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Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube

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Re: Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube

#91

Post by Jare »

pupppet wrote: post #66

For those who have watched both Babylon 5 and Star Trek TNG- which did you like better?

I couldn't stand TNG at first, and in fact didn't really watch it until a decade ago. To me the first 2 seasons, and pretty much anything involving the Q character, are unwatchable, but once I learned to skip them the rest became really interesting. For the sake of comparison, I loved the old TOS movies, DS9, and liked Voyager as a purely episodic "watch whenever I catch it" show.

Babylon 5 still lords over all of them.

Re: Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube

#92

Post by calf »

pupppet wrote: post #66

For those who have watched both Babylon 5 and Star Trek TNG- which did you like better?

Babylon 5 was space fantasy in the vein of epic literature, like a Lord of the Rings in space, and influenced modern TV productions like Game of Thrones, whose author says that he was indebted to the former.

Both TNG and B5 have significant cultural value, but for different reasons. More people should watch them.

Re: Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube

#93

Post by Sharlin »

neom wrote: post #75
duxup wrote: post #54

Babylon 5 can drift into being a little corny but the characters and overall story arc grow and grow into something great. Growing up Babylon 5 and Deep Space 9 were syndicated one after another in the middle of the night. It was a wonderful tradition staying up all night to watch both.

I was just thinking about that, I think where I live in the UK it was after dinner but also back to back, seem to recall DS9 was first? Either way I found that period of TV annoying as DS9 is objectively the worst old trek, and Babylon 5 is a little more than a little corny, personally can't stand Babylon 5.

Objectively? Many consider it the best of the three 90s Treks. And TOS is really too remote for a meaningful comparison with the three.

Re: Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube

#94

Post by sinnickal »

WorldMaker wrote: post #37
Apocryphon wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So just what is the optimal way to watch this show

There sadly isn't one. The 4:3 Blu-Ray remasters are about as good as it gets in visual quality, but there's a "cinematic" feel lost from the 16:9 DVDs, but the quality difference is noticeable and unfavorable. It's a bit of a dealer's choice at this point if you want "best available quality" or "best available widescreen." Babylon 5 was filmed at a weird moment where they were prescient about HD TV and the coming wi…

14⋮9 was used for a while to ease the transition. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14%3A9_aspect_ratio

Re: Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube

#95

Post by thisislife2 »

tracker1 wrote: post #45
tomkarho wrote: post #30

Those who come to this magnificent piece of Sci-Fi for the first time, a word of advice: Pay attention. There are things set in motion in season 1 that are resolved multiple seasons later and there's a lot of foreshadowing (pun very much intended) both subtle and overt. Oh and, enjoy the ride. It's a good one.

I just found the acting in the first season really, "soap opera" like. I'm not sure how to describe it better. It's still one of my all time favorite shows. I wish they'd do a corrected bluray release with even a bit more effort... when they did the upscaling for HD release on HBO Max, they messed up a couple episodes. Maybe AI upscale to 4k, with training data for newer ship models, actor photos, etc then reducing b…

There are some AI upscaled versions of Babylon 5, Star Trek Voyager etc. on torrent. Pretty decent.

Re: Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube

#96

Post by TiredOfLife »

chasil wrote: post #90
chasil wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The primary thing to know is that the actor who played Sinclair in season one, Michael O'Hare, suffered from mental illness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_O%27Hare His treatments were only partially successful. He reappeared in a cameo appearance early in season two ("The Coming of Shadows") and returned in season three for a two-part episode ("War Without End") which closed his character's story arc. At that…

Claudia Christian, who played Susan Ivanova, is also well known for her documentary on alcohol addiction. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=crYU4xT1aRI

It would be easier to list b5 actors without drug or alcohol issues.

Re: Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube

#97

Post by TiredOfLife »

chasil wrote: post #87
tomkarho wrote: post #30

Those who come to this magnificent piece of Sci-Fi for the first time, a word of advice: Pay attention. There are things set in motion in season 1 that are resolved multiple seasons later and there's a lot of foreshadowing (pun very much intended) both subtle and overt. Oh and, enjoy the ride. It's a good one.

The primary thing to know is that the actor who played Sinclair in season one, Michael O'Hare, suffered from mental illness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_O%27Hare His treatments were only partially successful. He reappeared in a cameo appearance early in season two ("The Coming of Shadows") and returned in season three for a two-part episode ("War Without End") which closed his character's story arc. At that…

Could you list more spoilers!?

Re: Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube

#98

Post by M95D »

WorldMaker wrote: post #37
Apocryphon wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So just what is the optimal way to watch this show

There sadly isn't one. The 4:3 Blu-Ray remasters are about as good as it gets in visual quality, but there's a "cinematic" feel lost from the 16:9 DVDs, but the quality difference is noticeable and unfavorable. It's a bit of a dealer's choice at this point if you want "best available quality" or "best available widescreen." Babylon 5 was filmed at a weird moment where they were prescient about HD TV and the coming wi…

So the version here on youtube is a 16:9 widescreen crop of a 4:3 TV crop of the original 16:9 filming? And the remaining CGI are only the 4:3 crop from the lost 16:9 originals? Did I understand corectly?

Then, is there a version somewhere with original uncropped 16:9 live action and 4:3 CGI? I can tolerate side bars. To me, seeing the complete video frame is more important than a consistent frame format.

Re: Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube

#99

Post by TiredOfLife »

tracker1 wrote: post #45
tomkarho wrote: post #30

Those who come to this magnificent piece of Sci-Fi for the first time, a word of advice: Pay attention. There are things set in motion in season 1 that are resolved multiple seasons later and there's a lot of foreshadowing (pun very much intended) both subtle and overt. Oh and, enjoy the ride. It's a good one.

I just found the acting in the first season really, "soap opera" like. I'm not sure how to describe it better. It's still one of my all time favorite shows. I wish they'd do a corrected bluray release with even a bit more effort... when they did the upscaling for HD release on HBO Max, they messed up a couple episodes. Maybe AI upscale to 4k, with training data for newer ship models, actor photos, etc then reducing b…

> when they did the upscaling for HD release on HBO Max, they messed up a couple episodes.

Those were not upscales.

Re: Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube

#100

Post by Sharlin »

RupertSalt wrote: post #2

The hosting channel is called "Clipzone: Beyond Infinity" https://youtube.com/@czbeyondinfinity?si=Vhn1LH1TjJzxNyLZ "The Gathering" was uploaded on January 22. Currently available are episodes 1, 3, and 4, (Thursdays), and assorted five-minute clips. I could not find them bundled in a playlist here. The episodes are in broadcast order. "Midnight on the Firing Line", a missing episode, is listed as Episode 1 in Wikipe…

It’s awesome that Lurker’s Guide is still there.
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