Rating: 
Summary: Ron Moore: Talentless plagiarizing hack.
Review: You know, in spite of all the fan angst over changes to their favorite SciFi show, when I watched this version I actually expected to see something that had some merits. I expected to say, "well that was A science fiction show, but it certainly wasn't Battlestar Galactica." After watching it, and after turning off the TV, I just sat there staring at the blank screen for awhile. Sadly, that was the most entertaining part of the show. That was bad!! Bad, BAD, B A D ! ! Even for Moore, this just plain ol' stunk! The entire opening scene, pointless. Did it add anything? No. Did it make sense, No. Would it be the openning move of a covert sneak attack? Hell no. All the gratuitous sex, pointless too - didn't add anything to the story, didn't forward any subplots, didn't make any sense at all, was just plain stupid. The entire character of Six, again, pointless. OOOH, she's a sexy robot who has to seduce the computer whiz to gain access to the mainframe. Get a freakin' clue, Ron! They're super intelligent computers. If they couldn't figure out how to hack a human system remotely, then how'd they ever figure out how to build synthetic "fleshy" androids with a downloadable soul? Even if they had to access the system directly, they certainly could have done it more covertly than dropping an ubersex-bot on the planet, especially one whose homicidal tendancies draws so much attention to herself. How about a swarm of intelligent synthetic rats? They could break into the mainframe and the worst anyone would think is they had a vermin problem. Oh right, no possibility for an exploitively pointless sex scene. Gotcha. Next we have Mary McDonnell's character. First, I don't care how far Ron Moore got in junior ROTC, he obviously knows nothing of the military. There isn't any way in hell any military officer would defer to a civilian during a military crisis. Given the dire circumstances, they would declare martial law and deal with the problem. It's the only prudent thing to do with enemy forces all around, whose exact position and strength are unknown. And honestly, would anyone follow some stupid moron who doesn't know enough to AVOID being a missile target? Mary McDonnell's character is simply pathetic. Absolutely freakin' pathetic. As for the script, Ron Moore promised us a redefinition of the Scifi genre. Well his script was a redefinition alright. It redefines the term "plagiarism". There was not one original thing in this piece of garbage. I and a few friends watched this turkey and said, "Ok that was 'Star Trek'. That was 'Galaxina'. That was 'Wing Commander'. 'Independence Day' there. 'Farscape'. 'Terminator'. 'Melrose Place'. 'Days of Our Lives'....'Star Wars'." After awhile we couldn't keep up with it all. And in every situation it had all been done much better in their original movies. Sadly, about the only place where Ron Moore didn't steal something from was "Battlestar Galactica" itself. Then there are the props. My friends have made better out of PVC pipe and VCR parts for Halloween costumes. One especially which comes to mind is a fire extinguisher strapped to this one girl's back. It looked like a cardboard tube with nylon strips glued to it. By comparison the props from the original 70's series look positively first class. Also, who was responsible for editting this thing? Many of the scene cuts looked like something you'd expect from a freshman film student. It's like the various shots were spiced together out of order, or with no thought to continuity and flow. Really sloppy. And then, hello, where were the Cylons? I mean you didn't even see Six that much. You saw one brief shot of a largely nondescript ship, a couple obviously CG metalic centurions before they got vaporized BY THEIR OWN SIDE for no aparent reason (must have had viruses), and a few really blurry shots of Cylon "bat-wings". Further, lets talk about the rich ethnic diversity of the cast - a Black, a Hispanic and an Asian in a sea of everything from white to off-white to cream. After almost 40 years of the civil rights movement, Blacks in SciFi are once again back to being the glorified secretary, complete with communications doo-hickey hanging from the ear. As for the Asian, back to being the China Doll hooker I see. I half expected her to say "I'm going to rove you rong time." Asians and Blacks must be so proud. You know, there is one positive thing I can say. After actually seeing this travesty, by comparison to everything else the changing of Starbuck to a woman seems almost like a minor faux pas.
