BSG
 

Allow me to be the first to post my thoughts on the first installment of BattleStar Galactica.

As a fan from it's short TV run, I saw every episode. Twice.
This one was not worth all the hype, but it wasn't bad. The writers added a LOT of drama, especially between Apollo and Adama. Some was nice, like the Cylon history and the peek at Caprica before the Cylon attack.

The special effects are first-rate. I like what they've done to the Vipers and shuttles and other ships so far. Much more realistic-ish. The Cylons are something of a disappointment IMO. I think I preferred the old chromed humanoid thingies.
We do not see much of them in pt 1. Maybe in pt 2 there will be more.

I will post a more complete review tomorrow or Wednesday after I've seen the whole thing.

Brian

From the perspective of someone who has only seen one episode of the original, it was pretty good. Of course, it may or may not be Battlestar Galactica, but as a Sci-Fi Original Movie, it was somewhat well thought out and cool.

Against my better judgement, I sat up and watched the whole Tivo'ed episode. (This followed The Simple Life, which my wife now blames me for getting her hooked on. :cool: )

I thought it was OK.. could have potential either way. (I don't know if this is just a miniseries, or if they're hawking it as a possible series.) Of course making the Cylons human gives them a good chance to show some sex! :doit: All the lines of conflict are clearly drawn, so clearly, in fact that it may become predictable if they're not careful. (Adama Sr. vs. Adama Jr., the advocates of low-tech vs. high tech, the President ("a schoolteacher") vs. the Military, the young, eager, brash Lt. Starbuck vs. the old-school spit & polish Col. Tigh, etc. etc. etc.)

One thing I did notice is that the famous back-and-forth scanning red lights from the Cylons in the original series showed up on the Cylon fighters--could these in fact be actual Cyclon robots, rather than ships with robots inside as in the original?

I thought it was moderately cool having the models from the first series in a museum.

All things considered, worth watching, and I'll check out the second part. But If we're going to do early 80s sci-fi TV nostalgia, I'd just as soon have Buck Rogers in the 25th Century back.

That was the implication - one of the Viper pilods mentioned that there was no cockpit.

I was so saddened by Sci-Fi's manhandling of the first two Dune books that I didn't have the heart to watch BSG.

I was also disappointed by Taken - it had such a strong start and just sort of petered off. Not to mention focusing the last few episodes on that annoying and ugly agent chick. And the wishy washy ending.

So is it cool enough to risk another disappointment?

My bad, must have missed that one.

These sci-fi channel things seem to have a sort of pattern to them. Maybe if you react violently to one, you'll react violently to all of them? You might be pleasantly surprised if you check it out. But your life is unlikely to be diminished if you don't.

As far as a pilot for a series, it as pretty cool. Probably one of the best sci-fi pilots I've seen. (And I did enjoy part 2 last night.) Like I said, if you came in with memories of the original, you may have some problems with it - I wouldn't know.

To help you judge how much to trust my opinion:
Dune 1/2: Read the books long ago. Liked the movies OK.
Riverworld: Never read the book, movie was pretty dumb.
Taken: Can't stand their alien abduction "reality" shows, and the connection made me avoid this one.

I'm sure there were more, but I don't remember.

Dune and Riverworld had a similar feel to them, that they were sort of mechanically acting out the script. No mood to them. Battlestar Galactica had an engaging mood. If they get a chance to grow into their roles, it could make a pretty good series.

finished review
 

Okay. Now that I've seen all the series, I can comment better.

The feminization of BSG is too much. Starbuck doesn't work as a woman. Especially a cigar smoking one. It just seems strange to see such masculine behaviour coming from a (cute, non lesbian) chick. And the agression is out of place too.

I can live with the Cylons looking human now...it allows for more plot twists. The new mechanical ones are okay, but I liked the chrome ones better.

The storyline was a bit more complex than I expected, and pleasantly so. I could still follow it's multiple storylines and they were mostly wrapped up by the end. No cliffhangers.
But I thought the Cdr Adama/Capt. Adama was overdone. Too much drama there. And don't get me started on Baltar. That has GOT to go! Where is the old traitorous coward that I know and love?

The special effects are very good...the Vipers and other spacecraft are more realistic (as much as fictional things can be realistic). I like the extensive use of missiles over lasers in the battle scenes...makes more sense to me.

I wish I could have seen more of the Cylons though. Only two partial peeks at their base and nearly none at all of them (other than the humanoid ones). I kinda liked the scenes of the Cylon Leader (or Baltar) sitting up high in an otherwise empty room, spinning the chair around to face the Cylon before them and making decisions like that on the basis of ONE report. Tickled my funny bone it did.

All in all, a good miniseries. Remains to be seen if they can continue the level of sophistication in a weekly series. But I can hope, can't I?

Brian

And we do indeed now have the complete Buck Rogers in the 25th Century TV series on DVD. I'm not about to watch the whole thing, but I did get the first 2 disks from Netflix because I did want to see it again a bit.

It's not the most fabulous DVD but it's all there--the cheesy dialogue, the unimaginative plot line, the special effects which would look fabulous to anybody who didn't see Star Wars, and just not quite right to somebody who had.

Oh and of course last but certainly not least, Erin Gray. :love:

There were a couple of episodes I missed of Buck Rogers, but I really think that there would be more value in a collector's set of Lost in Space.

(I have the newly released three box set of Original Star Trek.)

I do remember the series intro with her in that spandex flight suit

http://members.aol.com/sadalsud/blondewilma.jpg


of course Pamela Hensley made an impression

http://rockolamusic.com.ar/series/PamelaHensley.jpg


and how Erin Gray looks today -

http://www.doerfler-germany.de/fedco...1_02a_erin.jpg

Speaking of clothing, I just want to mention that the Galactica uniform jackets were the coolest sci-fi uniforms worn by humans. I still remember one Trek movie where dress uniforms actually resembled knee length dresses! :vomit:

I agree, and I feel that I should state here, openly and honestly, that I am a lovely shade of green due to a sudden spate of envy regarding your ST-TOS box set.

Impulse buy from amazon. Found out about the first set's release, and preordered all the other ones.

Damn that one-click pre-release ordering!

Erin Grey.. she was so hot..

loved the first BSG didn't see the second one yet (my brother has it on tape) although the series I miss most from sci-fi is/was Farscape.. great concept good story and all around well done! (and don't get me started on the plus or minus side of sc-fi movies/tv unless you want to start another thread :) )

I've seen the new series through episode 8. I like it.

One of the best touches was how they go back to the old school vipers when the new tech is too susceptible to the cylons.

One of the worst touches is too much sex, as bizarre as that may seem coming from a man's mouth.

The space battles are first rate. Almost as good as anime. If the series lasts it has the potential to be very good.