amitjusc For any true Babylon 5 fan, The Gathering is indispensable. With such a long and detailed story arc ahead, it would be a mistake to miss this, or the majority of the episodes of the first season. Unfortunately, both suffer from mediocre acting and so-so special effects (by today's standards). By the end of season 1, Michael O'Hare does grow on you, even with his hammy acting (he is a stage actor which didn't translate so well to TV). He's not bad, but Bruce Boxleitner ultimately does a much better job. Claudia Christian also gets better over time, and is light years ahead of Tamlyn Tomita, who did an awful job in the pilot. That said, I am on my second viewing of B5, and although the pilot and first season are cringe-worthy at times, they are both worth seeing, culminating in an incredible payoff with seasons 2,3 and 4. Watch this and then watch the whole series. You won't be disappointed.

xindi005 I just watched BABYLON 5:THE GATHERING DVD again, mostly because I haven't watched it in a while.....I can see why. I haven't seen such cold and wooden acting from a movie in quite a while. Some of the actors did migrate to the series that were good in their assigned roles(Garabaldi, Delenn, G'Kar, Londo). Unfortunatedly, The really bad actor, Michael O'hare came along as well.As compared to his "supposed" TV counterpart, Cmdr. Sisko from DS9, this guy is extremely weak and the actor seemed to force out the words and didn't really have a strong presence on the movie or the series that followed. I was relieved that he was replaced by the FAR better actor, Bruce Boxleitner.Tamilyn Tomita is a marvelous and very attractive woman and actress. I, however didn't think she fit in this role. As compared to her TV counterpart, Major Kira from DEEP SPACE NINE, she was very boring and seemed to try TOO much to be forceful when she really wasn't. The support actor, especially in the C and C area, were even worse than the main characters( except the late Mr. Katsulas. he was great, as usual).To make this short, and not to reveal too much here. BABYLON FIVE: THE GATHERING was not a great movie, but it did open the door to a great series, so you can't completely dismiss it, even if you really should.

no-skyline Babylon 5 was a hugely ambitious sci-fi show to get off the ground with complex characters and story arcs that went on over the entire 5 series run. This was the first pilot movie and it paves the way to what would follow.It's an intriguing piece of sci-fi with some strong performances in particular Peter Jurasic as Lando Mollari and Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar. The special effects are a bit limited in places but thats to be expected from a show just finding it's feet.Some of the actors in this initial show would leave to pursue other projects but the core remained in. There are some story lines (which I wont spoil) that could have been further explored had Takishima and Lyta stayed on the show. The acting quality is mixed and this was ironed out as the series went on.All in all it's a good TV movie that does stand on it's own well but it will leave you with a few questions and a good reason to pick up on the series which just get's better as it goes along.Good TV movie that will get you ready for the full series 7/10

serpent-1 When does Sinclair learn about his past? The plot was weak, and poorly delivered. Delenn doesn't look like her mimbari selfit's all murky