personages need to be fired/send to primary school.

I have seen very low budget/amateur films that do way better.

Pity, the rest is not bad - for a not big effort in animation - today you see way, way better, even in medium budget/amateur films.

All in all, the personages get decent-ish dialogues, the story don't broke the lore - you see that so many times these days - and is a pleasure to revisit Babylon 5.

Hope in the future there is more, but please, with more professional animators.

What If? ... on overdrive

[markkupost · 7/10 · 16 August 2023]

It is absolutely great to see B5 return after so many years; a feat very few franchises are able to pull of after decades ... and with so many of the original cast still able to participate in the project none the less. Unfortunately, quite a number of the original cast have "passed beyond the galactic rim" in real life and leave a bit of a sore wound in their place.

Pacing seems to be all over the place for the movie's 75 minute runtime. Many of the scenes feel rushed and then - occasionally - things get overtly leisure for a while for no obvious reason before again getting all hurry-up-galore. I will need to have a rewatch to figure out if there is a deeper meaning for this, but on my first watch... it just felt misplaced. And talking of misplaced ... I remember the original B5 series having a great sense of humor with gags and jibs that "worked" in context. In "The Road Home", for the most part, stuff felt so out of place.

Now with all that having been said, I still feel like this does deserve a 7/10 rating. I may be rating somewhat high due to the amount of nostalgia, but ... that's just the same gut feeling, which guides most of my ratings.

You can't go home again

[billdehaan-61219 · 6/10 · 20 August 2023]

Being a natural cynic, I wasn't expecting much from this. B5 is my favourite show of all time, but it's had three sequels (Crusade, Legends of the Rangers, Lost Tales) and none have been successful. It's been 16 years since the last aired B5 story, and a huge number of the cast members have passed away.

B5's strength was a strongly plotted, well thought out story arc that was closed off with no loose ends, so what story is there to tell? There are numerous sagas that have been referred to but never seen, such as the Dilgar War and the Telepath War. There are also many novels written from jms' outlines that would make for a great series, such as the story of Bester and the history of the Psi-Corps, the rise and fall of the Centuari, and the story of the Techno Mages.

Any of them would be wonderful to see, but those aren't going to fit in a 78 minute run time any more than Lord of the Rings would. So what story did we actually get?

Indulgent fan fiction made by the actual creator (jms), that's what.

This is to B5 what the "What If?" television show is to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A cute afterthought, but not essential viewing.

If you treat this as being a fan project (like Star Trek Continues), made with decent production values for showing at a convention to nostalgic fans, it's fantastic. Every surviving cast member has at least a cameo role. Those who have passed away have been recast with voice actors, so all characters (except for Vir) are present. And for good or bad, the fanservice is off the charts (it makes Picard season 3 tame in comparison).

But as a standalone movie, or a B5 installment, it adds nothing to the series, and actually undermines some of the established narrative of the original show.

The good:

• Animation quality (outside of certain character designs)
• Voice acting and direction

The okay:

• The music was not up to B5's historical lofty standards, but was serviceable
• The pacing felt neither rushed nor overly plodding

The bad:

• While Sheridan and Londo were recognizable, many of the cast were not. Ivanova, Lochley, Marcus and Sinclair looked unlike their respective actors. G'Kar and Garibaldi get a pass as the only Narn and the only bald character, so they were identifiable by default.

• Although the replacement voice actors did good work, few sounded like the actors that they were replacing. There were a few times G'Kar sounded like G'Kar, and Garibaldi sounded like Garibaldi, but for the most part, they were clearly different actors.

• There are a few fourth wall breaks that are simply distracting.

• A Minbari tachyon-based power station? That's ridiculous on the face of it.

• Sheridan trips through alternate universes are dictated by his desires and emotions. He is god.

• The Jiminy Cricket ending where Sheridan and Delenn love each other real hard and save the universe.

• The Shadows in B5 were able to go one on one with the Vorlons (two of them were able to murder Kosh), and a single Vorlon nearly destroyed B5 on his own. But in this movie, the Shadows use Zerg rush tactics, and one is killed by Sheridan with a simple PPG.

For fans of B5... the lil franchise that could

[abpeaco-12130 · 9/10 · 16 August 2023]

A welcome return to B5 for fans, but confusing for newcomers. A bit like an indy band getting back together to do a remix of fan favorites as a teaser for their new album.

