Battlestar Galactica...... worth it?
 

i realize i may be completely lambasted for this, but how good is this series? i was a fan of the old sci-fi series, does this in anyway resemble it or just a roundabout means of drawing people in? i have heard alot of really good things about this, but havent checked it out. start watching? are episodes available online? give up and go back into my cave? just trying to get an idea of what i may be missing.

The first two seasons are very worth picking up on DVD. The first part of season 3 is good as well. Unfortunately the execs at Sci Fi have stepped in and screwed with the series, making the second half of season 3 almost unwatchable.

is it still more scif or moreso political? (a reason i had a hard time watching Babylon5) i honestly dont know alot about the series as is right now

Thinking of watching Battlestar Galactica - worth it? <-- 3 page thread

Battlestar Galactica new series, good to buy blind?


Don't ask me why I did your search for you. I honestly don't know. I only linked you to a couple of the relevant threads though. Your own search will aid you greatly. I agree with MovieExchange though about this current season. The first two are must see.

Being Scifi does not necesarily mean it can't be political. There's plenty of both, esp here in Season 3. True, S3 has stumbled apparently due to network interference, but they've apparently backed off for the season finale and it's back to it's old ways: some really intense shit.

Regardless, the first two seasons are completely worth it, and a DVD collection would definitely feel incomplete without S3.

And just to sell the scif bit a little more, the fourth episode of S3 contains one of the most amazing attack sequences ever put to film. Makes the Picard Manuever look like a senior citizen ice cream social.

Exodus part II beats out the episode of B5 where they finally go to war with earth as one of the most kick ass sci-fi episodes ever....

AAMOF, ALL of new Caprica kicks ass

Its a good show, much better than the old show but it is veryyy dry and very dark. Most people I know, who like Sci Fi, have given up on it for this very reason.

I thought the Picard manuever was that thing he did with his tunic. :hscratch:

If so, what Adama did in Exodus Part 2 was definitely more exciting :D

Season 1 is a must-see, IMO. Compelling performances, great action, awesome SFX and some original story-telling.

Season 2 is sort of hit-or-miss but the finale more than made up for any of that season's inconsistancies.

Season 3 has been a HUGE drag, but I'm confident the show will eventually get back on track.

So, not the season 1-'til now excellence of The Shield or Rome or The Wire, but definitely the best sci-fi on TV and worth a visit.

Might be showing nerd colors but isn't it the move where he has his ship go to warp for .01 seconds? To the other ship, it looks like the ship is in too spots.

I'll proudly show my nerd colors: The original Picard Manuever referred to blasting into warp for a fraction of a second during a battle to appear to be in two places at once, thus confusing your opponent. A little bit after that, when they went to the two piece uniforms, Patrick Stewart was constantly adjusting his uniform top on camera, causing some of the cast and crew to also dub that "the Picard Manuever".



rant
While recently watching The Battle (where the Picard Manuever was introduced), I realized it's not really that big of a deal if you know it's coming. It's a psychological trick, one that I'm sure would make a shipload of Ferengi wet their shorts, but to someone like Riker (with folks like Data, Worf, et all) on the Enterprise with him, it shouldn't have been that scary. Riker makes a big deal of telling Data to come up with a counter manuever, but it's not really needed. All Riker has to do is pump all power into the forward shields, and stall Picard until they can destroy the mind control device. This is actually a very good example of poor writing, in that they could have easily had a character in the show say "it's only a psychological trick, since we know it's coming, we just have to figure out how to stall him". The show is enjoyable just to see what the Stargazer looked like, but it's certainly not the pinnacle of TNG's writing, and it quite frankly cheapens the legend of Picard by making The Picard Manuever so non-awe-inspiring. Even the staunchest of Klingon commanders would hesitate before trying to pull off the Adama Manuever.
/rant

I think it kind of sucks and is very highly overrated for some reason.

Early on the camera work was atrocious, which has been fixed more recently,
but the stories go nowhere and the humans make such idiotic decisions you
want them to die.

Plus this whole "Cylons as humans" thing is incredibly contrived and dumb.

Then again, you might like it, so why not check out an ep or two and see?

Just remember to start with the Miniseries first. The TV series carries on immediately after the Miniseries and anyone who hasn't seen that first will be completely lost.

yes its worth it, an excellent show, one of the best on tv.

i would say season 2 was fantastic too, and season 3 most of it was great( especially the rescue mission on the planet was WOW!), the last few episodes have been so-so but they have been getting better

There were a few episodes in season 3 that were sub-par but they are the exception, the rest of season 3 has been kick ass along with the first two seasons. I think the few episodes that weren't so great in this third season have really punished the show for some people here but when you look back most of the season has actually been good. The real problem is the standalone or "filler" episodes which are the ones I'm referring to, and even some of these episodes were pretty damn good.

Anyhow OP to answer your question, watch the miniseries and if you like it, you're going to like the series.

Is the Picard manuever like the venus butterfly from LA Law?

CAUTION: The miniseries lays the groundwork for the series BUT ... it's pretty mediocre compared to the series itself.