Rating: 
Summary: I Liked It.
Review: I was a big fan of the original series back when I was 12, having seen the orignal a few times since, I think 12 is probably the cutoff age. I mean c'mon folks, fond memories are great and all, but that was not a good show. When I heard about the new mini-series I figured I'd check it out for nostalgia's sake. Incredibly, Galactica grew up. Actual three dimensional characters, an attempt at backstory for the Cylons, and actual relationships, not bad for a sci-fi series. Best of all, no robot dogs! I do hope that this new Galactica gets picked up as a series, I'd watch. PS - (...)
Rating:
Summary: New BsG stands on its own merits.
Review: I was a great fan of the original series, and was at first very upset when I found out that they were redoing it. I decided not to even watch it. As fate would have it, I was sick at home, and nothing else was on, so I tuned in. It was simply outstanding. The new Adama is a strong, soldierly character. The cast is more - real. They have anger, have affairs, have alcoholism. It was more like a real navy of a republic. The effects were awesome, the story line took just enough license to be original, but maintained its link with the old series. If you give this mini-series a chance and don't get irritated every time it deviates from the original series, you will not be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: A Galactica for the adult sensibility
Review: Just minutes removed from watching the second half of the miniseries, I now rush to write this review. CAN'T wait until the dvd is released. This version was excellent, so far distant from the comic book style of the original. Also liked the understated musical score so similar to the ones used on the two Dune miniseries. Real drama, real tension, real characterizations and acting not over the top. Oh, my goodness--that gorgeous blond!...The special effects were quite good as was the basic storyline which remained but modified by the character changes, which I found to be a vast improvement. The original Starbuck was Starbuck in Galactica and once again on the A-team. A stereotypical wiseguy as old as the movie business and just as tired. I have only two objections. Why couldn't it have been six hours at least, and with the technology shown ( including faster than light speed ) why go out of the way to go retro and display telephones at all but yet with wires? We can't even control traffic on the Long island Expressway, but we at least have more advanced communication devices....Sorry, Richard Hatch, the 1970's are not the 2000's. Let cartoons and sleeping dogs lie. I enjoyed your show back in its time when we were all enthralled by Star Wars and were happy to have anything similar to it on television to watch.....I want more of this new Galactica. And pronto!
Rating: 
Summary: It's "Dawson's Creek" In Outer Space...
Review: As you can tell from my Amazon.com name, the original "Battlestar Galactica" is one of my favorite "classic" sci-fi series, and as a kid in the late 1970's I watched every episode. Yes, some of the episodes were cheesy and the fashions were definitely out of a seventies disco, but there was still an undeniable charm to the show that has lingered all these years. This review is aimed at those who also remember the original series and enjoyed it. After watching the two-part miniseries of the Sci-Fi Channel's "New Battlestar Galactica" tonight, all I have to say is "yuk"! While "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was a genuine sequel to the original Trek, with new characters and new episodes, the "New" Galactica is simply a remake of the original series. The result is as if some writers decided to remake the original Star Trek with Captain Kirk as an Asian-American woman, Dr. McCoy as a Native-American, and Spock as a sexy alien blonde who secretly lusts after Kirk (and, yes, this "remake" is that bad). Although the writers have retained the basics of the original series plot and storyline, they've also "updated" it into a politically-correct, soap-opera style mess. Most of the characters from the original series have been changed completely, to poor effect. In the original series Lt. Boomer was a serious-minded, intellectual black man and one of the finest fighter pilots in the fleet. On the new Galactica Boomer is an Asian-American female who looks like she's going to wet her pants everytime she goes into battle, and when she's not fighting Cylons she's usually having torrid sex in one of the Galactica's storage rooms with the ship's Chief Engineer. In fact, not even the end