The story was classic B5 epic stuff, but found time for some character moments and other stuff fans dig about the franchise. Most of the humor worked, though one Zathras remark felt a bit meta and probably could've been saved for the DVD extras.

The look of the uniforms, environments, etc. Was faithful to that of the original series and its spinoffs. The B5 station, ships, planetary surfaces, etc. Were a solid compromise of the series' CGI and the movie's animated style. Obviously, the animated approach allowed the movie to give the visuals a scale the original TV series couldn't.

It was of course great to hear the voices of Boxleitner et al again, and if I hadn't known better, I'd have thought they used archived audio clips from previous B5 projects for the voices of Franklin, G'Kar, Delenn, Garibaldi, etc.

Like most franchises, B5 has had its ups and downs. The Road Home is a vast improvement over Legend of the Rangers and Lost Tales. Whether the rumored reboot TV series is animated or live action, The Road Home is a fine place to restart.

For fans only

[Q-Panda · 7/10 · 19 September 2023]

Overall, _The Road Home_ isn't a bad movie, per se. But it really is just for the fans, relying more on nostalgia for situations from the series than its own merits.

First, the good:

* The voice performances are excellent. Several of the original actors returned to voice their characters, and all of them fell right back into character as if they'd never left. The replacement voice actors for the (sadly) large number of actors who have passed since the show ended do pretty good at imitating the distinct voices of their characters, especially the actors voicing G'Kar, Zathras, and Delenn; while a fan can tell that they're not the original actors, they still convey the expected tone of the characters, and honor the original actors in the process.

* The effects animation, backgrounds, and ship designs are outstanding. Thanks to the advances in technology over the past 25 years, ships look even better here than they did originally. The additional detail on the Shadow ships is especially nice.

Aaaand...the not so good:

* Character design is ATROCIOUS. Most of the characters look almost nothing like their live-action counterparts. The only characters that are instantly identifiable visually are Lyta, Delenn, and Londo, and that's primarily due to the unique look of their hair and costuming, not any facial resemblance. The humans in particular look horrible, with Lochley and Ivanova being easily confused for one another until they speak, and Sinclair identifiable only by context and/or dialogue. Londo looks positively demonic. The designs for the Narns are horrible, barely even resembling Narns at all. It could be passable if there was a clear attempt at stylized designs, but they don't really look stylized, just bad.

* The Shadow character designs are thoroughly cartoonish. The Shadows of _Babylon Park_ look better than these. Every iota of added detail the Shadow ships got was at the expense of detail in the Shadows themselves.

* As bad as the character designs are, the character animation is worse. Stilted, choppy, not smooth in any way. It's the exact opposite of the quality of the effects and ship animations.

* I was particularly dismayed by seeing in the end credits that JMS is the only credited writer, because the writing in this is way below the quality fans expect from him. The story itself is almost entirely nostalgia, not covering any new ground at all in terms of themes and characters. A lot of dialogue is recycled from the show in different contexts, especially poor Zathras, who is reduced to half of his lines being retreads of catchphrases from the show, despite him turning out to be a central character here. Joe, you could have done so much better than this.

* Finally, a problem that even many fans might not notice, but which irked me to no end. The movie starts in the middle of the penultimate episode "Objects at Rest", when John and Delenn are leaving the station to go to Minbar. Two scenes from the episode are recreated: the POV of John and Delenn getting off the transport tube to face the crowd, and the trade of salutes between Sheridan and Lochley. These scenes are recreated faithfully visually, copying the staging, framing, and camera movement. (I noticed this primarily because I had recently rewatched the episode, so it was fresh in my mind.)

For all the faithfulness of the directorial recreations in these two scenes, the content was inexplicably different. In the transport tube scene, everything that happens immediately after the doors open is completely different from what happened in the episode.

For the salute, while the action is the same (aside from an added lame visual joke at the end that completely ruins the mood), the lineup of characters with Lochley in C&C is different for no apparent reason. In the episode, Lochley is surrounded by the "new generation" of B5 leaders: Ta'Lon, Dr. Hobbes, Number One, Zack, Vir, and Lt. Corwin. In the movie, she's surrounded by...a group of unknown, unidentifiable people who are clearly not meant to represent the same characters who were there in the episode.

