So, I finally started watching Battlestar Galactica (1 Viewer)

[Adam Gregorich]

You made it through a season in a day? Wow you are flying! Its a great show. I'll need to revisit it again some day soon.

 

[ATimson]

Originally Posted by Will_B

They're all included in the BluRay box, except for The Plan I think.


Oh, and there were webisodes that got left off...

"Razor" is included in both Blu-ray boxes (as part of season 4). "The Plan" is included in the second Blu-ray box (the one without the Cylon action figure).


There are two sets of webisodes; the "Razor" ones are included, the Season 4.5 ones aren't (seemingly due to legal reasons).

 

[Ronald Epstein]

This show is taking over my life. Hate these

boxed sets because once you start them you

are on a race to finish them.


In any event I am 3/4 of the way through
Season II. Without spoilerizing too much

I just got to the part where there is a showdown

between Adama and the female commander of

the Pegasus. Fantastic show. Really loving it.




What worries me is the revelation whispered

in the President Laura's ear by the Cylon concerning

commander Adama. That has been mostly

ignored but I have a feeling......


(Sssshhh everyone!)




(Sssshhh everyone!)

 

[Timothy E]

I will be interested to hear your thoughts regarding the series finale.


The upside to watching this series in the complete set is that you do not have to endure the long wait between cliffhangers and seasons.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

I see this complete set is excluded from Deep Discount's 25% super sale going on now. That would have brought the price for the BD to $150. Too bad.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Still working my way through completing Season Two.


I am up to the part...



Hostages are taken in the lounge in an effort to force the Adama to hand over the Cylon Sharon. In the end Billy, the President's aide, gets killed.

I am really immersed in this show. As someone pointed

out earlier, it's very intelligent science fiction. The

stories are often told in a not-so-formulatic way which

really keeps you on your feet. There are many tender

moments that make you choke up. Gotta say that I

think Edward James Olmos portrays one of the most

powerful yet sympathetic commanders I have ever seen

on a sci-fi show or movie.

I am so happy that I finally got the chance to sit down

and watch this. Now my life is on hold until I can finish

the set.

 

[Paul_Scott]

Prior to this show, I never cared for Olmos as an actor, and even though the original show was a joke, Lorne Greene had a comfortable fatherly presence. I think Olmos in that role may have been one reason I avoided the show for as long as I did.

But he won me over completely here, right from the mini-series. I thought he may have originally gotten the role because of a history with Universal product, but he turned out to be a masterful casting choice. One among many though, as the whole series has one of the best casted ensembles I've ever seen. It's almost supernaturally good given how many were little or unknown previously.

As someone pointed out earlier, it's very intelligent science fiction. The

stories are often told in a not-so-formulatic way which

really keeps you on your feet.

Several things that I still appreciate are that the series almost constantly moves forward and doesn't run in place or keep re-setting itself to maintain a comfortable familiarity.

Also, the show (for the most part) wisely looks for, and finds, all the many varied conflicts that would constantly spill forth from a premise like this. This show is textbook example of how just about any childish B grade genre entry can be re-imagined into something mature and wildly compelling. Start from square one and keep asking "what would be the logical results of that , and then what forces would logically rise up in conflict to those initial results" and just keep going from there.


There is, unfortunately, a big exception to that sentiment that I won't even begin to discuss until you're done with the whole thing.


Nice to see your enthusiasm over the show Ron. It's got me toying with the idea of revisiting it a lot sooner now than I was expecting- (I'd completely forgotten the Cain/Pegasus phase of the show- that was some juicy, powerful stuff there).

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Paul_Scott
Prior to this show, I never cared for Olmos as an actor...

I had never really thought about Olmos one way or the other before BSG but he was just amazing as Adama.

 

[Paul_Scott]

probably should have said as a presence rather than as an actor.

He had some good credits under his belt, but I always associated him with Miami Vice, which I've always had a big disdain for, and before that he was a creepy presence in both Wolfen and Blade Runner.


That kind of explains why I've never been a fan of Gough as Alfred. He got locked into my consciousness when I was a kid as the weaselly villain in so many great Hammer movies. Hard to warm up to him as someone trustworthy and dependable years later

 

[Josh Dial]

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein , where you can see a bunch of people who passed (heavy) judgement on the show before the first episode even aired. One poster in particular ("they changed the freaking helmets!") goes so overboard it's hilarious.