of the world can keep the Galactica's younger adults from pawing at one another constantly. The original Galactica offered light-hearted romance, the new one offers "Silk Stockings" soft porn. Even the Cylons in this miniseries are hormonally charged. On the original series they were clunky robot-warriors with red eyeslits, on the new Galactica they're sexy blonde androids whose main goal - besides nuking the twelve human colonies - is to go to bed with as many human males as possible. (I'm convinced that the Sci-Fi Channel has decided that if one of their movies is mediocre, then by adding in gratitutous sex scenes they can at least attract lots of 15-year-old male viewers). As for the other cast members, Edward James Olmos lacks Lorne Greene's commanding presence, but he does give a certain grave dignity to Adama, the Battlestar Galactica's commander. On the original Galactica Apollo and Starbuck were best friends - Apollo was Adama's son and Starbuck was a fun-loving charmer, gambler and ladies man. On the new series Starbuck is a rather unlikable blonde with a major chip on her shoulder - she spends as much time in the brig as in the cockpit - and (of course) she lusts after Apollo. Colonel Tigh, Adama's executive officer, was a dignified, no-nonsense African-American male on the original series, but on the new Galactica he's a balding, washed-up, bad-tempered white guy with a drinking problem - and he's even less likable than Starbuck (and they despise one another). As for the other details - the original Galactica's crew looked fairly "normal" - the actresses were pretty but not supermodel gorgeous, and (with the exception of Dirk Benedict as Starbuck), none of the men were "pretty boys". However, the younger adults on the new Galactica all look like they walked off the set of "Melrose Place", and the acting level is on par with "Baywatch" (I kept waiting for David Hasselhoff to show up). Basically, this isn't so much a sci-fi miniseries as it is "Dawson's Creek" transferred to outer space. People make out, shoot Cylons, make out some more, try to look upset because their world has ended (or twelve worlds, in this case), declare their love for one another, etc. The new Galactica is "grittier", as the producers promised, but it sorely lacks the charm and spirit of the original series. It also sorely misses the acting of John Colicos as Count Baltar. On the original series Baltar was a deluded but deadly human who had betrayed the human race to the Cylons, and had then been given the job of hunting down the Galactica and her fleet of survivors. No one could do a sneer or project evil better than John Colicos (may he rest in peace). In the new series Baltar is just a whiny, pretty-boy stud scientist who gives the twelve colonies defense system codes to his sexy blonde girlfriend (who's a Cylon, of course). On the original show Baltar was a worthy enemy of Adama and the Galactica, but in the miniseries he's just a sniveling brat who's about as menacing as Ben Affleck. OK, so I'm biased - but if you're a fan of the original series, or you have fond memories of it, my guess is that you'll also be appalled by the changes that have been made to this "cult classic". And, given that Richard Hatch (who played Apollo on the original series) was both eager and ready to make a sequel to the original series (with most of the original cast returning and being joined by a group of younger, newer actors), it makes this Sci-Fi "remake" even more baffling and inexcusable. Hopefully, the "New" Galactica doesn't signal a trend among the executives at Sci-Fi for "remaking" beloved TV Series. I can see it now..."Space: 2009", "Barbara Rogers in the 25th Century", "Star Trek: Enterprise" (oops, UPN is already doing that "remake"). Anyhoo, taken on its own merits, the new "Battlestar Galactica" is a mediocre miniseries at best. But, as a remake of a classic seventies sci-fi series, this "Galactica" is felgercarb, pure and simple. Frak!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent re-imagining of 1970s kitsch
Review: The 2003 Battlestar Galactica is an intelligent, riveting mini-series that far outclasses the original. Instead of comic-strip characters we have multi-dimensional human beings. The production values are first class-- the designers created a believable space environment with a retro feel. More importantly, the producers and writers obviously put alot of thought into imagining the society and the characters. Especially resonant in the post-9/11 world, this is high-brow space opera at its best.
Rating:
Summary: Nostalgia is a funny thing.
