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Battlestar Galactica (2003 Miniseries)

Battlestar Galactica (2003 Miniseries)

List Price: $27.97
Your Price: $19.58
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: NOT YOUR FATHER'S BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
Review: I have always been a fan of science fiction, but not a blind fan; even I know good sci-fi from bad. For me Babylon 5 set the standard on what well-written science fiction should be, so it surprised me that a remake of a show I considered the standard in sci-fi cheesiness ranks right up there with Bab 5.
The schlock dialogue and stock footage of Vipers shooting down Cylon Raiders has been replaced by excellent special effects and strong acting. Edward James Olmos gives an excellent performance that, with respect to Lorne Greene, was even better than the original Adama. The special effects used the "less is more" approach (no sound of weapons or explosions in space) which made for a frightenly realistic experience. Remember, in space no one can hear you scream!!
Katee Sachoff as Starbuck was my biggest surprise. If Starbuck looked like that in the original series, I would have never turned off the TV. If that wasn't enough, she can actually act and made Starbuck the most intriging character in the mini-series after Olmos.
The only problem is the portrayal of Apollo. He seemed to much of a pretty boy than a grizzled flight captain, and his performance was somewhat stiff; add a little personality please!!
All in all, a well done mini-series with the potential to become a strong sci-fi series. But be careful, we don't want another "Galactica 1980".

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent pilot; for hard SF fans, purists will hate it
Review: I heartily recommend this miniseries for hard or military science fiction fans, looking for more of an edge than what appears in most media SF (film and TV). Those who are interested in character development and strong dramas will also not be disappointed. In a nutshell, if you loved Babylon 5, you'll probably enjoy this tremendously.

Ronald Moore's miniseries differs substantially from the original 1970s television show. That show, featuring a dose of Mormon theology and family-friendly characters, was feel-good enjoyment more similar to the original Star Wars trilogy and its Joseph Campbell-influenced storyline.

The flaws and changes made to some of the major characters from the original series have particularly upset some fans and invigorated others. "Starbuck" is now a woman, albeit played by Katee Sackhoff, a young woman who manages to convey arrogance, a smart-ass attitude and vulnerability all at the same time.

In fact, along with the realistic military overtones (the miniseries even used some set elements that will be familiar to real life servicemen, and Aaron Douglas shines as a believable, solid crew chief), fraternization is one of the overriding themes. Just as in real life, relationships and emotions complicate military and civilian duties - tragically, in the case of Baltar, whose lust and arrogance brings death upon his civilization.

(Fans who feel Starbuck should have been another man might do well to watch "JAG", where former BSG writer Donald Bellisario developed the character of Harmon Rabb - like the original Starbuck, searching for his father, gorgeous, womanizing, a hot dog pilot, and loyal to his friends. Interestingly, Rabb's foil "Sarah 'Mac' McKenzie," a troubled but professional woman Marine, seems to be a more popular character.)

Frankly, by making Starbuck a woman, this adds a new dimension to the relationship between Apollo and Starbuck. These tensions no doubt take place on a daily basis on America's real-life aircraft carriers, staffed with women and men. Unfortunately, of all the strengths of the original series, quality airtime for its female characters (and later, favorite characters who were black, such as Boomer) was not one of them. The original character of Athena was set to be written out; Serena was killed off; and Cassiopeia was introduced in the first episode as a "sociolator," a nice euphemism for prostitute, which fortunately did not return with the 2003 miniseries.

BSG features a lot of interesting themes that are rarely touched on in media (TV, film) science fiction: the disagreements between civilian and military leadership (thanks to strong performances by Olmos and McDonnell); androids who believe they are motivated by a higher power (instead of Asimov's laws of robotics); maintaining a species' existence after Armageddon.

It's been 25 years, with an entirely new generation of science fiction fans having been born since the first BSG. Purists wishing for a kinder, gentler "Galactica" can enjoy the full series on DVD. Meanwhile, as an original fan, I enjoyed both a great deal - the kid in me remembering my love for the original series, the adult appreciating the more mature themes and "shades of grey" overtones of the miniseries.

A number of the reviews on this miniseries have been truncated or discarded, so please keep this in mind.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best sci-fi show since Babylon 5
Review: I must ask readers to disregard much of Alan Hummel's (below is his review) review of this DVD. I think the mini-series (the DVD) and the show on sci-fi (even more so) is excellent. It's dark, it's realistic (well as realistic as sci-fi can get), and it's plots are great. Now I have issue with many of the reasons that Mr. Hummel didn't care for the show. Many of his reasons are just not logical.

1. The show is no more predictable than any other show today.
2. The character Petty Officer Dualla is a black female!
3. ST:TNG was sterile as hell and too cliched (and talk about predictable). I did like ST:TNG, but come on!
4.The character conflict does have a point.
5. You weren't paying attention were you? There are 12 cylon MODELS...of which there is an unknown amount of each model. When one "dies" their consciousness is "beamed" to a new replica.
6. The scene with the baby's death was disturbing, how ever I don't beleive Six intended to kill the child. She just didn't know her own strength. Also, she is a BAD GUY!
7. Why is it that future, space costumes have to look ridiculious to be "right"?
8.It may have been she was cast as a "talking point", I don't know. She is, however, excellent in the role and if you watched the actual series on sci-fi, you'd know they call her Starbuck all the freaking time.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Idiotic, sexed-up, self-important crap!
Review: I really liked the old short-lived series. It was a nieve but uplifting adventure for the whole family. It had characters you would actualy want to be like. It was Star Wars for television. The worst thing about the old series is that the producers pulled the plug even though it had the higest ratings at the time.