 

[Will_B]

Originally Posted by Josh Dial


I know the feeling. When both BSG and LOST were on the air, I joked (was it a joke?) that my number one goal in life was to *not die* before I saw how those two shows ended.

The day after LOST, when some celebrities dying made the front page, my first thought was "at least they got to see the end of LOST".


It's not an invalid thought. Years of watching a show, and missing the ending, would be unfortunate.

 

[Will_B]

Originally Posted by Josh Dial


I know the feeling. When both BSG and LOST were on the air, I joked (was it a joke?) that my number one goal in life was to *not die* before I saw how those two shows ended.

The day after LOST, when some celebrities dying made the front page, my first thought was "at least they got to see the end of LOST".


It's not an invalid thought. Years of watching a show, and missing the ending, would be unfortunate.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Now into the third episode of SEASON THREE.


Not particularly satisfied with the New Caprica setting. It seems

to radically slow the show down somewhat.

 

[Sam Favate]

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

Now into the third episode of SEASON THREE.


Not particularly satisfied with the New Caprica setting. It seems

to radically slow the show down somewhat.

In retrospect, I think New Caprica is one of the show's best moments. There is an intensity there that is very gripping. Without giving anything away, I can tell you there are good things coming, and it will not be slow.


You should have watched the "Resistance" webisodes before the first episode of Season 3. They're not necessary to follow the story, but they do embellish it.

 

[TravisR]

Ron, there's an episode coming up that I think is BSG's finest hour in terms of action.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Ron, there's an episode coming up that I think is BSG's finest hour in terms of action.

Yes, you are correct. The episode is EXODUS and its the

Gallactica/Pegasus rescue of the people of New Galactica.


Stunning set of episodes (parts I and II).


To bring all of you up-to-date I am 1/3 into Season Three.

Been a very busy week so I have been watching at a slower pace.

Still on target to finish the entire show within the next 2 weeks.


I am really taken back by this show and its remarkable style

of storytelling. This week I watched an episode where we first

find Gauis Baltar aboard the Cyclon base station. What made

the episode so enthralling to watch was watching the murky

photography inside the Cylon holding cell shot with multiple

angles and dissolves of Gauis and his intereaction with the

skin jobs set to classical music. The entire sequence comes

across so poetically.

Speaking of Gauis, I just love the fact that the audience is

let in on his subconscious mind as he is seduced and aided

by #6.


It's also very intriguing to find out....



There are 5 additional skin job models that have yet to be seen and the Cylons do not talk about. This obviously means that there are more programmed crew members aboard Gallactica. I am wondering if Adama is one of them since it was foretold by Liebold to President Laura.

I can see why there are so many devoted fans of the show.

This is serious science fiction storytelling and I am very much

looking forward to completing this set.

 

[TheBat]

I recently started the series as well. I started with the miniseries and watched the first season. I am now just starting season 2. been renting the dvds from blockbuster video.


Jacob

 

[Harry-N]

Ron, it's facinating reading your account as you wind your way through the series at breakneck speed. Being a non-cabled household, we had to wait each year for the release of the individual DVD seasons or half-seasons to play catch-up with the show, but it was worth every penny and every moment. We had the advantage of not having to sit through commercial breaks, but the dis-advantage of having to wait in-between seasons.


With the delay in the final season's release, we actually re-watched the whole thing over again, just to refresh our memories, so I know how the difference in the pace seems to be. One of the hallmarks of the series is that it NEVER got comfortable to just sit down and enjoy like an episode of STAR TREK. It just kept hitting you with new and fresh ideas not only in moving the story forward, but in the presentation of the individual stories, told from different POV's and with differing techniques.


Have fun with the rest of your ride.


Harry

 

[kowalski65]

I have to assume you are chatting about the "re-imagined" series, not the original Battlestar Galactica.

To avoid confusion, I refer to the more recent series as "Battlestar Politically Correctica."


(For a stinging and dead-on critique of "BS P-Correctica," check out Wikipedia's article on Dirk Benedict (the "real" Starbuck.) He minced no words in putting the bastardized series in perspective. . .

 

[TravisR]

I agree Battlestar Politically Correctica (whatever that means) certainly doesn't live up to the majesty of the original.


The original was a cheap rip off of Star Wars that is really only remembered today because of camp or nostalgia value. On the other hand, the remake took the original's concept and made a show that had something to say about the world today, had great performances, excellent special effects, intelligent writing and will be remembered as one of the best shows of the decade. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I can't see how anyone could seriously say that the original was the better show.