Babylon 5: The Road Home -- animated film
04-21-23 | 07:26 AM
#1
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Hero
Babylon 5: The Road Home -- animated film
I guess I'll post this here since is the most recent Babylon 5 thread and I have no idea what this about... other than it isn't the reboot this thread is about...
So we should hear some kind of announcement on May 3.
Valen knows we've been to this rodeo before, though...
So we should hear some kind of announcement on May 3.
Valen knows we've been to this rodeo before, though...
04-22-23 | 01:33 PM
#2
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
Joe has referred to it as B5: TRH. We don't know what "TRH" means. The Road Home? Total Rhino Helicopter? Talia's Red Hairdryer? But it definitely involves the remaining members of the original cast.
05-03-23 | 12:35 PM
#3
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
... and we have our answer... B5 Animated Movie!!! Full details to follow in a week.
Just watched Messages from Earth -> Severed Dreams over the weekend and Ship of Tears last night. Yes I know that just leads to Coriana VI.
I cannot wait !!!
Just watched Messages from Earth -> Severed Dreams over the weekend and Ship of Tears last night. Yes I know that just leads to Coriana VI.
And just to be clear, this brand new original animated movie is already finished and in the can. So it's 100% real, happening, and coming out very soon.
I cannot wait !!!
05-03-23 | 12:53 PM
#4
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
Hell, yeah!!!
That made my day!
That made my day!
05-03-23 | 02:21 PM
#5
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
Bugger me... DID NOT see that coming!
05-10-23 | 02:24 PM
#6
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
Babylon 5: The Road Home
More info released including cast:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...ed-1235483312/
Awesome they were able to get the cast back... those that haven't passed beyond the rim.
More info released including cast:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...ed-1235483312/
Babylon 5: The Road Home will continue the story he started in the 1990s, with the log line stating, “Travel across the galaxy with John Sheridan as he unexpectedly finds himself transported through multiple timelines and alternate realities in a quest to find his way back home. Along the way he reunites with some familiar faces, while discovering cosmic new revelations about the history, purpose, and meaning of the Universe.”
Returning Babylon 5 castmembers include Bruce Boxleitner as John Sheridan, Claudia Christian as Susan Ivanova, Peter Jurasik as Londo Mollari, Bill Mumy as Lennier, Tracy Scoggins as Elizabeth Lochley and Patricia Tallman as Lyta Alexander.
Straczynski wrote the film and executive produces. Matt Peters, known for Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons, directs, with Rick Morales serving as supervising producer. Sam Register is the executive producer on the project.
The voice cast also includes Paul Guyet as Zathras and Jeffery Sinclair, Anthony Hansen as Michael Garibaldi, Mara Junot as Reporter and Computer Voice, Phil LaMarr as Dr. Stephen Franklin, Piotr Michael as David Sheridan, Andrew Morgado as G’Kar and Rebecca Riedy as Delenn.
Returning Babylon 5 castmembers include Bruce Boxleitner as John Sheridan, Claudia Christian as Susan Ivanova, Peter Jurasik as Londo Mollari, Bill Mumy as Lennier, Tracy Scoggins as Elizabeth Lochley and Patricia Tallman as Lyta Alexander.
Straczynski wrote the film and executive produces. Matt Peters, known for Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons, directs, with Rick Morales serving as supervising producer. Sam Register is the executive producer on the project.
The voice cast also includes Paul Guyet as Zathras and Jeffery Sinclair, Anthony Hansen as Michael Garibaldi, Mara Junot as Reporter and Computer Voice, Phil LaMarr as Dr. Stephen Franklin, Piotr Michael as David Sheridan, Andrew Morgado as G’Kar and Rebecca Riedy as Delenn.
05-10-23 | 04:02 PM
#7
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
That is great news! I don't have a problem with recasting for the actors who have passed since this is animated.
I can't wait to see this thing! JMS delivers again.
I can't wait to see this thing! JMS delivers again.
05-10-23 | 04:31 PM
#8
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
Animated... 
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BobO'Link (05-11-23)
05-10-23 | 09:02 PM
#10
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
Half of the original cast has gone beyond the rim, so there's not much they can do without recasting (which JMS said he won't do).
05-10-23 | 11:51 PM
#11
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
And from what JMS said Boxleitner was stunned by how good it looks. The description of Boxleitner's reaction, and Joe's obvious enthusiasm for the project, leads me to believe that this is going to be REALLY good, animated or otherwise.
Let's face it. The actors can't be 20 years younger. The problem Joe faced is that to do an original cast movie it has to be set at a point where the actors would have been 15 years ago, if not longer ago than that. They can't be young enough to pull that off. And half the cast is gone - Joe won't recast for live action.
So animation was the only way to make this happen, for multiple reasons.
I'm good with it. And if it does well we'll get more animated B5 movies. That could be a really cool thing.
We passed the point at which I held out hope for new original cast B5 about 10 years ago. Especially as the cast members kept dying off. This is a huge surprise, and a wonderful bonus. If we can get 3 or 4 of these movies I'll be thrilled!
