Battlestar Galactica - The Movie [DVD] [1978]

Only four stars because...wait for it...No Extras!? Why no extras? Surely they knew collectors and nostalgia chasers (me) would enjoy extras? Otherwise, it’s a fine reproduction with good sound, though not Dolby 5.1 in my experience (again, why?). It is a good HD picture and seems to have transferred well to Blu-ray. The menu is symbolic and a little awkward to navigate. If you’ve seen the film then you know what you’re getting. I saw this in the cinema in the late 70s when I was a child. It looks majorly dated today but I love it and was still a little sad all these years later watching it again when Apollo lost his brother Zac to the Cylon attack and Adama put the grief of losing his youngest son to one side in order to repel the attackers. The cast are exceptional and it boasts some big names of the day. Ray Milland hams it up wonderfully, as does John Colicos as Baltar. There is something innocent about BSG that survives to this day. In a world where Star Wars has been over-cooked with effects seemingly trumping storylines (yes looking at you episode 7 and 8), BSG kept it simple and very Saturday-afternoon-matinee-like, without complicating the core storyline (yes looking at you episode 1 and 2). I love the 70s hairstyles, makeup and fashions that are ubiquitous in this movie. I think the uniforms of the Galactica’s warriors are still very sharp. However, the real scene stealers costumes-wise are the Cylon warriors. They are still as menacing as ever and demonstrate how merciless they actually are when attacking little Boxy with a gladius (Roman sword) and of course, when executing Baltar after he’d helped betray humanity. I watched some of the modern BSG episodes and was disappointed the Cylons had lost their menacing ‘look’ from this movie. I’d really liked to have seen extras with “behind the scenes” clips and “making of” documentaries etc. Maybe next time?

Rose TInted Glasses Reveiew - OMG HAHAHAHAHAHAHA IM SO HAPPYNon-Rose Tinted Glasses Review - OMG....IM STILL SOO HAPPY!!!Ok, maybe the above isnt so subjective. However, with a show like this, it really is going to depend on why you are looking buying this.If you are someone of a certain age, who watched this when it was first shown, you'll enjoy the trip down memory lane, regardless of the obvious flaws.If you are someone of a millennial age, you’ll either consider this B-movie trash or love its eccentricities.Here are the simple version pro’s, mediums, and cons -Fantastic music scoreFantastic castingMedium Special EffectsMedium PlotMedium DirectingPoor Special EffectsPoor PlotYou might notice, I’ve doubled up there on some stuff. Quite simple, some of the plot was actually quite well done, some was quite dire. Some of the special effects were actually close to Star Wars quality, a lot weren’t.Here’s the thing, suspend disbelief, watch this. For the price, your not going to be losing out much if you don’t like it. But you might be surprised, and like it very much. It’s very 70’s unlike Star Wars, but in some ways, that lends to its charm. Some of the actors are quite fantastic, and some are fantastically cheesy. In the good way though.If you like Sci-fi, you should watch this, at the very least for historical purposes. If you like it, you can watch the full TV series. In a way, there is an element of a Firefly forerunner in the series. The second series, not so much to be fair, but watch it anyhow. Oh, and if you loved watching the film Mission Galactica, its a collection of 3 episodes from the TV series with some editing. Sadly we wont get the original re-edit on DVD/Bluray now, but you can at least get the crux of it from the series!

