SDCC 2023 Timed Announcement Sees Babylon 5 Complete Series Coming To Blu-Ray!
Creator J. Michael Straczynski shared the news.
ATTENTION BABYLON 5 FANS! YOU WANTED IT, YOU ASKED FOR IT, AND IT’S FINALLY HAPPENED! To celebrate B5’s 30th Anniversary, Babylon 5: The Complete Series will be released ON BLU-RAY December 5, ’23. Pre-orders can be placed STARTING TODAY via the retailer of your choice. (Just waiting for some of the online sites to catch up.)
To address some of the obvious questions: I wasn’t directly involved with the release, so I don’t know much more than you do or what’s in the release/at the retail sites but I can add what little I do know: the release includes The Gathering (but not the movies or Crusade) because TG was our pilot (technically the first) episode, so it’s a legit part of the series which fits the title mandate; the other movies were separate, and Crusade is a completely different series, so it doesn’t belong in this box set.
This is essentially the same as the very nice 4:3 remaster done for HBO-Max, which matches the original broadcast, but putting it onto Blu-Ray increases the bitrate so it should look even better than it did there. WB wanted to include the commentaries but with everything else involved with this, it apparently wasn’t feasible (that’s the extent of what I was told, so I’ve no idea what that entails).
Since I’m not directly involved with the release, as with all things related to B5’s distribution plans, I do not have any inside information concerning foreign releases or other languages. That’s all on the Warners side, so please direct any inquiries in that direction.
Finally, for folks asking where they can find *a* link to where this is available…like all major studio releases, this will be made available to all the usual online places where you normally buy Blu-Ray disks. It will be rolling out to those sites starting today.
What matters most in all this is that after years of asking for a Blu-Ray release, which will make this show look more beautiful than it ever has before. Fans can now own the full series in pristine form on physical media without being held hostage by the whims of streamers. I’m very excited by this release, as it further assures the legacy of Babylon 5. Onward!
This follows earlier news about the new feature Babylon 5: The Road Home.
All the usual places online have the Babylon 5: The Complete Series Blu-Ray set available for pre-sale purchase right now.
