Crusade: The Complete Series (DVD)

The Drakh have struck Earth. These allies of the Shadows have poisoned the planet with a Shadow plague that will wipe out all life once the virus has fully adapted to Human DNA in five years time. The Excalibur, one of a new battleship design commissioned by Alliance President John Sheridan is pressed into commission to serve as a mobile platform for seeking out information about the plague and how it may be cured.I really wish this show had gotten the chance to get off the ground properly, there is so much here that begs to be explained. As with Babylon 5 this show obviously has a five year life built in (though regretably it didn't even make it through one of those years). If you go digging around you'll even be able to find out a bit more of what JMS had in mind for the show.In many ways this series reminds me somewhat of traditional Star Trek, whereas Babylon 5 is more similar to Deep Space Nine. However, of course both shows are quite different, quite good, and not copies of each other. Okay, with that caveat out of the way I can continue. We have one ship visiting many ports, discovering new races and cultures, and going someplace new--very Star Trekian. Now I don't believe this is bad, or truly derivative--I just mention what I see as similar. One thing that definately jars this is JMS's habit of not including every main character in each episode as Star Trek producers are usually wont to do. Like Babylon 5 (where there was only one episode in the entire run to feature each then listed main character) you can go several episodes without seeing certain characters. I like this (and would have liked it more if the series had run for years and it hadn't severely limited our exposure to some characters) it just takes some getting used to. If you like Star Trek look at this as more good sci-fi--if you don't like Star Trek know this is quite different stuff.You'll find the serious mixed with the lighthearted. When talking about episodes I must include the JMS recomended viewing order. I defied this at first and watched the episode the case said should be first (War Zone)--and it was indeed an introduction, a very traditional pilot. However, I found out later that it was only produced later when the producers said they didn't like Racing the Night as an introduction. Furthermore, there were certain elements that didn't fit so well--such as a fistfight and crazy airing order that TNT producers insisted on--so don't blame everything wrong on JMS. Really this all reminds me of Firefly (which came later) and the trouble Joss Wheedon had with producers at Fox who disliked his excellent pilot and made him redo the second episode Train Job to serve as a new pilot. However unlike JMS Wheedon was able to make Train Job a new pilot and yet remain as a consistant second episode. Unfortunately for Crusade, the episode War Zone is somewhat of a continuity orphan, especially if you watch in the JMS order, which I would strongly suggest. I also enjoy reading the Lurker's Guide to each episode after viewing it. You'll find this at [...] Here is the order, the only problems you'll find with it are some out of place uniform changes (that flow in the original airing order) and a couple minor errors (such as Lockley and Gideon meeting for the first time twice ;-)).Racing the NightThe Needs of EarthThe Memory of WarThe Long RoadVisitors from Down the StreetThe Well of ForeverEach Night I Dream of HomePatterns of the SoulThe Path of SorrowsRuling from the TombThe Rules of the GameWar ZoneAppearances and Other DeceitsRacing the Night is a very good pilot, introducing us to each character in a gradual manner on JMS's terms. Additionally we join the crew in the middle of their quest and only gradually find out exactly what is happening--it isn't all just thrust upon us. We not only get a pilot, but a darn good episode.Visitors from Down the Street is definately an episode in a lighthearted vein, it being a definate mock/tribute/mimic of the X-Files. However, this time it is aliens believing that humans are interfering in their culture. :-) Try to spot as many X-Files references as you can.Galen is a remarkable character. First introduced in the Babylon 5 movie A call to Arms he is a technomage. However, unlike the rest of his brethern he has decided not to retreat from Known Space, but to return to help the crew of the Excalibur fight for humanity. JMS has called him the traditional fantasy RPG magician of the group. Really the whole cast is a collection of eccentric, but fun characters. What little we get to see of them is quite revealing.A note about special effects. Please keep in mind that just as on Babylon 5 effects shots are computer generated, and it is noticable. They aren't horrible, they just aren't as flawless as a big-budget blockbuster. However, if this is a problem then you shouldn't even be looking at Crusade or B-5. The stories are what make the show, the special effects just help them along.The music and shooting style are by design very different from Babylon 5, so don't go in expecting to just see and hear more of the same.Now there aren't many special features, only four in fact. You'll get a featurette on the production of the series, and a five minute one on the design of the Excalibur. Additionall JMS has commentary on Racing the Night, and two of the actors, the director, and writer comment on The Path of Shadows. The JMS commentary goes into more depth not on just the episode but the series, and what it might have been.If you enjoyed Babylon 5 then I would definately suggest that you check out this partial series. You'll get some fun episodes and the chance to see what might have been. I always enjoy learning more about my favourite universes, and this is no exception! You get a whole new look at the world of Babylon 5.

