Galactica: La bataille de l'espace

After many years of war, the humans from the Twelve Colonies are near to celebrate an armistice with the evil Cylon. Out of the blue, the Cylons betray the pact and destroy the Colonies and the entire fleet except the Battlestar Galactica. Commander Adama (Lorne Greene) summons the survivors from the Colonies to follow him in a journey to the planet Earth. However they are short of water, supplies and fuel and they head to the planet Carillon to replenish the fleet and get the supplies. Adama's son, the warrior Captain Apollo (Richard Hatch), and his partners Lieutenants Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) and Boomer (Herbert Jefferson Jr.) destroy the mines left by the Cylons and they reach the planet. They are welcomed by the inhabitants and find the paradise. Meanwhile the human leader Sire Uri (Ray Milland) wants to destroy their arms and live in the Cylon Empire despite the contempt of Adama. Sire Uri decides to give medals to Apollo, Starbuck and Boomer for their bravery on Carillon and invites the warriors to come to the party. However Adama believes that it is a trap for the Galactica. What can he do?

"Battlestar Galactica" is a cult sci-fi for people of my generation. I was one of the big fans of the movie and the series in the 70's and 80's, and it was delightful to see this movie again, indeed a travel in time. It is impressive that almost forty years later, the special effects and sets of the Galactica are still great. Impressive how beautiful Jane Seymor is in this film. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Galactica: Astronave de Combate" ("Battlestar Galactica")

I quite enjoyed this film, so at first it may seem strange that I only gave it 5 stars, but there is an explanation for that. The story is original and intriguing, and the special effects are good with great model work and vector based computer graphics. You get more than two hours of worth while space adventure, but there are a couple of things that makes me to deduct a star or two. Many of the special effects scenes, while gorgeous, are reused more than once in the film, which is sometimes a bit of a distraction. Especially a couple of times where whats taking place in the story does not match the reused effects scene. Also, as this is essentially a TV-show tie-in, the movie ends somewhat abrupt leaving a bit of an empty feeling if you do not plan on watching the show. It can definitely be watched on its own though, and it is possible to look past the things i mentioned here, but my rating here has to be fair and comparable to other movies in the genre. The obvious comparison is Star Wars which came out the year before, and Battlestar Galactica the movie is definitely not near that level overall.

I would recommend any sci-fi fan to watch Battlestar Galactica.

President Adar with his counsel Count Baltar (John Colicos) are with the fleet preparing to sign a peace treaty with the Cylon Alliance. Captain Apollo (Richard Hatch) is out on patrol with his green younger brother Zac in place of Lieutenant Starbuck (Dirk Benedict). They are ambushed by Cylon fighters. With signals jammed and treacherous advise from the traitor Baltar, the President orders the fleet to stand down. Commander Adama (Lorne Greene) nevertheless orders a battle drill. When the fleet is attacked, his Battlestar Galactica is the sole survivor. Meanwhile, the twelve colonies are devastated by a Cylon sneak attack. Adama gathers a fleet of survivors to journey to the legendary thirteenth colony Earth of unknown location.

Coming one year after Star Wars, there were some complaints of copying and even a lawsuit or two. This is certainly inferior to Star Wars and there are elements copied from the movie. However, it's also undeniable this is one of the best TV sci-fi series of that era. It's also not a complete copy. There are plenty of compelling original ideas such as the twelve colonies, the designs from the spacecrafts to the Egyptian-like helmets, and also the music. Some of it seems cheesy compared to modern TV. The writing can be melodramatic but it must be compared to writing during that time. The Battlestar Galactica series is an important sign post for the sci-fi genre on TV despite its later deterioration. This pilot movie is a great setup for that series.

The early episodes of the short-lived series were adapted into this feature film, which tells, in capable style, of people living in the distant future. They are at war with mechanical villains called the Cylons, who renege on a supposed deal for peace. Many of the humans' military forces and colonized planets are decimated, with one Battlestar remaining: the Galactica. It's up to the intrepid Commander Adama (Lorne Greene) and his troops to relocate all the survivors - if they can find any place suitable.

Apparently axed by ABC because it was, at the time, very expensive to produce, there certainly was some potential in the character-building and world-building done here. Clearly, this series was borne out of inspiration from "Star Wars", but it's reasonably interesting and pretty entertaining on its own terms. It benefits from a highly engaging cast: Richard Hatch as Apollo, Dirk Benedict as Starbuck, Herbert Jefferson Jr. as Boomer, Maren Jensen as Athena, Tony Swartz as Jolly, Noah Hathaway as Boxey, and Terry Carter as Colonel Tigh, with a variety of familiar faces in guest star roles. Of these performers, Ray Milland was a particular favourite for this viewer because he's clearly having some fun playing a slimy opportunist.

Decent production values and action sequences help to keep "Battlestar Galactica" quite watchable, as well as a fair amount of humour (Starbuck likes to gamble, and develops an interest in an otherworldly musical act). It does get mildly precious when it creates a robotic "daggit" (or dog) on which Boxey can dote, but at least this particular character doesn't get *that* much screen time.

The Cylons are pretty cool villains, icy and remote and answering to an insidious being called The Imperious Leader (voiced by an uncredited Patrick Macnee). They do provide the right amount of menace. Producer John Dykstra continued here to utilize the same sort of special effects technology that he pioneered on "Star Wars"; the effects are variable, but effective overall.

The theme music by Stu Phillips is rousing enough to ensure a good time, and the story is, overall, enjoyable enough for this viewer to want to give the series a look.

As everybody knows, this was followed by an updated TV series (and TV movies) in the early 21st century.

Seven out of 10.

As remembering 'Battlestar' from the viewpoint of a youngster in the late 70s - early 80s, I would give it a 9/10.

Viewing 'Battlestar' from the viewpoint of a near 30 male in the year 2000, I give it 7/10. (I have all 24 episodes on tape)

The special effects were near the late 70's level of "Star Wars", and that is truly saying something considering this was a made for TV movie / weekly series. Sure, the stories were uneven. However, to put that in perspective, they rode the gambit from the morality plays of Star Trek (TOS) to the character stories of Star Trek (TNG).

The backstory involved the last known group of 'humans'. After they were given a 'Pearl Harbor' job by the alien bad guys and nearly wiped out, they went in search of a long lost colony. This colony was located on a planet called 'Earth'.

This was really a revolutionary show. It took the best 'good vs evil' elements of Star Wars and combined them with the 'every show is a lesson' elements of Star Trek (TOS). If you weren't contemplating the human nature element of the story, you were involved in the characters.

Unfortunately, you were rarely concerned about both of those within the same episode. In my opinion, this is the only major flaw of the series, it was somewhat unbalanced from show to show. This is somewhat understandable from a series that was wrought with network politics and never made it past 25 episodes. Nevertheless, this is a series that would be very much enjoyed by any true sci-fi fan.

If you don't know the history of the show by now... ABC canned it, despite well above average ratings. The brass felt the show was too expensive. What could have been one of the great sci-fi TV series of all time was done after 24 episodes.

I place 'Battlestar' behind only Star Trek (TOS) as the best sci-fi TV series of all time.