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J. Michael Straczynski Wants Garibaldi and Londo in Next Babylon 5 The Lost Tales DVD

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By GustavoLeao / 12:10, 9 September 2007 / General Genre/SciFi

The latest issue of Starburst magazine, out in the UK, features an exclusive interview with Babylon 5 producer J. Michael Straczynski, in which he talks about the direct-to-DVD movie Babylon 5 The Lost Tales. Here are few excerpts from the interview.

At one point, you were hoping to do a B5 feature, but that fell through. How did The Lost Tales come together ?

JMS : There were a couple of brief conversations about a feature film, but I didn't pursue one because a prior experience didn't work out too well and in the intervening period of time we lost Andreas (Katsulas) and Richard (Biggs). And I said to Warners that I really can't wrap my brain around a film as long as Andreas and Rick insist on staying dead. So, I said 'Well, what about doing a series of short stories centred around our surviving characters, those that are still with us ? Sort of an anthology kind of thing, a half hour to a hour per person ? In two hour increments ? We'd call it The Lost Tales. And they thought about it and said 'All right'. I said 'Good, I'll write it and produce and because it's the first one up and no one's done B5 in a while, I'll direct it. And they said 'OK'. Then I said 'I dont want any interference'. I wanted to do it my way. They said 'OK'. And that was that.

How pleased are you with the finished product ?

JMS : It's all turned in and done and I'm very, very happy with it. It looks very cool. We have about 200 effects shots in it. The station looks more real than it ever has before. The characters work very nicely. The mystery is there in some of it.  Crusade had its own feel and Rangers had its own feel, but this feels like Babylon 5, like we've gone back to it and opened that door again. So, to me, it's very satisfying. It feels like what the show should feel like. I think the fans who are eager to get more of that universe will be very happy with it.

Are you thinking about the next stories [for the next DVD] ? Would a Garibaldi story be in the mix if there's another DVD ?

JMS : Yeah, if we do another one I would definitely put the Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) story in and probably a Londo (Peter Jurasik). That would be my preference for the next two [...].

To read the full article, get the new issue of Starburst Magazine at your local newsstand.



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RE: Here's Hoping for Something a Bit Less Modest Next Time | Report this post to moderator
By: RobertB (Odo's file, contact) @ 01:44:27 on Sep 10, 2007

Quote:
But, I hope any future "episodes" will be a bit larger in scope and offer better production values than the first Lost Tales.
By "larger in scope", what do you mean? Are you expecting a sweeping story that covers many days and plenty of space battles? Then what you are asking for is a season of episodes and not a Lost Tales DVD.
[q}Quite frankly, the Lockley story was pretty forgettable and the Sheridan story just brought up more questions than answers.[eq]
Disagree with the first, and what's wrong with bringing up more questions? That's what Babylon 5 does. Are you sure you are a fan ever since the first season?
Quote:
There was no movement to the stories at all and both were largely closed room affairs.
There have been many episodes of B5 which took place in "closed rooms" without the need of going elsewhere.
Quote:
The sets were just too sparse...
You expect a Minbari ship to be stuffed full of furniture and knicknacks? (They were in the "3-D" room, which requires virtually nothing.) You need more than a B5 hallway, living quarters, a brig? in other words, you want more sets than what is required in the story? Well, that is unnecessary in the telling of these Lost Tales.
[q}...and the stories far too talky, even for Babylon 5.[eq]
Please refer to nearly all episodes of B5 and tell me when they weren't "talky". Without the talk, we wouldn't have the depth of what JMS is trying to get across.
Quote:
...but if future episodes will be similarly static and closed affairs then I'd prefer he just leave it alone.
Then respectfully, I'd say you are not a fan.

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RE: Here's Hoping for Something a Bit Less Modest Next Time by TonyDP @ 10:58:44 on Sep 10
RE: Here's Hoping for Something a Bit Less Modest Next Time by Yesterday's Lemmiwinks @ 09:48:18 on Sep 10
RE: Here's Hoping for Something a Bit Less Modest Next Time by GustavoLeao @ 06:08:30 on Sep 10
    RE: Here's Hoping for Something a Bit Less Modest Next Time by Visionary1 @ 11:58:57 on Oct 29

First Impression always matters | Report this post to moderator
By: Glassman Cometh (Odo's file, contact) @ 07:52:11 on Sep 10, 2007

Well, I got the new DVD, Lost Tales or whatever they called it. I love BAB-5, but I don't care for anything that came after season four..including these two boring episodes...

All of this 'green screen was great' crap was just that..crap. The first story with Scoggins I couldn't really get into because I really don't know much about her chatacter. But the segment was very shoe string, and well, was just boring.

Those ofyou demanding Paramount do these things with Star Trek are crazy. They would only get shoe string budgets and would be just as bad. Since they tore down the set of DS9 what would we really get? They would rebuild the small set behind Quarks bar and that's all..with a few stock footage shots of the old Promanaud..it would be awful.

All we'd get would be Quard having some half-hour dialog with Morn...I mean..I can see it now. It would be awful..

The second segment of Bab-5 with Sheridan was, well, okay I guess but again, it was very 'small' in scope as the others have said. Hell, it could have been made by the New Voyages crew and probably might have looked better..

I was worried a couple months ago with Scoggins said they only had TWO sets and the rest was green screened. And even the "green screen" shot of her in the hanger bay? It wasn't all that..in fact the scope was way off with the 'computerized' extras in the background.

I will not buy the next one..well.. maybe not. I do like Gariabldi, but I am a regular caller on his Talk Show and I will warn him..DUDE DON'T DO IT!!!

Chaotic

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