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

Martin Sheen was originally offered the role of Dr. Bryson but after reading the script, he asked to play the Soul Hunter instead.

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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: Thirdspace (1998)

User Reviews

One of B5's weaker stories

I was very disappointed in this movie. Plotwise it was weak bordering on silly: Souls who can affect reality in the way they do? A mission apparently critical to the Soul Hunters entrusted to one of their younger members? And the whole B-story with the "holobrothel" and the lawsuit against the station was so awful that at one point I blurted out to the television, "Why are you wasting my time with this?"

Thematically, "River of Souls" didn't really go into the question of the soul in any more depth than the original episode "Soul Hunter" did. We see that Soul Hunters can make mistakes, but we still don't get a feeling for their culture. (Are there any female Soul Hunters?)

The acting was okay, given the material they had to work with, and the special effects - especially the planetscapes in the first act - were very impressive. But overall, I'd say give this one a miss.