Babylon 5: The Road Home 4K review

Aug 15, 2023- Permalink

Warner Brothers has released the animated film Babylon 5: The Road Home on 4K and I had a chance to take a look. For the uninitiated, Babylon 5 was a live-action TV series from writer/producer J. Michael Straczynski that ran for five seasons starting in 1994. Its episodes followed the diplomats and military staff aboard the space station Babylon 5, which was commanded by John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner). This animated movie sees Sheridan (who became President of the Interstellar Alliance at the end of the series) tossed into a time bubble and traveling through time and alternate universes. The voice cast of this animated installment includes Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, Peter Jurasik, Bill Mumy, Tracy Scoggins, Patricia Tallman, Paul Guyet, Anthony Hansen, Mara Junot, Phil LaMarr, Piotr Michael, Andrew Morgado and Rebecca Riedy.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded 4K digital transfer with HDR10 is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The animation has amazing line detail and there does not appear to be any banding in the colour gradients. The blacks are deep and the palette ranges from popping to more subdued tones.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track or a Dolby Digital Spanish track. Subtitles are available for English SDH, French and Spanish. The action moves nicely around the soundscape and the subwoofer adds some weight to the action. Dialogue is clear and prioritized nicely in the mix.

The 4K set also comes with a Blu-ray disc and digital code. The Canadian release does not have a code. There’s an audio commentary by J. Michael Straczynski, Bruce Boxleitner and producer Rick Morales, as well as a featurette with cast and crew discussing returning to the project in animated form.

Fans of the series will enjoy this release. The Babylon 5: The Road Home 4K has great audio and video. Recommended.