Battlestar Galactica Review

Jim Raynor · Post by **Jim Raynor** » 2003-12-08 10:41pm

Oh man, the BSG franchise deserves better than this. Talk of a revival has been going on for YEARS, and this is what we get?

Majin Gojira · Post by **Majin Gojira** » 2003-12-08 10:47pm

I'm trying to figure out what they're doing with space. There are some noise effects, and others are extrodinarily subdued...it's kind of annoying.

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2003-12-08 11:01pm

Meh so far I'm enjoying this a lot more than any of the old BSG episodes I caught.. and my those Cylons certainly are nuke happy.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2003-12-08 11:02pm

I've watched all of 15 minutes and am not disappointed in that I wasn't wrong how bad this was going to suck. Feeling vindicated I will now switch off this drek and forget it ever existed. Next time fuckers make your own show instead ofglomming on to a franchise and hoping that will keep your derivative shitty work afloat.

une · Post by **une** » 2003-12-08 11:03pm

I like it. The show has a very "The Day After" type feel to it, focussing less on the Cylon attack and more on the reactions of the main characters to the attack.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-12-08 11:08pm

Patrick Degan wrote:Hmm... First hour down and the action is flowing like cement.

I think it's another case of shitty writing imparing otherwise good actors. Jamie Bambier who play Apollo is a darn good actor (see A&E's Hornblower for proof) but he's sucking it up just as bad as the rest. And Edward James Olmos is another great actor stuck in bad role.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2003-12-08 11:23pm

Ack...bleh.

I like Olmos for many things but this stuff he sounds almost like a bad Shatner.

And sorry the new Cylon design ships are honestly not as stylish as the old.

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2003-12-08 11:27pm

Like the new Cylon fighters.. I never did get why they had Centurions piloting the raiders in the old series.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-12-08 11:28pm

Ghost Rider wrote:I like Olmos for many things but this stuff he sounds almost like a bad Shatner.

Shitty writing'll do that to the even the best actors.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2003-12-08 11:31pm

When I saw that Ronald Moore was connected to this project, I had a bad feeling and I was right. Definitive proof that Moore is as much a dull, plodding hack as the entire writing corps for TNG and DS9.

Majin Gojira · Post by **Majin Gojira** » 2003-12-08 11:32pm

my position on BSG...remains surprisingly neutral...it could get better, and it could get worse...

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2003-12-08 11:34pm

Stormbringer wrote:
Ghost Rider wrote:I like Olmos for many things but this stuff he sounds almost like a bad Shatner.
Shitty writing'll do that to the even the best actors.

Yeah no kiddin...seriously it's amazing.

Course then again it's too telling of series, when it has good actors but the emotion and feeling you get from the words are the same as sifting through mud.

That and Female Starbuck....is still too manly on my eyes. If not for the breasts...wouldn't be that far off.

Solid Snake · Post by **Solid Snake** » 2003-12-08 11:36pm

What can i say, I like it. :shrugs:

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-12-08 11:38pm

Jeeze, this is the most neutral sci-fi series I've ever seen. All I can say is some good, some bad, overall: just okay...

Kamakazie Sith · Post by **Kamakazie Sith** » 2003-12-08 11:46pm

Stravo wrote:
Kamakazie Sith wrote:
Stravo wrote: Would that include Matrix Revolutions?
Probably not but that still doesn't mean you should not see a movie based off the critics opinions of it.
How about making your own decision by looking at a making of and trailers? I've watched them both and was horrified by what I saw. I don't need to waste 4 hours of my life when the promotional material that is put together expressly for the purpose of making me like it repluses me.

I agree that you should not listen to just the critics, but if you yourself watch the trailers and go "this is going to blow." then the decision is made and people are free to voice their opinions. If the tide of opinions is decidedly negative I think people should think twice. But then again this is TV so its not like you're paying ten bucks to sit in a theater.

In that case I completely agree with you.

Kamakazie Sith · Post by **Kamakazie Sith** » 2003-12-08 11:50pm

Patrick Degan wrote:When I saw that Ronald Moore was connected to this project, I had a bad feeling and I was right. Definitive proof that Moore is as much a dull, plodding hack as the entire writing corps for TNG and DS9.

