Battlestar Gallactica

[ratm1966]

Okay, the Sci-Fi Channel is remaking the Battlestar Gallactica series to be released this December. I have no problems with that, as it was the best Sci-Fi series ever made until they made Stargate SG-1.

My problem is, they made Starbuck and Boomer women!! I have nothing against women, but come on, I think if you are gonna make changes, make them a little more subtle.

[psychofiend]

I say Sci-Fi should bring back FarScape.

[ratm1966]

I never really got into Farscape. SG-1 is great though, and I really like Tremors: The Series. Bert Gummer is one of the coolest characters out there.

[towelie99]

Happy to see BSG back again. One of the best theme scores ever, imho.*

Got to agree with you about Starbuck and Boomer; making them women is borderline blasphemy! What was wrong with Athena and Sheba? They were hot! Let's not forget a young Jane Seymour as Apollo's late wife!

At least it's finally back. Glen Larson (original creator) and Richard Hatch (original Apollo) have been acting like bitches for years, arguing over the proper way to bring back the show. God bless Dirk Benedict (original Starbuck, later Face on the A-Team) for verbally bitch-slapping both of them for their behavior on SciFi a couple of years back.

Anyway, however it comes back, I hope it's good, and there's cameos from the original cast here and there (God bless you Lorne Greene, wherever you are). /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

[TomHarrington]

I'm not so concerned with those secondary characters. I just hope the new interpretation of Daggett is done respectfully.

[DangerSeeker]

It's respectful, but he's been interpreted into Esperanto.

[ratm1966]

Secondary characters?!!!! Are you kidding me? Starbuck was one of the main characters in the show. Boomer wasn't quite a main character, but he took part in most of the episodes. A comment like that is like saying Jay and Silent Bob were secondary characters in Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back.

[TomHarrington]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
It's respectful, but he's been interpreted into Esperanto.

[/ QUOTE ]

Heh. Is that the second mention of Esperanto this week? Things get curioser and curioser around here. But what does it all mean?

[TomHarrington]

Really? It's been a while since I saw the program, but I thought it was all about the little mechanical dog, and his sidekick from Eight is Enough, traveling throughout the dark reaches of space and having wacky adventures.

I might be confusing him with the little space monkey from Lost in Space. But I think it was a dog. You remember that show, the Lost Saucer, with Jim Neighbors and Ruth Buzzy? They had a dog, right? Maybe that's what I'm thinking about.

I'm all confused now. You're probably right. My bad.

[ratm1966]

According to www.scifi.com (http://www.scifi.com), the Dagget won't be in the new series.

[TomHarrington]

Dagnabbit, no Daggett?! Well, they just lost one viewer.

[towelie99]

TomHarrington, please tell me you're kidding? You're just joking, right? /forums/images/icons/confused.gif

If not, then, well, that's just disturbing!

[TomHarrington]

Well, you did say please. I'm kidding. I was only joking. Any sensible person would realize that Daggett was the fatal flaw to begin with. You see, he was really a big toy, and not a pet as some viewers projected. Daggett was a big Furby. Furbies are not pets. Ah, but can pets not also be made of rock? True, but in name only. If it can't pee on your comics then it's not a pet, and I'm not prepared to concede anything on this point.

The toy industry has always been miles ahead of rea-life technological advances. We had toy rockets long before the moon landing was staged. So the television show expected me to believe that in a time when have Colonial Vipers, the best toy they can produce is Daggett? This was state of the art?

Even considering that they must have had a tight budget to work with, being a rag-tag-something or other and all, the show still lost all credibility with me.

I only hope the cylons still sound like 80's Hip-Hop synth master, Herbie Hancock. And yes, I'm aware of his jazz credentials.

[ratm1966]

According to the section at www.scifi.com (http://www.scifi.com) that is devoted to BSG, the cylons are going to be pretty much the same, but with some variations here and there.

Or am I remembering what I read wrong? Who knows, old age will do that to ya.

[psychofiend]

Ok this is a sad sad discussion.

[Mighty_Wingman]

It's only sad to you Psycho because you're too young to remember . To some of us it's nostalgia .

I really hope it doesn't suck I even bought some fresh V.H.S. tapes on the off chance it might be good. Have you guys and gals seen the previews yet ? Starts next week whattaya think ?