The reason this bothers me so much is that it's horribly disrespectful to the characters and their actors, all of whom otherwise would not appear in this movie at all. I find it especially disrespectful to Stephen Furst (Vir) and Jeff Conaway (Zack), both of whom were on the show for a long time (Stephen since the very beginning) and have since passed. The likenesses of those characters are as valid to use legally as those of any of the others, so it's doubtful that there were any legal issues causing this. It's baffling and inexplicable. As with the writing, Joe, you could have done better.

--

In the end, I can't recommend this movie to anyone who's not a dedicated fan of the show. Casual fans will not appreciate the constant references back to the series, and newcomers will be completely lost. And hardcore fans will be disappointed by the lack of originality. So who exactly was this movie made for?

I think the primary reason this movie got greenlit was as a test product, determining if there was still enough interest in the franchise to justify the reboot that was floated not long ago. If that's true, then fans of the original should definitely buy this movie, to show that there's still interest. But you may not enjoy it.

Great if you're a fan, but leave the corny jokes out.

[rickkarrer · 9/10 · 16 August 2023]

I am very grateful that this was made, especially considering it's been so long since we've had anything from the Babylon 5 universe. I am a big fan of the show, and I've seen every episode, movie, and spin-off. This had a little fan service in it, which I don't think it's a terrible thing at all, considering there's a chance it could be the last time we ever get anything from this universe, but there are a few things I'd change. Overall, I'm really glad we got this.

With some changes to the plight, this could've easily been a good two-parter from the original series, a season cliffhanger, or easily one of the Syfy channel movies that were made after the show ended. Without getting into story specifics, in its current form, this seemed to be a "let's give it one last hurrah, just in case they never let us do this again", but also a way to test the waters to see if B5 is still a viable franchise.

I'd love to see WB do a whole series of animated Babylon 5 stories, there is so much left to tell with the fallout of the Shadow War, and the minions the Shadows left behind, and the early days of the Interstellar Alliance. A lot of things were hinted at in the finale of season 4 (when they thought they weren't going to get picked up for season 5), and I'm sure there's a lot of material that Straczynski has left to give us.

My only real criticism is that the humor was very juvenile--I guess you could say--and not as witty as the original show's was (no, there were a few that landed pretty well). I'm not sure if I necessarily blame Straczynski for that, I see it as a very bad trend in animation, in general. The original series always had great jokes at just the right time, whereas the dialogue and humor this movie were more akin to shows like Avatar and the Dragon Prince, where it feels forced, and hits at all the wrong times. I know it's animation, but I don't really think there's a sizable audience under 35 that's watching this movie. I'd say the humor was geared towards preteens, where is most of the audience for this are probably 40+. The physics were off as well, but I have to go back and watch the originals show, as my current understanding of quantum physics is substantially better than when that show aired lol. All sci-fi makes up and/or exaggerates science, and that's perfectly fine, it's just some of their foreshadowing and emphasis on quantum physics and causality was cringe worthy to me, when you consider advance alien species and future humans are explaining them to you. Maybe if they did a series, they could hire a science consultant.

So, if you even like the original show, I think you'll enjoy this. If you LOVED the original show, I think you should go buy this movie right now. I jumped on it as soon as I found out this was happening. The extras are really good, about 17 minutes of talking about her behind the scenes process, and started out by mentioning all the actors who are no longer here to reprise their roles. I watched it immediately after the movie.

I'm very grateful to WB for producing this, Straczynski for still giving us B5, the actors that came back (and brought their love of the characters with them), and everyone who is involved in making this. I would absolutely be in for a series and/or more movies.

Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go back and watch some of my favorite episodes,

Entertaining but not great

[dominiccingoranelli · 7/10 · 8 September 2023]

For fans of B5 it's fun to see all of the interesting alternate realities and see old characters again, but the story doesn't make all that much sense and the dialogue is kind of forced a lot of the time. They just jump around a few hypothetical realities with no real rhyme or reason (for most of them, anyways) and eventually the movie decides it's time to stop. The movie has more flashbacks than are necessary, maybe just to pad out the runtime a little bit, since this is a pretty short movie at around 75 minutes.

The updated, higher-fidelity models for shadows, their ships, etc are very cool to see, although the animation falls flat sometimes.

At the end of the day it doesn't add a whole lot to the B5 mythos apart from exploring some alternate realities which were alluded to in the series and potentially setting up a reboot, but it's fun enough to rent for fans of the series.

