The Fellowship of Babylon 5... The Two Towers of Babylon 5 (Earthdome and B5, Marsdome and Earthdome, Minbari Homeworld and Z'ha'Dumb) — And The Return of the King of Babylon 5 - It's all there:
Kosh: Gandalf (Comes back from the Dead) Sheridan: Aragorn, including the marriage to an Elvis Princess, Delenn The Hobbits: Vir, Lennier, Na'toth, etc. All the "Ambassadors Assistants" - Who start from humble Beginnings and rise up to great positions. In a Way, G'Kar could be seen as Frodo- Who has a life changing experience carrying "The Ring"- In other words, G'Kars sufferings during his tenure as Mollari's Ambassador, and even before that as he searched for Mr Garibaldi. Frodo loses a finger, G'Kar loses an eye. The Rangers are there, and even named as such.
Saruman could be Mr Morden... Sauron? Sauron could be the "Evil Kosh"- The one that came after Kosh was killed by Shadows. In B5 there is no main huge Evil Eye, unless you consider the thing the Drakk stuck on Molari's NECK, which seems to see everything. Overall, B5 Chronicles a Space Station/City in Space, heavily fortified, which withstands an all out enemy attack against all odds and survives, and through it, the birth of a New Age comes about. In the Original B5 opening credits, Sinclair talks about "The Third Age of Mankind" - And so B5 takes the universe and mankind from the 3rd age to the 4th age just like Lord of the Rings.
"The Gathering" was an ambitious project for 1994, and especially for Television, and Syndicated TV at that. So, the special Effects were actually very good for 1994, but the main money of the show was used in the Sets and Costumes and Prosthetic Makeup - Which, in my Opinion, gave Trek a run for its money. I always thought Trek Aliens were WAY too Human, in B5 we have a huge Insect, running things in Brown Sector. Didn't look a BIT human. And the PakMara, who could eat ANYTHING, except for fish, and although human-Oid, had those Tentacle-Mouths. Then there were an assortment of Fin-Heads, Lizard Skins, Wrinkle-Faces, and some BEM's that always walk around in Encounter Suits. And KOSH. In B-5, they took special pains to keep away form the "Homo Sapiens Only Club" that Trek had become, and the idea that there would be poor people in the lower decks, wearing mostly rags, was superior to DS9 and more realistic.
But mainly, If you look at B5 versus Deep Space Nine, and I know some say that Deep Space 9 was stolen by Rick Berman from JMS, I find as a Station, B5 MUCH superior. It's a Cylinder, that rotates for Gravity, and there is a Green Belt, to help generate Oxygen. Ivanova uses a small space to cultivate Coffee beans. Ivanova vs Kira: They'd kick each others asses, and then be best friends after. There SHOULD have been a B5/Trek crossover, it would have worked, to see Worf walking through the Zocalo. Who KNows? There never was a DS9 Feature Film, and that story was left in the lurch, just as B5 was when Crusade was canceled.
Trek had the best looking space ships and some good realistic looking battles, but B5 was over the top of that... If B5 could have had as good quality in that department at the beginning. As you watch each season of B5, the generated computer graphics get better in quality. Season 5 had the best Look, and although some say that the 5th season, was poorly written, I enjoyed it. It was a denouement. And just like Lord of the Rings, when you have a massive, multi character and multi plot story like that, and after it has its main confrontation and several other aftershock confrontations, the story has to be gracefully put to sleep, which is why Lord of the Rings, as Jack Nicholson was quoted saying, had "Too Many Endings."
The entire 5th season of B5 was it's ending, and as I did not like the Telepath arc very much either, it was a part of the story that begged some answers. I didn't mind that much, but what I did mind was the way Lita was treated at the very end... But as JMS has said, he was showing a brand new form of prejudice.
I've just watched "In The Beginning," "The gathering" and then all five seasons of B5. I wish some of Deep Space 9 could have been told in the same way... As I have always thought DS9 was the best Trek ever, but B5 shows us another Alternate Future, which postulates, "If Mankind could not get his act together in the last 6,000 years of Civilisation, then it is kind of preposterous to think that 200 years from now, we can get rid of Prejudice, Extremism, and basic idiocy" - And as Gene Roddenberry's future is clean, JMS's future shows us the seamy underbelly of Space, which is to me much more realistic- And also why I loved DS9 after Michael Pillar quit and it became more like B5.