[ratm1966]

I've been watching the scenes for the new series, and it appears that some of the Cylons are going to look like humans and not actually like robots. At first, I thought it would suck, as I thought the old Cylons were cool, but then I saw the one and she is mighty damn fine. The Cylon 'Number Six' is gonna be played by Tricia Helfer.
http://www.dotbritneyspears.com/nm/H/TRICIA_HELFER006.JPG

[Mighty_Wingman]

Yeah , but seems a bit reminiscent of 7 of 9 . It's not that I have really high hopes for the story just that the action sequences will be cool

[psychofiend]

I'll watch the show if they put Heidi Klum on it.
http://www.startpoint.gr/images/010527klum.jpg

[JIM]

I loved BSG when I was a kid.
Those crazy-ass Cylon Centurions and all... I'm going to hold my tongue until I watch this one.
The latter years of the series was pretty sad though.
You might know what I'm talking about..."Galactica '80".

I heard recently that yet another one of the classic characters was going to be changed. This one into an Eskimo, esperanto speaking, transsexual who practices santeria. You know, to be all pollitically correct and stuff. /forums/images/icons/smirk.gif
Was'nt that midget-in-a-suit cyborg dog named "Muffit" or something? Yeah... I think it was named "Muffit"...
This thread has got me thinking back to one of my favorite toys when I was kid. I had one of those Battlestars that had a pistol grip and shot out styrofoam "Vipers"...and it had those cardboard targets of Psylon raider ships! I miss that thing.

[Mighty_Wingman]

" I don't practice Santeria
aint got no crystal ball
I had a million dollas
But I'd ,Id spend it all"

Thanx Jim I didn't read anyhting in your post past that Santeria part and now that song will be stuck in my head all day !

[Matt1]

The other day I was watching a little "making of" special on Battlestar with my sister. One of the producers talked about how innovative and revolutionary the show was going to be shot. Mainly hand-held, shaky camera style, to make it seem as though you were really there. And all the space battles are going to be shot the same way, and there will be no sound. After he got through talking about how original this was, I turned to my sister and said, mildly irate, "Dude! They are totally ripping off Firefly! That is the exact same style! Original my ass!"

My sister paused momentarily, a look of deep consideration on her face, then rightfully called me a dork.

[ratm1966]

I had a Viper and a Cylon ship, and both shot out little red missles. They were spring-loaded. I think I always let the Cylon win the dog fight.

[JK]

I got one of the vipers, too, before they recalled them all and glued the damn missle in so idiot children wouldn't shoot them down each other's throats and choke to death. Toys were cool when they could quite possibly kill you. Like a Furby thats gone feral...

[TomHarrington]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
some of the Cylons are going to look like humans and not actually like robots. At first, I thought it would suck, as I thought the old Cylons were cool, but then I saw the one and she is mighty damn fine. The Cylon 'Number Six' is gonna be played by Tricia Helfer.

[/ QUOTE ]

By your command, baby!

Man, I did not want to like this show. Tricia got the best of me, I reckon. That scene where she reveals herself(I mean when she tells Baltar who she is and how he's been played like a tin whistle. She doesn't actually "reveal herself" in the show. Sorry guys, but I think we'll have to wait for the special edition DVD to see her schematics.) to Gaius is chilling. The thing that makes it work for me was the way she was so calm and matter of fact about everything. She always had that air of superiority, even when she appears almost sympathetic. And what's more terrifying than being mocked and psychoanalyzed by a beautiful woman, eh? Is it just me?

I like it so far, I'm half ashamed to admit. We'll see how things go tonight, and if the writers were clever enough to get Tricia near a body of water while clad in white.

My one complaint would be that Rick Springfield doesn't suffer a fiery death in this one.

Well I've got a date with 6 at 7:00, so I'm off.

[Mighty_Wingman]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
My one complaint is that Rick Springfield doesn't suffer a fiery death in this one.

[/ QUOTE ]

You really have a knack for bringing back the old memories.
Do you have the original series on DVD, VHS or do you take some sort of memory enhancement drugs ? If so can I have some ?

Tricia Helfer ? Yeah sure if into blondes with beautiful smiles and perfect bodies, but I'll take the sweet brunette that plays Boomer.

[ratm1966]

POSSIBLE SPOILER......

Okay, I have to admit I liked both last night's and tonight's episodes. They were pretty damn good.

They really gave some depth to the characters. They weren't all the happy smiley goody goody's that were in the original series. I am not saying the original one was bad, I just think the characters were an improvement. Apollo starts out as a complete jerk-off in the first episode who anyone would sneak up behind with a baseball bat and actually starts to come around towards the end of it and on into the second episode.

