The production of Babylon 5 was a miracle on multiple levels. Dismissed as a second-rate Star Trek by many, it developed a firm but loyal audience as it blended classic science fiction with fantastic elements like telepathic powers and prophecies. Babylon 5 also pioneered serial storytelling at a time when television dramas were entirely episodic.

Time does not permit me to describe how revolutionary and prophetic Babylon 5 was to television and science fiction. It is enough to point out how stunning it is that Babylon 5: The Road Home exists, and that Warner Bros. agreed to make an animated movie to honor the show’s 30th anniversary, given the current management’s attitude towards animation and older properties. But, as the original Babylon 5 taught us, Faith Manages.

Set shortly after John Sheridan and his wife Delenn departed the Babylon 5 space station in Babylon 5‘s final season, The Road Home sends Sheridan on a strange journey. Exposure to the tachyons in an experimental power plant displaces Sheridan in time and space, sending him careening across the multiverse. While this is annoying and painful to Sheridan, the journey could have dire consequences for multiple universes even if he survives to return home.

The big question on fans’ minds is what connection Babylon 5: The Road Home has to the long-delayed reboot of the original series. Without giving away everything, the movie is simultaneously a tribute to the original series and a fresh start for the characters and core concept in an alternate universe. Comparisons to the 2009 Star Trek movie are inevitable, but the story of Babylon 5: The Road Home is far less convoluted and does a better job of honoring the source material.

It might be the starting point for a new series. It could also establish a way for the show to continue with the original actors in animation. To quote Zathras (who makes his grand return in this movie) “Do not know, so can not say.”

The other big question on Babylon 5 fans’ minds regarding The Road Home is how the characters and cast function in animation. Many of the original cast have passed on, but every character is voiced by the original actor where possible with one exception. (Ranger Marcus Cole is not voiced by Jason Carter, but he only speaks briefly in one flashback.) For the most part, they serve admirably.

J.Michael Straczynski stated (in the commentary for The Road Home) that the characters were not recast based on the voice actors’ ability to impersonate the deceased actors. This is most obvious in the case of G’Kar, who sounds different than Andreas Katsulas but is given the same sense of gravitas by Andrew Morgado. Most of the new cast, however, do manage to sound like the original cast. This is especially true of Phil LaMarr as Dr. Franklin, Rebecca Riedy as Delenn and Paul Guyet as Zathras and Zathras.

Bruce Boxleitner anchors the movie as John Sheridan and doesn’t sound a day older than when the original series was released. Claudia Christian steals the show as three variant versions of Ivanova, which is not surprising given her experience in voice acting since the show ended. Peter Jurasik, Bill Mumy and Patricia Tallman aren’t given as much time as we might like, but deliver solid performances. The only flat note is Tracy Scoggins as Captain Lochley, but I’ve always found her performances lifeless even when she wasn’t sitting in a sound booth somewhere.

The animation overseen by director Matt Peters is fantastic and builds upon the revolutionary computer animation used for the original Babylon 5. The Shadows and their ships have never been so detailed or so terrifying. I would love to see more movies (or perhaps an entire series) in this style.

Regardless of what it leads to, fans of Babylon 5 will appreciate The Road Home for what it is. It is a love letter to the show that was and a blueprint for the series’ future. It is also a surprisingly accessible entry point that spoils little of the original show’s storyline to newcomers.

Babylon 5: The Road Home is now available for digital download and in stores.

FULL DISCLOSURE: KabOOOOOm.com was provided with a free copy of Babylon 5: The Road Home on Blu-Ray for the purposes of this review. However, our management is firmly in support of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes and hopes that Warner Bros. Discovery will start offering their creators a fair and reasonable wage with benefits.