Product Details

• Actors: Stephen Furst
• Directors: Stephen Furst, Menachem Binetski, Richard Compton, Kevin G. Cremin, Mario DiLeo
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: May 25, 1999
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0790740966
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #565,631 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

From the back cover

CHANGE OF COMMAND. Activate all sequences for the launch of the second season of Babylon 5. POINT OF DEPARTURE--2259: a new year brings a new chief to the five-mile-long freeport. But there is no grace period for recently arrived Captain John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner). He's put to the test by a warship leader (Richard Grove) whose plan is to goad him into initiating a battle so that Minbari forces can justify a counterattack on Babylon 5. REVELATIONS--Ultimately, even the darkest secret must come to light. But how long will Mollari's (Peter Jurasik) complicity in the cataclysmic ruin of Quadrant 37 continue to be unknown? Meanwhile, Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) has suspicions about Earth Alliance's new leader. And Delenn (Mira Furlan) emerges from her cocoon, metamorphosed and ready for her new responsibilities.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Resetting "Babylon 5" for the Season 2 Coming of Shadows, June 5, 2004

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Babylon 5 - Season 2 - Points of Departure/Revelation [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I just started watching "Babylon 5" this year and had started by viewing experience with the two television movie "prequels" that established why the capture of Jeffrey Sinclair ended the Earth-Minbari War. That bit of information was helpful in understanding the deeper implications of some of what happened during the show's first season. So when I start watching season two and in the premier episode "Points of Departure" we learn that Commander Sinclair has been permanently reassigned to the Minbari homeworld as the first human ambassador to the planet, I was a bit taken aback.

The new commander of Babylon 5 is Captain John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner), who scored Earth's only real victory during the war destroying the Minbari flagship Black Star and several cruisers by mining the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars with fusion bombs. For this he earned the name "Starkiller" among the Minbari warrior caste who pretty much hate him big time. The casting change was a bit of a shock, although I knew that Boxleitner was part of the cast and had been surprised when he was not there from the beginning. Still, the switch reminded me of when General Savage died on "Twelve O'Clock High" and they replaced him with another character, the first time I had to deal with the weird idea that television characters might actually "die."

However, the part that really threw me was when Lennier (Bill MumY) drops by to see Sheridan and Ivanova (Claudia Christian) and just TELLS them the whole deal about Sinclair and what is going on with Ambassador Delenn (Mira Furlan) and her cocoon. I was really stunned because "Babylon 5" is a show where they give away key facts grudgingly, so to just suddenly let Lennir be the Lord of Exposition like this was a bit much (in other words, I was sad that now the characters know more about what is going on than I do).

"Points of Departure" (Written by J. Michael Straczynski, Aired November 2, 1994) basically has Sheridan showing up to his new command and having to deal with the immediate crisis of a renegade Minbari warship showing up and causing trouble. There is also a nice little bit with Sheridan trying to work in delivering his traditional speech to the C&C crew before his first day of command is over. Of course, Sheridan is concerned because his first crisis has to do with the Minbari and they, as noted above, do not like him all that much.

"Revelation" (Written by J. Michael Straczynski, Aired November 9, 1994) continues to clean up details from the first season and set up some key parts of the second. Dr. Franklin (Richard Biggs) comes up with an unorthodox procedure to try and bring Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) out of his coma and Delann finally completes her mysterious metamorphosis and emerges from the chrysalis. Meanwhile, Ambassador G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas) brings news of the enemy that is attacking his people, another element in the coming War of the Shadows, and Sheridan gets a visit from his sister (Beverly Leech), who reveals the new commander's tragic past.

Basically these two episodes are essentially pushing the reset button on "Babylon 5." After watching these two I was thinking that we were now ready to start Season 2 in earnest, and that is exactly what happens in the next episode "The Geometry of Shadows." So while these are be no means great episodes, they are important for setting up the second season.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, February 20, 2000

By 

Lila Ioan (Bucharest, Romania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Babylon 5 - Season 2 - Points of Departure/Revelation [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The second season starts with a BIG-BANG. New captain, improved FX and other changes. Points of Departure is a lighter episode, that shows Minbari hatred towards Sheridan, while Revelations is astonishing. Delenn's change, Londo and Morden, Sheridan's wife, make this an important episode, which will have many effects on the future.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rousing Start to Season Two of Babylon 5, August 11, 2001

By 

John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Babylon 5 - Season 2 - Points of Departure/Revelation [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I simply don't know where to begin. In these fine opening episodes of Season Two, we see many of the important story arcs in the Babylon 5 saga beginning to unfold. In "Points of Departure", we are introduce to Babylon 5's new commanding officer, Captain John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner), the only EarthForce officer ever to have won a victory during the Earth-Minbari war. Almost immediately, he has to diffuse a tense situation involving a renegade Minbari warship. In "Revelations" we see signs of the Shadow War yet to come, and of Earth Alliance President Clark's (Gary McGurk) sinister plans for his government. Delenn (Mira Furlan) completes her physical transformation, and starts a friendship with Captain Sheridan. Without question, these two fine episodes show Babylon 5 at its best.