The new Battlestar Galatica series
If you havnt seen this, go rent or why not, buy the four hour mini series. The mini-series was made to gauge public interest in a long term series, the response was phenomenal and we now have a series.
It's alot more realistic and grittier than the original; a much more rounded approach to sci-fi. I love it.
Another plus, for me anyway since I love physics, is that the space sequences are modeled with real physics. No longer do ships in space behave like planes in an atmosphere but are freer.
Go check it out!
It's alot more realistic and grittier than the original; a much more rounded approach to sci-fi. I love it.
Another plus, for me anyway since I love physics, is that the space sequences are modeled with real physics. No longer do ships in space behave like planes in an atmosphere but are freer.
Go check it out!
Comments
Starbuck as a pilot was a joke. The robots where idiots beyond reason. I only enjoyed when Patrick Mac Nee, made a special guest star apparence, playing the role of the devil.
The choice of making Boomer and Starbuck females rocks...
The original series was for kids as I recall...
Aries 1B
(I may even change my handle to Olympic Carrier)
Also, this was nuclear armagheddon! End of the world! Apocyplse! Where's the emotion? Somethings amiss. Point your fingers to Ronald Moore. Former Trek writer. Moore and his trek writer have always been weak on emotion, charaterizaition, and expositon. He's no JJ Abrahms. Alias aside, his character are very dramatic and engaging. Galatica crew? Boring yawn. Lots of sizzle. No steak.
If you want superior gritty hard sci-fi...........watch Space: Above & Beyond. Similar premise about alien annihilation done better. From the team of Morgan and Wong. Both x-files writers. Galactica should take lessons from this show. If they were smart, they'd rip this show. Space:AB is band of brothers in space. Thrilling, smart, dramatic, military theme, emotional. Everything Galactica wants to be. They even have a recurring side stories about clones/articficial life that wants to whip humanity's life. Charcacter driven stories that propel the plot.
Cancelled after 1 year. The ratings were'nt there when you're competing against shows like Melrose Place at the time.
Not yet availabe on dvd. I'm sure coming soon.
Originally posted by Kung Fu Guy
If you want superior gritty hard sci-fi...........watch Space: Above & Beyond. Similar premise about alien annihilation done better.
Man, I miss Space: Above and Beyond. It was just so unique in that the characters were people you really related to. It sounds like a cliché but the characters were actually believable people. It was something other shows like B5 just didn't really do all that well for me. Mind you, I also think B5 is right up there with Space as one of the best sci-fi series I've ever seen.
I haven't seen enough of Battlestar Galactica to make a serious comparison, but I distinctly remember the very realistic flight physics of the spacecraft and the jerky "home movie"-style flight scenes. Do the flight scenes have engine and weapon sounds in them, like in Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.? I think I remember that they made the sounds quiet and muffled on purpose to reflect the vacuum of space, though I'm not sure.
What I do distinctly remember was one scene in the mini-series where two of the crew members with their shuttle get mobbed by colonists fleeing the cluster of ominiously grey mushroom clouds in the distance. Wow.
For one, the ship itself. Originally depicted as a pride of the lost Colonial fleet, the Galactica is now the Intrepid of its time. A gift shop, a museum, limited wireless capabilities to fight the old Cylons. Its Viper fighters, the same design as shown in the original series, are positively dated when compared to its successor designs. No Colonial citizen would have cried at its loss, except for nostalgia. The ship isn't the only anachronism, either; a character is fighting possibly terminal cancer, no less.
The characters are not spared the change, either. Take Adama as depicted by Lorne Greene; I remember him when watching the original show being rerun as a child. He was positively fatherly, perfectly calm. Now, we have Edward James Olmos, a veteran of the old Cylon wars who is primarly (not exclusively) defined by the uniform, questioning his own role in that war and the species' role in starting it. His species created an artificial race only to underestimate it and show its proverbial children little respect, it seems. Olmos' Adama is well-read and probably philsophical, but I think he prefers Machiavelli to anyone else. He is shown as well-loved by the crew, kind of, but he makes decisions as harsh as his second-in-command, the alcoholic and hated-and-feared Colonel Tigh. His son, Lee, is pretty uninterested in his father as a father this time around. He wears the uniform more hesitantly and treats his superiors with respect, but he also appears jaded towards the affair. His new flying companion, Starbuck, has her attitude and skill thankfully carried over intact. And don't get me started on Gaius Baltar and Number Six.
The new series gets points for showing a political situation in more detail than I remembered of its namesake. A well-acted and reasonably well-written President bound to butt heads with a military commander used to being the final authority on just what happens within his domain. Hanging in the balance: tens of thousands who will live different lives depending on who proves more capable in their own responsibilities.
OK, I need a different sentence. Change is good.
Originally posted by jonnyb
The first season has just finished here in the UK and I urge you to keep watching. It simply gets better and better as the series progresses - to the point where the final episode contains gripping stories all running in parallel towards a shocking conclusion. It's the best TV I've seen in ages - and not just sci-fi TV either
Heh, yeah, I didn't see that one coming.
I just rewatched the two parter about "Chiggy von Richthofen", absolute BRILLIANCE. Why the hell James Morrison hasn't had more roles is a mystery to me... Remember, "abandon all hope my ASS". Killer stuff!
Back to Galactica. I love the minimalist approach to the music score. Superb taste someone.
Please, NO SPOILERS from our European brethren whom are a full season ahead of us. Yes, I can see where the show can take the easy route to typical space opera-ville. I'm hoping the writers and producers can keep this thing serious and adult minded.
My verdict: One of the best sci-fi series ever in history. Somber, and very adult oriented to boot...
Loving it but there area few little things that caught me off guard (not complaints, just questions).
- Use of English as well as use of Arabic numbers
Is this merely convenience, that in the context of the story they are actually "alien" and we are merely seeing it in English for our sake?
- Zippers
Are zippers inevitable? Ok, eyeglasses, buttons yes...but Zippers?
- suit/shirt with tie
Although the fashion was a bit changed, the traditional Western suit/shirt and tie seems really odd in this...Wish we could have seen alternative designs. A billion other outfits would have been better.
-Pesky 4x3 displays.
Seems like no matter what series we have, 4x3 is dominant and never 16x9 or indeed any other aspect ratio. My biggest sci-fi pet peeve
The big picture stuff kicks ass though