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Babylon 5 Kits maybe in the future


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You already had the Blakes 7 reboot it was called "Intergalactic" which was cancelled after season 1.  😆  Sky has had the rights for ten years? I would be very surprised if they made one now. 

 

I doubt we get anything above 1/72 did come out for B5 kits. We can only hope.

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Not super excited with the idea of a B-5 reboot, the story has been told and the show's epic story line has been closed.

I do think if the reboot does really happen we have a chance of getting kits both from it and the classic series like we did with Battlestar Galactica.

I love the varied ship designs seen on Babylon 5 and how each race had a distinctive technology and approach to engineering.

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I recently noticed that  Green Strawberry made some upgrades for the revell B5 kits and it made me ponder , how many kits are out there in circulation, can't be that many , i would love to see a re-issue but it will obviously come down to licensing fee's and permissions, a potential reboot of the series may push up the cost of licensing and may limit the chances of a kit re-issue .

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Until I saw "The Expanse", B5 was my favourite ever SciFi universe and I would love a good model of an Omega Class destroyer. My fear with a reboot is that they re-imagine the spaceships. As said above the BSG reboot was very good indeed.

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On 10/1/2021 at 1:22 PM, Stu_davros said:

I'm still waiting for the Blakes 7 reboot.

 

At one point this was sooo close to happening. Microsoft wanted to make their own streaming service, and Blake's 7 was going to be one of their shows. They had hired directors and script writers to do initial treatments but then Microsoft canned the whole enterprise.

 

There was a reboot radio show about a decade ago. I rather liked it.

 

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I'd love to see some new B5 kits in styene. I had the Revell kit of the station, but was quite disappointed with it in many ways, it realy was a half hearted effort by Revell.

 

One of my favorite ships from the series was the Vorlon cruiser and I'd love styrene kit of one. I bought a small white metal kit of one many years ago with the intent of using it as a pattern for a larger scratchbuilding project, but the more I looked at the white metal kit, the less I was convinced it was dimensionally accurate enough for a good starting point.

 

I hope they don't reboot B5, it doesn't need a rebooting.

 

I'd love to see them remake it with up to date CGI, but leave the story itself alone and let it run to full five year arc as it was meant to.

 

For me the charm of B5 was that the whole story was written start to finish before they ever filmed anything. That resulted in a very cohesive story with clear direction for them most part and relatively few "Clunker" episodes. It only really got hard to follow after the network initially told them they weren't getting a fifth season and so they were left cramming the conclusion of the story into the fourth, only to have the network do an about face and give them the fifth season.

 

Remake it with contemporary CGI, cut out or rewrite known weak story lines, leave the story as is otherwise and let it run the five years. I'd be happy with that.

 

The biggest hurdle they'd face in reamaking (or rebooting) B5 is in casting. They had some great actors in that show and the chemistry between some of the characters was the best I'd seen in any Sci-Fi. It won't be easy to get that part of the formula right.

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18 hours ago, upnorth said:

 

 

“For me the charm of B5 was that the whole story was written start to finish before they ever filmed anything. That resulted in a very cohesive story with clear direction for them most part and relatively few "Clunker" episodes.”

 

 

precisely…the writing was the key. That was true on many programs from back then (for those in the US…”Northern Exposure!).

then fill it out with many seasoned actors and you’ve got greatness.

Edited by Bejay53
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9 hours ago, upnorth said:

I'd love to see them remake it with up to date CGI, but leave the story itself alone and let it run to full five year arc as it was meant to.

 

I don't think that would work.

 

For a reboot to be worthwhile it has to be significantly different to the original, which BSG was, taking the same basic premise, re-using some of the plot points from the original series but with the vast majority being completely new, which worked very well for a reboot of the original series which seemed cheesy and to be blunt, a bit naff, by the early 00s.

 

Babylon 5 was so cohesive and well written that any reboot which significantly changes the overall story while still attempting to maintain it's 'feel' would almost certainly be inferior and a near enough carbon copy is just pointless.

