Babylon 5: The River of Souls (1998)

A group of Soul Hunters come to Babylon 5 demanding the return of something that was stolen from them.

Director:

Janet Greek

Writers:

J. Michael Straczynski (creator), J. Michael Straczynski

Stars:

Jerry Doyle, Tracy Scoggins, Jeff Conaway

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Doyle	...	Michael Alfredo Garibaldi
Tracy Scoggins	...	Capt. Elizabeth Lochley
Jeff Conaway	...	Zack Allen
Richard Biggs	...	Stephen Franklin, M.D.
Ian McShane	...	Robert Bryson, Ph.D.
Martin Sheen	...	Soul Hunter
Jeff Doucette	...	2nd Man
Wayne Alexander	...	Soul One
Bob Amaral	...	Customer
Beege Barkette	...	Woman (as Beece Barkett)
Joel Brooks	...	Jacob Mayhew
Josh Coxx	...	Lt. David Corwin (as Joshua Cox)
T.J. Hoban	...	Male Hologram
Stuart Pankin	...	James Riley
Ray Proscia	...	Klaus

Storyline

Captain Lochley now has solid proof that Garibaldi is a disaster magnet: when he comes to the station to meet with one of his new company's subordinates, she's being sued by the owner of an illegal virtual reality "holo-brothel" and besieged by Soul Hunters looking for one of their soul vessels, this one containing the souls of the long-lost Ralga alien species.

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Plot Keywords:

third part | space opera | 23rd century | space station | outer space | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 November 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

The River of Souls

Company Credits

Production Co:

Babylonian Productions, TNT

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a 2004 interview with The Independent, Ian McShane stated that he wished that he had turned down the role of Dr. Robert Bryson as he had struggled with the technical dialogue and found looking at Martin Sheen, who was wearing an eye in the middle of his forehead, to be the most embarrassing experience that he had ever had while acting. He also added that, during filming, he began making up his own technobabble dialogue which displeased the producers.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Robert Bryson, Ph.D.: I'm sure it's only a little further to the main vault.
Klaus: You've been saying that for two days. This is foolish. There were other vaults we could have tried. Smaller ones. Easier to get into.
Robert Bryson, Ph.D.: Exactly. They were easier to get into. It's a good bet somebody's been there already...

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Connections

Follows Babylon 5 (1994)

User Reviews

Not sure what the point was...

I'm a big fan of Babylon 5, which I thought was probably the best example of serial Space Opera ever put to film- even better than Star Wars or any of the ubiquitous Star Treks.

This film features two very good guest stars- Ian McShane and Martin Sheen. Fans of McShane from Deadwood or Kings are probably going to be disappointed here. His performance is relatively understated. Sheen portrays a "Soul Hunter" tasked with recovering a race memory that the hunters stole, only to discover the race was on the verge of reaching a higher plain of existence.

This is mostly a showcase for Tracy Scoggins as Captain Lochley, and she does a really good job here. She was considered and rejected for the role of Janeway in Star Trek Voyager, and you can see where it was truly their loss.

The problem was, with this as well as "Thirdspace", that the purpose was to create a Babylon 5 story outside the Five year Story arc. Sheridan and Delenn and G'Kar and Londo are the big players, this is the bit players having a bit of fun, but it's not crucial to the story.

Still, there is just enough fun here to make it enjoyable.