So we've got the animated movies, and probably the reboot as well. That's exciting!
And if this is any indication of the quality of the animation, well...
Let's face it. The actors can't be 20 years younger. The problem Joe faced is that to do an original cast movie it has to be set at a point where the actors would have been 15 years ago, if not longer ago than that. They can't be young enough to pull that off. And half the cast is gone - Joe won't recast for live action.
So animation was the only way to make this happen, for multiple reasons.
I'm good with it. And if it does well we'll get more animated B5 movies. That could be a really cool thing.
We passed the point at which I held out hope for new original cast B5 about 10 years ago. Especially as the cast members kept dying off. This is a huge surprise, and a wonderful bonus. If we can get 3 or 4 of these movies I'll be thrilled!
So we've got the animated movies, and probably the reboot as well. That's exciting!
And if this is any indication of the quality of the animation, well...
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Bandoman (05-11-23)
05-10-23 | 11:56 PM
#12
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
Here's Joe's story of how Bruce Boxleiter first saw the movie, and his reaction (this is priceless)...
This is going to be good. REALLY good. I'm very confident about that. This is no Lost Tales or Legend of the Rangers. Hell, this is likely going to be a step up from Crusade (which I like). I can't wait.
Here's a story that may best illustrate why I'm so happy about how the #B5AnimatedMovie came out and what fans have to look forward to. A few weeks ago, I and Bruce Boxleitner met to do an audio commentary for the movie. Bruce had not yet seen the movie, only snippets a few seconds long during the final voice session to do little fixes.
When he sat beside me in the recording studio, and no one was around, he leaned over and said, "How is it, really?" with eyes that, like my own, had seen so much disappointment over the years. I said, "Bruce, it's the best thing we've done since the original show, hands down." He seemed pleased and hopeful but still cautious. Then they started the playback, and Bruce's jaw hit the floor and stayed there for the entire thing, punctuated by this great big grin of excitement atwhat he was seeing.
He got so caught up in it that he kept forgetting to do the commentary, so if there's a lot of me and only some of Bruce in the final version, my apologies, but that's the reason why. He left that room as happy as I've ever seen him. *That's* what's coming.
When he sat beside me in the recording studio, and no one was around, he leaned over and said, "How is it, really?" with eyes that, like my own, had seen so much disappointment over the years. I said, "Bruce, it's the best thing we've done since the original show, hands down." He seemed pleased and hopeful but still cautious. Then they started the playback, and Bruce's jaw hit the floor and stayed there for the entire thing, punctuated by this great big grin of excitement atwhat he was seeing.
He got so caught up in it that he kept forgetting to do the commentary, so if there's a lot of me and only some of Bruce in the final version, my apologies, but that's the reason why. He left that room as happy as I've ever seen him. *That's* what's coming.
This is going to be good. REALLY good. I'm very confident about that. This is no Lost Tales or Legend of the Rangers. Hell, this is likely going to be a step up from Crusade (which I like). I can't wait.
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Bandoman (05-11-23)
05-11-23 | 02:14 AM
#13
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
FYI - That really is an image from the movie. A low res version...
This is an image from the animated movie, though rendered low-res for use as an online photo. As you can tell even from this, we're going for a realistic, serious-drama kind of look rather than anything "cartoony" (as some incorrectly predicted as holy writ).
05-11-23 | 06:47 AM
#14
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
...and just for fun... someone re-rendered a few scenes from "The Fall of Night" (with CGI) at 1080p:
Be nice if WB would do the whole series like this, no?
Be nice if WB would do the whole series like this, no?
05-11-23 | 09:39 AM
#15
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
Not necessarily...
A static image of a ship in space is not impressive at all and absolutely not indicative of how the finished product will look. Show me *people* and, more importantly, people moving about and talking. If you can pull that off and make it not look like animation or sub-par CGI then I'm interested.
And from what JMS said Boxleitner was stunned by how good it looks. The description of Boxleitner's reaction, and Joe's obvious enthusiasm for the project, leads me to believe that this is going to be REALLY good, animated or otherwise.
Let's face it. The actors can't be 20 years younger. The problem Joe faced is that to do an original cast movie it has to be set at a point where the actors would have been 15 years ago, if not longer ago than that. They can't be young enough to pull that off. And half the cast is gone - Joe won't recast for live action.
So animation was the only way to make this happen, for multiple reasons.
I'm good with it. And if it does well we'll get more animated B5 movies. That could be a really cool thing.
We passed the point at which I held out hope for new original cast B5 about 10 years ago. Especially as the cast members kept dying off. This is a huge surprise, and a wonderful bonus. If we can get 3 or 4 of these movies I'll be thrilled!
So we've got the animated movies, and probably the reboot as well. That's exciting!
And if this is any indication of the quality of the animation, well...
Let's face it. The actors can't be 20 years younger. The problem Joe faced is that to do an original cast movie it has to be set at a point where the actors would have been 15 years ago, if not longer ago than that. They can't be young enough to pull that off. And half the cast is gone - Joe won't recast for live action.