Edited by -Ian-
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In my opinion what really made Babylon 5 work so well is that in addition to a massive epic story arc there was a superb cast with which each character also underwent a unique story arc themselves.

I would love to see the classic series take a cue from TOS Trek and have a remastered version of the SFX and some digital adjust to some of the sets (insert animated video into the backlit screens for instance). This would retain the fantastic performances while updating the visuals for modern audiences to enjoy.

 

That B5 Station kit was so bad I never bothered to assemble it, the Starfury was pretty good except for a couple fit issues and the fact it was out of proportion due to the fact the ship was referenced by the digital model not allowing for the fact the pixels were not true squares.

 

I do have a Narn Cruiser resin kit which is one of my favorite designs from the show. It needs to have a lot of detail added to make it look right, being about 20" long it is going to be great when completed...

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You are never going to make everybody happy with a reboot on a beloved series. Look at the polarisation that the Abram's Start Trek movies caused with another one in the wings as well.

 

The creator of B5 being at the helm makes me optimistic. Straczynski tweeted a bit about the new B5:  (The original series of B5 is free to stream on IMDB TV I am led to believe at the moment) 

 

Quote

 

To answer all the questions, yes, it’s true, Babylon 5 is in active development as a series for the CW. We have some serious fans over at the network, and they’re eager to see this show happen. I’m hip deep into writing the pilot now, and will be running the series upon pickup. The network understands the uniqueness of Babylon 5 and is giving me a great deal of latitude with the storytelling.

 

As noted in the announcement, this is a reboot from the ground up rather than a continuation, for several reasons. Heraclitus wrote “You cannot step in the same river twice, for the river has changed, and you have changed.” In the years since B5, I’ve done a ton of other TV shows and movies, adding an equal number of tools to my toolbox, all of which I can bring to bear on one singular question: if I were creating Babylon 5 today, for the first time, knowing what I now know as a writer, what would it look like? How would it use all the storytelling tools and technological resources available in 2021 that were not on hand then?

How can it be used to reflect the world in which we live, and the questions we are asking and confronting every day? Fans regularly point out how prescient the show was and is of our current world; it would be fun to take a shot at looking further down the road. So we will not be retelling the same story in the same way because of what Heraclitus said about the river. There would be no fun and no surprises. Better to go the way of Westworld or Battlestar Galactica where you take the original elements that are evergreens and put them in a blender with a ton of new, challenging ideas, to create something fresh yet familiar. To those asking why not just do a continuation, for a network series like this, it can’t be done because over half our cast are still stubbornly on the other side of the Rim.

 

How do you telling continuing story of our original Londo without the original Vir? Or G’Kar? How do you tell Sheridan’s story without Delenn? Or the story of B5 without Franklin? Garibaldi? Zack?

The original Babylon 5 was ridiculously innovative: the first to use CGI to create ships and characters, and among the very first to shoot widescreen with a vigorous 5.1 mix. Most of all, for the first time, Babylon 5 introduced viewers accustomed to episodic television to the concept of a five-year arc with a pre-planned beginning, middle and end…creating a brand new paradigm for television storytelling that has subsequently become the norm. That tradition for innovation will continue in this new iteration, and I hope to create additional new forms of storytelling that will further push the television medium to the edge of what’s possible.

 

Let me conclude by just saying how supportive and enthusiastic everyone at the CW has been and is being with this project. They understand the unique position Babylon 5 occupies both in television and with its legions of fans, and are doing everything they can to ensure the maximum in creative freedom, a new story that will bring in new viewers while honoring all that has come before.

 

Onward!

 

 

Until the fat lady sings and all that. 

 

Came across an old BM post about the legacy kits.

 

 

 

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Not long before this news there was word that someone in the studio was looking for the original CG ship models to use as a reference for a new project. Does make me somewhat hopeful that we'll get if not identical ships that at least the same basic flavour. With luck they'll be the same designs but in far higher definition.

