Product Description

Platform:  DVD MOVIE Publisher:  WARNER BROTHERS Packaging:  RETAIL BOX Rating:  NOT RATED Another Thrilling Reach Into Tomorrow From The Creator of Babylon 5!   2267 A.D. The battle is won the war may be lost. After fending off the fierce attack of Drakh combatants Earth faces an unseen yet even greater foe. The Drakhs have left behind a microbial biogenetic plague that will destroy all life of the planet in five years if a cure isn't found.From Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski comes an exciting 13-part adventure about the race to find that cure - an urgent and hazardous quest that sends an Earthforce expedition across the reaches of space to explore technologies more advanced than Earth's. The race is on. The perils are many. And savvy real-tomorrow issues and potential technologies underlie every episode thanks to production input from forward-looking thinkers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The future begins - or ends - here! Features:Audio Commentary on 2 Key EpisodesProbing Documentary: The Making Of CrusadeForging Excalibur: Learn about the starship from the inside outProduct Details:Video:Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)Standard 1.33:1 ColorFormat:  DVD NTSCAudio:  ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 [CC]Subtitles:  English Spanish FrenchYear:  2004Running Time: 576 minutesStudio:  Warner Home Video 

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5763 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2004-12-07
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: AC-3, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: 1.35 pounds
• Running time: 576 minutes

Features

• Another Thrilling Reach Into Tomorrow From The Creator of Babylon 5!   2267 A.

Amazon.com
The first and only spin-off of Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczynski's short-lived sci-fi series Crusade had its roots in the B5 television movie A Call to Arms, in which Earth was battling a Drakh invasion at the end of the Shadow Wars. When Crusade begins, the Drakh have released a deadly virus that threatens to wipe out all 10 billion humans living on Earth unless a cure can be found in five years. To take on this monumental task, Captain Matthew Gideon (Gary Cole) is assigned command of the state-of-the-art Destroyer-class ship Excalibur. His crew includes telepath John Matheson (Daniel Dae Kim); pompous but brilliant archaeologist-linguist Max Eilerson (David Allen Brooks); Dureena, a member of the Thieves' Guild and the last surviving member of her species (Carrie Dobro); medical officer Sarah Chambers (Marjean Holden); and technomage Galen (Peter Woodward).

While Babylon 5 had five years to develop into a powerful saga, Crusade had its plug pulled after a mere 13 episodes (which were reordered for TNT's broadcast), and the series never really got its footing. Galen often took center stage, then disappeared for several episodes. Matheson was underutilized (other than to provide fans with clues about what happened in the Psi-Wars after B5 ended), and tough-guy Gideon bounced back and forth between his desire to save the human race and his own moral code. There were some good action scenes and intriguing concepts (developed in conjunction with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Special effects sometimes were impressive and sometimes showed budget constraints, and we never really saw the power and scope of the mile-and-a-half-long ship, other than the cool bullet cars used to traverse its length. But it did have its moments. If B5 was the spiritual companion to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine with its space-station setting and long story arc, Crusade was more like a traditional Star Trek setting, with mostly stand-alone episodes involving first contact with various species (even if, due to the nature of the Excalibur's quest, such species were usually extinct). And there were occasional tantalizing hints of a broader conspiracy that might have allowed the series to soar. Regardless, B5 fans will welcome even a brief opportunity to revisit this universe, especially when the Excalibur visits the station in "The Rules of the Game." John Sheridan's ex-wife Captain Elizabeth Lochley (Tracy Scoggins) even earned a spot in the opening credits for her appearance in a few episodes. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

Great series--too bad it was cancelled
This is a spin off of the Babylon 5 TV series. However, you don't really need any knowledge of the Babylon 5 series to enjoy it. To best understand this series, watch the prequel movie "A Call to Arms" first.

An alien species has infected Earth with a deadly virus. If a cure isn't found, everyone on Earth will be dead within five years with only the few humans who were on other planets, battleships or space stations at the time of infection being whose left of humanity. The new proto-type battleship "Excalibur" with Captain Mathew Gideon's (Gary Cole) goal is to explore other species and sources for a possible cure. They are to go anywhere and do whatever it takes to succeed in that goal.

It is too bad this series was cut short. It was interesting and Gary Cole made a great lead actor--not your typical stuffy military-type at all. He cheats, he lies, he speaks his mind regardless of rank, and he breaks the rules--but always for the right reasons.

The worst part is that the series just stops mid-stream/mid-season. They should have finished out the season and found a way to wrap things up. So what if it was only a one-year series? At least the viewers wouldn't have been left just hanging with no conclusions or closures. They talk about fan/viewer loyalty--how about reciprocating some of that loyalty to the viewers??? Don't get us hooked just to slam the door in our faces!! I liked the series very much and would have liked to see it continued.

Good Science Fiction
This series embodies intelligent creativity, in both acting and story line; I would recommend this series to anyone looking for thinking Science Fiction. I found it entertaining as well as thought provoking, as the series touched of on a variety of different social as well as philosophical subjects; this is basically some of the best science fiction available.

A good beginning
This was a series that had potential, and it was very disappointing that the plug was pulled before it could really expand on the Babylon 5 universe. Jeers to the network for canceling it prematurely. I would recommend this just to complete the Babylon 5 universe DVD collection.