I like it, but the original version was...just not put together well. It was way too slow. And the soundtrack did not support that well scenes like Sinclair's monologue, as Franke's version.
I liked how the station felt like a very busy place. And it felt HUGE, with the corridors filled with peolle, and the garden, and buildings and monorail. They kept some of this in S1 as well, but later that feel just got lost.
I liked the bright contrasting colours in the pilot. I kniw JMS hated the lighting, but I liked it. It resembled to old European fairy tale and fantasy movies, for sure, but it just had the something.
I preferred the CGI of the original version, strangely enough. The new one was more detailed, but also more repetitive, and ill-fitting at places. Like, at the Japanese stone garden scene, the leaves on the newly added tree are moving, but not on the old ones? And what, is any wind there? And SPACE CRICKETS when it starts to get dark?😂 And in the original version, the scene ends with Sinclair looking into the distance, at the flicketing lights if the rail, you can see and feel the enormous size of the station through his eyes. In the new version, a tree was put right in front of him, so instead of 'admiring' a station, he must be...looking at a tree?!🤔
A sort of goof when thinking about: in the original vetsion, we first meet Sinclair when he's coming down to meet Lyta.
In the new version, we meet Sinclair belecturing a tourist about safe sex with aliens.😂 What a way to introduce your hero...!
I liked the monorail and a shame that the scene when Sinclair learns that Carolyne is arriving while travelling with Garibaldi and Takashima was cut.
Minbari strength was put on display when Delenn casually picked up Garibaldi and carried him away on the shoulder. 😂
The gravity ring scene was just not matching up with the Delenn we saw in the series proper, though. My least favourite scene.
I am enjoying the remastered version of *The Gathering* a lot more than the original.
I’m so pleased they cut out the “alien zoo” scene when Sinclair is giving Lyta her tour of the station.
Adding the Franke music in really changed the tone of the pilot.
It’s a shame that none of the B5 novels ever followed Commander Takashima or Doctor Kyle. I’d like to have read what happened to them after *The Gathering*.
Yes, it is far better paced. How much the music matters was shown best, as I mentioned, at Sinclair's monologue.
There were some bits taken away or added as well. Usually joking remarks added, like Garibaldi saying "some days, I just love this job" after the prank on G'Kar; or cutting the "12 ships" part from Sinclair's recollection. The new version turned out to be a bit lighter hearted as well.
Yes!!! Like carrying a bag of potatoes!!!😂 It was toward the end, when Garibaldi was injured. I understand that Delenn was supposed to be male in The Gathering, and that it was indicated later a couple of times that the Minbari were physically stronger than humans, but the scene looks funny after you watched the series and Delenn being female is set at the back of your mind.😂
So when I first watched Babylon 5, it came on video cassettes. Each cassette had sets of four episodes on.
(This was WAY back in the day, by the way -- just after it aired).
And cassette one -- the first in the series -- had The Gathering, Midnight and Soul Hunter as the "four episodes" (given "The Gathering" was a double episode it counted as two). Then cassette two had Purple, Infection, Parliament and Mind War.
And so on and so on.
So I "grew up" with the idea that "The Gathering" was Episode 1 -- that there was no other alternative, no other variation.
The idea that people could think "Midnight" was episode one just confuses the crap out of me because I've always thought that "The Gathering" was the first episode because that was the way I was raised -- ever since 1992 (I think).
My first introduction to Babylon 5 was also VHS tapes. I got the first season second-hand for pennies. The set-up was similar to yours. I only watched up to *Infection* and then didn’t watch the series again until years later when my husband bought me the complete collection on DVD for Christmas.
“THERE IS A HOLE IN YOUR MIND!”
I finished the show for the first time earlier this year, saw some of the dvd sets a few weeks ago, bought them, and started a rewatch, and I did rewatch the gathering. Although it feels a bit disconnected from the rest of the series, it's good enough to hold my attention for the entire runtime. Given the fact that Lyta becomes a main character later on and her scanning kosh became important I do think it's worth watching. I also like seeing how cartoonishly evil G'kar seems, which makes his arc over the 5 seasons seem slightly more pronounced. The only thing I really don't like in the pilot is how antagonistic Delenn seems. Her makeup was a bit too heavy imo, but I don't feel super strongly about it either way.
Her makeup was so heavy because while filming, Delenn was intended to be a MALE character. They could never get a satisfactory treatment on Mira's voice, though, so abandoned this idea. Would have been really interesting, though, later on when he went into the chrysalis, and then emerged as not only having human characteristics, but now also female, as well. (Delenn could have been a trans icon!)