Col Ty started out as a complete lush, but ended up a good soldier. It wasn't the typical one second you are a centerfold jumping out of a cake on a battleship and the next minute you are a gun toting rambo. No, he actually went through phases where he wasn't sure of himself and lacked the confidence, but as he started to make the hard decisions an XO has to make in times of war, his character progressed.

These are just a couple examples. I didn't want to list them all.

I also liked the special effects/CGI. Very realistic stuff. Not cartoonish looking like the character in that one movie that came out earlier this year. I won't mention it as some people will get mad.

I definitely liked the little surprise ending in tonight's episode when they identified who the cylon spy was on the Galactica. I won't mention the character's name just in case there are those of you who didn't watch it and plan on watching both episodes on Sunday. Oh, and just in case you watched it tonight but weren't paying attention.

All in all, I will have to give it two thumbs up.

[Mighty_Wingman]

I was tempted to do an in-depth critical review.
Instead I'll list a few pros and cons and I'll try to keep it short.
Since I'm a bad news first, type of guy I'll start there.


CONS

1) The other planets we see look a little too familiar . Of course I'm not suggesting they should've filmed it on another planet or anything but alot of those scenes would've benefitted greatly from a little creative CGI.How about a green sky with purple grass ? Or maybe just a large volcano in the background somewhere ? I want SciFi to take me someplace I've never been before.
2) The civilian homes look more like the directors house in California and they certainly didn't spend any money on making the civilian costumes look like they from some other culture , let alone some other planet.
I guess what bothers me is the general lack creativity in those areas.
3) Since they changed so many of the characters around, Why didn't they just write brand new characters ? Why carry the name if the character is an entirely different person ?

PROS

1) I like the special effects , the way they captured the inertia of space flight is at least remarkable it reminds me alot of the first "Colony Wars" Game on PSX , the space battles look pretty darn good .
2) The acting, story and plot is far better than I had expected.
3) " What the frak are you talking about. " I love cursing without actually cursing I've learned my new favorite non-curse,curse word.
4) The ladies are much nicer to look at this time around, my only casting complaint is how few black actors there are here. Where all da brothas'at ?


****** Edit ********

So much for keeping short. I need an editor.
Hey Chris ?

[Efexeye]

I missed the show- I just can't watch anything on SciFi without falling asleep. Based on the reviews here though, I might have to catch it in the future......

[Dave]

yeah, the show was good enough, that i would like to see it continue as a series. I'll admit that one the cylon reveals at the end took me by surprise, and that is a good thing.
I was a bit confused at the beginning of the show by the 40 year timetable, but that was me being confused by the old show, so forget what you think you know by the past versions.
I did also wonder why use the character names from the old series, when the characters change completely. I think it's the female Starbuck and Boomer that i had the most problems with, but even that wasn't a big deal, really.

[Razorback]

The show rips off too much modern Navy speak for use with space ships. Yes, I understand the concept of water to space fleets, but why would a space fighter landing have a use for "call the ball?" This seems like a better version of Space: Above And Beyond, which was not very good.

Some of the show is good but for the most part I was not impressed.

RB

[Dave]

Well it really picks up in the 2nd part i think. As for the Navy/Space Navy terminology, i just think that one is an extention of the other, i didn't notice the "call the ball" line, and i'm not even sure what it means.
It's not a perfect show to be sure, but the problems that I had with it, really had little to do with the "re-imagining" of the series. there were things i missed in this one that i like in the Original Series, such as the Egyptian type flight helmets and dress. I wish the h helmets had been updated with that look rather than the generic space helmets that were used, and i missed the laser fire, but I do admit that the projectiles worked pretty well.

Something that i liked was the "quiet" way that the space battles were presented. I thought the sound design was great on these sections.

[Mighty_Wingman]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
This seems like a better vesion of Space:Above and Beyond, which was not very good.

[/ QUOTE ]

I watched about three epeisodes of that show. The last one I remember , our heroes landed on a planet and a guy with a world war II Sherman tank was fighting the aliens. I never watched it again. I'd rather watch Kurt Russell in "Soldier " 35 times in a row than any one episode of "Space : Above and beyond ".
Thanx R.B. now I'm going to have nightmares.

Dave ,
Here's what bothers me about the helmets, and "Battle Star Galactica " is far from the only offender.
Imagine your a pilot flying in the dark. It's probably hard enough to see without your own helmet spraying light back into face, at least that's what I think, but so many scifi shows make this mistake and give up realism so we can see the actors face. That's something that always bothered me and your comment reminded me, I meant to put it in the post above.