Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series [DVD] [2004]

As some of you may or may not know; there is so much Battlestar Galactica related content out there in the form of spin-off series, additional minisodes, TV movies and other secondary content. When I was trying to purchase the Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series [Blu-ray] for myself I was having trouble actually finding out what this box set contains, especially since Amazon combines reviews of both DVDs and Blu-Rays; the former supposedly not including alot of that secondary content and the latter supposedly including all of it. As well as various people saying this and that and other people saying the oppposite of this and that, I was getting rather confused. I never actually found out for sure what this box-set included so I caved and just bought it for myself regardless.The sole purpose of my review is to have one dedicated space in outlining what this box set actually does and does not contain!The Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series [Blu-ray] CONTAINS:- Battlestar Galactica (2003) (TV-Mini-Series)- Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009) (the Main TV Series, All Seasons [1,2,3,4 and The Final Season]- ALL unaired extended episodes of specific episodes from the Main TV series (as well as the original broadcast versions)- RAZOR (TV Movie) (BOTH the original broadcast version and the unrated extended version)- Razor Flashbacks (Minisodes x7)- The Resistance (Webisdoes x9)- I won't list the special features as they are on the Amazon product page, but I will add that there are also audio commentaries for each extended episode!The Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series [Blu-ray] DOES NOT CONTAIN:- The Plan (TV Movie)- The Face of the Enemy (Webisodes x10)- Blood & Chrome (a seperate spin-off prequel series that shouldn't be expected to be included in this box set. Can be purchased seperately)- Caprica (another seperate spin-off prequel series that shouldn't be expected to be included in this box set. Can be purchased seperately)So the only content that should've really been included in this box set is 'The Plan' and 'The Face of the Enemy' as they are both set within the same timeline of the main series. Quite frankly I wouldn't allow their absence to prevent you from purchasing this set, especially at the now current bargain price of £29.99! I believe The Face of the Enemy wasn't included because of licensing issues or something or other, but they can be viewed online if you know where to look (p.s they're not that good!) and The Plan [Blu-Ray] can be purchased on Amazon for a cheap price if you desperately want it (p.s it's not that good either :) )At the end of the day, all of the essential content is included in this box set!Conclusion. If you are a fan of Battlestar Galactica and simply want to own the fantastic show on Blu-Ray then get this product...NOW! If you are someone who hasn't seen the show before and are interested in it then get this product...NOW! Neither of you will be dissapointed. Hope this helps.