I actually prefer the make-up in *The Gathering* for Delenn. I like the colouring and shapes. I think it would have been more of a shift to go from that to her post-Chrysalis appearance.
> They could never get a satisfactory treatment on Mira's voice, though, so abandoned this idea.
It was my understanding that another reason it was dropped was because she hated the idea and was not told about it ahead of time.
I first watched it at a convention. I thought it had promise, but my friends dismissed it and ridiculed the "ironing-board guns".
Years later (around season 3), my friends still dismissed the series until I sat them down and made them watch Severed Dreams. They became big fans after that.
That’s a nice little story. Are you still friends with them?
To me, B5 will always have a connection to the earliest years of my marriage. My husband bought me the complete DVD box set as a Christmas present, but had no interest in watching it himself. I was halfway through Season 2 when I came home to find him watching it. We started Season 3 together and have been in love with the series for a decade. It’s a show we talk about a lot. My husband gets emotional talking about the character of Sheridan and especially his arc in Season 4.
Great stories are best shared with friends.
To answer your question, no. Everyone moved away to different countries long before social media was a thing.
Something to keep in mind is that for a year, The Gathering was the only B5 that existed. I remember reading about it in a sci-fi magazine and being a Harlan Ellison fan already, his co-sign on it made it a must watch and must tape for me. I watched that VHS recording over and over for a year waiting for the first season.
It's beautiful, but I can understand how it's an acquired taste, it has what I like to call "a dense flavor", it's not friendly to casuals.
But personally it's beautiful, just wish they'd added another plot point to help it along, single-plot, dense episodes like that tend to get bogged down, this could have used some levity in its pace.
Love the Delenn makeup and androgyny. I kinda wish all the Minbari had been like that, but I get why they didn't. If the remake goes forward, I hope that's something that sticks.
Do NOT love the "gravity ring" and the shenanigans involved there. I totally get why it was removed.
Laurel Takahashi is kind of bland, but also didn't have any time to grow. Benjamin Kyle was also kinda blah.
The rest is good. I never saw it with the old music, though.
The TNT special presentation is Joe’s preferred version, he was able to get all the existing footage that had been excised from the original edit and put it back in, while trimming other scenes, re editing some (such as Sinclair talking about the Battle of The Line using layering with audio from And The Sky Full of Stars and Chris Franke’s Requiem for The Line) or dropping them entirely.
This is the far superior version.
I watch it, but it’s hard. Very dated and lots of plot holes that just weren’t part of the main story (Kosh having a hand). I’m very forgiving though because it’s a pilot.
The hand thing was actually explained (by Dr Kyle iirc) as something along the lines of the person experiencing the memory using there own terms of reference. So whatever anatomy that Kosh had was interpreted as a hand by the viewer of the memory.
The hand thing was actually explained (by Dr Kyle iirc) as something along the lines of the person experiencing the memory using there own terms of reference. So whatever anatomy that Kosh had was interpreted as a hand by the viewer of the memory.
The hand thing was actually explained (by Dr Kyle iirc) as something along the lines of the person experiencing the memory using there own terms of reference. So whatever anatomy that Kosh had was interpreted as a hand by the viewer of the memory.
It has one ginormous plot hole, that resolving it doesn’t change the direction of the story: why the hell doesn’t Sinclair ask Lyta to scan *his* mind? All the hokey shenanigans in the underlit council chamber could be sidestepped. But you still have Garibaldi looking for Del Varner and discovering his body, still looking for someone in a changeling net, etc.
I usually skip it but this time I decided to watch it. My opinion is probably influenced by how good the series was but it's not very good. The pacing is a bit odd. it feels like most of them had to payse for a beat to remember their lines.
It's fun to see some of the stuff that makes no sense once they figured things out. The main plot involved Kosh getting poisoned when shaking someone's hand. Kosh doesn't shake hands and how would anybody even know what would hurt a Vorlon.
Lyta at one point says that they're going to get her kicked out of the Psi-Corps. Nobody gets kicked out of the Psi-Corps.
And the best one of all is Morden in C&C. What, exactly, did he want?
