Battlestar Galactica

When George Lucas announced that he was to make the Star Wars prequels I had this preconception of a darker, better acted, and more more grown up version of the movies that were made in the late seventies - early eighties. Instead we got a bunch of kids movies, littered with some of the most terrible cinematic decisions ever put on celluloid.

And then the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica came along, which I must add, I watched from start to finish only after the show had made it's debut on mainstream television.

I was initially sceptical of whether this would be any good, but after having reached the finale I can honestly say that this is quite simply the best sci-fi show ever made. The scripts are top notch, the acting superb with a real heart and soul, and characters that, even with their faults, will be remembered with great affection by the viewers for many years to come.

This is the template for all future TV shows. I't does not overstay it's welcome, knows when to stop, and constantly delivers fresh, new ideas as the seasons progress.

Series 1 was a great introduction; series 2 built on the initial success and delivered some of the shows highlights; season 3 was awesome for the first half (until the writers strike kicked in just after half way - but still highly entertaining); and season 4 put the icing on the cake with what I consider to be a tremendous and satisfying end to this great series.

The only downside was that I wished it could have continued, but I guess it is better to exit on a high and leave the crowd wanting more.

For me this has stripped Star Wars of it's crown and raised the bar where although it may one day be equalled, will never be bettered.

Awesome

I watched this when it first aired in the 2000s, having enjoyed the short-lived 70s original, in simpler times, and I have just binge watched it again. For me, it was better the second time around. Perhaps that says something about me, twenty years later, but this show is definitely a better watch without the weekly wait.

I remember being glad that it was done after four seasons and that it was time to end it, but that was not quite how I felt the second time around. I do think that this length for the show was about right, but I wasn't fed-up with it by the time it got there this time around.

Some of the episodes are a bit dull and the series generally is bleak (even if for good reason), which on a weekly basis can make that harder to go on with, and be entertained by (that is the point, right?), but being able to move straight on to the next episode can negate that sense of disappointment or dismay from dull or especially bleak episodes. The binge-watching, and the ability to move straight on to the next episode, improved the experience for me from the first time around.

There are still things that irk. Without giving too much away, the use of characters and places that existed only in someone's head, that no one else could see (with the odd exception), started with one character and then got spread to being (over)used for others.

For Cylons, the explanation that they had the ability to project such things inside their minds, as some advanced form of daydreaming, might have been acceptable in itself, but for the fact that this started and occurred regularly throughout the run, with a human. It was then used with other humans at certain points, and was relied upon way too much for storytelling.

The main character, that this (projecting) is regularly used with, could only have been insane for this to happen. It was surely a manifestation of their mental illness. Although this was to some degree left open to other more mystical explanations, I never accepted that this was down to anything other than their own insanity, even with the epilogue trying to tell me otherwise. To then have some other human character use this 'projection', if for different reasons, I didn't like nor buy into. It just became an overused way of telling the story that took away from why it was used in the first place - which was because of the monumental guilt of one character, over their actions, and their resulting mental instability. This was also to enable the regular appearance of another character who could not otherwise be physically present. On the plus side, it does occasionally give rise to some wry humour.

I did not buy into any of the mysticism of the show, nor that a major character died and then returned from the dead without any rational explanation, or really with any kind of explanation whatsoever. Some strange events here were NOT left open to interpretation as being something that could have had either a rational OR a mystical explanation, which you could then choose to believe whichever way you prefer. Given where the show ends up, I felt that this was a terrible, divisive choice, that clashes the mystical with reality. It was used to paper over the killing of a character and subsequently bringing them back alive (?) without any adequate level of explanation, of any kind. At least it didn't happen in a shower and mean disregarding some past episodes, so it wasn't quite that bad, but still...

This is essentially why I cannot give the show higher marks and I have been unsure of a 7 or 8 out of 10, but did decide on an 8 as more befitting than a 7.

This version took the 70s original, kept the titular ship and its "Vipers", some of the main characters, albeit changing some of their names to callsigns, upgraded them and the Cylons and, despite the reservations and misgivings above, made it more realistic in terms of storyline and its characters. It deliberately made it bleaker than the original, perhaps too much so at times, but that would have been more in keeping with the situation that the human race found itself in, than the somewhat unphased, upbeat 70s version and its fully episodic format.