I was hoping the new version would capture some of that same old innocent magic. Well, it is nothing like the old one. The story and characters barely resemble it. It has great FX but nothing anyone hasn't seen on TV before (Farscape). I saw the first episode and just rolled my eyes most of the time. What's this crap trying to prove? Stupid sex scenes. Politicaly correct characters. Doom and gloom. Idiotic morons with bathroom humor that you are suposed to root for .. woo hooo! ..you go girl!! .. NOT!

This crap is not a homage to an excellent classic but a BUTCHERING. If you loved the first one, stay away from this crap!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I don't hate it
Review: Some say that liking the older version of Battlestar Galactica better than the newer version is just a matter of "apples and oranges". I agree. I wouldn't be too pleased if I got orange pie when I was hungry for apple pie. That's why this new Battlestar rubbed some viewers the wrong way. The best way to approach this mini is to expect orange pie instead of apple.

Do you remember Space: Above Beyond? Here we go again. They tossed some Battlestar and Battletech into the mix this time. There's also a 7 of 9/Terminator 3 sexy fembot. The age old "robots replacing humans" routine is back. There's also lots and lots of shaky camera work. We also get moments that are supposed to be very heavy and very dramatic which slow things down to a crawl. The upside is that we get sensational special effect battles which easily steal the show.

Curious? Tape this when Sci Fi reruns it. That way you can zap forward as needed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fantastic New Series
Review: This is an excellent beginning to a series that looks to be fantastic. Don't view this as a remake of the original so much as a stand alone. If you're expecting the same stuff here as was on the original series, you'll find yourself disappointed. This is what the original should have been, though both are great. If you enjoy Farscape, Star Trek, or most any other space drama, you'll almost certainly enjoy this. Watch the new series on SciFi!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great start to a great series
Review: This mini-series re-envisions the Battlestar Galactic universe in an exciting way. The story is fast paced and sexy, the acting is fantastic. All of the actors returned for the new series, and having seen all of the episodes for that already, it is even better than this mini-series. A great intro to this new Battlestar Galactica universe, and a great gift for any fan of the new BSG!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I wanted so bad to like this...
Review: When I heard they were doing a remake of Battlestar Galactica, I was very interested. But after seeing it, I'm sorry to say, I was very disappointed. I really wanted to like this, but unfortunately, I just couldn't.

There were a few things that I DID like about it, and I'll start off with those:
1. Edward James Olmos as Adama -- simply genius! He plays the role extremely well.
2. The Colonel Tigh character. He's a flawed human being, with a strong relationship and history with Adama.
3. The attempt to make the show scientifically accurate. I'd read that the space scenes would have no sound (as sound does not travel in the vacuum of space), but in the end, they fudged it a bit (you get *quiet* sound).

But here's what I didn't like:
1. It was too predictable, almost to the point of being cliched.
2. Where are all the black people? Don't we have enough problems with race in this country without having to revise two roles that were originally played by black men, with a white man and an asian woman? I'm not trying to compare this to the original series, but for a show created in this day and age to not be diverse, well, it's kind of a shame (and just in case you're wondering, no, I'm not black).
3. It feels like "Star Trek: The Next Generation" meets "Battlestar Galactica". Very...sterile I guess. I liked Star Trek: The Next Generation, but that's a completely different animal. This isn't really surprising, as it was written by former Star Trek: The Next Generation scribe Ron Moore. Which takes me to my next point...
4. Character conflict for the sake of character conflict. Ron Moore, while on Star Trek, worked under the Michael Piller premise of "Conflict between characters makes good drama". Sure it does...if it's meaningful conflict. If it's done just for the purpose of having none of the characters getting along, it's just dumb.
5. Plot holes. While I liked some of Ron Moore's Trek work, he's no stranger to plot holes. Example: We learn that the human-looking cylon woman is one of only 12 made, yet at the very beginning of the film, a cylon just like her goes to the space station to meet the human diplomat, then the cylons destroy the station while she is on it. What sense does that make? Another example is the number of Battlestars: near the beginning, a tour guide on the Galactica says that there are 12, yet later it is mentioned that a larger number of them have been destroyed in the cylon attack.
6. Baby killing. Just...plain...unneccessary.
7. It looks like Earth...around nowadays. The costumes that are supposed to represent the culture of another (albeit human) planet look like modern Earth. Are we on Caprica, or Lambertville, New Jersey?
8. Starbuck. Look, I'm not comparing this to the original, because even though I like the old show, I'd be just as happy with a modern remake/revisioning. But having the Starbuck character be a woman was done for the sole purpose of making it a talking point. During the opening, Starbuck is running around the Galactica and she passes Adama, who says "Hi Starbuck." OH MY GOSH! THAT'S STARBUCK?!?! That was the whole point of it. And not once in the remainder of the first part is she ever referred to as Starbuck again, but rather by her real name (Starbuck is her callsign).

Anyway, even though I disliked it, a lot of people felt the opposite, so if you're interested, I'd say give it a shot. Personally though, I felt it had a lot of problems.


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