Legend of the Rangers
A New Babylon 5 Movie on the Sci-Fi Channel
Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers is a two-hour television movie created by J. Michael Straczynski for the Sci-Fi Channel. The movie bears the subtitle "To Live and Die in Starlight".
Setting
Who: As the title implies, The Legend of the Rangers focuses on the Rangers, or Anla'shok in Minbari. The legendary Ranger fleet faces deadly challenges as it attempts to restore order to hundreds of civilizations devastated by the Shadow War.
When: It is set two-and-a-half and three years after the events of "Objects at Rest".
Where: The Liandra is a new kind of ship with a very ambitious and different appearance. It is relatively small with a 20-person crew. The Legend of the Rangers promises to explore Minbari aesthetics, technologies, and philosophy.
How: This show is skewed toward adventure with underlying drama as opposed to Babylon 5's heavy drama. Straczynski compares it to Season Three of Babylon 5, calling it funny, intense, and weird with action and good character material.
Cast / Characters
The Rangers are a combination of Humans and Minbari trained in space warfare, the unique alien philosophy of the Rangers, and just about every conceivable form of martial arts.
Ensemble Cast:
David Martel: the lead character, a Ranger who's come through some especially rough times
played by Dylan Neal (interview,
chat transcript)
Dulann: the Minbari second-in-command
played by Alex Zahara (chat transcript)
Sarah Cantrell: a weapons specialist from Mars Dome One
played by Myriam Sirois (chat transcript,
Prevue Magazine interview)
Malcolm Bridges: a covert intelligence and infiltration specialist
played by Dean Marshall (chat transcript)
Kitaro Sasaki: a communication and translations expert from Earth
played by Warren T. Takeuchi (fan web site,
chat transcript)
Na'Feel: a recent Narn recruit of the Rangers
played by Jennie Rebecca Hogan
Tafeek: a Minbari political and first contact expert
played by David Storch
Firell: a Minbari healer
played by Enid-Raye Adams (official web site,
chat transcript)
Tirk: a recent Drazi recruit of the Rangers
played by Gus Lynch
Guest Stars:
Citizen G'Kar: the former Narn Ambassador. G'Kar's role in the TV movie is extensive.
played by Andreas Katsulas
Minister Kafta
played by Mackenzie Gray (web site)
Tannier
played by Todd Sandomirsky
Captain Gregg: The character of Captain Gregg is named after Bart Gregg, the winner of SCIFI.COM's B5: Be in the Movie Contest.
played by Andrew Kavadas
Minbari Crewman
played by Simon Egan
Sindell
played by Bernard Cuffling
Production
Production Company: Legendary Films Inc.
Executive Producers: J. Michael Straczynski and Douglas Netter
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski.
Producer: Ron McLeod
Director: Michael Vejar. Mike Vejar directed 14 episodes of Babylon 5 (including several pivotal episodes), two of the Babylon 5 TV movies, and four episodes of Crusade.
Director of Photography: Henry Chan
Production Manager: S. Lily Hui
Production Coordinator: Carol Schafer
Production Designer: Steve Geaghan
Art Director: Ken Rabehl
Casting: Lynne Carrow and Sue Brouse
Special Effects: GVFX (formerly Gajdecki Visual Effects)
Music: Christopher Franke
Production Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Principal Photography: 14 May - 6 June 2001
Post-Production: The final version of the film should have gone to the Sci-Fi Channel on or about 8 September 2001.
Budget: The budget for the TV movie is in line with what is usually spent for a two-hour movie.
Straczynski planned to shoot and edit the live action in widescreen and composite and create the CGI in widescreen, so that however the show is initially shown, it will exist from the beginning in a true widescreen version.
| Air Dates: | Saturday, 19 January 2002, 9:00 p.m. ET/PT |
| Saturday, 19 January 2002, 11:00 p.m. ET/PT | |
| Sunday, 20 January 2002, 5:00 p.m. ET/PT | |
| Sunday, 02 June 2002, 9:00 p.m. ET/PT |
The Series
Sets and stages were held after completion of the TV movie in anticipation of a go-order for a series.
The Sci-Fi Channel did not make a decision before the TV movie aired. The ratings of the TV movie suffered due to competition with a sporting event. When the Sci-Fi Channel announced its new projects in April 2002, the absense of Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers made it clear that the series would likely never be made.