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DVD Crusade - The Complete Series
The first and only spin-off of Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczynski's short-lived sci-fi series Crusade had its roots in the B5 television movie A Call to Arms, in which Earth was battling a Drakh invasion at the end of the Shadow Wars. When Crusade begins, the Drakh have released a deadly virus that threatens to wipe out all 10 billion humans living on Earth unless a cure can be found in five years. To take on this monumental task, Captain Matthew Gideon (Gary Cole) is assigned command of the state-of-the-art Destroyer-class ship Excalibur. His crew includes telepath John Matheson (Daniel Dae Kim); pompous but brilliant archaeologist-linguist Max Eilerson (David Allen Brooks); Dureena, a member of the Thieves' Guild and the last surviving member of her species (Carrie Dobro); medical officer Sarah Chambers (Marjean Holden); and technomage Galen (Peter Woodward).
While Babylon 5 had five years to develop into a powerful saga, Crusade had its plug pulled after a mere 13 episodes (which were reordered for TNT's broadcast), and the series never really got its footing. Galen often took center stage, then disappeared for several episodes. Matheson was underutilized (other than to provide fans with clues about what happened in the Psi-Wars after B5 ended), and tough-guy Gideon bounced back and forth between his desire to save the human race and his own moral code. There were some good action scenes and intriguing concepts (developed in conjunction with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Special effects sometimes were impressive and sometimes showed budget constraints, and we never really saw the power and scope of the mile-and-a-half-long ship, other than the cool bullet cars used to traverse its length. But it did have its moments. If B5 was the spiritual companion to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine with its space-station setting and long story arc, Crusade was more like a traditional Star Trek setting, with mostly stand-alone episodes involving first contact with various species (even if, due to the nature of the Excalibur's quest, such species were usually extinct). And there were occasional tantalizing hints of a broader conspiracy that might have allowed the series to soar. Regardless, B5 fans will welcome even a brief opportunity to revisit this universe, especially when the Excalibur visits the station in "The Rules of the Game." John Sheridan's ex-wife Captain Elizabeth Lochley (Tracy Scoggins) even earned a spot in the opening credits for her appearance in a few episodes. --David Horiuchi
I fondly recall my days from college when I and a couple good friends would gather to watch "Babylon 5" as it meandered to more and more obscure timeslots. I remember cruising the nets (mostly bb service back then) for news and tidbits from JMS. I remember "BAM" episodes versus story-developing episodes. To say that I'm a Babylon 5 fan is a huge understatement.
I mention all this to provide context for this review. It's not necessarily a good thing for a reviewer of a spin-off to simultaneously be a fan of the original series, as expectations will generally be higher than for the general audience. Nevertheless, here I am.
Babylon 5 was a true space epic encompassing many overriding plotlines, conspiracies, nuances of character, and psychosocial conundrums. Crusade has all of these, in their infancy. We note the barest glint of the underlying arc. We see the characters deveoping more than one-dimension. Sometimes series are cut short when fans know that they could have been great. With Crusade, it was cut too early to even figure that out. To paraphrase the increasingly ridiculous Mr. Rumsfeld, Crusade is an "unknown unknown." To newcomers, this may be irrevelant, but to fans it is unbearable. Anyone who remembers the first time they saw the finale for B5 season three probably also thinks that JMS would have pulled another thriller episode (or 20) out for us.
Crusade, as it is, is not great. The stories seem unconnected, the characters transparent, the plotlines predictable. Yet most episodes still entertained. My criticisms are mostly meant for the "arc" structure of the series, or lack of it. Again, this is probably due to the amputation of the series and not from lack of planning. If enjoyed with an "episode" rather than an "arc" frame of mind, one will not be disappointed.
To summarize, for fans a mixed bag: familiar occasional forays into corny humor, beginnings of deep characterization, hints of underlying plot, and some familiar characters. For newcomers: some episodes with excellent action sequences, mystery aplenty, psychological/spiritual dilemmas, and likeable characters (JMS trademark). If you are new and bored and mildly interested, pick it up, watch it, and forget it. If you are new and bored and very interested, I seriously recommend picking up the complete b5 series plus movie set before watching this. If you are a fan of b5, c'mon guys, resistance is futile, so stop mucking around and buy this, for completeness sake. Not great, but could (and probably would) have been. Not unmissable, but a shame for any true fan to miss.
Faith manages.
Great Series
Crusade was a great series that was short lived but the acting and special effects were second to none!
Give it a chance!