...Kill it, *and* prevent anybody else from picking it up.The above sentence refers to a jmsnews post. To find the post, go to jmsnewsDOTcom and do a search on "survey"...and you'll find the post:"Subject: ATTN JMS:IGN (Filmforce) InterviewDate: 9/10/2000 12:02:00 PM"****************************************While I essentially agree with what others have said about Crusade being a great series that showed a lot of promise, the following info. should be presented:1. TNT cancelled Crusade months before it was even aired. Hence Crusade was NOT cancelled because of Crusade's ratings numbers, but because TNT had found out that "Babylon 5" itself was a bad fit for their core audience. Crusade's cancellation had little or nothing to do with Crusade itself. It just had the misfortune to start out on the WRONG channel, a sci-fi unfriendly channel.2. In the "A Call to Arms" (B5 Movie Collection DVD Set), JMS mentions that the plague was a hook (Earth in jeopardy) that Warner Brothers and TNT felt that the Crusade series needed to start off with. The plague was something that they needed to get INTO the Crusade storyline (politically, with what the Shadows left behind, and the conspiracy back on Earth, Galen and the Technomage connection to Shadowtech that's expounded upon in the Technomage trilogy of novels, etc.).****************************************"Good Show and I Will DEFINITELY Buy It." (added Dec. 2, 2004)I will buy it BECAUSE I enjoyed the episodes that WERE produced (ditto for Brimstone, Strange Luck, The Ellen Show, Special Unit 2, Firefly, Keen Eddie, Wonderfalls, Boomtown, The Tick, etc.). I already have Firefly and The Tick, will be buying Keen Eddie, Wonderfalls, and Boomtown, shortly, and will buy the rest when they become available.I will buy it BECAUSE I want to show support for a good show that was mishandled and prematurely cancelled (just like most of the other shows listed above.).I will also buy it because there is a chance that the Crusade story will be continued (theatrical release, novels, etc.).**********From jmsnewsDOTcom"TranscriptSpeaker: Joe Michael StraczynskiLocation: Hawthorne High School Comic ConDate: 5/8/2004"Q&A sessionRoom 120 - Fans begin gathering and taking their places in traditional school desks. Some of us haven't seen the like for...a long time. Before us is a perfectly clean blackboard. While we wait for JMS, somebody (okay, I did it) writes in large letters " MR. STRACZYNSKI" and below it, "T M o S 101"3:00 PM. JMS arrives and, without a word, goes to the board and erases the "TMOS 101" part amid much laughter.....Audience: Any (plans?) to address the Crusade story?JMS: Uh....(gestures toward the erased blackboard) Other questions.....Audience: Out of all your cancelled projects, which one would you like to resume first?JMS: There's only been a couple. (laughter) He's being mean to me! Umm...Crusade. That's the obvious choice because that one was cut short...it was shot in it's cradle by unfair means and that pisses me off. So I will fix that one way or the other.**********And given what JMS said immediately above, it's likely that at least some of the upcoming new novels...**********From jmsnewsDOTcom"Subject: re: various from jmsDate: 6/15/2004 5:58:58 AM""Also, expect word fairly soon-ish about a new series of B5 novels."**********... will likely continue the Crusade story. Given the high quality of the Psi Corps, Centauri Prime, and Technomage trilogies (nine novels)...Dark Genesis - The Birth of the Psi Corps, ISBN: 0-345-42715-7Deadly Relations - Bester Ascendant, ISBN: 0-345-42716-5Final Reckoning - The Fate of Bester, ISBN: 0-345-42717-3Legions of Fire - Book I - The Long Night of Centauri Prime, ISBN: 0-345-42718-1Legions of Fire - Book II - Armies of Light and Dark, ISBN: 0-345-42719-XLegions of Fire - Book III - Out of the Darkness, ISBN: 0-345-42720-3The Passing of the Techno-Mages - Book I - Casting Shadows, ISBN: 0-345-42721-1The Passing of the Techno-Mages - Book II - Summoning Light, ISBN: 0-345-42722-XThe Passing of the Techno-Mages - Book III - Invoking Darkness, ISBN: 0-345-43833-7... published by Del Rey, I'd go for the new novels in a heartbeat.Without the Crusade DVD set, you'll be missing the first part of the Crusade story. I wouldn't buy a novel with the FRONT 50 pages missing. Also, with the television performances to draw upon, I can better "see" the story unfold in a novel as I read it. I enjoyed the last three trilogies of novels more, for that very reason.With all of the above in mind, I will DEFINITELY be buying the Crusade DVD Set.****************************************FINALLY, 4:3 (FULL FRAME) **AS IT SHOULD BE**. (added Dec. 17, 2004)Unlike all of the Babylon 5 series, this DVD set is not widescreen - WHEW! FINALLY, they do the RIGHT thing!!! The CGI, like Babylon 5's CGI was only rendered 4:3, SO, by being full frame (4:3) instead of widescreen 16:9, what we get with the Crusade set is 100% of the CGI, not top & bottom cropped and enlarged CGI, with the artifacts the cropping and enlarging introduces. I WISH they'd have done the Babylon 5 Season Sets this way.With the Crusade DVDs, they FINALLY did the RIGHT thing, and didn't crop every frame that had any amount of CGI in it (e.g. even a monitor being seen in the frame).KoshN