Review: The fact is, the original BSG was corny as hell, had wooden acting and aliens that were just plain silly. Despite that, it was pretty cool to 10-year olds. Consequently, a lot of people might've been hoping to reexperience that feeling, and were perhaps particularly looking for an update of the "buddy" protagonist model that ruled in the 60's through the 80's. Kirk and Spock. Gilligan and Skipper. Starsky and Hutch. DeSoto and Gage. And Starbuck and Apollo. But the buddy paradigm is dead, killed off in the 80's by complex ensemble dramas like Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, LA Law and yes, even Star Trek, the Next Generation. So the 2003 version of BSG was bound to be a huge disappointment to backward-looking people. But judged on its own merits, and not as a remake, it's a total blast. Chock full of characters, it recalls more than anything Peter F. Hamilton's grandiose space opera, "The Reality Dysfunction". Simply put, if you had fun reading that series, you'll have fun with this miniseries, and if not, you won't. Obviously, I enjoyed it, way more than I would've ever thought. Some of the great parts are mostly realistic-looking space physics, a willingness to not dumb down stock military and SF tech terminology. An epic scope and fairly decent acting for something of this nature. The bad parts include a too-high ratio of annoying characters to interesting ones, that whole cancer thing which was utterly irrelevant to the plot and about which they simply couldn't convince me to care, and a lingering sensation that the switch to flesh-and-blood Cylons was done for expediency...it saves money on special effects.
Rating:
Summary: NOT AT ALL BAD!
Review: Yes, changes were made from the show to the mini-series. However, that aside, this is a truly incredible retelling of the quest for earth while battling evil cylons, including new designs that look and feel human. This makes the battle to save the human race all the more compelling. Starbuck, although a girl in this one, is still a stogie-smoking scoundrel. The casting is perfect, and the action and visual effects are awesome! If you are a purist of the original show, I ask that you just give this one a chance! Who knows, you might like it! Grade: A+
Rating:
Summary: I hate to say it but I hate it!
Review: I have just finished watching the new mini on the sci-fi channel. I have to say I am more then disappointed. I admit to having watched the original and enjoyed it when younger but that does not mean I didn't realize it needed a re-imagining of sort to make it work today. The problem is that it didn't work. Not at all. What were they thinking? I love sci-fi but why is it that most producers think that if you give enough eye candy and some tantalizing sexual innuendo to what they assume is there base then they will have produced a hit. None of the eye candy makes up for the absolutely abysmal failures of this film. The characters were ALL unsympathetic. Why do I care for any of them? I don't. They all act like children and are petty and ridiculous. By retelling the story with a different plot and characters but yet trying to maintain core character traits the characters developed make no sense. The first twenty minutes of the mini series are dedicated to showing us how wacky everyone's love life and family life are. So we are given a rebellious and unbalanced female Starbuck who retains the cigar and lack of respect for authority but has none of the traits that make the original Starbuck appealing. The same holds true so many times over in the movie. The camera work is MTVish, The writing asinine, the dialogue inane and the casting absolutely useless with one or two exceptions. What a joke. If the Sci-fi channel was going to spend the money on min series such as this they would have been better off scrapping the BattleStar Galactica name and just write a space opera without all the baggage. Not to mention get a completely different set of writers and a new director. I really didn't come into this with any substantial preconceptions. I truly believe this could have been done well. This was eye candy with no emotional connect for me at all. Even the special effects were nothing special. What a total and complete disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: The new 'Galactica' is Awesome
Review: First of all, I am huge fan of the original show. Just bought and watched the complete series again on DVD. That being said, the new miniseries was awesome! It was very dark and suspenseful with a terrific story. Very realistic. It was soooo different from the original that after a few minutes I stopped comparing. There were couple of nice tributes to the original show as well.
For those of you who complain that it's not the same as the original, get over it. It is new and different and great. I can't wait for the DVD version. Hopefully there will be added scenes etc.
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