Maybe the Shadows are right, without conflict there is no story.
Kosh: Gandalf (Comes back from the Dead) Sheridan: Aragorn, including the marriage to an Elvis Princess, Delenn The Hobbits: Vir, Lennier, Na'toth, etc. All the "Ambassadors Assistants" - Who start from humble Beginnings and rise up to great positions. In a Way, G'Kar could be seen as Frodo- Who has a life changing experience carrying "The Ring"- In other words, G'Kars sufferings during his tenure as Mollari's Ambassador, and even before that as he searched for Mr Garibaldi. Frodo loses a finger, G'Kar loses an eye. The Rangers are there, and even named as such.
Saruman could be Mr Morden... Sauron? Sauron could be the "Evil Kosh"- The one that came after Kosh was killed by Shadows. In B5 there is no main huge Evil Eye, unless you consider the thing the Drakk stuck on Molari's NECK, which seems to see everything. Overall, B5 Chronicles a Space Station/City in Space, heavily fortified, which withstands an all out enemy attack against all odds and survives, and through it, the birth of a New Age comes about. In the Original B5 opening credits, Sinclair talks about "The Third Age of Mankind" - And so B5 takes the universe and mankind from the 3rd age to the 4th age just like Lord of the Rings.
"The Gathering" was an ambitious project for 1994, and especially for Television, and Syndicated TV at that. So, the special Effects were actually very good for 1994, but the main money of the show was used in the Sets and Costumes and Prosthetic Makeup - Which, in my Opinion, gave Trek a run for its money. I always thought Trek Aliens were WAY too Human, in B5 we have a huge Insect, running things in Brown Sector. Didn't look a BIT human. And the PakMara, who could eat ANYTHING, except for fish, and although human-Oid, had those Tentacle-Mouths. Then there were an assortment of Fin-Heads, Lizard Skins, Wrinkle-Faces, and some BEM's that always walk around in Encounter Suits. And KOSH. In B-5, they took special pains to keep away form the "Homo Sapiens Only Club" that Trek had become, and the idea that there would be poor people in the lower decks, wearing mostly rags, was superior to DS9 and more realistic.
But mainly, If you look at B5 versus Deep Space Nine, and I know some say that Deep Space 9 was stolen by Rick Berman from JMS, I find as a Station, B5 MUCH superior. It's a Cylinder, that rotates for Gravity, and there is a Green Belt, to help generate Oxygen. Ivanova uses a small space to cultivate Coffee beans. Ivanova vs Kira: They'd kick each others asses, and then be best friends after. There SHOULD have been a B5/Trek crossover, it would have worked, to see Worf walking through the Zocalo. Who KNows? There never was a DS9 Feature Film, and that story was left in the lurch, just as B5 was when Crusade was canceled.
Trek had the best looking space ships and some good realistic looking battles, but B5 was over the top of that... If B5 could have had as good quality in that department at the beginning. As you watch each season of B5, the generated computer graphics get better in quality. Season 5 had the best Look, and although some say that the 5th season, was poorly written, I enjoyed it. It was a denouement. And just like Lord of the Rings, when you have a massive, multi character and multi plot story like that, and after it has its main confrontation and several other aftershock confrontations, the story has to be gracefully put to sleep, which is why Lord of the Rings, as Jack Nicholson was quoted saying, had "Too Many Endings."
The entire 5th season of B5 was it's ending, and as I did not like the Telepath arc very much either, it was a part of the story that begged some answers. I didn't mind that much, but what I did mind was the way Lita was treated at the very end... But as JMS has said, he was showing a brand new form of prejudice.
I've just watched "In The Beginning," "The gathering" and then all five seasons of B5. I wish some of Deep Space 9 could have been told in the same way... As I have always thought DS9 was the best Trek ever, but B5 shows us another Alternate Future, which postulates, "If Mankind could not get his act together in the last 6,000 years of Civilisation, then it is kind of preposterous to think that 200 years from now, we can get rid of Prejudice, Extremism, and basic idiocy" - And as Gene Roddenberry's future is clean, JMS's future shows us the seamy underbelly of Space, which is to me much more realistic- And also why I loved DS9 after Michael Pillar quit and it became more like B5.
Maybe the Shadows are right, without conflict there is no story.