For a movie that wound up on IMDb's Top 250 List all the way back in 1996, this movie only had nineteen user reviews posted when I came to this page. That seems rather odd and I don't know what to chalk that up to. Although I've never watched an episode of the TV series, it seems to me this series pilot ought to have had more of an impact on viewers to warrant a broader host of reactions.
Arriving a couple of decades after the Star Trek TV series, one can appreciate the improvement in special effects compared to some of the almost cardboard looking sets of The Enterprise. However much of it looked like video game quality compared to the incredible visuals of today. One can definitely measure the progress over time of how television adopted technology to achieve some of the stunning illusions and visual tricks we can witness today.
The story itself here is pretty much by the numbers for a sci-fi outer space saga. Much of the acting is a bit sketchy, and the Minbari and Narn prosthetics leave a bit to be desired. My understanding is that some of the pilot actors used here didn't make it into the series, and in the case of Tamlyn Tomita's character, Lieutenant Commander Laurel Takashima, one can see why. Some of her dialog and screen presence was downright cheesy. Even Commander Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) left something to be desired in the way of a forceful presence aboard Babylon 5. With Captain Kirk, you always knew who was top gun on the Enterprise crew.
The handful of reviewers for this pilot seem rather mixed in their appreciation of the show. Again, with no basis for comparison against the actual series that followed, I'd have to say it was generally okay with an intriguing story line that got muddled a bit along the way. It wasn't enough to get me interested in the program that it introduced, although I can't say I'll never get to it at some point. Maybe one day.
Arriving a couple of decades after the Star Trek TV series, one can appreciate the improvement in special effects compared to some of the almost cardboard looking sets of The Enterprise. However much of it looked like video game quality compared to the incredible visuals of today. One can definitely measure the progress over time of how television adopted technology to achieve some of the stunning illusions and visual tricks we can witness today.
The story itself here is pretty much by the numbers for a sci-fi outer space saga. Much of the acting is a bit sketchy, and the Minbari and Narn prosthetics leave a bit to be desired. My understanding is that some of the pilot actors used here didn't make it into the series, and in the case of Tamlyn Tomita's character, Lieutenant Commander Laurel Takashima, one can see why. Some of her dialog and screen presence was downright cheesy. Even Commander Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) left something to be desired in the way of a forceful presence aboard Babylon 5. With Captain Kirk, you always knew who was top gun on the Enterprise crew.
The handful of reviewers for this pilot seem rather mixed in their appreciation of the show. Again, with no basis for comparison against the actual series that followed, I'd have to say it was generally okay with an intriguing story line that got muddled a bit along the way. It wasn't enough to get me interested in the program that it introduced, although I can't say I'll never get to it at some point. Maybe one day.