Galactica premieres Monday
by Doc on Dec.11, 2003, under General News
The new Battlestar Galactica miniseries premieres this coming Monday at 9PM ET on the SCI FI Channel. I recently finally watched The Lowdown on it, and there was more information about the changes that have been made. Aside from the known (Starbuck is female, and so is Boomer), the Cylons are now more humanlike (with some mechanicals) originally created by the humans (in the original the Cylon race was actually extinct, and what was referred to as Cylons were their creation). And the Galactica itself is not a flagship but an old clunker ready for mothballs. I have mixed feelings, but will at least watch it to let it stand on its own. Updated 12/10: Fast-forwarding to give people a chance to comment…
December 7th, 2003 on 5:50 am
Open minded, but…
I’ve got it set to record on my DishPlayer (mmmm, DishPlayer). I’m trying to remain open-minded but I definitely can’t show it to my three year old son, which limits its shelf life. Something about implied sex with a robot kinda puts it off limits.
Too bad, since it is his generation (and a few years older) that buy the toys and other marketing hype that pays the bills. No offense, but other than Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, I don’t buy figures and collectibles for myself.
December 7th, 2003 on 2:46 pm
Re:Open minded, but…
I don’t think you’ll see to much marketing to three year olds for this. This is set up far more seriously than the original. And tI don’t think the scene in question is that “implied”…
I’ve got the DirecTiVo set up already (and I won’t get into a DishPlayer vs. DirecTiVo debate 🙂
December 12th, 2003 on 4:47 am
Re:Open minded, but…
Agreed about the marketing and the ‘implied’. It is unfortunate, though, since I love watching Star Wars , Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. with my son and he’s the reason we buy the toys and other marketing stuff. I’m sure he’d love the action and excitement of the show, but…
As to DirectTivo vs. DishPlayer, as long as you can time-shift your programming, I’m all for it. Besides, I really want a late model ReplayTV with the ethernet port and the ability to move video files from the ReplayTV. As it is now, I’ve got my Dazzle capture device hooked up to an older laptop so that I can at least archive to disk with some quality.
December 9th, 2003 on 4:53 am
First episode … thumbs up.
So far, so good. I like it … it’s darker than the original, and I like that …
December 10th, 2003 on 4:10 pm
So far…
I haven’t watched all of it yet (I’m almost through part one) but I think it is very well done in most areas. It’s kind of fun seeing all the stuff from the original series (cylon schematics, vipers, etc.) as if they were old stuff, almost like the original series is past history but not.
The space battle scenes seem quite realistic. No apparent movement until you have a frame of reference, and then you find out you are going REALLY fast. And physics appear to be obeyed! I don’t know how accurately, but certainly better than anything previously except B5.
Gaius Baltar I think is a bit of a weak link. He seems to me as a cross between Hugh Grant and the cowardly guy from Earth 2.
December 11th, 2003 on 12:04 am
Re:So far…
i watched the whole thing last night. during the first part i agree that gaius is a bit of a whiner, but the second part fleshes him out… i think he’ll be a fairly complex character.
i was trepidatious (sp?) about the new version of galactica, but i must say it is really REALLY good. not if you expect it to be the same, but as something new. i do like that it is more “adult” (read: sophisticated) in its themes and imagery (decisions on who lives, bodies in space).
i am hoping they are making this into a regular series, but can’t find any specific information for a series, just this “movie”; does anyone know more about this?
December 11th, 2003 on 12:17 am
Re:So far…
The miniseries is a “back door” pilot. Exactly what that means I’m not sure. I think it means that the pilot stands on its own, and how it does in the ratings will decided whether a series is made or not. Similar to the Babylon 5 pilot (succeeded) and the Legend of the Rangers (failed thanks to my still-beloved Patriots 🙂
December 11th, 2003 on 2:19 am
No, no no no no NO!!!!! (A minor spoiler)
OK, I’ve watched the whole thing now. The twist on the search for Earth was interesting. As was the end with a hint as to who might be a sleeper Cylon.
Having to leave so many behind to their certain deaths was pretty heart-wrenching, but did they have to kill the girl? I mean, jeesh, sure she violates the “no cute kids” policy JMS so wisely set up, but come on!
Its like the scene in the first part with the baby. My wife saw that and I thought she’d get up and rip the TiVo out of the entertainment center.