Me faltan mas episodios

bring back crusade

I loved the original series this was the sequel to, called *Babylon 5*. A brilliantly done science-fiction television series mostly written by its executive producer J. Michael Straczynski. He wrote almost all the episodes during the 5-year run of *Babylon 5*. It was a great science-fiction adventure/drama, & when the series ended & *Crusade* came a few years later after a couple of awesome TV movies, this was just as great as the original (except for the title music, which was odd & creepy—the music for *Babylon 5* was awesome, however).About *Crusade*: The story itself is about a starship crew (aboard the prototype warship Excalibur) sent out on a mission to find a cure to a weaponized plague a hostile alien race called the Drahk attacked our planet with that will render Earth lifeless in less than 5 years. (The story reminds me of the classic Japanese anime series *Space Battleship Yamato*, aka *Starblazers,* which has a similar theme, about a starship crew sent to save Earth from a enemy meteor attack that will render the planet lifeless due to radiation in less than a year. There are other similaries — like the starships both have a similar weakness with their main weapon once they're fired. There was a recent remake of Starblazers last year with totally revamped animation.) The quality of *Crusade* is as good as its prequel, *Babylon 5,* with lots of great characters including a sly technomage, a sneaky (& hot) professional thief, a hardass starship captain (played perfectly by Gary Cole), telepaths & aliens galore. A fun, clever series, filled with a majesty and scope that is at least as cool as the original Battlestar Galactica series (from the 1970's), too. I highly recommend it to all sci-fi fans.By the way, about the series creator J. Michael Straczynski, he's still working hard. He was the creator/writer for another TV series called *Jeremiah* (also great, about a post-apocalyptic world in the aftermath of a world plague), was a writer for the recent *Thor* movies (he actually makes a cameo appearance in the 1st movie himself, trying to pull Thor's hammer, heh), & I hear he's behind a new sci-fi TV series coming out in 2014 on Netflix — it's called *Sense8*. I'm looking forward to it!

Excelente seller. RTecebi o produto conforme descrito no anúincio, bem como na mesma condição anunciada. 100%, Recomendado, muito bem recomendado.

