Babylon 5 - The Gathering (Series Pilot Film)

Buy This Item Babylon 5 - The Gathering (Series Pilot Film) by Warner Home Video  Available from Amazon  $9.98  on 9-20-2008     In the early spring of 1993, a year before the series was launched, the two-hour movie and series pilot <I>Babylon 5: The Gathering</I> appeared. This proto-<i>Babylon</i> staked out the initial territory for the series (some of which would change by the first episode), introducing primary characters and sketching out the alliances and rifts in interplanetary diplomacy. Some of the primary characters bowed out after their initial appearances (Tamlyn Tomita's Lt. Commander Laurel Takashima and Johnny Seka's Dr. Benjamin Kyle never returned; Patricia Tallman's telepath Lyta Alexander made periodic revisits beginning in the second season, eventually rejoining the cast permanently). Set on the first anniversary of the <i>Babylon 5</i> (none of the first four stations survived even a month), the central story involves the attempted assassination of the newly arrived Vorlon, the mysterious Ambassador Kosh, at the hands of (perhaps) Commander Jeffrey Sinclair (Michael O'Hare). Security Chief Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle, a smart-aleck tough guy in the Bruce Willis vein) investigates and uncovers a web of conspirators, a portent of things to come. When TNT picked up the series for the fifth season Straczynski reedited the pilot, weaving back in a dropped subplot while cutting the rest of the film more tightly, tweaking special effects, and commissioning a new score from Christopher Franke. This is the cut released on video, a stronger, more engaging film, but still a broad first stab at characters that would redefine themselves through the course of the show's run. <I>--Sean Axmaker</I> Reader Reviews This is the movie that launched the TV show. It was very well scripted and acted. The characters were just lovable and hateable enough to make for a really good story,

Babylon 5 - The Gathering (Series Pilot Film) Available from Amazon Price: $9.98 Updated on 9-20-2008.

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