Babylon 5: Thirdspace

• USA • 1998 • 94m •

• Directed by: Jesús Salvador Treviño. • Starring: Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, Mira Furlan, Richard Biggs, Jeff Conaway, Stephen Furst, Patricia Tallman, Clyde Kusatsu, Shari Belafonte, William Sanderson, Kip King, Floyd Levine, Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter. • Music by: Christopher Franke.

The crew of Babylon 5 discover a mysterious artifact of unknown origin. The artifact influences the minds of people aboard the station and endangers the lives of everyone aboard.

Review:

Image from: Babylon 5: Thirdspace (1998)

The premise of this movie isn't all that original (but then what is, these days). An old artifact is found in Hyperspace, and brought to B5. An Interplanetary Expeditions researcher group them comes to examine it. Odd things start happening at the same time, including violent outbreaks inside the station. Eventually the device is activated, and it turns out to be effectively the gate to hell (as in some other dimension) from which super-advanced aliens hellbent on the destruction of everyone else they come across pour out, and the B5 crew have to shut the gate down before it's too late.

As said, not all that unique. The concept of a way more advanced enemy trying to invade has been seen elsewhere. Even if not exactly a similar happening, the Borg in Star Trek come to mind (as well as the race from another dimension in Star Trek Voyager, but that actually came out later than this movie). And of course this has been seen in other formats, such as fantasy and horror, as well - as said, it's pretty much the whole "gates of hell" theme. In this sense it is also reminiscent of the great sci-fi horror movie Event Horizon, in what comes to the portion before the gate is activated, and also loosely tied together by the link to attempting to find new travel methods.

Even though the main plot line is what it is and quite predictable indeed, and even though it doesn't really tie in to the series that much, I found this to be a quite nice movie. There's always something to be said for the excitement of theoretically hopeless battles and ancient evils, but the whole ominous feel of the movie from the moment the gate device is first found in hyperspace is quite gripping.

The acting is good throughout, featuring many of the B5 regulars. The CGI effects are slightly better than even in the late parts of the series, and are enjoyable to watch. Music is done by Christopher Franke, composer for the whole main B5 series, guaranteeing a suitable and familiar mood for the story.

Overall while this movie doesn't reinvent sci-fi plot lines to new dimensions (bad pun only half-intended) and isn't up to par with some of the best episodes of the series, it's an enjoyable flick with a nice mood, and definitely worth a watch for any B5 fan. Those not familiar with B5 might not get as much out of it since they won't be familiar with the back story, but it should still definitely be watchable without being hopelessly confusing.

Review by teppo-2 from the Internet Movie Database.

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