DVD review (region 1 and 2)
Directed by J Michael Straczynski
Starring Bruce Boxleitner, Tracy Scoggins and Peter Woodward
Release date Out now (region 1); 3 September 2007 (region 2)

It’s back to Babylon, as Lochley and Sheridan confront demons and temptation in a pair of video ‘short stories’...

Boy, does J Michael Straczynski (JMS) need to get himself a job! At one point in the extras featured on this disc he more or less claims to live in the Babylon 5 universe 24/7… The show’s been dead for almost a decade, and the whole point of the series was to tell a self-contained story (which it more or less achieved, thanks to the stellar commitment of creator JMS). Do we need any more of these doodlings in the margins? For those who thought The Legend of the Rangers DVD movie was a disappointment, you’ve got more to come…

The Lost Tales could be looked upon as a Babylon 5 short story collection, only on video. That’s laudable enough, but this has been made with such paucity of resources that it can be quite embarrassing to watch. Fuelled by bigger-than-expected DVD sales of the original series (plus Crusade and that Rangers spin-off movie), Warner Bros. have returned to the well to see if they can squeeze a bit more Babylon 5 out of JMS. Given he seemingly lives there, he was only too happy to oblige, bringing his characters back to life, despite the budgetary restrictions.

There is both joy and terror in being reunited with the world JMS made. His overblown, yet erudite, dialogue is all present and correct, immediately welcoming the viewer back to the unique world of Babylon 5. However, in the meantime SF TV has come down to Earth and no one in the likes of Lost or Heroes talks like that anymore. While production methods have made it more possible than ever before to realise dramatic ambitions on TV, this show simply doesn’t have the cash to achieve any of JMS’s desires.

Stories take place in corridors, crew quarters and (worst of all) a plain black stage. The brief CGI effects there are do impress, with a wonderful space battle featuring all those distinctive B5 ships and an attack on a US city. However, there are only three significant actors – Bruce Boxleitner, Tracy Scoggins and Peter Woodward – and little in the way of action. There is, however, much chat. Then some discussion. Followed by a bit of a meeting. It is dullsville.

The debates, however, are classic JMS – all about God, religion, demons, moral dilemmas and who has the right to life and the right to kill. The first story – of a demon whose soul is confined to Earth – has something of the Scientology foundation myth of Xenu about it. The second puts Sheridan in the position of having to comprise his morals in the present to save the future, unless he can think of a clever work-around. Of course he can: he’s Sheridan!

The extras are enthusiastic and mostly feature JMS, who interviews the three principal actors, memorialises dead cast members Andreas Kastsulas and Richard Biggs and answers questions in a series of “fireside chats”. There’s several making of video diaries and a very annoying (and unfunny) sock puppet running ‘joke’. Mark James

VERDICT: 5/10
Too little, far too late. Nice though it is to have another glimpse of the Babylon 5 universe, The Lost Tales can only disappoint.