Product Details

• Actors: Bruce Boxleitner, Mira Furlan, Richard Biggs, Andreas Katsulas, Peter Jurasik
• Directors: Michael Vejar
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: August 25, 1998
• Run Time: 93 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0790736691
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,322 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

While the series pilot Babylon 5: The Gathering establishes the characters and introduces the conflicts that will become central to the series, it also draws upon a rich history that is continually alluded to but never fully explained. Babylon 5: In the Beginning, produced in the hiatus between the fourth and fifth seasons of the series, packs all that history--and more--into a prequel stuffed to the hatches with the epic doings of Earth, Minbar, Narn, and Centauri in the days before the Babylon stations were built. Told in almost fairy-tale fashion by Londo Molari to a pair of children, the movie explicates the ill-fated first meeting between representatives of Earth and Minbar, the devastating war, the sudden surrender, and the universe-altering secret of Jeffrey Sinclair. It also gives the early histories of characters who will become central to the series, in particular Londo and G'Kar. Ostensibly created to catch recent converts up with the series as it made its transition to a new network, the movie is infused with the epic sweep and storytelling confidence producer-writer Michael J. Straczynski and his cast and crew had developed by the fourth season. It's an elegant, compelling addition to the Babylon 5 universe and a dramatic highlight of the series. As an introduction, though, it gives away the mystery that pervades the shadowy history slowly revealed through the first three seasons--it's actually better seen from the vantage point of the fifth season. --Sean Axmaker

From the back cover

IT COULD BE EARTH'S FINEST HOUR. OR ITS LAST. Before the huge United Nations-like space station called Babylon 5 existed, there was...unrelenting war! It's the humans vs. aliens in the cataclysmic Earth-Minbari War, the fight that shaped interstellar events and paved the way for the construction of the universal safeport. Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner), Delenn (Mira Furlan), Franklin (Richard Biggs) and other familiar faces of the 23rd century are on hand in this feature-length, never-before-revealed tale set primarily in the decade before the orbital station existed. A complete misunderstanding. A total war. The first encounter between Earth and Minarbi space crews results in mistakes that explode into widening waves of tragedy across the galaxy. It's surprising how something so small can lead to something so vast. Even more surprising is the discovery of a stunning truth that brings welcome, unexpected peace.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clears up many questions, December 5, 1999

By	"-prometheus-" (New Iberia, La United States) - See all my reviews

I won't go into much detail, because if you are a B-5 fan it will only bore you. Basically this movie fills in many gaps that the first couple of seasons of the series left. It will give some insight as to how some of the main characters of the series came to be. Special effects are very good and the acting is also. For a TV movie, I rate this one as one of the best. If you are new to B-5, watching this movie will not spoil anything, it will just make it easier to understand the series.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary Look at the Earth-Minbari War, July 30, 2001

By	John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Without a doubt, "Babylon 5: In The Beginning" is a great prequel to the "Babylon 5" saga, replete with great acting, cinematography and special effects. I have yet to see anything on "Star Trek" which remotely comes close to the grandeur and broad canvass of J. Michael Straczynski's epic tale. Although I recommend viewing this film after seeing the first three seasons of "Babylon 5", newcomers to "Babylon 5" will not be left in the dark, watching this drama of miss opportunities, tragic errors, and the unrelenting, brutal war which ensues between the Minbari and humanity. Theodore Bikel is splendid as Lenonn, the leader of the Rangers. Ditto for Raynor Scheine as Dukhat, the Minbari leader of its Grey Council. And so are series regulars Bruce Boxleitner (Sheridan), Richard Biggs (Dr. Franklin), Mira Furlan (Delenn), Andreas Katsulas (G'Kar), and of course, Peter Jurasik (Mollari), in their respective roles. And in his few brief moments on screen, Michael O'Hare is quite good as Sinclair, revealing how his character will play a momentuous role in the subsequent history of Babylon 5. I am stunned by how well Straczynski, his actors, and crew, were able to tell the story of the Earth-Minbari war in the short span of 93 minutes. But then again, I shouldn't be surprised; especially this is what I came to expect after watching countless episodes of "Babylon 5". Hopefully Warner Brothers will release a DVD version of this splendid film soon.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Babylon 5's version of the apocalypse!, July 27, 2001

By A Customer

Babylon 5 is easily one of the best sci-fi series ever made. Unlike Star Trek, where the "good guys" almost invariably win, no matter what the odds (as with the Borg), one of the strengths of B5 is that the humans don't always defeat the odds or find some miraculous "technobabble" way to stop a superior alien race. This B5 film, "In the Beginning" shows the events of the great and bloody Earth/Minbari War, which happened about ten years before the timeline of the "Babylon 5" TV series. The makers of this film have done a great job of showing most of the familiar (and even less-familiar) characters of the B5 universe. Without giving away too much of the plot, the war begins when an arrogant human starship captain opens fire on a warship from a (then) mysterious and little-known alien race called the Minbari. As it turns out, this is a fatal mistake, not only for the starship captain but for the entire human race. The Minbari are centuries ahead of Earth in weapons and technology, and in revenge for what they see as a sneaky, "Pearl Harbor"-style attack they start a war to exterminate humanity. The people of Earth and her colonies fight bravely, and they do manage to slow down the Minbari offensive, but the Minbari are so advanced in terms of technology and firepower that nothing can permanently stop them, and by the end of the film it looks as if the Earth is doomed to total destruction. How the story plays out is wonderfully done, and this film shows the answers to many of the questions and stories which are often discussed on the television series but never shown: How did Captain Sheridan destroy the Minbari's flagship, the "Black Star" (one of Earth's few victories in the war)? How did Commander Ivanova's beloved older brother die in the war? What role did G'Kar, the Narn Ambassador to Earth, and Londo, the Centauri Ambassador to Earth, play in the war? If you're not a fan of Babylon 5 then this movie may well get you hooked, but if you are a fan and you haven't seen this film, then by all means you should buy it, as it's one of the best sci-fi "TV" movies ever put on film. Watch it!