Good to see the characters back

[richmond-clements · 5/10 · 19 August 2023]

This is a very generic lacklustre plot, that only seems to focus on Sheridan with everyone else side-lined to an occasional walk on appearance. I'm wondering if the plotline was constrained to try and provide a basis for the possible reboot.

There is no real meat here and just seems to be a "love is a force" plot which is just corny and lazy. As well as the daft conscious quantum observer affecting outcomes line which is just daft.

Animation is good mostly, clearly with using a CG toolkit. But the biggest stone in my shoe were the shadows. They seemed to be all over the place. We either see shadows that don't move on the face when the characters are moving, or shadows on their faces which make no sense to their position in relation to other characters and lighting.

I can only hope this release encourages the reboot, and I am wondering if the time/alternative universe plot allows a fresh take on this most excellent of series.

Great start for new content

[rhmorjr-67918 · 9/10 · 20 August 2023]

I felt B5 2023 did not miss a beat - meaning I went to stream an episode from the original series I had not seen before. Was it the best, no, but I did thoroughly enjoy it and hope the opportunity surfaces to do a mini-series or a series with new story lines. If I remember correctly, the hope was to reboot the series with the same characters (different actors) and create a new storyline (hope I have that right). If CW or WB will produce it and let J. Michael Straczynski write a storyline beginning to end (five seasons) like the original Babylon 5, I can only image a whole new generation would be treated to great story telling like my generation was. I agree with some of the comments about the faces on some of the characters were off and hard to figure out at first - but again - I enjoyed it - it made my day.

Good but worrying

[deronium · 7/10 · 15 August 2023]

After wathing this, i must say - yes, it good.

Yes, there was interesting episodes. Most of characters are honored, and seems nicely done.

But.

There are 3 point, that i must say against it.

1. Shadow-zergs. That feels wrong, out of place.

It isnt starship troopers, or starcraft!

Maybe art director, or JMS feel, that was right - for me picturing shadows as stupid clendakhu bugs was a mistake.

They cannot be that. Not in this universe.

It will be better if instead of shadows we see here drakhs, or other servants, or even some bionic constructs as ground soldiers. Not this.

2. Shadow ships in this movie was a mess.

Nothing compared with original b5. And i dont understand why. Other ships are simillar enough, but shadows... They seems so downgraded, so "metalic and stable". Hell, there are even big central weapon there, something like middleaged mortyrs! How? Why? For what? I dont know. But looks stupid.

3. Sheridan itself. Let me be clear... In original b5 its character... Well, it was sometimes awkward, and seems a bit strange. For other characters, because we, audience, know every time reasons for this. Technomages, some Elder stuff, vorlons, inter-dimension critters... But only here his feels not weird, but really really stupid. And act like child.

He panicked. He whining. He say dump stuff. And i not talking about scene with socks from beginning. No, this was trivial, weird, but normal for this character. But later... Well... I think, for all three problem with it movie there is one answer. And worrying.

For me seems, all this alterations for Sheridan or shadows was done in name of rebooting. Where we will see a bit other story, and i feel, there will be young and dump Sheridan and more "mindless-evil" shadows.

Good in some ways and terrible in others.

[coolgit · 5/10 · 17 August 2023]

Nice to see Babylon 5 again but animation??? It was terrible and the faces were of low quality with little facial expression. I couldn't tell if it was Ivanova or Lockley, Lennier or other Minbari. No Vir Cotto which was shame.

The story was filling in some gaps of the original Babylon 5 in some lame tidying up exercise. Why can't creators move forwards, say 30 years and come up with a new story. Like Start Trek, B5 stuck to the same timeline as the original. Please for the love of god, create something new.

This animation will only be understood by those who had seen the original Babylon 5 films and series. Those who haven't will not understand this and therefore no new fans, which I suspect is the whole point of this film.

The Shadows were a joke. They have no need to run around openly. All they had to do is phase in/out.

On the whole it was ok but not something i will watch again soon. Whereas I would watch the original films and series again.

Like a school reunion, enjoyable but no longing for the old days

[reeceagland · 7/10 · 24 November 2023]

As a B5 fan I had mixed emotions coming to this. Love to see the old crew, could it bring some joy, but god do we have to go with the whole multiverse thing?

