[watching] Babylon 5

Shame they’ve not redone the modelling like the chap on Facebook.
 
In order to maintain visual quality and fidelity between the show’s filmed and effects-heavy sequences, the new version is only available in 4:3. That’s the same format that the show was originally broadcast in, rather than the widescreen DVD releases. But it does avoid the issue of image inconsistency that have plagued those DVD releases when they launched.

That's almost enough to warrant re-buying it.
I'm going to pick up a single episode on Amazon to compare to the terrible DVD versions.
 
Wow. Just watched the first minute of remastered and non-remastered "Points of Departure" (Season 2 episode 1). The difference in visual quality of the CGI scenes is immense.

I've picked up the entire of Seasons 1 and 2 on Amazon, and will be ebaying my DVDs. Any proceeds from the sale can go towards picking up season 3-5 on Amazon.
 
However hang on to your DVD versions of 'The Gathering' - the Amazon version is terrible... and also not included if you purchase the HD version of season 1 - only included in the SD version. This is no great loss since the DVD version is the 4:3 version and basically they've just taken the DVD version and chopped the top and bottom off in order to get 16:9.
 
Yes the comparison in quality is so much better! Plus the series was originally broadcast in 4:3 ratio and was released as widescreen for the DVD release with the effect shots (originally in 4:3) stretched.

 
So this could be the thing that finally gets me off on my butt to re-watch Babylon 5. Except I've just begun a rewatch (and sometimes first watch) of Gundam. Only the good bits, but there are a lot of those. It may have to wait a year or two.
 
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I've had a look on Prime and you can now purchase both HD and SD versions of seasons one to five, with the former at a higher price. You might find that the ones you purchased in the past was probably SD versions and you won't get upgraded for free.
 
I'm trying to work out if the Seasons 1-3 I bought on Amazon Video years ago are now the remastered ones. I'm not sure how to tell!

That should be easy. Pick any episode other than 'The Gathering'. If it 4:3 ratio its the remastered version. If its 16:9 ratio then its not.
 
Yeah, much talk of that. If it's the same story again, I see no need for it; if it's more JMS stories in the B5 setting, yes please.
 
However, with it being on CW, the target demographic will be people much younger than ourselves who potentially have never watched B5 or perhaps a family audience. Who knows, it could lead to a new generation of fans checking out the original series.

Then again, nobody complained about a rebooted BSG. That was 23 years after the original ended and B5 ended 22 years ago.
 
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Then again, nobody complained about a rebooted BSG.

Sadly lots of people complained about a rebooted BSG. There was outrage that Starbuck was played by a woman, and that Athena was no longer Adama's daughter, and that the prostitute character Cassiopeia was not included in the series. There was probably more outrage than that, but those are the bits I can remember bemused friends telling me people had got rather shouty over at a science fiction convention in Glasgow. Possibly Worldcon in 2005?
 
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