Taurian Patriot wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 7:29 pm
"Most of the time on B5, space combat is about the drama that leads up to that moment, rather than being exciting in and of itself [...] so it doesn't have to depend on vacuous action scenes."
Ain't that the truth.
I remember watching Revenge of the Sith when it hit theaters, and by the end of the opening scene, I had experienced for the first time how it felt to be
utterly bored with a space battle. It was several minutes of one group I don't care about fighting another group I don't care about, while two characters whose survival is a foregone conclusion zip around pretending they're in danger before they finally board Dooku's ship and start the plot. That opening battle could be edited down to thirty seconds or less, and nothing would be lost.
For the most part, shows like Babylon 5 and 20th century Star Trek did it right. They typically limited themselves to quick cuts of action to move the story forward, and when the action became the focus, it was a payoff for a story arc that naturally built up to it. Of course, it was also a good excuse to blow shit up, but at least shit was getting blowed up for a purpose.
Ehh... I am going to disagree a little bit. Not entirely, but a bit.
I was ALSO disappointed by the starship battles in Revenge of the Sith, but because it focussed basically as little more than a backdrop to Anakain and Obi-Wan. It never had any time to BREATHE, unlike the battles in IV anv VI.
So on the one hand, B5 managed to do some of the very best, high tension edge of the seat, even after 20 years starship battles in no small part to JMS setting up the stakes and tensions. On the other, sometimes (
just sometimes) it felt a little bit too quick. (As B5 on a bad day, could let its artistry get a little bit too Art.)
Since that time though, I have seen virtually no starship battles that could compare to either B5, first season-and-a-half Andromeda, as you say 20th century TNG (or Shadow Raiders: War Planets and that's a travesty that's a truism). It all almost desultory. Nothing of huge note in SG-1, though they occasionally made sporting effort.
ORVILLE, freaking ORVILLE actually got it right in the season two mid-season two-parter. That was a FANTASTIC starship battle, the best I have seen SINCE that time period; where they remembered to actually give it that room to breathe and just have a few bits where it was just The Battle Happens. (And, pertinetly,
you could actually see what was going on, which is always
kind of important, meaningful look to Certain Quarters that know who they are...)
While action without context is often meaningless, JUST having it occur as a foil to the drama does it a disservice too. As with all things, you have to get that balance right. B5 did that far more often than it didn't.
(Also, I think B5's musical score
really helped its starship battles - the more sort of sweeping? Maybe? Scores just seems to fit
so well and I say that as a fan of SW's battle music.)
