Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers - To Live and Die in Starlight (2002)

Load of rubbish!!

Better Late Then Never

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

I think my father summed it up perfectly with the breakfast question about 30 minutes into this film. Both of us were huge B5 fans and had been chomping at the bit ever since we'd heard a new B5 series was in the works, and one that focused on Rangers. You'd think B5 had nowhere left to go but up following the embarrassing Crusade, but that's not the case here. There is a perceptible and curious decline in the quality of JMS's scripts since Season 5 ("Sleeping in Light" withstanding since it was produced during the fourth season): The TV movies beginning with Thirdspace, up to and including A Call to Arms, then Crusade and now this. His dialogue is rough and unpolished, the humor weak and generic -- nothing like the original four seasons which are incredibly sharp and rewatchable; exceptional storytelling. Quite simply, Babylon 5 the series is the best fictitious television series I've ever watched. But it's as if JMS became too comfortable within his own universe, or else burned out. Were it not for the writing credits to identify those responsible, one could mistake Season 5 onward as being helmed by an all new writer or staff; that's how distinct the styles are. The Legend of the Rangers really plays out like something a teenager could have written in study hall. I swear by this time they must have been locking and shooting his first drafts. There's also a problem with the actors here: Dylan Neal and Andreas Katsulas seem to be the only ones capable of subverting the trite material with thoughtful performances. The visual effects are passable for a 2002 telefilm, but what's with the unnecessary makeover for planet Minbar, and the TOTALLY DISTRACTING absence of Epsilon III when we see Babylon 5? Let me throw in a compliment: I actually liked the idea of the (notorious) virtual gunnery port. Notice I said THE IDEA OF.In closing: B5 the series is amazing, however JMS's later excursions into his universe have done nothing but dilute its legacy. The Lost Tales was a marginal improvement over Crusade and Rangers, but still fair game for B5 skeptics who may never give the series a chance after discovering such weak ancillary material.

In the overall Babylon 5 (B5) saga, this movie is optional. Does not add nor detract from the B5 series. Having a minimal background knowledge of the B5 series helps some, but not necessary. I do believe this was supposed to be the pilot movie for another spin-off series from B5, but that didn't work out. I bought this DVD as I wanted to see the entire set of B5 movies.This is the ultimate against-all-odds movie. The two ships are escorting some dignitaries to a conference. One ship is top-of-the-line, hot off the press. The Liandra is so decrepit, it is barely hanging together. They are attacked by an unknown enemy who is massively superior. The top-of-the-line ship is destroyed by the enemy. The Liandra not only survives the attack, but due to cunning strategy and refuse-to-give-up attitude, the rag-tag crew and ship end up winning the battle. The classic good-always-triumphs-over-evil story.The story is a bit slow at times, but overall, it is a good movie and worth seeing.

We know from the series, that Babylon 5 was eventually blown up.But between the "time" of the original B-5 series and the time of that demolition, plenty of stories could have happened. This is JMS showing us just another one of those stories.These stories are "The Appendices" of Babylon 5, and so I savor every piece, because, I myself WANT to hear stories that are not based on the Babylon 5 Station.As a stand alone, it is a clever tale, and those familiar with the B5 universe should not (although, unfortunately some are) be disappointed with it... There is plenty of what endeared us to B5 in this, including the very last appearance of G'Kar before he "went to the Rim with the Doctor" (aka both actors having passed away). They include just enough of G'Kar in this tale to make us comfortable.People who want back to the old B5 stories will never get that, because those stories have all been told, in the series.JMS tried to tell us other aspects of the B5 universe, but Crusade was so mishandled by Turner that we never got the whole story out of that series. We would have gotten more, had this pilot become a series.Fortunately, JMS is making "Lost Tales" which serve the same purpose as Token's Lost Tales and various appendices for those of us who cannot get enough of Lord of Babylon 5 The fans of B5 forget that B5 was a science fiction retelling of The Lord of the Rings, and this fact does not elude the fans of B5.Just the name of this segment: Babylon 5: Legends Of The Rangers (L.O.T.R) 0 And the fact that this came out shortly after the theatrical release of Fellowship of the Ring."We stand on the bridge and none shall pass" - And so we hear Galdalf's words from the Bridge of Khazadum in one of the basic tenets of the Rangers.And so, as Babylon 5 probably represented Minas Tirith, and we had plenty of stories from within the walls of the station, these extraneous B5 stories should satisfy those of us who want to know, what has happened elsewhere in the B5 universe. I know I am satisfied.., And I enjoyed this B5 tale as much as any B5 tale.God Bless JMS for having vision and I hope he keeps pumping out the lost tales.

By far one of the best B5 movies put out. Compared to the last B5 movie that was released (A Call To Arms) this on stands out very well. The acting was good, graphics outstanding, music scores that fit the scenes, and a storyline that not only followed the B5 scenario but captivated its audience, me.I was especially impressed with the 3-D holographic control panels and the weapons room where one fired at objects using their whole body and not just a control panel. The ending was done well in that it quoted and followed what Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid did. The music in "A Call To Arms" was so tiny and cheaply done I had a very hard time sitting through the movie and it distracted me from the acting and the graphics of the film. In comparison the music score in this film resembles the score from the 4th season, "No Surrender, No Retreat" which was done very well.If one is tired of the stories of B5, one should not watch them or comment on them especially if they want the series to end. But don't spoil it for the rest of us that want the story to continue, and resolve some of the issues that were left hanging in the original series. I am a major fan of Babylon 5 and am still wanting to know what happened in the war between telepaths and normals, if Mr. Garibaldi ever got Bester, what happened with Lita Alexander and G'kar since Lita wasn't with G'kar in this movie and they left together to explore the universe. If anything this should have been the movie that tried to shoot off the spin off series Crusaders (or whatever.) I can't blame Mr. S for wanting to try to continue the series and hopefully resolve some of these issues and probably bring up new ones to be solved.In the end I would have to say this is the best B5 movie put out so far. Even though I am a fan of the B5 Universe and enjoy its story lines, I really don't agree with the main religious view point of B5, namely that the universe is God. It is not. However stories that show that there is good and evil and that there are decisions to be made for good or for evil and that there are consequences for those actions that have been made. People don't get tired of those types of stories. In my mind and in the story tellers mind the motto should be "Stay away from the grey."