Home :: DVD :: Science Fiction & Fantasy :: Series & Sequels  

Alien Invasion
Aliens
Animation
Classic Sci-Fi
Comedy
Cult Classics
Fantasy
Futuristic
General
Kids & Family
Monsters & Mutants
Robots & Androids
Sci-Fi Action
Series & Sequels

Space Adventure
Star Trek
Television
Babylon 5 - The Complete Fifth Season

Babylon 5 - The Complete Fifth Season

List Price: $99.98
Your Price: $74.99
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 >>

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A dismal season with a few strong points
Review: The season would have been great without the psi-corp part. Lyta has always been one of the weekest characters of the show so putting her in a more central role made the plot drag. Byron wasn't too hot either.
The redeeming part of the season was the Centari War. I was literary on the edge of my seat reminding me that this was the greatest of all sci-fi out there.


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "The end of the story...that makes up the next great story"
Review: This entire saga is first rate, definitely one of the best TV series ever. And the ending, especially the tragic,haunting and yet hopeful epilogue "Sleeping in Light," is everything anyone could ask for. If you like stories about war, politics, wonder, love, heartbreak, courage, betrayal and compassion, this story is for you. If you aren't afraid of dreams and reaching for the stars, this story is for you. If you think one person can't make a differnce, this story is for you.For all of us surely can, and the only way not to make a difference is not to try. If there is one television show of the late 20th century that is remembered in a hundred years, this may very well be it. Not to be missed.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Left a lot unexplained
Review: This last year, while not bad in and of itself, was a great disappointment to those who believed Creator/Writer/Executive Producer J. Michael Straczynski when he repeatedly promised that all questions would be answered by the end of the series. Even assuming one changes that to be "major questions" this season falls very short. Two of the biggest issues left to novels to resolve is how Vir becomes Emporer and, even more glaringly, all details of the Psi Corps War. I also found it unnerving that Sheridan becomes very unilateral if not downright dictatorial, and his passing literally invokes Jesus Christ as a metaphor. While I still recommend the season as being pretty good Science Fiction, it doesn't live up to previous seasons.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Tear Jerker
Review: This part of the series relied on your previous involvement with each and every species. It made tragic and prophetic ruin of such great characters as Ambassador Mallari, whom most agreed to bring life to the series. I am torn in this review. Such character development over the last 4 seasons deserves more than this, but I am not sure how. I am left feeling neither hope nor fear for the future. To me, this series creates the message that although great peace can be resolved, individual ruin is inevitable. Can't we have both?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beautiful End to one of the greatest Shows of all time
Review: Though Season 5 had some early rough patches. It starts rolling in my opinion after the issue between the Psy-Cor ends with Bryon and Lita.

"Sleeping In The Light" was filmed after Season 4 before they new they were picked up for a 5th season. So they held it off until the end of the 5th. BEAUTIFUL episode that had my strong will break down in a tear. Possibly one of the best final episodes ever in a series. Truly a masterpeice. Closing credits had me balling! Ivonava mentioned Marcus at the dinner table with Sheridan as a people to salute and remember just sunk my heart. Delenn, who probally one of the most beautiful characters ever in Sci-Fi her closing tribute to Sheridan again water filling my eyes.

Babylon 5 has been such a enjoy to explore and follow. So many great episodes that made you laugh, excite, and cry. Characters you love and characters you hate. This was a space station like no other.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beautiful End to one of the greatest Shows of all time
Review: Though Season 5 had some early rough patches. It starts rolling in my opinion after the issue between the Psy-Cor ends with Bryon and Lita.

"Sleeping In The Light" was filmed after Season 4 before they new they were picked up for a 5th season. So they held it off until the end of the 5th. BEAUTIFUL episode that had my strong will break down in a tear. Possibly one of the best final episodes ever in a series. Truly a masterpeice. Closing credits had me balling! Ivonava mentioned Marcus at the dinner table with Sheridan as a people to salute and remember just sunk my heart. Delenn, who probally one of the most beautiful characters ever in Sci-Fi her closing tribute to Sheridan again water filling my eyes.