I enjoyed it, the story was good, if predictable, it was nice to hear old voices and the animations were mostly good (particularly the Shadow ship eyes).

But the replaced voices didn't work for me, those voices were so iconic to the roles, only Delenn's came close, and it ruined the atmosphete. As soon as I heard Londo's voice I laughed with joy, like meeting an old friend, but G'Kar didn't sound right and lacked the gravity needed, and others the same. One time I would have liked AI recreation to be honest.

And while story was good it was predictable and lacked real emotion.

So it was like a school reunion, nice to see old friends, but equally makes you realise that period of your life has ended long ago and no need to remiss too long. So if I want a B5 fix, I'll watch the old stuff, like flicking through an old school yearbook, but I don't need more new B5 like I don't need to be back at high school.

for fans

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 5 November 2023]

This is two years after the end of the Shadow War in 2261. President John Sheridan and his wife Delenn leave Babylon 5 for Minbar. They are trying to organize the new Interstellar Alliance. While opening a new power station which uses tachyons, he becomes unstuck in time.

This is an animated sequel to the 1990's sci-fi TV show. It's been a long time since the original. I have recently watched Crusade. Of course due to conflicting rights, none of that is being used here. It actually would be interesting to see that discontinued series get the resolution that it needs. This is not going to do much for anyone other than fans of the original series. That may be inevitable.

A masterpiece that brought back old memories

[security-71478 · 10/10 · 11 August 2023]

Without leaving any spoilers Babylon 5: the road home managed to squeeze in almost all the original cast into a storyline that kept me hooked through its somewhat short 1 hr 15 run time.

The sets and detail right down to Sheridan's communicator on the back of his hand , the fury's and even the oddly shaped side arms made you feel right back in orbit over epsilon with the crew of the 5 it was a real walk down memory lane into a show that ended too soon.

If the creators ever read this I would love to see more Babylon 5 content and thank you for doing such a great job on this nostalgic work of art.

Good and not so good

[shaunyeoman-02254 · 6/10 · 12 February 2024]

Good to see the series back for new content. Such a rich and deep universe to create new storylines. Felt like it delivered its basic remit, probably aimed for kids of the parents who watched this twenty years back.

My major issue, the shadows were turned into some generic alien bug race. Such a waste they were some of the best written villains in sci fi. Invisible, dangerous and mysterious. Giants in the playground was the quote, took the whole galaxy to hold them back. In this show to please the kids they were generic computer swarming bugs. Such a poor decision and the movie suffers for it.

Who are you? A B5 fan. What do you want? More please.

[jackdeth_2006 · 9/10 · 24 August 2023]

I was a little apprehensive when I heard the big announcement that it was an animated feature, turns out I needent have worried.

So many franchises are barely recognisable to their original fans. Whether thats for better or worse depends which side of the argument you are on.

But with Straczynski keeping the helm steady, B5 managed to make the jump from live action to animation and still feel like authentic B5, along with providing us an entertaining and enjoyable standalone story as well as a secret door option for a reboot/continuation, without undoing or ruining what came before.

Seeing so many beloved characters back in the screen was heart warming. Knowing exactly how many have been recast because the the actors/actresses died young is heart breaking.

But seeing everyone go around one more time was a genuine treat.

Fine for a kids cartoon but not worth the wait for fans

[duckdodgers24 · 5/10 · 16 August 2023]

When I heard JMS was releasing new B5 content I was very excited. I was obsessed with B5 in the 1990s, and even travelled to meet JMS, Peter Jurasik, Andrea Thompson and Jerry Doyle.

This show was a phenomenon when it aired and today it remains, for me, a gem that I revisit every so often.

That's possibly why I am so disappointed with B5 TRH. It just isn't B5. The characters are largely unrecognisable and the storyline (the story being what set B5 apart from other shows like DS9) was meandering and disjointed.

To compound this, none of the events portrayed mattered (a common issue with multiverse storylines) and the plot just limped along from scene to scene with unengaging dialogue, poorly placed humour (lost in space...) and terrible voice acting. The art and CGI looks dated and the characters were generally poorly made out.... I couldn't tell if Lochley was Ivanova or vice versa, and Londo looked nothing like Londo aside from the hair.

If the target audience here was children, then B5 TRH is fine, nothing special, but adequate. If the target audience was fans who were there at the dawn of the third age of mankind, then this is a resounding meh.