Hintergrund: Mit Babylon 5 schuf J. Michael Straczynski ein Universum (d.h. Phantasiewelt) in der die verschiedenen Völker im Weltraum mit Hilfe eine Raumstation Frieden erreichen wollen. Nach fünf Staffeln mit über 100 Folgen und etlichen Spielfilmen sollte mit Crusade eine Nachfolgeserie an den Start gehen. Inhaltlich setzt die Serie auf dem Babylon 5 Spielfilm "Waffenbrüder" ("A Call to Arms") auf: Ein Virus droht innerhalb von 5 Jahren alles Leben auf der Erde zu vernichten. Das Raumschiff Excalibur wird losbeschickt, um ein Mittel gegen die Seuche zu finden.Besetzung der Serie: Zum Stamm gehören der Captain der Excalibur Matthew Gideon (Gary Cole), sein telepatischer erster Offizier Lt. John Matheson (Daniel Dae Kim), der Archiologe Max Eilerson (David Allen Brooks), der "Techno-Magier" Galen (Peter Woodward), die Medizinierin Dr. Sarah Chambers (Marjean Holden), aus der Kaste der Diebe Dureena Nafeel (Carrie Dobro) sowie als gelegentlicher Gast der Commander von Babylon 5 Captain Elizabeth Lochley (Tracy Scoggins).Die Box: Auf der Box sind die 13 gedrehten Folgen:1. Kriegsgebiet (War Zone)2. Der lange Weg (The Long Road)3. Der Quell der Ewigkeit (The Well of Forever)4. Der Pfad der Sorgen (The Path of Sorrows)5. Dureenas Geheimnis (Patterns of the Soul)6. Befehle aus dem Grab (Ruling from the Tomb)7. Nach eigenen Regeln (The Rules of the Game)8. Erscheinungsbilder (Appearances and Other Deceits)9. Der Friedhof der Schiffe (Racing the Night)10. Die Warnungen des Magiers (The Memory of War)11. Praxis 9 (The Needs of Earth)12. Die Verschwörer (Visitors From Down the Street)13. Die Entscheidung (Each Night I Dream of Home)Extras: "Das Making of CRUSADE" und "Excalibur wird geschmiedet".Synchronisation: Die Box umfaßt sowohl die amerikanische Orginalversion als auch eine deutsch sychnronisierte Version. Zudem gibt es für beide Sprachen opional Untertitel. Die Synchronisation setzt auf Kontinuität: Die Figuren, die wir aus Babylon 5 kennen, haben wieder dieselben deutschen Stimmen. Weil es bei DVD-Boxen leider nicht selbstversändlich ist, sei es erwähnt: Alle 13 Folgen sind komplett synchronisiert, wir müssen nicht bei einzelnen Szenen plötzlich einen Sprachwechsel mit dem plötzlichen Auftauchen von Untertiteln hinnehmen. Aber wer will bei 42 Minuten Spielzeit pro Folge noch Kürzungen vornehmen? Einen möglichen Gag hat man sich entgehen lassen: Bei der Folge "Die Verschwörer" hätten sich Benjamin Völz und Franziska Pigulla als deutsche Stimmen der Aliens angeboten.Bewertung: Diese Serie findet allgemein ein recht unterschiedliches Echo. Klar die Musik im Vor- und Abspann ist eine andere als bei Baylon 5, das soll auch so sein. Die Stammcrew sind im Gegensatz zu Babylon 5 entweder Menschen oder doch sehr menschenähnlich. Spiel das wirklich eine Rolle? Ansonsten haben wir das von Babylon 5 gewohnte Erscheinungsbild des Weltraums, von Raumschiffen und Planeten. Im Gegensatz zu Babylon 5 oder Deep Space Nine gibt es zwar eine Hintergrundgeschichte, aber es gibt (noch!) keinen übergreifenden Handlungsbogen, der die einzelnen Episoden eng miteinander verbindet, vielmehr stehen alle Episoden für sich einzeln und können in fast beliebiger Reihenfolge angesehen werden. Von den Charakteren sind hauptsächlich der des Captains Gideon und von Galen in den Folgen genauer fassbar, die anderen befinden sich noch in der Entwicklung. Ursache dieser Umstände ist, daß die Serie eigentlich auf 5 Jahre ausgelegt war, aber nach 13 Folgen und bevor das Publikum sie zu sehen bekam, eingestellt wurde. Grund waren unterschiedliche Meinungen des Schöpfers J. Michael Straczynski und des Senders TNT über Budget und Inhalt. TNT wollte mehr Action und Sex. Schon während der Dreharbeiten hatte TNT eingegriffen und so sind die letzten 5 Folgen eigentlich die zu erst gedrehten. Straczynski rächte sich mit einigen Seitenhieben in der Folge "Erscheinungsbilder". Insofern sollten wir uns einfach mal fragen, wie wir eine beliebige Star Trek Serie oder Babylon 5 bewerten würden, wenn man diese Serien nach 13 Folgen abgesetzt hätte. Das Ergebnis wäre ähnlich zwiespältig. Fliegende Raumschiffe, die den Weltraum erkunden, gab es zudem schon vor Crusade. Trotzdem erwartet den Seher der DVDs hier 13 Folgen mit sehr unterschiedlicher Qualität: von eher Folgen, die wenige neues zu bieten haben, hin bis zu orginiellen Folgen mit Tiefgang ist alles vertreten. Zudem ist die Serie bisher in Deutschland im Free-TV nicht zu sehen gewesen.Fazit: Vieles ist aufgrund des vorzeitigen Abbruches nur angedeutet, was hätte werden können. Setzt man die Meßlatte nicht so hoch am Orginal Babylon 5 an und mag Weltraumabenteuer, wird man von dieser Serie gut unterhalten werden. Klar, es gibt schwache Folgen. Die guten machen meines Erachtens das wieder wett.