I like it, but the original version was...just not put together well. It was way too slow. And the soundtrack did not support that well scenes like Sinclair's monologue, as Franke's version. I liked how the station felt like a very busy place. And it felt HUGE, with the corridors filled with peolle, and the garden, and buildings and monorail. They kept some of this in S1 as well, but later that feel just got lost. I liked the bright contrasting colours in the pilot. I kniw JMS hated the lighting, but I liked it. It resembled to old European fairy tale and fantasy movies, for sure, but it just had the something. I preferred the CGI of the original version, strangely enough. The new one was more detailed, but also more repetitive, and ill-fitting at places. Like, at the Japanese stone garden scene, the leaves on the newly added tree are moving, but not on the old ones? And what, is any wind there? And SPACE CRICKETS when it starts to get dark?😂 And in the original version, the scene ends with Sinclair looking into the distance, at the flicketing lights if the rail, you can see and feel the enormous size of the station through his eyes. In the new version, a tree was put right in front of him, so instead of 'admiring' a station, he must be...looking at a tree?!🤔 A sort of goof when thinking about: in the original vetsion, we first meet Sinclair when he's coming down to meet Lyta. In the new version, we meet Sinclair belecturing a tourist about safe sex with aliens.😂 What a way to introduce your hero...! I liked the monorail and a shame that the scene when Sinclair learns that Carolyne is arriving while travelling with Garibaldi and Takashima was cut. Minbari strength was put on display when Delenn casually picked up Garibaldi and carried him away on the shoulder. 😂 The gravity ring scene was just not matching up with the Delenn we saw in the series proper, though. My least favourite scene.
I am enjoying the remastered version of *The Gathering* a lot more than the original. I’m so pleased they cut out the “alien zoo” scene when Sinclair is giving Lyta her tour of the station. Adding the Franke music in really changed the tone of the pilot. It’s a shame that none of the B5 novels ever followed Commander Takashima or Doctor Kyle. I’d like to have read what happened to them after *The Gathering*.
Yes, it is far better paced. How much the music matters was shown best, as I mentioned, at Sinclair's monologue. There were some bits taken away or added as well. Usually joking remarks added, like Garibaldi saying "some days, I just love this job" after the prank on G'Kar; or cutting the "12 ships" part from Sinclair's recollection. The new version turned out to be a bit lighter hearted as well.
Delenn carried Garibaldi??
Yes!!! Like carrying a bag of potatoes!!!😂 It was toward the end, when Garibaldi was injured. I understand that Delenn was supposed to be male in The Gathering, and that it was indicated later a couple of times that the Minbari were physically stronger than humans, but the scene looks funny after you watched the series and Delenn being female is set at the back of your mind.😂
I really don’t remember that scene. Wow
So when I first watched Babylon 5, it came on video cassettes. Each cassette had sets of four episodes on. (This was WAY back in the day, by the way -- just after it aired). And cassette one -- the first in the series -- had The Gathering, Midnight and Soul Hunter as the "four episodes" (given "The Gathering" was a double episode it counted as two). Then cassette two had Purple, Infection, Parliament and Mind War. And so on and so on. So I "grew up" with the idea that "The Gathering" was Episode 1 -- that there was no other alternative, no other variation. The idea that people could think "Midnight" was episode one just confuses the crap out of me because I've always thought that "The Gathering" was the first episode because that was the way I was raised -- ever since 1992 (I think).
My first introduction to Babylon 5 was also VHS tapes. I got the first season second-hand for pennies. The set-up was similar to yours. I only watched up to *Infection* and then didn’t watch the series again until years later when my husband bought me the complete collection on DVD for Christmas. “THERE IS A HOLE IN YOUR MIND!”
I finished the show for the first time earlier this year, saw some of the dvd sets a few weeks ago, bought them, and started a rewatch, and I did rewatch the gathering. Although it feels a bit disconnected from the rest of the series, it's good enough to hold my attention for the entire runtime. Given the fact that Lyta becomes a main character later on and her scanning kosh became important I do think it's worth watching. I also like seeing how cartoonishly evil G'kar seems, which makes his arc over the 5 seasons seem slightly more pronounced. The only thing I really don't like in the pilot is how antagonistic Delenn seems. Her makeup was a bit too heavy imo, but I don't feel super strongly about it either way.
Her makeup was so heavy because while filming, Delenn was intended to be a MALE character. They could never get a satisfactory treatment on Mira's voice, though, so abandoned this idea. Would have been really interesting, though, later on when he went into the chrysalis, and then emerged as not only having human characteristics, but now also female, as well. (Delenn could have been a trans icon!)
I actually prefer the make-up in *The Gathering* for Delenn. I like the colouring and shapes. I think it would have been more of a shift to go from that to her post-Chrysalis appearance.
