The new Battlestar

[Elf Witch]

Wait a minute I originally thought they came from the front of hanger deck too in the original but in some scenes they appear from under the side of the ship. Also in the old one you could see clear through the landing bay open space to open space so why have launch tubes.

Personally I would like to see realism a bit more in scific. After how many times can kirk, spock, luke, Captain Sheridian, etc avoid the blaster light. They didn’t fall for the laser/blaster moves slower than a bullet.

Good points on the generic corrodor but having nearly got lost on the USS Alabama it did look convincing plus standard scene where civilian/political flunky gets lost on military ship.
Strong female parts. Hmm Starbuck’s blonde nurseie look concern over current wounded guy actor. The only strong woman in the original was Apollo’s wife who took a bullet. The rest were just average stock characters.

Rating both them I give the original C and the new one C+. Mainly because the new one have flaws which can be plot story lines. The original Baltar would have taken the old lady’s number and mugged for the camera.

Excuse me what about Sheba who could fly as well as any of the boys? And dind't have to act like one unloke the new female Starbuck or as my male roomate called her Startramp. Flaws these characters all need prozac and group therepy.

 

[RolandOfGilead]

I'd just like to say I thought the show was brilliant. Today, scifi gets bogged down in trying to be more intelligent than its audience. I think the producers found a great formula of entertainment for the show:

1/2 part nostalgia
2 parts titillation
1 part kick the teeth in action
1 part human drama

To me, the show reminds me of the original star trek:
HUMANS, with HUMAN MOTIVATIONS. Not UTOPIANS, with UNKNOWABLE motivations (like the next generation and most star trek after that)...

Anyone who faults the producer for not remaining true to the old series had better be kicking peter jackson in the pants for his raping of the lord of the rings series.

 

[Elf Witch]

I fail to see how anything needs to be excused. The producers and the owners of the property are under no obligation to be true to their fans. There is no contract, of trust, or otherwise, preventing them from taking an old idea and transforming it into something new. One of the things that annoys me the most out of so called "fans" is that they think that because something they watched something that entertained them, you are then in debt to them in some way and are obligated to satisfy their wishes. You (or the owners, producers, etc.) aren't. If you want to reimagine it, its your prerogative, end of story, unless the fans want to pay the studios the millions of dollars the property is actually worth and buy the property.



I don't see this at all. This is clearly a case where they were actually aknowledging the old show by placing the familliar elements into a historical context. I really don't see this as a problem.

I would like to point out the creator of the show Glen Larson was not to happy about Richard Hatch working on a new BSG show and tried to fight that and he was not happy about losing all creative control to the idea that he created to the producers who made this show. So he along with Richard Hatch and the fans who have written thousands of e-mails and snail mails in the last 25 years to try and bring BSG back were all basically screwed without even being taken to dinner first.

I was not happy with the direction of the new show but I wanted to give it a fair shake I apporached it with the idea that I would not judge it based on one of my favorite shows. And I would base it soley on its on merits. Also one of the producers worked on my favorite Trek DS9 and I liked his work.

I did not like the show very much first of all so much of it has been done before and done better. Terminator did a much better job with the whole we made machines and they turned on us heck The Forbin Project did it in the 60s. I thought that the graphic sex was not needed it did not feel part of the plot and instead felt like it was added to give little fanboys who will never have a chance to be with a real woman a cheap thrill.

Also why for the sake of drama does everyone have to be so dyfunctional? I felt like I was watching an afternoon soap.

There was little that caught and held my attention.

 

[jdavis]

Being a huge fan of the original as a child (heck, I even like Galactic a 1980), I have to say that I enjoyed the new BSG. After reading through all of the posts, some of the negative comments read as if some posters are wallowing in nostalgic feelings of a beloved childhood memory and not really looking at the new show itself. Not there is anything wrong with nostalgia. I have been re-watching old tapes of the original all last week, shows I haven’t seen (as sydicated re-runs) in 15+ years, and while they still have a special place in my heart, I just couldn’t believe just how bad some of those episodes were. I still love them, but gosh some of them were bad.

Some people were complaining about #6 being eye candy. Most of the time, so were the women of the old BSG (Cassiopeia, the hooker with a heart of gold. Simultaneously a useless character and a cliché). Some people were complaining that the new Starbuck is a cliché. The old one was too. The production values on the old show were horrendous. I couldn’t believe that, as a child, I didn’t notice that they were using the exact same shots for the space battles over and over and over again. Like or dislike them, at least these were new viper scenes. Some people have also been talking about the BSG fan base. Color me completely out of touch, but just exactly how big is this fan base? I am honestly not trying to be coy here. It has been 20+ years since anybody’s done anything with this property (that I am aware of), so just how big is the “loyal fan base?”

I am not trying to change anybody’s mind here. Different strokes for different folks. I just curious how much of the negative postings were do to remembering the original show being better than it actually was? I have been running into this sort of thing a lot myself lately. The other night I stumbled on to an episode of Speed Racer on cable. Man, I certainly remember that as being much better. I still think the Mach 5 is cool though.