LOL I almost expected to see B&B or someone along those lines in the credits.

I had a bad feeling when I saw the second sex scene within seconds of the last.

Phil Skayhan · Post by **Phil Skayhan** » 2003-12-08 11:53pm

I liked it. I watched the original faithfully when it was first on (even the 1980 abortion) and this is not a bad adaptation. They handled all the charachters well, with the possible exception of Starbuck. Baltar is especially done well; while not intentionally selling out humanity (for reasons that were never explained in the original), he remains a self-serving weasel. The Cylons are really done well. And special kudos to the director for not being squemish with the baby scene.

The special effects are standard and perhaps the combat scenes had a little too much of the zoom-in effect, but thats a stylistic nitpick.

The only seriouscomplaint I have is the music: "Shades of B5: Crusade" Too much percussion, not enough brass. Even strings would have been nice.
Com' on man, give me some dramatic buid-up!

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2003-12-08 11:54pm

SylasGaunt wrote:Meh so far I'm enjoying this a lot more than any of the old BSG episodes I caught.. and my those Cylons certainly are nuke happy.

I actually find it to be quite enjoyable . . .

If you forgot the fact that this is a remake of a crappy, heavily over-hyped series of the seventies, and turn off your brain, then it's excellent popcorn entertainment, and it makes wonderful MSTing material, insofar as you can see the major plot points lumbering towards you with all the subtlety of a herd of elephants charging towards you on a flat desert savannah, all of whom are suffering from a violent case of explosive diarrhea.

In other words, it's very, very predictable. But it's a fun sort of predictable when you remember that the original tried just as hard to be serious and crashed and burned just as badly.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-12-08 11:56pm

It's not very "fun" at all, in my opinion, since it's a 45-minute plot in a 90-minute execution.

In other words, it's way too slow.

Majin Gojira · Post by **Majin Gojira** » 2003-12-09 12:00am

GrandMasterTerwynn wrote: I actually find it to be quite enjoyable . . .

If you forgot the fact that this is a remake of a crappy, heavily over-hyped series of the seventies, and turn off your brain, then it's excellent popcorn entertainment, and it makes wonderful MSTing material, insofar as you can see the major plot points lumbering towards you with all the subtlety of a herd of elephants charging towards you on a flat desert savannah, all of whom are suffering from a violent case of explosive diarrhea.

Speaking of MiSTy-ing it...I made only one keeper joke in the show:

(Scene, Adama looking at his recently recieved/recovered/restored Family Photo)
"Hey, so THAT's what happened to the Fonz!"
(The rest of the episode I was shouting for Adama to "Jump the Shark!" when he was giving/recieving orders)

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2003-12-09 12:00am

Here's a writing tip: To portray a female chaarcter as "strong" you don't have to make them man like. Fucking hacks.

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2003-12-09 12:01am

This BSG is ok. Nothing special. This first episode reminds me of Midway, in that its taking a while for the action to build.

Highlights: Fixes the stupidity of the beginning of the original, since it replaces the 'lets sit back and the Cylons fire at our ships' with 'oh shit, we've been hacked!'; cool Battlestar and Cylon models.

Lowlights: The Colonials don't know jack about computer security and programming (I'm a programmer - this pisses me off!).

And the rest is decent for your average scifi flick.

Macross · Post by **Macross** » 2003-12-09 12:05am

It should have been a lot better, but this wasnt as bad as I thought it was going to be. The back story and set up with the Cylon War and the Colonies being caught completely unprepared for an attack worked out well. But changing Starbuck and Boomer to females didnt work, they should have just added new characthers or used female characthers from the original.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-12-09 12:08am

Anyone else think it was weird that some characters mentioned participating in the first Cylon War forty years ago, even though many of them are only ~35 at the most?

Or did I just hear some stuff wrong?

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2003-12-09 12:11am

Lets play a little game: how many anti-technology sermons has Hollywood forced upon us this time.