JMS thank you for B5 but B5 TRH should have been better.

Coming home

[jwe1-484-530258 · 9/10 · 17 August 2023]

Babylon 5 remains the greatest science fiction series of all time. JMS created a coherent world with multiple often interlocking storylines and phenomenal character arcs. All science fiction series owe a debt to this brilliant breakthrough masterpiece.

Babylon 5 The Road Home brings us back to this iconic universe with these three dimensional characters. This particular movie is quite a bit of an homage to the original series, but I see great possibilities for a starting point for a new rumored series. Minor spoilers: as seen in the trailer, we see Sheridan bounced through time and space to other possible outcomes to previous events. Fingers crossed for more movies, even more for a new series...

Waited 20 years for big pile of meh

[dregj · 3/10 · 20 August 2023]

After not being on TV since the 90s I was expecting something epic tied into the saga not a small beer stand alone sci fi romp.

There's actually nothing much wrong with the film aside from an animation style I don't like, the characterizations are all good they don't make any massive continuity errors and the story clips along ok. The biggest problem I had with the movie was the resolution. It felt cheesy as hell, "the power of love" being mentioned made me laugh out loud until I realized they were being serious??The writer has given interviews about his hatred for having his work edited/altered by others, and it shows. The TV show itself frequently had clunky self indulgent dialogue popping up due to the lack of any story editor or script writing team.

For real B5 Fans

[rcisnerosusa · 9/10 · 4 September 2023]

If you want a 100 million dollar CGI movie, look elsewhere. This is a special gift for B5 fans. It might be even say for fanboys. Without that connection to the B5 universe, this will seem generic. Still watchable, but not much more.

Thank you for this.

Beyond here is just for character limit.

If you want a 100 million dollar CGI movie, look elsewhere. This is a special gift for B5 fans. It might be even say for fanboys. Without that connection to the B5 universe, this will seem generic. Still watchable, but not much more.

Thank you for this.

If you want a 100 million dollar CGI movie, look elsewhere. This is a special gift for B5 fans. It might be even say for fanboys. Without that connection to the B5 universe, this will seem generic. Still watchable, but not much more.

Thank you for this.

Loved it

[dgrad-39251 · 10/10 · 15 August 2023]

Great to return to the b5 universe. Loved the choice to use animation to return to characters from the show we know and love. Hope this is the first of many new animated adventures in the b5 universe.

Movie was a callback to War Without End. Appreciated the story was new, but still anchored to the past in a way - instead of creating a new time travel/parallel universe story line disconnected from previous stories/lore. Would have loved to have heard some chistopher franke music - felt like a missing presence.

The focus was on Sheridan and story was pretty self contained. Hoping we get future entries that utilize other characters more. Overall - felt like a great first entry and almost refresh or recap of a key storyline in b5. Ready for more warner bros and jms.

An amateurish romp, kicking over everything B5 was.

[AnimalMother84 · 2/10 · 16 August 2023]

Not well thought through. Packed with inconsistencies.

Taking a Babcom-link off the station, when he's leaving for good? A power station running on tachyons? WHAT?

Epsilon III turrets talking like goofy Star Wars droids?

Bringing up quantum physics again and again like it's a magic formula, or spell? To dispel plot holes, I guess.

Any moment of seriousness waved off with a dumb, jokey comment- Marvel style. Lyta Alexander being the worst case here.

Cheap, uninspired animation. A Starfury grappling a shadow vessel and beating it against Babylon 5? Instead of shooting it when it directly in front? Some kind of ridiculous caricature, this.

Another beloved franchise disgraced just for the brand recognition. Such an awful waste. If Straczynski really wrote this, I hope Babylon 5 never ever returns in live-action.

Hello Old Friend

[andrew-77727 · 10/10 · 16 August 2023]

Such a wonderful watch with so many funny moments and lovely ties to the original series. I missed a chunk of the film though due to laughing far to much at one joke!

The new voice actors who replaced actors who have passed away did a really good job, not perfect, however really good tribute and start to something new.

For those critics who have not seen the film for what it represents, please watch the extras - a very insightful 15 or so minutes that explains why this was filmed in the way it was.

Here's to many many more like it

One thing to note though is if you have never seen the TV show, watch all of that first or this film will spoil that experience given the many ties to the original plot.