 

Incidently the bulk of the models can be found over at a site called B5 Scrolls. Very nice reference source, lots of interviews with the pioneering CGI creators behind the scenes. Snagging those models was a right coup :)

 

 

As for the show, it'll never rival the original. For all the wobbly sets it was an excellent plot with excellent characters that you can't really replace, especially as so many have passed on. Personally I'd prefer the 'Babylon Prime' story line, this was the original plan for the series that would have happened if the actor playing Commander Sinclair had  stayed on. Would have been significantly different with much more use of Babylon  4.

We got some hints of it in the first series, but when the actor changed so did the plot into what we ended up with. Would be nice to see that original plot though, and it would work well as something new yet familiar

 

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From what I remember the 3d files have been lost and need to be recreated. The original SFX was produced on an Amiga render farm using the Video Toaster software. Cutting edge back then and largely incompatible with the PC world today.

I do think those ships can be recreated with all the references available, much like how they rebuilt the Discovery XD-1 for the film '2010'...

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Way the fellow tells it the official CG files were lost when the original servers and machines were sold off without anyone bothering to check what was on them first. However it turns out the artists who made them kept their own backups just in case. By getting in touch with each of them he's managed to collect most of the back up models. 

Not all of them and not all are complete but he seems to have got the main ones plus original textures, lighting rigs and so forth. There's mention of getting that data off old storage devices and making sure its the right (presumably ancient) version of lightwave, but I guess he got there in the end

 

https://www.b5scrolls.com/#Screen5_01_1

 

 

He also used the original models and animation scripting to recreate some of the scenes but in HD. Still 90s era models but looks good to me

 

 

 

Edited by Misrule
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  • 3 weeks later...

I too was disappointed with the Revell B5 kit and it stayed in the attic for many years. Eventually I built it to accompany a couple of the Starfury kits I eventually got round to building. Only ever intended it to serve as a backdrop. But it photograhed far better than I thought so featured as the main subject in some of the photos.

 

One of the main annoyances were the very thick and magenta toned decals - and the missing ones. A chap custom made a set which were blue and he made them freely available on Starship Modeler http://www.starshipmodeler.com/tech/cb_b5_decals.htm

 

I cheated a bit and changed the colour of the kit decals in Photoshop for the photography to match his ones.

 

Keith

 

B5 (2)e

 

B5 (4)h

 

B5 (3)g

 

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While I agree that the casting for B5 was outstanding and a very hard act to follow I can think of several actors who would be worth a look for the reboot. Give a decent actor a great script, technical backup for special effects, and if JMS can run as tight an operation as he did for B5 it would give great value for money and I'd bet that the chemistry would soon surface. It's been achieved with The Walking Dead recently for one.

Redo the hardware in CGI but honestly, do they need redesign? Absolutely not IMHO. The weakest were the Raider ships and the Shadow Earth Destroyers so maybe a tweak or two there. Whatever they do get the rotation stopped for battle on the Earth ships. It made no sense at all and is painful to watch as both sections should be rotating against each other. Fine for gravity when not in battle though.

 

Several of the ships could be viable subjects but choosing the scale will be tricky to say the least.

 

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Lando and G'Kar possibly one of the best antogonists in SCI-FI much like Q and Picard. They will need to get that same chemistry for those type of characters. If they are going to go wtih the same storyline arcs.  Always felt it was Garibaldi the security officer who glued everything together.

 

Will we get a more sleeker type of spacecraft Look at the anorexic Xwings and the upgraded colonial Vipers. Both of which I like.  People just want to put their slant on things I guess.

 

 

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IMO what really made Lando and G'Kar work for me is not just the outstanding performances but the two character arcs which weave around each other as they travel in opposite directions. K'Gar was at first a heavy who surprised us with monemts of kindness (like saving Sinclair's girlfriend from dying when she encountered one of the First Ones). Lando started off as a drunken buffoon and comic relief. Towards the end of the series they were totally different people but they were constantly woven fates around with each other, to the point you could almost consider them as two aspects of the same character.

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