So animation was the only way to make this happen, for multiple reasons.
I'm good with it. And if it does well we'll get more animated B5 movies. That could be a really cool thing.
We passed the point at which I held out hope for new original cast B5 about 10 years ago. Especially as the cast members kept dying off. This is a huge surprise, and a wonderful bonus. If we can get 3 or 4 of these movies I'll be thrilled!
So we've got the animated movies, and probably the reboot as well. That's exciting!
And if this is any indication of the quality of the animation, well...
05-11-23 | 11:03 AM
#16
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
Not necessarily...
A static image of a ship in space is not impressive at all and absolutely not indicative of how the finished product will look. Show me *people* and, more importantly, people moving about and talking. If you can pull that off and make it not look like animation or sub-par CGI then I'm interested.
A static image of a ship in space is not impressive at all and absolutely not indicative of how the finished product will look. Show me *people* and, more importantly, people moving about and talking. If you can pull that off and make it not look like animation or sub-par CGI then I'm interested.
They absolutely, positively could NOT have done this as live action. Bruce Boxleitner can't be 50 years old, no matter how good of an actor he is. He's over 70. None of the actors from the series can be 20 years younger than they are, plus half the cast is dead, so live action wasn't a possibility.
Warner Brothers animation division came to Joe with the idea of doing an animated movie, and that light bulb went off over his head - he can do more original series stories with animation. Can't do it live action, but he can TELL THE STORIES through animation.
The Incredibles is an animated movie. It even looks cartoony. But it's a great story. A lot of animated movies have great stories. This one will, too. That's what counts.
And Joe said they went with the realistic style rather than cartoonish, so it wouldn't be quite so jarring after watching the series.
I'm just stoked that we're getting a new original era, original cast Babylon 5 story that isn't doomed by it's budget and missing cast members (like The Lost Tales).
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Meathead (05-11-23)
05-11-23 | 03:31 PM
#17
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
I did enjoy The Lost Tales but it paled in comparison to the previous movies. I don't think I've re-watched it more than twice.
05-11-23 | 07:47 PM
#18
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
...and just for fun... someone re-rendered a few scenes from "The Fall of Night" (with CGI) at 1080p:
https://youtu.be/NDgWXhuDG_E
Be nice if WB would do the whole series like this, no?
https://youtu.be/NDgWXhuDG_E
Be nice if WB would do the whole series like this, no?
05-12-23 | 02:09 AM
#19
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from EP J. Michael Straczynski
What you get there is all choppy and completely without context. You're missing a lot of lines of dialogue that inform the performances that you see. There is some absolutely phenomenal acting on the show from Andreas Katsulas, Peter Jurasik, Mira Furlan, Bruce Boxleitner, Richard Biggs and more, but you have to get the feel of the show for the performances to make sense.
Last edited by B5Erik; 05-12-23 at 02:52 AM.
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GoldenJCJ (05-12-23)
06-10-23 | 08:17 PM
#20
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Babylon 5: The Road Home -- animated film
First images (from JMS' twitter)...
Last edited by Josh-da-man; 06-10-23 at 08:24 PM.
06-11-23 | 01:14 AM
#21
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Babylon 5: The Road Home -- animated film
Looks like Warner Bros animation. Very Batman. But they all look like the people they're supposed to look like, so that's OK.
I think it looks pretty good, but the real test is in motion. Either way, it's the story that counts. I still watch B5 on the jacked up DVD's that were mastered incorrectly. The stories are great, even if the effects end up a little fuzzy on a high def TV.
I'm really excited about this one.
I think it looks pretty good, but the real test is in motion. Either way, it's the story that counts. I still watch B5 on the jacked up DVD's that were mastered incorrectly. The stories are great, even if the effects end up a little fuzzy on a high def TV.
I'm really excited about this one.
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Meathead (06-11-23)
06-14-23 | 11:48 AM
#22
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Babylon 5: The Road Home -- animated film
Full trailer and release info tomorrow, sneak peek at trailer today...
Looks pretty damned good!
The animation looks great. Much prefer this 2D CGI to the 3D stuff we get for things like Clone Wars and Prodigy.
Looks pretty damned good!
The animation looks great. Much prefer this 2D CGI to the 3D stuff we get for things like Clone Wars and Prodigy.
06-15-23 | 11:46 AM
#23
DVD Talk God
Re: Babylon 5: The Road Home -- animated film
06-15-23 | 12:06 PM
#24
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Babylon 5: The Road Home -- animated film
Yeah, that looks absolutely fantastic. I can't wait!
06-15-23 | 01:31 PM
#25
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Babylon 5: The Road Home -- animated film
Waiting (not easy!) to watch the trailer for a few hours so I can watch it with a friend.
Babylon 5: The Road Home will be available 8/15 on Digital, 4K and BD. Isn't up yet on Amazon yet but ordering as soon as I can.
Babylon 5: The Road Home will be available 8/15 on Digital, 4K and BD. Isn't up yet on Amazon yet but ordering as soon as I can.
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B5Erik (06-15-23)