Battlestar Galactica: Razor

The film presents an episode of the battle against the Cylons seen through the eyes of the first aide of loony admiral Cain. It has all the good things which got me hooked to Galactica in the first place: edgy characters, dark plot, lots of space action and military strategy, twists of fate. A few more women characters that I would have liked, none of Gaius Baltar, which in my personal opinion is at least a third of the show, but still a heck of a movie, closer to the high powered first season of Battlestar Galactica than to the new philosophical/religious last season.

Bottom line: It was hard to delay watching it until the start of the fourth season of the show, but it was all worth it.

This is a great episode of galactica that sits outside the main plot to the fill some gaps for avid fans. However after seeing this in the DVD store its obviously being packaged as a standalone movie to which it doesn't stay true. Straight off the boat there are specific references to moments you'll barely remember as an avid fan. I tried to introduce my friend to galactica with this episode and we gave up after 2 minutes. Its used as a mechanism to introduce new characters for the next series and show their role in the pegasus plot tree. Even as an avid fun up for a good episode I would recommend some revision of the previous series beforehand.

I'm re-watching the entire series on BBC Iplayer and really enjoying the series. Razor part one and two are listed as the first two episodes of season 4 by the BBC and it is exactly right. They sit perfectly in the series and I do not understand why these two episodes are not listed within the main BattleStar Galactica pages on here. For me it was a fantastic start to series 4, which I didn't see first time round, and then series 4 got even better when I saw episode 3, 'He That Believeth In Me'. A great two part story as part of series 4, and we get to see how the Pegasus stories that horrified us when only talked about during dialogue in the the proper series.

Plot:

A two-hour Battlestar Galactica special that tells the story of the Battlestar Pegasus several months prior to it finding the Galactica.

My Review:

With the recent news the possibly one of the most brilliant Science Fiction shows coming to its conclusion, producer Ronald D. Moore felt he owed Battlestar fans to a 2 hours short of a commemoration to the show in between Seasons 3 and 4, and with it he gives us the Battlestar Pegasus' history.

One can only construe that with the show ending on Moore's terms he does have the resources and realistic approach to make his ideas work. Albeit there will be no sixth or seventh season, he gives us a episodic filler that shows us the short spent life of a Pegasus office named Kendra Shaw (Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen). Our focus encompasses her trial and tribulations associated with a unknown character. She passes the role of being likable in all aspects, even her darkest hours ascertain her character flaws but her hard-headed realist approach to a situation, even if it crosses a line.

For some it may be an uninteresting stop gap to fill in the void of the shows extended break, however it does remarkably well in providing some amazing visual treats. It gives us a crews account of tragic events as well as some character history, new and old faces reprise themselves with the same façade.

Whilst the story unfolds, we see flashbacks of Kendra's time on Pegasus during the chronological Season 2 episodes which the film is set and suggests that it took place during that time, while it flashbacks to her time under the command of Admiral Cain (Michelle Forbes); whom proves that she can smile. The contrasting hard decisions she makes and if or not to follow her Admiral. We are also treated to a flashback of Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos) of which gets the shock treatment with a younger actor who portrays him right down to the voice and mannerisms. A revelation ensues the flashback, in which we are given a rather disturbing insight into 'those skin-jobs'.

We are given a trip down in the melancholy road, visually; as we get to see the classic Cylon and Cylon raiders that were ever-present in the 70's version, that fit the modern re-imagining as they were constantly mentioned throughout the series as have being been in first war 40 years prior to the current Cylon war. They are given a reboot with the same familiar charisma, even for a machine as old catch phrases make a reprisal.

Some may suggest and argue that it was never logical idea to make this 2 hour special; as it really only keeps the fans on edge before the fourth and final Season returns. Nevertheless, us fan boys, and girls, need something to take the heat off.

Verdict:

Filler; but a very good one, emotionally and visually enthralling as it keeps in tune with the series and keeps it fresh and fun. 8.5/10.

To be able to help people that are trying to understand what Razor is and what is not, I decided to write a humble review. Lets start with what it is. Razor is a science-fiction movie that is tightly connected to the series Battlestar Galactica. Therefore, if you don't know the series, it is very unlikely that you can enjoy Razor. The character development part for the characters that are in the series are skipped and we see character development for only three people (Helena Cain, Kendra Shaw, Number Six). As a matter of fact, without knowing events and characters in the series, it is not easy to follow this movie. You can think Razor as a long episode after season three. Now let me briefly talk about what it is not. It is not a must to view before season four. The story of Razor is somehow independent from what is going on in the series and if you don't know it, you can still follow what is going on. As a movie, Razor is not more advanced that the series in terms of CGI. I found it a bit awkward since movies are supposed to have a bigger budget. I didn't find the story very interesting either. The main characters are portrait as extreme females. This is not something we are used to I guess. Also, I can't skip the accent of Stephanie Jacobsen. She really needs to do something about it. Anyways, if you want to watch Razor, do it after season three, not before that. And if you don't know the series, I don't think you can enjoy it.