Although this really should've been included into the series boxset of the 1978 series (which the North American region version does anyhow?). This movie version of the pilot episode: Saga Of A Starworld, is an excellent throwback to the time when Star Wars inspired and created nearly untold followups in its wake. The pilot for the series asked the question? what if we didn't start out from Earth but came from across the stars al la "Chariot Of The Gods" we came to Earth eons ago and are apart of a tribe of humans. Fascinating concept and origin for a sci-fi series and movie and one of the all-time greats which hasn't been repeated.Such a pity creator; Glen Larson didn't support and cater for Galactica the same way George Lucas did with Star Wars. As on paper had the original series not been cancelled??! it would've had all kinds of sci-fi stories, characters and adventures to truly explore. Alas the Universal Studios TV executives at the time, didn't get it and said it was either; too expensive or that it lacked the necessary ratings? First off they rushed the show into production on the back of Star Wars coming out and didn't give Larson the necessary amount of time to develop the pilot from a series of follow up Galactica TV movies (Lost Planet of The Gods & Gun On Ice Planet Zero) as it wasn't nearly enough time to flesh out a ongoing storyarc for the characters and many various subplots for later seasons per se as many shows develop and so on. Thus its rather rapid cancellation was always seen as unfair and a bit of a joke considering how execs push Larson for the show to begin with. Yes Battlestar Galactica lasted only one season. It however has become one of the most remembered and beloved sci-fi franchises in the past 40 plus years mind you.Forget the bland and depressing remake/re-imagined 2000’s series by Ron Moore by the sci-fi channel in 2003. And idiots who say the original was all; 'hokum'. (hah) What? You'd borrow the same name and claim you're better somehow, i don't think so. First off most Trek fans don't go crapping all over the original Star Trek series from the 1960's despite all the following spin-off Trek shows since the Classic series and its movies came out. Most Star Trek fans like all forms of Star Trek (Yeah i know; Discovery and Picard suck donkey balls however). I've never understood why fans of the Galactica remake, tend to crap on the '78 series constantly? As if the '78 original ran over their; dog or cat or something?! Its 2021 and the classic series to this day has; novels, comic books (published by Dynamite Entertainment) streamed showings on digital platforms, and fanfilms/fan-edits made of it. Its one of the most iconic sci-fi shows despite only lasting one season.Nostalgia alone, cannot support any other sci-fi shows or movies, sorry but the original show and movie pilot here, always had more going for it than merely nostalgia. Nostalgia isn't a dirty word to associate; sentimental love of a property after so many years. Yeah many of us have nostalgia for the '78 movie and TV series of Galactica, but so what? Thats not a bloody crime last time i checked is it. The cool thing about Battlestar Galactica is that we use to talk about the show on the school playgrounds, and always wondered what ship was better? The Galactica or Millennium Falcon, which ship would win in a dogfight; the X-Wing or Colonial Viper? Luke or Apollo, Han or Starbuck, Lando or Boomer, Leia or Sheba etc's the list goes on. And enjoyed the fact, the Special Effects "wizard" behind Star Wars in John Dykstra. Also did Battlestar Galactica as well mind you?! Again any Galactica heavy criticisms always seem very foolish and redundant. As the technology behind both was more or less the same. Only the stories and characters were different, the concepts and visions were handled differently.I just wish the movie's release on Blu-ray had more extras and ones different from the main series boxset. As fans we know this is merely a re-release of the 2003 DVD boxset extras (The series). And are well aware Universal has unreleased materials surrounding the pilot episode which was always rumoured to be 6 hours in length. And that many fan websites have pictures of scenes or shots from pilot which haven't been scene at all (like the ones seen on the BSG trading cards from 1978 etc's) If the film or show is re-released onto Blu-ray again. A "double dipping" again, can only be justified by a whole ton of new extras! So i hope you're listening Universal, and please also release the late Richard Hatch's; 'Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming' onto any other re-release in the near future. Yes folks watch and enjoy the original Battlestar Galactica and fully embrace nostalgia, as it isn't a bad thing at all. This show had 65 Million viewers when it debuted on TV. And the film in cinemas was one of the last films to use the "Sensurround" sound system made famous by the Earthquake disaster film of the late 70's. So forget the haters, and enjoy this old sci-fi film which led into the classic TV series. Because its truly; one of kind in all the hurdles it crossed and had to overcome. And basically set up the whole idea of TV pilots costing upwards of $1 million dollars per episode. In that regard the; Battlestar Galactica movie and series was truly groundbreaking and always will be.