Other Science Fiction Series

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: Should I watch?

POSTED BY: reginaroadie
UPDATED: Tuesday, February 1, 2005 04:33
VIEWED: 10672
PAGE 3 of 4

PBI

Saturday, January 15, 2005 6:45 PM

There are no lasers, either, unlike the old version. Those are tracer rounds. Part of Adama's instructions to Tigh were to "find him some bullets" or something along those lines, and later dialogue seems to confirm that the bullet reference was not talking about those large missle warheads, but the ammo for the vipers.

It does make one wonder how they're going to resupply during their flight across the galaxy, but that's some built-in suspense, I suppose :)

As for the use of sound in space, well, as long as the rest of the show is of sufficient quality, I'll overlook it. It's a bit like complaining that a wad of 20s are torn :) As long as the money's still good, that's good enough :)

If you can survive death, you can probably survive almost anything.

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Saturday, January 15, 2005 6:49 PM

I never thought of Xena as being lesbian. She was just the original ass-kicking chick.

The new BSG is definitely a bastardization of the original. It’s a product of lazy minds that couldn’t make their own ideas stick without stealing someone else’s. It’s a total Ronald McDowell.

That being said, I recommend that you watch it. Despite its writers/producers pathetic attempt to push their own story from being the BSG name, it is actually a very good show, from what I’ve seen. And if a spiteful diehard original fan like myself can say that, I think someone who isn’t burdened by such emotional baggage would like it even more.

TMURRIE

Saturday, January 15, 2005 7:40 PM

The original was boring and I never liked it. Sometimes a remake can bastardize an old show, but in this case a remake is much much better than the original, I want to see where go with this in the series.

DANFAN

Saturday, January 15, 2005 11:28 PM

I tried to like the original BSG and the cheesiness of it finallly turned me off. so I approached the miniseries with an open mind. I really enjoyed it. I had no problems with the reworking of the characters (e.g., female Starbuck).

The real test came when I loaned my tape of the new BSG miniseries to a friend who is a diehard fan of the old show. She went into it wanting to hate it. At the end of the first two hours she was all "how do I connect this to the original? How did they get back to the old planets? It doesn't make any sense! I hate the female Starbuck!" and so on.

By the end of the second two hours, she had turned 180 degrees.

Here is the secret to liking the new show... fix it in your mind that the original BSG and the new BSG have NO CONNECTION whatsoever. The new one IS NOT a sequel to the original. It is a retelling of the original story! So you don't have to connect them. Or figure out why they got back to the homeworlds after the last episode of the original series. Just figure this is a complete retelling of the old story from the start.

The makers of the show shot themselves in the foot by the "40 years after the first war" element to the story and the picture perfect resurrection of the old Viper, and the photos/models of the old Cylons in the museum. It practially invites you to try to link the stories into some overarching timeline. But if you resist that urge, and accept these visual ties to the old story as nothing more than homage, then the new series stands on its own quite nicely.

I like it. I suggest you watch it.

DRAGONFLYDIRECTOR

Saturday, January 15, 2005 11:52 PM

About the 'bullets' for the Vipers:
1) Adama could be using a euphemism about obtaining ammo for the fighters. So bullets could mean the refill of the 'fuel' of an 'electron -- cannon' or somesuch.
IE using a series of electromagnetic coils to hyper accelerate bundles of electrons or plasma material.

OR

2) There are real 'bullets' {and in the vein of real heavy weapons} the bullets may be composed of 'trans-uranic' slugs -- chunks of 'used' uranium that is molded into ballistic projectiles.

Until we see the loading of the Vipers ... or if anybody has caught something that shows the ammo in the background of a flight deck scene -- we can only speculate.

"Observe Analyze & Respond"
Motto of the A.P.E.s
Alliance Protean Engineers

SNIPER

Sunday, January 16, 2005 2:50 AM

You should watch it. It's outstanding.

I've been assuming that they're using bullets, not lasers. At one point, Adama says "Get me some bullets, Chief."

PURPLEBELLY

Sunday, January 16, 2005 7:56 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by danfan:
... accept these visual ties to the old story as nothing more than homage, then the new series stands on its own quite nicely.

I agree with you completely, but what surprised me was the way that references to previous BSG and the heritage battles have been made to work. The museum getting in the way of the action and Richard Hatch's guest role work for me both as part of the present narrative and wry acknowledgement of the past.

PBI

Sunday, January 16, 2005 12:52 PM

One thing I forgot to add about the term 'bullets' is that the artillerymen I've wrked with refer to their ammo as 'bullets'. Now, the thought of a 105mm or 155mm shell being referred to as a bullet slightly offended my sense of tradition, as I'm used to bullets being things that come out the end of personal weapons, but who am I to argue? ;)

The point is that, while I think it's fairly certain that the Vipers are using actual projectiles (the sound effects ssound a lot like rapid fire projectile weapons to me), the type of projectile and/or any warheads they might have are questions that are totally up for grabs.

If you can survive death, you can probably survive almost anything.

DANFAN

Sunday, January 16, 2005 6:08 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by PurpleBelly:
The museum getting in the way of the action... work for me both as part of the present narrative and wry acknowledgement of the past.

Good catch there, Purplebelly! That had completely gotten by me. But I see it now that you've pointed it out.

Sometimes I think I watch movies intelligently and sometimes I think my brain is like oatmeal any time the tube is on.

CREVANREAVER

Sunday, January 16, 2005 6:57 PM

For a supposed history of the Twelve Colonies, take a look at the link below.

http://www3.telus.net/public/akamyot/chistory.htm

This is it's home site.

http://www3.telus.net/public/akamyot/bsgrpg.html