Actually none of my remarks were tainted by nostalgia, the old show was good for a 70's show, but it was definatly a 70's show. The things I didn't like I wouldn't of liked even if this show had nothing to do with the Battlestar Galactica property and the things I did like I'd of liked in any show too. I've watched the first episode twice now and the second episode three times in a row (I'm watching it right now), good grief I don't think there is any more of a chance I can give this show but I just can't bring myself to like it.

As far as the fanbase goes it is bigger than you think. There has been a Battlestar Galactica revival movement going on for some time now and there have been Battlestar Galactica fan conventions. Richard Hatch made a trailer for a Galactica project he was trying to do and went around building up support, Glen Larson has also been trying to get a Galactica project together too. There was also a Bryan Singer and Tom DeSanto project at one time too. That's why there is so much hostility from this fanbase about the new show, they did a lot of work and put a lot of effort into getting a buzz going about a Galactica revival then they got a show where they were told that if you were a fan of the original show then this isn't for you (statement by Edward James Olmos). Oh and then you get to catch flack like this:

Well, they did warned you. If you're a devoted closed-minded, one-tracked, BSG fanatic, then don't watch it.

Otherwise, watch it with an open mind, assuming you can be. Let's say I won't hold my breath on that statement.

Yes actually being a fan of the old show makes you closed minded and stupid. What does a actual fan of a show know about why they are a fan of the show to start with? Fans of the old show are incapable of open thought or making up their own minds they should take what is given and be thankful for it. No freaking wonder they are not real happy with all of this? First they work to get a show they like brought back, then they get a show that is nothing like what they wanted, then they get insulted for actually having a opinion on the matter at all. Look sometimes people do take things a little too seriously but how do you think Star Trek fans would react if Star Trek was totally reimagined for the viewing public and the old show was thrown out completly? If people don't like the vast and sweeping changes made to Galactica then that is their perogative, just like it's the producers perogative to make the show they want to make.

Anyway, here is the links to some of the biggest sites:

http://www.richardhatch.com/

http://www.battlestargalactica.com/

http://battlestarfanclub.com/battlestar/

http://www.battlestarpegasus.com/

Interview with Richard hatch where he talks about how Galactica revival started (he's the one who originally approached USA studios in 1998 about Galactica): http://scifipulse.scifiwebs.com/Trek%20Archive/April/Richard_Hatch.htm

 

[Wycen]

I didn't like the cylon reveal at the end.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Look sometimes people do take things a little too seriously but how do you think Star Trek fans would react if Star Trek was totally reimagined for the viewing public and the old show was thrown out completly?

Ever hear of a little show called Enterprise? Doesn't the temporal cold war pretty much make much of the history we think we know inaccurate?

I feel like I'm on an episode of Point/Counterpoint. Regardless, I felt that the miniseries was excellent on virtually all levels. No, this is not the same show I watched and loved as a kid. Heck, even with this re-imagining, I still love the original. But this show has the potential to be a great scifi. And despite the dysfunctionality of the characters, they were still the same characters. Despite his whining, Apollo was still courageous, heroic, and likable. Despite being female, Starbuck was still a rogue who talks too much and takes too many chances.

Spoiler

OK, I take that back, Boomer is definitely not the same.

Anyway, this had just the right amount of space combat, grit, and humanity to make me come back for the series. I think it has the potential to be the best scifi TV series ever made. I don't say that lightly since I currently consider B5 to be the ultimate space opera ever shown on television.

Regardless, no one who knows anything about BSG will argue that Richard Hatch and a handfull of fans are probably responsible for creating interest in the franchise again. The problem is that it all comes back to business. If you make a show for the original fans, you will lose money. At 25 years after the original, the only way to get the ratings you need for a show like this is to go after a new fan base and try to take the majority of the old fans with you. You have to make it for a modern audience and you have to take into account that we have a better idea now of how computer technology should work than we did back in the '70s. I think that this series succeeds on all fronts. I suspect that the ratings were good enough for this to go to series, so the question now is where this show will take us.

Anyway at this point the whole question is thumbs up or thumbs down. I give it thumbs up.

 

[Skade]

I'm of course waiting to see tomorrows episode, but it gets a thumbs up from me. I don't know that I would be willing to claim that it could be the best sci-fi show given a chance, but I won't deny it either. Right now my favorite sci-fi show is a toss up between Babylon5 and Stargate SG-1. In each of those cases I initially could not stand it. Oh, I watched cause I'm a glutton for punishment and kept hoping they would get better. In both cases my hopes bore out beautifully. I actually like this Battlestar Galactica better than each of those series' intial offerings.

So, thumbs up and hopes high here.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Uh Skade, there were only 2 parts to the miniseries. We'll have to wait for the series now.

 

[Skade]

oops. That felt abrupt then, I really expected something more. That ending only works if it is a pilot, as a stand alone miniseries I would feel jipped. I really thought there would be a third episode.

 

[johnsemlak]

Have there been any reviews of the miniseries posted anywhere (other than the very imformative ones in this thread of course )?