The characters had flaws, made mistakes, sometimes monstrously big mistakes, and they were certainly more rounded than the original ones (who were too thin as characters by the time we got to 1980, let alone the 2020s). This time they had the character depth demanded by a 21st century audience, to be able to survive as a show at all and outlast the original.

And what to do with crimes and other mistakes by these characters, when you have such a limited number of survivors and people who were able to take over roles. This makes for interesting plot choices and levels of forgiveness.

It was also extremely well acted, from the top down, which also says a lot about the writing that enabled that.

I had been unsure as to whether I wanted to watch this again, given how I felt about it the first time, but I'm glad I did. It still stands up 20 years later in terms of SFX and storytelling and acting, and outshines all too many of the more recent sci-fi shows that have come in its wake.

Having watched the original series as a child I put off watching this for some time expecting it to be a virtual remake but with CGI and characters who had been gender switched for no obvious reason... I'm glad I eventually decided to watch it though as I could not have been more wrong! This is nothing like the light hearted original that I loved as a child; series creator Ronald D. Moore has taken the original premise and made something much darker and much more grown up. As with the original the series starts with the destruction of the Twelve Colonies where humanity has settled and the survivors head off into space in search of the mythical thirteenth colony; Earth. Here the similarities end though; the Cylons that destroyed the colonies weren't crated by aliens; they were created by humanity and rebelled against their masters. As well as the familiar Centurions we soon learn that there are some Cylons that can't be distinguished from people and some of those don't even realise they are Cylons. As humanity flees they will have to struggle against both Cylons and themselves if they are to survive and find their new home.

I really enjoyed this series; the story may have been familiar but the characters were much deeper than in the version I saw as a child and there wasn't the feeling that if a character was a regular they would inevitably survive; in fact many major characters die including some that manage to survive for several seasons. The cast did a fantastic job; most notably Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katie Sackhoff, Grace Park, Jamie Bamber, Michael Hogan, Tricia Helfer and James Callis... and even listing this many stand out performances seems unfair on the rest as just about everybody was great! Fans of the original series will be pleased to see Richard 'Apollo' Hatch return; this time his character, Tom Zarek, is far from heroic. I don't usually think to comment on the music for a series but here I must as composer Bear McCreary did such a fine job and later on some of the music is actually integral to the plot. As with all series there are some weaker episodes but even the poor Galactica episodes are better than much of what is on television. When the series finished I was left wanting more but all the key story threads had been tied up and it was good that it ended while it was still good rather than overstaying its welcome. If you haven't seen this series yet I strongly recommend it; just remember to watch the miniseries before series one as that sets up the whole story.

This is a cult classic, that I believe everyone should watch. I was in the middle of the third season when GoT final season aired, and I couldn't put this down long enough to watch GoT!

It's intense, deeply philosophical, and felt like something I was willing to commit more energy into than into any relationship I've had, ever! (While that says a thing or two about me, it definitely says A LOT about this series)

I watched regularly the original Battlestar Galactica and I liked it when I was a teen, but it was not one of my favorites. Nevertheless I didn't like the idea of a remake, in general I don't like the idea of remake at all, it's typical of Hollywood to be willing to film something again, to adapt it to current taste, or moral. But why do you have to do it? Would be like re-writing Moby Dick every 20 years to adapt it to changes of the readers. It's ridiculous, be imaginative and film something new.

So, I watched the first episode of this new Battlestar Galattica with more than prejudice, I was pretty sure I would have not liked it. I actually watched the making of, before to watch the very first episode, and I listen to the producer Ronald Moore and I didn't like him either, I thought he was phony.

That's why while I was watching the first two episodes (the pilot), I found myself with mouth open thinking... Gawd... He just know how to write. He really does.

It's not without flaws, of course, as life is... But Ronald Moore just really know his job; this new Battlestar Galactica is terrific. The stories are so well written, few of the actors are unbelievable. Edward James Olmos is gorgeous. And all the cast is extremely good.

Let me just spend a word for Starbuck, maybe Katee Sackhoff is a kid, but she's obviously talented, and she just fit the role like a glove.

The casting is terrific, the stories are... The acting is...

You will just forgive what you will not like, because, overall, this is a terrific show.