It's been over 10 years since i watched Babylon 5, and in my memory i thought this movie was going to be a disjointed beginning to the tv show, but in actuality i had completely forgotten the story of this movie/tv movie, and it's actually really good.

It's a great setup to the show and the universe of Babylon 5, excellently defining all of the interesting main alien races of the universe, along with showing a future humanity united, as well as telling us some of the interesting history that's happened in the past from now until then. The story is also good as its a mystery and very character focused as we get to know the main ambassadors and human characters, all of which are either likeable and/or interesting. There's a little bit too much exposition for my liking, though its understandable being the beginning. Some lines also felt out of place, and the cgi definitely shows its age though it has its own charm and works well enough. The costuming and creature designs are really good in general, and the dialogue is really well-written. A disappointment is that the centauri look a lot like humans, and more could have been done to make them more unique like the Karn and Vorlons, as their designs are excellent. I'm also not entirely keen on where they might go with the psychic stuff and changeling technology, as those are very important and universe changing things to have, the use of which may clash if you are going for a near future and/or grounded sci-fi universe. Still, how they were utilized in this movie was really good.

Overall, this is how you do sci-fi, and its an excellent beginning to the Babylon 5 franchise.