Ok. I was very excited about this show. After B5 was almost cancelled so many times I was shocked to see evidently it was popular enough to generate a spin-off! That like...never happens nowadays.
The premise was great. Even though if you watched B5 you already knew what the ultimate outcome was going to be you could still be excited by the journey. Imagine if you will; the great writing and imagination of JMS and Harlan Ellison that would give you another multi-year story arc, but this time take it away from being anchored to a space station and like Star Trek and so many other shows give it the ability to move about the universe and explore other planets and whatnot. Crusade was open ended. This time with the space ship you could go anywhere. JMS's imagination was the only limit.
Just like B5's first season Crusade started off really slow. When you're setting up for another 5 year story arc you can't just "blow up" your way into it. The show had some really really good episodes. The cast was just being introduced and beginning to meld. Every single person that liked B5 know how JMS does. There was no reason to believe the show wasn't going to kick into gear by the end of the first season. I'm still mad at TNT for having the balls to meddle with JMS and his team knowing his track record for success at this sci-fi thing already. Evidently j. Micheal Strayzinski felt the same way because he showed he'd rather have the show discontinued than sacrifice the integrity of the series. It was revealed that the show was getting good ratings but the station wanted more fighting and sex.
The fact that the actors still hung around for a while when the show was put on hiatus atest to the quality of the work being done. The show stopped over corporate b.s. not because the show was [...]
Alas, I can only wonder what kind of wonders JMS would've shown us as the show progressed. Techno Mage saga? Discoveries into Vorlon space? Other "first ones" secrets? Watch seasons 1-5(along with the movies) of B5. Then get this dvd and watch the Crusade series. Then imagine the wonderful stories that we would've experienced from the JMS crew if the corporate puppet masters would've left the show alone. If after that you can say this show wasn't being primed to be another history making series I'll personally email each and every person who feels that way an apology.
Crusade was the beginning of another masterpiece. The networks simply didn't "give it a chance."
The epic sci-fi series Babylon 5 was a unique experiment in the history of television. It was effectively a novel for television in five seasons, consisting of 110 episodes with a clear beginning, middle, and end. The first season introduces the main characters, headed this year by Commander Jeffery Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) and Security Chief Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle), and familiarizes the audience with the unique environment of a five-mile-long space station in the year 2257. The first episode, "Midnight on the Firing Line," plays at a breathless pace, introducing Commander Susan Ivanova (Claudia Christian) and establishing the conflict between the Narn and Centauri races as represented by their ambassadors, G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas) and Londo Mollari (Peter Jurasik).... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 13 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The Babylon 5 pilot movie The Gathering was originally broadcast in 1993 a full year ahead of the regular show. A somewhat dull tale of an attempt to assassinate Koch, the Vorlon ambassador to B5, the feature served to introduce Commander Jeffery Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) and Security Chief Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) as well as familiarize the audience with the unique environment of a five-mile-long space station in the year 2257. Missing many of the main cast, and suffering from a leaden pace and mediocre music score, series creator J Michael Straczynski later improved The Gathering by tightening the cut for a special edition (the version released on DVD), adding some deleted character moments and commissioning a new score from series composer Christopher... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Richard Compton - Michael Vejar - Jesús Salvador Treviño DVD Release Date: Released the 17 August 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Battlestar Galactica's Edward James Olmos wasn't kidding when he said "the series is even better than the miniseries." As developed by sci-fi TV veteran Ronald D. Moore, the "reimagined" BG is exactly what it claims to be: a drama for grown-ups in a science-fiction setting. The mature intelligence of the series is its greatest asset, from the tenuous respect between Galactica's militarily principled commander Adama (Olmos) and politically astute President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) to the barely suppressed passion between ace Viper pilot "Apollo" (a.k.a. Adama's son Lee, played by Jamie Bamber) and the brashly insubordinate Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), whose multifaceted character is just one of many first-season highlights. Picking up where the miniseries ended (it's included... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 20 September 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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As the 2005 theatrical release of Serenity made clear, Firefly was a science fiction concept that deserved a second chance. Devoted fans (or "Browncoats") knew it all along, and with this well-packaged DVD set, those who missed the show's original broadcasts can see what they missed. Creator Joss Whedon's ambitious science-fiction Western (Whedon's third series after Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) was canceled after only 11 of these 14 episodes had aired on the Fox network, but history has proven that its demise was woefully premature. Whedon's generic hybrid got off to a shaky start when network executives demanded an action-packed one-hour premiere ("The Train Job"); in hindsight the intended two-hour pilot (also titled "Serenity," and oddly enough, the... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 09 December 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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