This is topic Babylon 5 S4 opening in forum General Sci-Fi at Flare Sci-Fi Forums.


To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://flare.solareclipse.net/ultimatebb.php/topic/8/408.html

---

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
 
"It was the year of fire..."
"The year of destruction..."

Who said, "the year of destruction"? I didn't recognize the voice as any character. Vaguely sounded like the Vorlon voice...
 

---

Posted by Colorful Cartman (Member # 256) on :
 
Zack Allan, IIRC.
 

---

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
 
Correct, according to the Babylon 5 Series Guide
 

---

Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
 
I concur. Why he had to pronounce it "the yeeeeeeee of destruction" remains unknown.
 

---

Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
 
For the record:

Lennier, "It was the year of fire..."
Zack, "the year of destruction..."
G'kar, "the year we took back what was ours."
Lyta, "It was the year of rebirth..."
Vir, "the year of great sadness..."
Marcus, "the year of pain..."
Delenn, "and the year of joy."
Londo, "It was a new age."
Franklin, "It was the end of history."
Ivanova, "It was the year everything changed."
Garibaldi, "The year is 2261. The place:"
Sheridan, "Babylon 5."
 

---

Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
 
Even just reading the text of the S4 opening gives me the shivers...
 

---

Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
 
I know what you mean, Topher. This may sound silly, but I tear up every time I read some of the quotes from "Sleeping in Light."

For all your "Babylon 5" and "Crusade" audio needs.

Tiny correction to Shik's mostly-accurate transcript: I'm pretty sure that Sheridan says the entire phrase, "The place... is Babylon 5." (Although I just checked at Down Below, and I realized that that's where you got the transcript... but I'm still pretty sure that Sheridan said both parts.)
 

---

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
 
The season 3 title sequence was quite plainly better anyway.
 

---

Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
 
Omega, of course, prefers the season one titles. Yes.
 

---

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
 
Nah, S1 and S2 were like any other sci-fi series: just describe the general usefulness of the Bab5 station. They're GOOD, but nothing special. But even when I've taped the episode, I always watch the S3 opener. The whole "last, best hope for peace" thread among the first three seasons was quite creative. S5 was way cool, too.
 

---

Posted by Cpt. Kyle Amasov (Member # 742) on :
 
S4 and 5 were the best, IMO. Crusade was shit. I think everyone shares that opinion.
 

---

Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
 
Season 3 had the best title sequence no doubts.

Music alone, Season 2 was the best.

Themes, season 1 was fantastic

Most uplifting, Season 5

Words only season 4.

Crusade - the opening sequence sucked up until the strings come in - and that is a really lovely melody.
 

---

Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
 
IMO, the s1 Andromeda theme is the best. 20 000 guitars, whee!
 

---

Posted by Magnus de Pym (Member # 239) on :
 
I have not seen a single complete episode of either Andromeda or Babylon 5. I feel funny.
 

---

Posted by The Mike Who Would Be Captain (Member # 709) on :
 
same here. although with you i could never know if its the same kind of funny
 

---

Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cpt. Kyle Amasov:
...Crusade was shit. I think everyone shares that opinion.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Reverend:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cpt. Kyle Amasov:
...Crusade was shit. I think everyone shares that opinion.

---

*gingerly raises hand*

I don't, I quite liked it actually.

---

Yes, me too! It wasn't classic like B5, but I really liked the characters. Gideon had a very refreshing, in-your-face style (while by comparison, Archer's "refreshing" style is extremely bland most of the time). Matheson had some great potential, especially as a "newly liberated" telepath. And Eilerson, while a pompous ass, was an entertaining ass, and had a very complex, very "human" personality. (I'm specifically thinking of the episode where some nameless security guard saves him, and he ends up getting wracked with guilt -- this from the man who's got one of the biggest egos in sci-fi.)

The CGI was overall quite good, and I really loved the design of the Excalibur. Some people have complained about the battle scenes, claiming that they looked crappy, but I thought they were great. Again, not quite on par with the classic battles of B5, but still nice.

The thing is, that "Crusade" never, ever got a chance to really show what it was about. The plot of the search for a cure was never going to last for more than two or three seasons, probably. In fact, JMS never even had a chance to get Crusade's REAL series started properly. That's because TNT pulled the plug before he could film the episodes that got the story developed. There were originally three scripts available on bookface.com, but unfortunately this site disappeared. There are some "unauthorized" copies of these files floating around the Net, although JMS has specifically asked people not to distribute them, because he was originally planning to sell a book with all the unpublished scripts. But since a bunch of them are available on the Net, then he's not as likely to go through with it. (If anyone MUST see these scripts, send me an e-mail and I'll tell you where you might find them. Wink, wink.)

In fact, the very next episode that was to be filmed was going to involve... our dear old friend, Mister Al Bester. Now on the run from the Earth government after the dissolution of the Psi Corps a year or two before, he's found by the Excalibur on some out-of-the-way planet. And Walter Koenig himself commented that it was one of the best Bester stories he'd seen so far.

Although it's unlikely in the extreme, I really wish there were some way for the remainder of the series to be produced... somehow.
 

---

Posted by Cpt. Kyle Amasov (Member # 742) on :
 
Come on, do you really think this pseudo-techno stuff is as good as Franke's classic themes?
 

---

Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
 
Franke's themes actually are a bit of pseudo-techno. Ever listen to some Tangerine Dream stuff?
 

---

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cpt. Kyle Amasov:
S4 and 5 were the best, IMO.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by PsyLiam:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cpt. Kyle Amasov:
S4 and 5 were the best, IMO.

---

Your opinion is wrong and crazy. Season 4 and season 5 both veer just a teeny weeny bit close to being a mess (although they just about avoided it).

---

Thanks. But 1 and 2 are not as recognizable as these two (and Season 3). They both fit the overall tone of the season, something the first two did not.

Edit: Just in case you want to listen to it - try this.
 

---

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
 
The season 5 one was a look back at the previous glorious 4 years, and all the emotional highs and lows contained therein. It lacks anything to do with the season as is.

Which does go with season 5, thinking about it.
 

---

Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by TSN:
MM: You do realize that the discussion here is about opening theme music and title sequences, not the shows themselves, right?

---

Um, why yes, I did know that. I think. I just felt like talking about how good "Crusade" could have been. Yeah, that's the ticket...

You got a problem with that?

Okay... I also liked the opening theme music for "Crusade," then. Although it wasn't nearly as good as the classic (IMO) third, fourth, and fifth season themes, it was still pretty good.

However, I absolutely LOATHED the background music for "A Call to Arms" and some of the regular episodes. Whenever Chen started using that "click-clack" kind of background theme, I felt ready to scream. Fortunately, he seemed to be easing up off of that by the end of the run.

Although by comparison, Franke's music in the first season of B5 was bad in some ways as well. (Though not as bad as Chen's examples of "bad.") Particularly, there are a number of times where the music came in way too strong, and sounded kind of tinny -- it sounded artificial, in a bad way. Crusade also sounded artificial, but some examples weren't as bad overall. (But that's comparing Chen's good to Franke's bad. Nothing Chen did could compare to the scores for "Z'ha'dum," or "Severed Dreams," or "In the Beginning," or especially "Sleeping in Light."
 

---