Full Comparison Of Babylon 5’s New 2023 Versions Of The Show’s 90s CGI Ships
Babylon 5 always had some of the most incredible starship designs of any science fiction franchise, but it wasn't until now that anyone had the ability to do them justice.
When Babylon 5 debuted in the 90s, it was the first television show to use computer-generated imagery extensively. Every ship and every space scene on the show was rendered with a computer. At the time, it was eye-popping and impressive.
However, like Tron and its computer-generated special effects, those old B5 effects haven’t aged so well. While existing fans still love them, for newer fans it can be a turnoff.
Babylon 5 always had some of the most incredible starship designs of any science fiction franchise, but it wasn’t until now that anyone had the ability to do them justice. With the impending arrival of the Babylon 5 animated movie Babylon 5: The Road Home, we’re getting to see what those shows should have looked like all along.
Here, for instance, is what the Babylon 5 station looks like now in the new animated movie’s trailer…
For comparison, below is what the station looked like with the still new and sort of dodgy computer technology of the 90s…
Given the technology limitations of the time, they did an amazing job.
Babylon 5 is a massive structure. As the show says in some of the season-opening monologues it’s: “two million, five-hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night.” Most estimates put the station’s size at around 5 miles long.
Because the new animated movie will feature a multiverse aspect, it looks like, at some point, we’ll actually see the last of the Babylon stations blown up…
Here’s hoping that doesn’t end up being permanent. I like thinking of Babylon 5 out there, going on forever as a port of call.
Another key ship featured in the trailer is one of Babylon 5’s fighter craft, a Starfury…
And here’s what Starfurys looked like back in the 90s on the original show…
The Starfury is a testament to realistic design. Unlike Star Wars fighters which zoom around like airplanes even though there is no atmosphere, Starfurys actually work the way a fighter would in space. The ship can turn 360 degrees using thrusters while continuing in the same direction. That means a pilot can turn around and shoot at what’s behind him at any time.
B5’s Starfury is, undoubtedly, the most realistic depiction of an outer space fighter craft in science fiction. And it looks cool too.
One of the most important hero ships of Babylon 5 is the White Star. Here’s a White Star seen in the new B5 trailer…
That thing the White Star is about to enter is a jump gate, Babylon 5’s way of doing faster than light travel.
For comparison, here’s what the White Star looked like in 90s CGI technology…
And here’s what jump gates looked like on the original Babylon 5 series…
The White Star is Sheridan’s personal vessel, given to him by the Mimbari Rangers. However, it also spawned an entire class of White Star vessels. No way to know if the ship shown in the B5: The Road Home trailer is actually the one named White Star or just another ship of the White Star class.
The only other B5 ship shown in the trailer with any clarity is a Shadow vessel. Here’s the new version…
And here’s a 90s version of a Shadow vessel for comparison…
The Shadows are the big bad of the Babylon 5 universe, and their ships have always been as terrifying and mysterious as they are. Rendered in 90s CGI technology, they were actually a little hard to see, with stranger rippling patterns and an intentional blurring and cloaking of the ship in shadows. The new Babylon 5 seems like it’s going to do a better job of letting us really SEE a Shadow ship, up close and in detail.
The trailer was actually pretty sparse on space shots and space combat. If that indicates how little space footage we’ll get in the actual movie, that’ll be a huge disappointment. It’s more likely, however, that they didn’t quite have everything ready yet, and there’s a lot more to come in the animated film when it’s released.
Here’s the full Babylon 5: The Road Home trailer if you missed it. Expect the movie to be released on streaming and Blu-ray in August of 2023.