People keep on saying that and frankly... I don't see it. While the series is great, I thought the mini-series was very good also. It's not like there's some dramatic shift from mini-series to series. Heck, if the mini-series was so mediocre, we wouldn't even have the series. Anyway, people should just watch and form their own opinions.

I agree 100%. I rented the mini-series on a whim without knowing much about the series and I immediately fell in love it.

Rent the mini. If you like this, you'll probably enjoy the series.

It sounds like you've watched a lot of this show, considering it kind of sucks and is very highly overrated.

I haven't seen yet, but I plan on checking it out one of these days.

Yeah I have tried really hard to like it, given the widespread acclaim, the fact that I like Sci-Fi, and my GF watches it. But, other than a few decent episodes here and there it hasn't really worked for me.

But yeah it pretty much sucks. The premise is weak and so is the execution.

So did I.

For me, the new Battlestar Galactica is pretty much the best hard science fiction show I've ever encountered, with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel being the best sci-fi/fantasy shows. The miniseries hooked me entirely - gritty, intelligent, incredibly exciting and shockingly character driven for a miniseries. Season 1 was superb ("33" might have been the best and most fully formed premier episode of any series ever), season 2 was, if anything, somewhat underrated. I think the complaints about season 3 have more to do with too many stand alone/"filler" episodes than that they lack in overall quality or suffer from poor execution. The writing and directing has been uniformly top flight and the actors have been genuinely amazing. Some were just hired for the miniseries or an episode or two and much like James Marsters and Emma Caulfield from the Buffyverse shows, they've turned out to be incredibly lucky finds.

Some of the best episodes, IMHO:

33
Act of Contrition
Kobol's Last Gleaming, Parts 1 + 2
Home, Parts 1 + 2
Pegasus
Resurrection Ship, Parts 1 + 2
Lay Down Your Burdens, Parts 1 + 2 (Part 2 is scary good. Astonishing)
Occupation
Exodus, Part 2 (contains the greatest tactical space battle sequence ever filmed, TV or movies)
Unfinished Business

I dissagree. I've been one of the most vocal critics of Season 3 and it has nothing to do with episodes being "filler". I have no problem with "filler" episodes of anything. My problem is with the plot lines, the writing, and the acting. Particularly the

So wait. I was going to Netflix this series next. Do I get the miniseries first and then S1 or should I just start with the S1 DVDs?

Watch the miniseries first. I don't think it's very good (it's just average), and without the context of what follows it, it's likely even worse, but it's largely essential viewing. (<i>Edit: there is a S1 DVD set with the miniseries included</i>)

To the question at hand, I can't really answer it until at least this season finishes and probably beyond. At present, I'd lean towards "no, it's not worth it", since the show has been treading water and hasn't really gone anywhere meaningful; but advance word is that there are positive things on the horizon, so I'll give it a little more benefit of the doubt before stating outright that it's not worth the invested effort.

das

I've been avoiding the BSG threads dure to MASSIVE spoilers, like every other post. What's this about network interference in season 3?

Das, I think the answer you're looking for with someone Netflixing the show would be Start with the S1 DVDs because the first disk of the S1 set is the miniseries.

Anyhow the show is awesome. For the people who've never seen it but are interested I say at least catch the Mini and the first couple episodes of the first season, if you're not hooked by then; you never will be. :)

Oh, whoops. I completely misunderstood the question and forgot about the way this thing was released on DVD. Assuming Netflix is using the version that contains the miniseries on Disc #1, I guess you can just start with "Season 1". Definitely <i>watch</i> the miniseries, though. :)

das

Gotcha! Exactly what I needed to know (deleting miniseries from queue). Thanks!

Nothing firm really, just rumors that for episodes like The Woman King or A Day in the Life, Moore had planned for them to be in the background for several episodes, so they didn't come out of nowhere (like how Trek will introduce a main character as having a hobby that happens to coincide with the plot of the week). The scuttlebutt is the network wanted more episodes to be standalone so people tuning in mid-arc wouldn't be confused.

I believe it was mentioned in one of the podcasts that Moore does for every episode. He's been pretty straightforward about behind the scenes events before, so it's possible he might have said something about it.

Yeah, sorry about that. Thank <b>kakihara1</b> for pointing out my mistake. :)

das

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S4 spoilers, beware.

Now that this thread has been resurrected - can I just say THANK GOD S3 IS FINALLY COMING OUT ON DVD IN LESS THAN THREE WEEKS!!!!! Damn you're slow Universal. Too bad the HD version might only be HD-DVD if at all. :sad:

I'm definitely looking forward to S3 - need to see the Exodus episodes again for sure.

After the whole HD DVD Season 1 debacle with tons of scratched discs from the factory, coupled with Universal now moving to Blu-Ray only, I fear it will be a long while before we see any of these seasons in HD again.

At least the DVD's picture quality is way ahead of my shitty SciFi analog cable broadcast.

When does season 4 start? It's been over a year!!! It would be nice if season 3 was out on DVD NOW because I forgot almost everything that happened already!

It returns Friday, April 4 9/10 PM.