Battlestar Galactica

Viewers either love this programme, or else they completely hate it. It seems there's no middle ground.

This incarnation does deviate from the standard format of BattleStar Galactica -- and indeed, from every single episode of every series produced in the 80s by Glen A Larson. The first scene has one of the leading roles played by a woman, the source of about half the griping. Apparently, women aren't supposed to be tough, nor fully-dressed, in space.

Also, no one's perfect. It's hard to faithfully jump in and worship the 2-3 main characters, like we're used to doing as children. Back then, the main characters flashed their CHiPs smiles, fired their blasters from the hip and got all the girls, even if they were blue. The main characters saved the day, reliably and on time, each and every week. By comparison, the characters in this series are barely keeping themselves together and obviously suffering from their environment, let alone trotting out the whitened smiles for the final chuckle at the 44th minute freeze-frame. The characters in this series, faithful to the style of modern scifi series like FireFly, are as realistic, as flawed and ultimately as believable as it gets, warts and all. The stories are generally well-written, well-acted and consistently cruel to the characters we want so dearly to like.

Be forewarned: This new BattleStar Galactica requires thought and some attention to detail. It's not metal chewing gum, and it doesn't suck up to the audience nor offer the safe and predictably mindless entertainment we're used to seeing in a space opera. But if you can stand occasionally hating your heroes, and if saccharine leaves a taste in your mouth, then you may just become a fan.

I expected very little of this Sci-Fi Channel miniseries, for I adored the original so much, but to my pleasant surprise this production is excellent. It doesn't fall back on genre-typical styles of film-making as we have seen repeatedly in Star Trek or other television dramas. The editing is wonderful, the directing is above par, and the acting is quite convincing. I am especially pleased with the performance of Mary McDonnell as the president of the colonies. Her portrayal is that of an ordinary human being thrust into power by extraordinary circumstances. She doesn't overplay her strength and she doesn't fall back on 'exaggerated feminine emotionality' as so many female leaders seem to do in other shows. The quality of her performance is also seen in the other actors, who are allowed the screen time to show us their personalities, rather than simply deliver trite one-liners.

CG-wise, Battlestar Galactica was beyond excellent. Lighting in space is harsh and I was pleased to see that the producers didn't soften it just to make the ships look more romantic. External scenes were used to tell the story and not gratuitously. I was left wanting more every time.

Excellent show.

After Firefly was aborted in 2003, I lost interest in investing in "fringe" TV... At any time, loved characters could be axed and heartfelt universes unwritten...

So when BSG was released, I didn't even bother to watch and assumed that it would be canned after a couple of episodes.

When a third year was confirmed, however, I changed my mind and decided to start to watch it.

It was 2005 when I first saw Adama walk down the corridor and decry all networked computers. And I loved it.

Now, 13 years later I am rewatching it...

13 years.

Imagine that. That is the difference between 1987 and 2000...

That is the difference between: Superman IV The Quest For Peace, Inner Space, Masters of the the Universe, Predator and The Running Man

VS

The Matrix (Japan Release) Existenz and the X-Men.

13 years is a LONG TIME in terms of Sci Fi...

And yet, 13 years later, I'm rewatching Battlestar Galactica.

When I first watched it back in the day, I was unmarried, did not own a home and had no children... Now, I'm married, have two beautiful children and own an apartment.

Yet watching it today, it's as fresh and vibrant as it was all the way back then.

Moreover, I still view this as one of the finest pieces of "hard" science fiction ever aired. The science, the characterisations, the situations, the politics, the religious commentary, the ramifications of hubris and the sheer edge of seat drama is absolutely spot on.

13 years later and in an age where science fiction and fantasy are mainstream now, and are as acceptable as a crime and comedy, but still this story takes no prisoners.

Recently, The 100, Killjoys, Altered Carbon, Star Trek Discovery and the closest yet, of course, The Expanse, have all shown their mettle and revealed appealing dystopias or post apocalyptic charms, but at the end of the day, only one show has really covered all bases so satisfactorily...

Battlestar Galactica.

Besides saying that I really liked the re-imagining of Galactica, I just wanted to point out the madness in one of the recurring complaints I've noticed among fans *and* nay-sayers of BSG2003. I read a lot of people saying "the new one doesn't have the humour of the original" or "it takes itself so seriously, the characters are too serious," or things to that effect.

I'm just wondering... how funny do you expect a nuclear holocaust to be?? I mean, writers of fiction are hoping that you can suspend your disbelief and try for a moment to imagine that what you are seeing is real, or could be real. So imagine for a moment, if you can, that you live in NYC and you just heard on the news that H-bombs have started falling from the sky in LA, and they're coming down in waves, west-to-east, and humanity is being utterly wiped out. Millions of people-- men, women and children, perhaps members of your own family, are dying in terror. Are you *really* going to be cracking jokes? Imagine that the human race is quickly being massacred, only a few hundred are managing to escape-- a tiny fraction of what civilization was, and you aren't sure if you're going to survive into tomorrow. Just how much humour is going to be in the air, mixing with the fallout and all? Even before the bombs start falling, all of the "overly serious" characters seem to me to have pretty good reasons... Adama's ship is being turned into a museum, effectively ending a major chapter in his military career (which is his life), Apollo's having to face his father, whom he blames for his brother's death, Teague is a drunk (they're not often the cheeriest people), Lauren's just been diagnosed with terminal cancer... you expect these people to be making with the ha-ha?

The character I did find funniest was Starbuck. Be it because she was a little 'crazy' or because she had the least on her shoulders (besides her boyfriend dying 2 years ago because of a decision she made... hm, may explain the 'crazy' a little, y'think?) to spoil her mood, and what do people say about Starbuck? "She was too crazy." There really *is* no pleasing some people.

Arguing that the characters in a story that depicts the extermination of said characters' species are "too serious" is... well, it only shows that you either can't do what the writers would like you to do-- and imagine yourself as a part of this world-- or that you can, but you're a suicidal sociopath.

I thought the miniseries was excellent; the re-worked premise made for a more textured story, the characters actually had some depth this time around, and were well-played by actors who obviously tried to 'get' some of the nuances of their characters and could take a serious situation (however imaginary) seriously. And I loved the special effects, too.

So with all due respect, the puritans who prefer the shallow, campy 70's series with its recycled fx footage, its 2-dimensional characters and it's plot that provides little context or background, can stick their complaints in their old pipes and smoke 'em.

Most reboots are terrible and this is a brilliant exception. They took what was good about the original series, which I grew up watching and loving, threw away the camp, and built up a beautiful use of new technology and sensibilities around it. Most of the cast are top notch and the storyline is smart and generally compelling. There are stumbles along the way but this is a solid series from beginning to end that bears rewatching.