"I want them out of my sky."
This is the story of a star ship on a mission of discovery, and not just any discovery. What the crew of this ship is looking for, could very well be described as the Holly Grail. And both the name of the series - Crusade - and the name of the ship itself - Excalibur - clearly indicate that.
If you take the time to read some of the reviews, you will quickly learn the difficult and complicated story of this series: how it was sabotaged by Network Executives, how it had to deal with their absurd demands and how it was killed off, eventually, when the creator refused to comply with their less then inspired requests.
You will also learn about it's strong points - good story, mostly - and not so strong points - the music, for example. But is there anything more to it? Maybe there is.
Crusade is a spin off of the highly successful series Babylon 5. The story begins several years after the end of the Great War, and the premise for it is explained in the TV movie "A Call to Arms", so make sure to watch the movie, first. As the successor of Babylon 5, Crusade inherits a very complex universe, where black and white are never easily identified and where morality and politics don't always go hand in hand. But what does this series do with it's inheritance? Does it develop it as fully as it deserves? I guess we will never learn the answer to that question, really, but from the 13 episodes it is clear that it could have. And if it hadn't been sabotaged by some really, really awful choices, it probably would have.
But first, the good parts.
The design of the ship is fantastic. It is big, powerful yet limited and it has a fighter wing, which makes for a lot of very animated space battles. It also has a very complex transportation system, and everybody seems to have their conferences in it.
The main cast is likable, the characters are complex, and they clearly have things to do and places to go. Whatever they are, they are not the usual types one sees in a space show and they are quite unique, actually.
One of the most powerful features of the show is it's mythology. JMS does a great job of developing a whole universe, ensuring an intriguing and fascinating background for the story. Most of the episodes build on that, are highly entertaining and provide a good blend of action, drama, inner conflict, ambition, frustration and humor. So much so that one is likely to ignore many of the shortcomings of the show.
Which leads us to the... not so good parts.
First things first: the show's opening credits are arguably the worst ever made. They are simply hideous and there is no question about that. They could easily be used as the template for how not to do things (and I've never seen credits like that again so... they probably were). The questions "Who are you?" and "What do you want?" written in shaky fonts all over the screen... not very promising. Especially if they are answered.
Then there is the music. Bad, bad, bad.
And the writing? Unfortunately it seems the writers never cared enough for it, and never gave the script a second thought. It seems rushed, it seems incomplete and it seems shaky. Come to think of it, maybe that's the meaning of the opening credits, who knows? Maybe it is a warning: "Beware! There be bad writing." Or maybe it is just the way it is rendered by the actors, but I seriously doubt that; the occasional moments of witty and insightful dialog that made Babylon 5 so great are delivered perfectly.
Or maybe it is the direction that is at fault. A closer examination of some (if not all) of the episodes reveals a whole lot of close-ups, strange and goofy poses the actors seem to strike, and some scenes are positively begging for one more take. Alas, the amount of tape they have at their disposal seems to be very limited and that's a shame, really.
And on top of it all, there is the Network's interference. Their less than inspired "notes" resulted in some episodes being quite pointless, and one can simply ignore them (like War Zone, for example).
Crusade. A series that could have been so great, but didn't quite make it. 9/10.
This is the story of a star ship on a mission of discovery, and not just any discovery. What the crew of this ship is looking for, could very well be described as the Holly Grail. And both the name of the series - Crusade - and the name of the ship itself - Excalibur - clearly indicate that.
If you take the time to read some of the reviews, you will quickly learn the difficult and complicated story of this series: how it was sabotaged by Network Executives, how it had to deal with their absurd demands and how it was killed off, eventually, when the creator refused to comply with their less then inspired requests.
You will also learn about it's strong points - good story, mostly - and not so strong points - the music, for example. But is there anything more to it? Maybe there is.
Crusade is a spin off of the highly successful series Babylon 5. The story begins several years after the end of the Great War, and the premise for it is explained in the TV movie "A Call to Arms", so make sure to watch the movie, first. As the successor of Babylon 5, Crusade inherits a very complex universe, where black and white are never easily identified and where morality and politics don't always go hand in hand. But what does this series do with it's inheritance? Does it develop it as fully as it deserves? I guess we will never learn the answer to that question, really, but from the 13 episodes it is clear that it could have. And if it hadn't been sabotaged by some really, really awful choices, it probably would have.
But first, the good parts.
The design of the ship is fantastic. It is big, powerful yet limited and it has a fighter wing, which makes for a lot of very animated space battles. It also has a very complex transportation system, and everybody seems to have their conferences in it.
The main cast is likable, the characters are complex, and they clearly have things to do and places to go. Whatever they are, they are not the usual types one sees in a space show and they are quite unique, actually.
One of the most powerful features of the show is it's mythology. JMS does a great job of developing a whole universe, ensuring an intriguing and fascinating background for the story. Most of the episodes build on that, are highly entertaining and provide a good blend of action, drama, inner conflict, ambition, frustration and humor. So much so that one is likely to ignore many of the shortcomings of the show.
Which leads us to the... not so good parts.
First things first: the show's opening credits are arguably the worst ever made. They are simply hideous and there is no question about that. They could easily be used as the template for how not to do things (and I've never seen credits like that again so... they probably were). The questions "Who are you?" and "What do you want?" written in shaky fonts all over the screen... not very promising. Especially if they are answered.
Then there is the music. Bad, bad, bad.
And the writing? Unfortunately it seems the writers never cared enough for it, and never gave the script a second thought. It seems rushed, it seems incomplete and it seems shaky. Come to think of it, maybe that's the meaning of the opening credits, who knows? Maybe it is a warning: "Beware! There be bad writing." Or maybe it is just the way it is rendered by the actors, but I seriously doubt that; the occasional moments of witty and insightful dialog that made Babylon 5 so great are delivered perfectly.
Or maybe it is the direction that is at fault. A closer examination of some (if not all) of the episodes reveals a whole lot of close-ups, strange and goofy poses the actors seem to strike, and some scenes are positively begging for one more take. Alas, the amount of tape they have at their disposal seems to be very limited and that's a shame, really.
And on top of it all, there is the Network's interference. Their less than inspired "notes" resulted in some episodes being quite pointless, and one can simply ignore them (like War Zone, for example).
Crusade. A series that could have been so great, but didn't quite make it. 9/10.