Battlestar Galactica - I Believe I'll Give It Another Shot

I'll be showing my age here, but the Original Battlestar Galactica was probably my favorite television show ever, short-lived as it was. When the new series was announced I was skeptical. There had been noises made on and off for years about resurrecting the series and nothing had come of it. This time, however, the rumors came to fruition. Ronald Moore, who worked on the more recent incarnations of Star Trek, signed on as Executive Producer.

There were a few problems in the new series which kept me from rejoicing. There were small issues such as everyone having two names now instead of just one. The Cylons were no longer shiny, clunky robotic beings but instead humanoids, which was actually closer to the original intent of creator Glen Larson before ABC decided to air the show at 7 PM on Sunday nights and therefore the killing of organic beings was a bad thing to show the kids. But the biggest problem I had was this: STARBUCK SHOULD NOT BE A WOMAN!!!!

There, I said it. Oh, and Boomer should be an African-American man, not an Asian woman who's really a Cylon.

The mini-series relaunching the show was aired in 2003. I felt I honestly gave it a shot and just couldn't get past a few of these facts. So I walked away from the show, despite hearing the kudos it garnered through the years. However, after reading reviews by someone on the site I greatly admire singing the praises of the new series, I finally gave it and added the entire thing to my queue at Netflix, starting with the mini-series.

The premise is generally the same. Mankind created cybernetic beings called Cylons and then got into a war with them. After many years of battles a truce was brokered. The difference being that there has been peace for many years, sort of a “you go your way and I’ll go mine” situation. The Cylons used that time of peace to enact a different strategy which is about to come to fruition.

Up in space, the great battlestar, the Galactica is being decommissioned as a museum piece. The Secretary of Education (portrayed by Mary McDonnell) is there for the ceremony and on her way back to her planet when all hell breaks loose. For this reason, she is the highest surviving cabinet member and becomes the President.

The Cylons have managed to infiltrate the society of the twelve worlds by disguising themselves as human, and quite effectively. One has a relationship with reknown scientist Gaius Baltar (portrayed by James Callis) who inadvertently gives the Cylons many military secrets. Caught off-guard by the massive attack by the Cylons, the military is decimated. Not a single one of the newer battlestars survives.

Commander Adama (now portrayed by Edward James Olmos) is dealing with demons on many fronts. He has trouble swallowing the Secretary of Education now being the President. He and his son, Lee (portrayed by Jamie Bamber) have a difficult and distant relationship. Adama makes the decision to take what human survivors he can and head out for the "mythical" planet known as Earth.

And then there is Starbuck. I really, really wanted to give the character a fair shot and maybe as the series goes on I will be able to get past my feelings, but I just don’t care for her. Don’t get me wrong, I think Katee Sackoff does a marvelous job as Lt. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace, but it’s just something I can’t swallow. I don’t for once believe women should be window-dressing the way they were in the original series (Sheba was one of my favorite characters and she was a pilot), but it’s hard for me to like the insubordinate, cigar-smoking, brash, hot-shot pilot. Maybe that was the intention.

The story is good, even with the differences from the original. I really liked the overall tone. The updated version is darker and able to handle the theme is a way that ABC wouldn’t let the family-time show do it back in 1978. The acting is magnificent. Kudos go out to all of the actors because I think they have done a fantastic job in their roles. There is a reason this is such a great mini-series, especially as the launch to the television show, and I give a lot of credit to the actors.

The effects have been updated and it shows. The battlestar itself looks different than the old one, although I could tell they were one and the same. The viper form has been kept and enhanced a bit. Hey, what we saw back in 1978 was revolutionary, especially as far as battle computers went. The battle scenes are terrific and the Cylons who are still the robotic beings have been updated and enhanced while at the same time still paying homage to the old design (there’s even a scene with a drawing of one of the old chrome-domes).

If the series builds on from here I think I will like it. I like the improvement of the political situation as there is more give and take going on, rather than the new society being a military dictatorship with the elected representatives being portrayed as idiotic and inept. My one major complaint of the old show was that it became too much of the Apollo and Starbuck show. However, that was then and ensemble casts weren’t really being done at that point. Hopefully this incarnation of Battlestar Galactica doesn’t lose itself in focusing on just two characters because with the cast they have and what I’ve seen so far, that would be a shame.

The extras are good. I had seen the Lowdown special on Sci-Fi before the mini-series launched and it’s a good bridge between the old series and the new one, even bringing in a couple of the original actors to talk about the differences and their feelings.

For people like me, it is still something hard to accept. However, the die-hards are a dying breed and we’ve been replaced by a younger generation who looks at the old series as corny and doesn’t appreciate what it was in it’s time. For those people, this is an excellent story.


BONUS MATERIAL:

• Feature Commentary with Director Michael Rymer and Executive Producers David Eick and Ronald D. Moore
• Battlestar Galatica: The Lowdown
• Deleted Scenes


Other Battlestar Galactica reviews:

Battlestar Galactica - Season 1 ~ Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.0 ~ Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.5 ~ Battlestar Galactica - Season 3


The complete one and only season of the original Battlestar Galactica on DVD: The Complete Epic Series on DVD

Two novels written by Richard Hatch: Battlestar Galactica: Armegeddon and Battlestar Galactica: Warhawk

© 2007 Patti Aliventi