This is actually more of an editorial than a review. I had been looking forward to the Crusade DVD for two reasons. For one, I originally had a pretty harsh opinion of the series, which I expressed on this site before it even aired and which the first-aired episodes did little to dissuade me from. By the end of the run, though, I was seeing a few things I liked, and I was looking forward to reacquainting myself with the show and trying to get a new appreciation for it. And I admit I was also hoping to gain a little clarity and detail on the troubled history of the show and the disputes with TNT that ultimately led to its early demise. Indeed, at an appearance in New Jersey earlier this year, J. Michael Straczynski said that his condition for participating in the DVD set was that he have the chance to put his story out there.

So it was a little odd when I watched the two documentary featurettes and listened to Straczynski's commentary on Racing the Night and heard barely a word about those behind the scenes details. And it seemed like there were more silences in the commentary than I was used to. Someone else was equally puzzled and posted a message on Usenet asking Straczynski if his comments had been edited out, to which Straczynski replied:

Yes, that's exactly what happened.

I sat down to watch the DVD set yesterday, having picked it up at the local store, and went to the commentary. I'd put that information at the very start of my commentary.

Now, understand: what I'd told WB was this....if you want me to do the commentary, my requirement is that you let me tell what really happened. If you want to use the commentary, you have to leave that in. If you don't want to have that in, then don't use the commentary at all. Everybody agreed.

So I started it up...listened...and it was gone.

In its place is a segment taken from the on-camera interview.

This was the one tape they didn't send me for approval, which being busy I didn't track back, but I was always told there wasn't a problem. At no time did ANYONE from WB or New Wave Entertainment tell me that this was being done.

Doing these DVDs was the only way I had to date to get the bad taste of that experience out of my mouth, the sheer dishonesty and rudeness of it all.

So much for that goal.

The term "furious" doesn't even begin to cover it. I'm normally a very quiet, soft spoken kind of guy. But last night I broke the sound barrier and the dictionary all at the same time. Furious. You have no idea.

Well, that washed all my enthusiasm for the set right out. Now, don't get me wrong - I can completely understand why someone at Warner Brothers might not want Straczynski sharing the story he did at that New Jersey appearance with the DVD audience. (The resource site JMSNews.com has provided a transcript of that appearance, so you can go read the story there.) Ultimately, it's hearsay and it's one person's side of things. But if you're really concerned about that, the best solution is to do a really comprehensive documentary that would try to get the perspective of the TNT executives, and even try to do some fact checking in order to try and put a truly informative picture before the fans. If you're not willing to go to that effort and you don't want to let Straczynski make his comments, you thank him for his interest and you leave his commentary and interview footage on the cutting room floor.

What you do not do is tell him that you agree to his terms and then go behind his back to change the nature and context of his words, all the while using his participation as a promotional point.

Now, this set seems like it was much less of a priority than the Babylon 5 sets - there's no opening animation, the menus are much sparer, and there are fewer special features. The episodes are shown in their original 4x3 aspect ratio because no network ever paid for widescreen masters to be made, as Sci Fi did for Babylon 5. (There are some who do think this is a selling point, as they were unhappy with the cropping involved in those widescreen masters.) But under normal circumstances there would be a good deal to recommend the set. It has the last appearance by Richard Biggs as Stephen Franklin, in the series' final episode Each Night I Dream of Home - an episode that I do think stands up there with a lot of quality Babylon 5 stories. It has an amusing cast and crew commentary on The Well of Forever with writer Fiona Avery, director Janet Greek, and actors Carrie Dobro and Peter Woodward, whose Galen character has become something of a fan favorite. It has Straczynski making some honest self-criticisms about some of the CGI and the writing of Racing the Night. It has two featurettes with some interesting information about the design of the show, although there's not a whole lot of detail and some key members of the cast and crew didn't participate. If the latest rumors are true and there are plans to revisit this storyline in a theatrical film, then this set could have been - and should have been - an excellent way to whet our appetites.

But instead, it represents an act of flagrant dishonesty. And no matter how you slice it, that reeks.

Reviewed by Dave Thomer
theLogBook.com Assistant Editor