Babylon 5: In The Beginning is to the science fiction series Babylon 5, what The Hobbit is to The Lord of the Rings. It's a prequel movie which builds up a picture of what pivotal characters were doing during important events that were referred to in the epic fantasy series that ran during the 90's. However if you've never seen any B5 then I wouldn't recommend this as a place to start as it gives away too many mysteries and spoilers that were deliciously constructed and revealed during the course of the show. For a newbie, watching this would be like starting to watching Lost during it's final season. What it does do is allow a familiar audience to immerse themselves in events that were only glimpsed in the show's five year run.
As usual with B5, the budgets are low so the sets are small, the sound a bit stagey, the acting by some occasionally "daytime-soap" and the effects a little "lap-top". But B5 always turned the negatives into positives...so the sets and costumes are richly detailed, the story scope epic and awe inspiring, the remainder of the acting powerful and Shakespearean while the effects have a strong visual style and scope that make the vast universe believable.
Story wise this isn't as well structured as the series best instalments, as it has to adhere to the story beats of the Earth/Minbari war that's already been established, but there's enough of writer J. Michael Straczynski's theatrical speechifying to satisfy. This series finished over a decade ago but with huge science fiction franchises dominating the last ten years from Star Trek, Star Wars to Avatar, none have come close to competing with the epic scope on show in Babylon 5.
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