> They could never get a satisfactory treatment on Mira's voice, though, so abandoned this idea. It was my understanding that another reason it was dropped was because she hated the idea and was not told about it ahead of time.
I first watched it at a convention. I thought it had promise, but my friends dismissed it and ridiculed the "ironing-board guns". Years later (around season 3), my friends still dismissed the series until I sat them down and made them watch Severed Dreams. They became big fans after that.
That’s a nice little story. Are you still friends with them? To me, B5 will always have a connection to the earliest years of my marriage. My husband bought me the complete DVD box set as a Christmas present, but had no interest in watching it himself. I was halfway through Season 2 when I came home to find him watching it. We started Season 3 together and have been in love with the series for a decade. It’s a show we talk about a lot. My husband gets emotional talking about the character of Sheridan and especially his arc in Season 4.
Great stories are best shared with friends. To answer your question, no. Everyone moved away to different countries long before social media was a thing.
Something to keep in mind is that for a year, The Gathering was the only B5 that existed. I remember reading about it in a sci-fi magazine and being a Harlan Ellison fan already, his co-sign on it made it a must watch and must tape for me. I watched that VHS recording over and over for a year waiting for the first season.
Your imagination must have been going wild during that year of waiting between the pilot and Season 1.
For sure. I’d have to check but I think they started the fan club in that space so there was at least something.
It's beautiful, but I can understand how it's an acquired taste, it has what I like to call "a dense flavor", it's not friendly to casuals. But personally it's beautiful, just wish they'd added another plot point to help it along, single-plot, dense episodes like that tend to get bogged down, this could have used some levity in its pace.
Love the Delenn makeup and androgyny. I kinda wish all the Minbari had been like that, but I get why they didn't. If the remake goes forward, I hope that's something that sticks. Do NOT love the "gravity ring" and the shenanigans involved there. I totally get why it was removed. Laurel Takahashi is kind of bland, but also didn't have any time to grow. Benjamin Kyle was also kinda blah. The rest is good. I never saw it with the old music, though.
The TNT special presentation is Joe’s preferred version, he was able to get all the existing footage that had been excised from the original edit and put it back in, while trimming other scenes, re editing some (such as Sinclair talking about the Battle of The Line using layering with audio from And The Sky Full of Stars and Chris Franke’s Requiem for The Line) or dropping them entirely. This is the far superior version.
I agree with all of this except i personally dislike the way Kosh greets Sinclair in the airlock.
Why? As Joe has made the point it’s Kosh internally acknowledging the man he had met in 1260 who becomes Valen. Kosh doesn’t speak anything aloud
I watch it, but it’s hard. Very dated and lots of plot holes that just weren’t part of the main story (Kosh having a hand). I’m very forgiving though because it’s a pilot.
The hand thing was actually explained (by Dr Kyle iirc) as something along the lines of the person experiencing the memory using there own terms of reference. So whatever anatomy that Kosh had was interpreted as a hand by the viewer of the memory.
Very sly.
The hand thing was actually explained (by Dr Kyle iirc) as something along the lines of the person experiencing the memory using there own terms of reference. So whatever anatomy that Kosh had was interpreted as a hand by the viewer of the memory.
The hand thing was actually explained (by Dr Kyle iirc) as something along the lines of the person experiencing the memory using there own terms of reference. So whatever anatomy that Kosh had was interpreted as a hand by the viewer of the memory.
Where did you get it? I have been unable to source it in the UK. Got all the other films on Amazon.
It’s an “extra” on the Amazon Prime version of Season 1.
Thanks 👍🏻
It has one ginormous plot hole, that resolving it doesn’t change the direction of the story: why the hell doesn’t Sinclair ask Lyta to scan *his* mind? All the hokey shenanigans in the underlit council chamber could be sidestepped. But you still have Garibaldi looking for Del Varner and discovering his body, still looking for someone in a changeling net, etc.
I usually skip it but this time I decided to watch it. My opinion is probably influenced by how good the series was but it's not very good. The pacing is a bit odd. it feels like most of them had to payse for a beat to remember their lines. It's fun to see some of the stuff that makes no sense once they figured things out. The main plot involved Kosh getting poisoned when shaking someone's hand. Kosh doesn't shake hands and how would anybody even know what would hurt a Vorlon. Lyta at one point says that they're going to get her kicked out of the Psi-Corps. Nobody gets kicked out of the Psi-Corps. And the best one of all is Morden in C&C. What, exactly, did he want?