Battlestar Galactica

     I decided to take pretty much everyone's word for it and give the "new" Battlestar Galactica a test run. I remember Battlestar from my youth. It was a campy tv show on after the cartoons on Saturday morning. With effects and story that just didn't do it for me like Star Wars did, I was mostly disinterested. But EVERYONE online, including a lot of people who's opinions I really value, claim that the new series on the Sci-fi channel is one of the best, if not THE best show on television.

      I learned that there was a test pilot/miniseries on before the show was greenlit for a complete season which introduces us to the characters and the basic storyline. Although not completely necessary, it is recommended to watch this first before jumping into the series. The pilot mini-series was OK, but nothing super spectacular. Enough though, that it kept my interest and convinced me to at least try the first disc of season 1. Again, although not terrific, the first few episodes of season one were better than the pilot and were enough to keep my interest and compel me to get disc 2 of the first season. Now finished with disc 2, I see what all this fuss is about and realize that this really is a great show.

      My real love is still for "Lost," but now that I'm caught up with "Lost," it is only on once a week. Not to mention that season 3 of Sawyer and the gang is hardly what it once was. "Battlestar" is fresh and new for me and since it is on DVD and currently in its third season, I can sit and watch 3 hours of it and know I still have plenty more to go before I am caught up.

      The storyline has truly taken off into some compelling and suspenseful storytelliung. And this new overhauled, revisioning of the series looks and feels great. It's gritty and military-esque. Not campy and fantasy-like. The physics of ships and space is something original we don't see too much of in sci-fi epics. And let's not forget the acting. Although most of the acting is only slightly better than average, there are glimpses of brilliance by veteran actor Edward James Olmos, who really takes a less is more approach to his role as Captain Adama. He is FANTASTIC to watch.

     Besides drawing the usual and obvious sci-fi geeks (i.e. me), critics say it offers the only fresh take on terrorism, religion, gender, abortion, civil liberty, democracy and corporatization to be found on TV.

From TV.com:

     "[Is Battlestar Galactica] The Best Show on Television in 2005? Yes, according to Time Magazine, Rolling Stone and New York Newsday. Praised by The New York Times, The National Review, The New Yorker, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune and many other publications, Battlestar Galactica won a prestigious Peabody Award in the spring of 2006."

      If you've got nothing better to do and you like sci-fi (GOOD sci-fi), I highly recommend giving "Battlestar Galactica" a chance. It's very little like the original show with smart writing, great characters (specifically Adama and Dr. Gaius) and damn cool action sequences. If you do decide to try it, give it at least through disc 2 of the first season and I promise it will hook you.

     "There are those who believe... that life here... began out there. Far across the universe. With tribes of humans... who may have been the forefathers of the Egyptians... or the Toltecs... or the Mayans... that they may have been the architects of the Great Pyramids... or the lost civilizations of Lemuria... or Atlantis... Some believe that there may yet be brothers of man... who even now fight to survive... somewhere beyond the heavens."

~Drewbacca
MoviePatron.com