Babylon 5 has been such a enjoy to explore and follow. So many great episodes that made you laugh, excite, and cry. Characters you love and characters you hate. This was a space station like no other.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Death and Transfiguration
Review: With the originally planned five-year arc effectively wrapped-up in four years, the fifth and last season of Babylon 5 became a new beginning.

Some episodes experiment with a different kind of story telling. "Day of the Dead" is a unique episode that allows some old threads to be concluded, like Londo's love story with Adira. "A View from the Gallery" shows the workings of the space station from the point-of-view of two clueless maintenance workers. "The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father" gives us a view inside Psi-Corps and shows us how loved Bester is by "his" people. "Learning Curve" shows us more about ranger training.

Two new main plot lines are started in season five, but not concluded. One deals with the story of the telepath wars, beginning with the standoff between the telepaths and the station security force, and the martyrdom of Byron. The other is the take over, by the Drakhs, of the Centauri Republic and the subjection of Londo, the new emperor, to their control.

The telepath wars were said in "Deconstruction of Falling Stars" to be the responsibility of Sheridan, but they are not covered by any episode or book. The happy (after much suffering) conclusion of the Centauri-Drakh saga is alluded to in the finale and is described in detail in the three books by Peter David.

The last three episodes, before the finale, are "The Wheel of Fire", "Objects in Motion" and "Objects at Rest". They were the last episodes of the series, since the finale was shot for season four. In these episodes the stories of the main characters come the some sort of conclusions. Garibaldi overcomes his problem with alcoholism, marries Lise and becomes the co-owner of Edgars Industries. Sheridan and Delenn move to their new quarters on Minbar, where they will raise their son. (Sheridan's speech to his unborn child in "Objects at Rest" is one of the most moving of the entire show.) Lyta, after the loss of her lover, Byron, becomes a totally alien being, feared by everyone, except G'Kar (who fears nothing). The two of them leave to explore the galaxy together.

The season finale (actually shot for season four) is set twenty years in the future. "Sleeping in Light" is a deeply moving episode. Sheridan is dying, and he invites his surviving friends for a last supper on Minbar. Then he leaves alone on a White Star. On the way he stops off at Babylon 5, one last time. Soon after he leaves, Babylon 5, now redundant, is demolished: it is consumed by fire in a series of explosions. After his arrival at the Coriana system, Sheridan is engulfed by light: he will never be seen again. With the death of both the space station and the main character, the series ends in triumph, mixed with deep sadness.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Just when you thought it couldn't get worse...
Review: Wow...pointless plotlines becoming even more pointless? A war that wasn't that big a deal? Soap opera in space (again)? It's a fine gift that the show was designed to end, it was bad at the beginning and took a steep decline to end in this disgrace of writing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: BEST SHOW EVER. 5th season: Both lousy & great at same time
Review: Yes, Babylon 5 is the best sci-fi show ever produced, and seasons 2/3/4 were the best of the best. But then came season 5 which feels like two different shows: both lousy and great. SEASON 5 FIRST HALF (LOUSY): Boring.Not interesting. The first half equals season 1 in poor story quality. Strange. And yet... SEASON 5 SECOND HALF (GREAT): The Shadows are gone, but their allys are still here, and the new Interstellar Alliance (Babylon 5) steps in to stop the fighting. The second half equals seasons 2/3/4 in brilliance, character development, and pathos. A great ending to a great series.

And then we have... THE GRAND FINALE TO THE NOVEL FOR TV: Set 20 years in the future, this single episode will bring tears to your eyes, because it shows the death of the hero: President Sheridan. As series creator J.Michael Straczynski wrote:

"The sad truth is that we die. That is not a happy ending, not a sad ending, simply a fact. The question is what we accomplish during the days and months and years preceding; do we leave the world a better place or a worse place? If we have left the world around us a better place, as these characters did, then it's a happy ending. - - - - - Ultimately, for me, the end of B5 is neither a sad ending nor a happy ending; I'd say it was a graceful ending, a dignified ending, an ending that said individuals can effect profound change, if they are willing to put their own lives and happiness on the line; not happy, not sad, but a testament to the idea that you have used your time here well." Well said Mr. Straczynski, and thank you for creating this wonderful show. Like a classic novel, Babylon 5 reaches beyond mere entertainment. Thank you.


<< 1 2 3 4 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates