Battlestar Galactica - The Mini Series (DVD)

Battlestar Galactica - The Miniseries (2003)

Certificate: 12 (UK), TV-14 (USA)
Running time: 175 minutes

Main cast:
Edward James Olmos - Commander William Adama
Mary McDonnell - President Laura Roslin
Katee Sackhoff - Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
Jamie Bamber - Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama
Grace Park - Lieutenant Sharon "Boomer" Valerii
...
...this effort at retelling the Battlestar story. Thankfully, however, what we got was a loving-made and smartly written version of the classic series, updated to become more relevant to a 21st century audience, whilst also paying homage to many aspects of the 1978 series. Not all of the changes have worked, but on the whole this miniseries - a 175 minute TV film originally shown in 2 parts, intended as a pilot to series 1 - is well worth watching, ... more

Battlestar Galactica - The Miniseries (2003)

Certificate: 12 (UK), TV-14 (USA)
Running time: 175 minutes

Main cast:
Edward James Olmos - Commander William Adama
Mary McDonnell - President Laura Roslin
Katee Sackhoff - Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
Jamie Bamber - Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama
Grace Park - Lieutenant Sharon "Boomer" Valerii
James Callis - Dr Gaius Baltar
Tricia Helfer - Number 6

The Cylons were created by Man.
They were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies.
And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters.
After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared.
The Cylons left for another world to call their own.
A remote space station was built...
...where Cylon and Human could meet and maintain diplomatic relations.
Every year, the Colonials send an officer.
The Cylons send no one.
No one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years.

For a show that only ran for one season (1978-79), the original "Battlestar Galactica" left a huge legacy. Coming so soon after the success of "Star Wars", it rapidly developed a cult following and fan base that almost rivalled that of "Doctor Who", a vast array of merchandising, and a popularity amongst sci-fi fans that was truly impressive for a show that comprised just a pilot and 17 episodes (or 24 episodes, depending on how you view it). There was a brief revival with "Battlestar Galactica 1980", but the show never got properly up and running again. For my own part, I can remember watching re-runs in the 1980s as a small child and thoroughly enjoying them, which is perhaps why I felt distinct misgivings when I heard that a new miniseries was being filmed by Universal Studios in 2003. There have been numerous remakes of classic films and TV programmes over recent years that have proved to be inadequate - remakes for the sake of remakes - and I was fully prepared to hate this effort at retelling the Battlestar story. Thankfully, however, what we got was a loving-made and smartly written version of the classic series, updated to become more relevant to a 21st century audience, whilst also paying homage to many aspects of the 1978 series. Not all of the changes have worked, but on the whole this miniseries - a 175 minute TV film originally shown in 2 parts, intended as a pilot to series 1 - is well worth watching, whether you have seen the original show or not.

The Galactica universe is set around the Twelve Colonies of Man, a dozen planets where humans have built up civilisation after leaving their original home world of Kobol. Having mastered the art of space travel, the colonists thought themselves to be clever, and set about building a sub-class of servile robots that they named Cylons, presumably intended to fight their wars for them, judging by their menacing appearance and the deadly efficiency with which they use weapons. However, the old chestnut of the human invention becoming too smart for humanity's own good comes into play: the Cylons rebelled, fighting the long and bloody Cylon war with the humans of Twelve Colonies. The war only came to an end with the signing of an armistice, which let the Cylons leave the colonies to start their own civilisation on a new world. The miniseries begins some forty years after the armistice, with the colonies enjoying a new era of prosperity and security; both sides have kept the peace in the intervening years, but the Cylons have declined to maintain the promised diplomatic relations between them and their human makers. Until one meeting, when the colonial officer is surprised to find himself joined by two sleek robots and a beautiful woman (Tricia Helfer) aboard the neutral space station where the diplomatic meetings with the Cylons are due to take place. The Cylons have evolved. No longer do they look like low paid actors in cheap tin suits. The Centurion models have become advanced robotic soldiers, while a new and more threatening breed of Cylon has been developed - and they look like humans (and are not unlike the idea of relicants in "Blade Runner", for that matter). There are twelve models of human Cylon, and there are many copies of each model.

These new Cylons quickly prove themselves to be ruthless, by launching a sudden, simultaneous nuclear bombardment across the Twelve Colonies, an attack that has been made possible through the infiltration of the Colonies' defence mainframe. The designer of the defence software, Dr Gauis Baltar (James Callis), was seduced by the same beautiful Cylon who brought about the destruction of the diplomatic space station - model number 6 (Tricia Helfer) - giving the robots the ability to disable the sophisticated programming in the Colonial Fleet's fighters. Whilst devastating, the initial attacks do not wipe out all of humanity, however. At the time of the attacks, around 50,000 humans are aboard space ships and so are temporarily safe, although only one military vessel survives, leaving the defence of the whole of the remaining human civilisation to the eponymous Battlestar Galactica. The Galactica survives because at the time of the Cylon attacks it was undergoing a decommissioning ceremony: it was a dated aircraft carrier type ship left over from the first Cylon war, and as such had technology too basic to be affected by the sabotage. Under the command of William Adama (Edward James Olmos) and with only a handful of experienced fight pilots - most notably Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) and Apollo (Jamie Bamber) - Galactica must protect humanity while it makes a difficult decision: to fight against the Cylons with almost unwinnable odds, or too flee in search of the fabled 13th colony of Earth to find a new home for the Holocaust survivors?

What is clear from the off is that this is an altogether more serious and brutally realistic version of Galactica than the classic series. It does not follow the formulaic plot structure of films such as "Independence Day", where the humans rally around a leader, hear an inspiring speech, and then fight back to win over the enemy. It does not shy away from showing humans being killed, from showing the mushroom clouds hanging over cities, or from creating an atmosphere of fear, isolation and suspicion amongst the surviving colonists. This is a darker programme than the original, a "Battlestar Galactica" for the post 9/11 world, in which it is harder to recognise your enemy. Unlike other sci-fi shows that are comfortably removed from our everyday experiences, this one has elements grounded in our own reality. The newly appointed president Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) has cancer; the colonies are struck with nuclear warheads rather than fictional laser weapons. The harsh truth of what has happened to the colonies and their survivors is put in the clearest of terms, and this perhaps plays on our own fears more than many other sci-fi epics have managed.

One of the most obvious - and controversial - changes since the last series has been the transformation of key characters Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) and Boomer (Grace Park) into women. I think that Boomer's character works well in a female version, but Starbuck is more questionable. While I welcome such a strong female character in a lead role, and it does arguably create a new and interesting relationship between friends Starbuck and Apollo (Jamie Bamber), the new Starbuck is far less fun than the original creation. The new Starbuck seems to compensate for being female by behaving in an aggressively male fashion, which can swing from being confident to arrogant to downright annoying. She is the stereotypical Maverick, and it can get a little wearing after a while; I simply don't like the way Katee Sackhoff plays Starbuck. Still, not all changes were going to work, and the new improved special effects on the flying and fighting sequences are as good as you would expect in any film production, and more than make up for the weaknesses in the design.

This newly re-imagined version of Galactica also comes complete with new theme music (although the old one from 1978 is amusingly used as the anthem of the Twelve Colonies) and a new style of direction. Interestingly, the new theme music appears to be a section of an ancient Hindu Veda written in Sanskrit - this will doubtless turn out to be deeply symbolic as the programme develops, but why they use this is anyone's guess at the moment! Director Michael Rymer has gone for a documentary style, with the camera often swinging suddenly around to follow the action as it happens, and changing focus and direction as if the person filming the show has suddenly noticed something new and exciting happening, and is desperately trying to capture it on film. This can often work in producing an immediacy to what is happening; it makes the unfolding events feel as sudden and unexpected to us as they would do to the characters, although in longer sequences it can become exhausting and I began to wish the camera operator would just calm down a little bit. I have also been pleasantly surprised with the standard of the acting overall, with Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell being especially good; although they were both unfamiliar faces to me, I believe they are quite famous and well-established actors in the US.

Overall, one of the better remakes I have seen recently, although I know it does not appeal to all die-hard fans of the original show. I am not a huge fan of science fiction, but "Battlestar Galactica" works so well as a compelling drama series that I enjoy it nonetheless. I will complain that the European release DVDs do not have the great extras that come with the region 1 packages, however, and that is something that I really feel lets the DVD down. The show is certainly recommended; the region 2 DVD, less so.

*DVD Extras*
A 15-minute behind-the scenes documentary called "Battlestar Galactica: The Lowdown". Features short sections of comments from all the key actors, as well as the director and Richard Hatch (Apollo in the original show, and a long-time campaigner to revive the series). Not very informative or entertaining, but does show some interesting 1978 clips to remind us viewers of a certain age how much special effects have changed since our childhoods! This is a shortened version of the 40-minute documentary available on the region 1 DVD, and seems to have been stuck on more as a weakly edited afterthought than anything to enhance the film. I was unimpressed by it. Subtitles are also available, but only in English.

*Product Details*
RRP £12.99, but currently available for £4.98 on Amazon. Rated 12 in the UK for "moderate violence and sex". Those of you with a region 1 compatible DVD player may be interested to know that the American version of the miniseries DVD is also available on Amazon at the time of writing from £9.57, and has more extras on it than the UK release (longer documentary, deleted scenes, and commentary).
Amazon, European version DVD: http://tinyurl.com/2y6eqg
Amazon, American version DVD: http://tinyurl.com/23kmnr 

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