It has been many years since I started saying I would check out the remake of Battlestar Galactica. Despite being a fan of Star Trek, Stargate SG1 and all things science fiction, I never did get round to it. That was until we had to suffer through lockdown. I finally acquired the latest version of the series box-set and have finally finished it. My feelings on the series mighty be controversial to some fans and understandable to others.The first thing I'll say about this television show is that the latest box-set re-release is absolutely awful. All the discs are squeezed together in one large box. The entire four seasons worth of discs are stacked up and over lapped in designated slots and it makes it a bit of a task to get the desired disc out. A bit of a pain but at least it saves a little room. (I'll try upload photos)As for the actual show, I have a lot to say about that. I have to get this off my chest, I love the original show. It may be campy and dated by today's standards but there's something very refreshing about the positive nature of the series and it still leaves me coming back for more. This version of Battlestar Galactica is the complete opposite. I found it very pessimistic, very cynical and at times, it was down right frustrating. To explain why I felt this, I'll be making lots of comparisons to the original show and I can understand if that'll bother folks.I would like to tackle the actor's and the quality of their work first and foremost. I thought the majority of the acting throughout Battlestar Galactica was top quality, and I mean top quality. The series lead actor's Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama), Mary McDonnell (President Roslin), James Callis (Dr Baltar), Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh) etc. are all very good and do their parts extremely well. Each character (with exception of the one's mentioned below) are all very well written and all have great storylines. The stories intertwine with one another, causing many dramatic situations and it's intense seeing how these characters can get through it all without breaking. The actors have all clearly put their hearts and soul in to their roles. You can feel the plight that these characters go through and I wanted to see them come out the other end in one piece.This is all with one big exception, and that is the two characters of Lee "Apollo" Adama and Kara "Starbuck" Thrace. These two characters are pushed as the two hot shot pilots and the big heroes of the show and to be honest, I hated nearly every scene they're in. Their characters are a hodge podge of over entitlement, self sympathy and selfishness. These two characters flip flop through the series' acting like the world owes them everything and it is VERY clear that the writers had no clue what to do with them, especially Lee Adama. The actors played their roles to the best of their ability but I very rarely enjoyed these two characters. They were a shadow of their formers selves from the original television show. Long gone are the days of Dirk Benedict and Richard Hatch as the charming viper heroes. Realistically, the admiral should have had them shot by the end of season one.I of course can not talk much about the story arc without spoiling it. I won't be doing that here, so don't worry. I will say that the main story arc is very well done. I enjoyed the struggle between humans and Cylon as they search for a new planet to call home. It was well paced and was finished reasonably well. The side stories were all a bit hit or miss, all for the reasons found above. There were some that were great, very exciting and were fun to watch. Others felt extremely tedious and just made us want to skip over the forty five minutes of Starbuck sobbing at everything in sight whilst Apollo galivants to his next stupid decision.Where I will give the show some credit is the overall production quality. The look of the show is very done and has a nice sense of consistency through out. There's plenty of shots where the camera perfectly captures the emotion on an actors face (usually Edward Hames Olmos stealing a scene). There's plenty of moments where the scenery looks great and the lighting fits the mood. The set designs are all very good, doing a great job of showing the differences between the humans and Cylons. This of course is all backed up by the awesome quality of this bluray remaster. The details are extremely clear and the colours look fantastic. This is a show that will always look good and will be easy to revisit thanks to its visual quality.Unfortunately, that fantastic visual quality also makes the CGI Cylons look awful. It's perfectly understandable to expect less of a television show when it comes to its budget. All my favourite scifi shows have visual effects problems but I did not like the utilisation of CGI Cylons. Men in suits (if practical) would have looked considerably more believable, for more obvious reasons. The actual design of the Cylons, base ships and raiders didn't look good either but that could just be me fan boying over the original.I enjoyed the music and the ambience created by the ships, especially during battle scenes and the later seasons when Galactica bones creak with every movement. It all creates a sense of excitement and tension where needed. Though, I do think they should have brought back the original Battlestar Galactica title theme. It's a beautiful piece of music, that is sadly forgotten with science fiction fans. The use of tribal beats and more folk based instruments is a great choice, especially for the more intense moments. But there's plenty of times where the show clearly needed a big enthusiastic theme song and we very rarely get it. Where it does pop up, it fits perfectly. Sadly, this is only in three or four scenes through out the show.Now, there is this big old argument of "is Battlestar Galactica better than the original?" Honestly, I would say it is not and for one simple reason. Whilst the show is very well made, the acting great and at times it's fantastically written, the pessimism is just too much at times. There's a clear need for a planet of the week episode or something to bring out the positivity in the human characters. Everything is doom and gloom, making everything look hopeless. The original show had the characters suffer but their optimism, drive and dedication to finding a new place to live was the number one goal and that is sorely lacking here. This may be a great show, but the true heart of Galactica is in the 1978 original.Now, don't get me wrong. I loved my time with Battlestar Galactica. I would almost definitely recommend buying this box-set whenever someone is looking for a great television show to watch. But I would also recommend picking up the original series too. Hopefully you enjoyed reading this review.So say we all!

Great show, great actors and mostly great episodes.

Parfait

Battlestar Galactica Blu-ray & Series ReviewI’ve always been a fan of the original Battlestar Galactica show (1978) and I used to watch it as a kid but, truth be told, I had not seen a single episode of Battlestar Galactica 2004 - 2009 revival series until I bought it from Amazon in 2019 (a totally blind purchase). I typically have reservations about rebooting of old shows and that’s why I never got interested in catching the new Galactica. I will review the show and the blu-ray set from the perspective of a fan of the original series who had not seen the new show until recently.The new 2004-2009 show contains most of the essential elements of the original show such as humans and cylons being at war with each other, humans seeking earth, the old scriptures about the tribes of earth, Kobol, etc. Most of the characters from the original series are also present (Adama, Apollo, Starbuck, Gaius Baltar) but some of them have been altered. The biggest surprise for me was that Starbuck is female. Starbuck is still a cigar smoking, insubordinate, rebellious pilot (probably more so than the original series) with a sense of humor. She is also promiscuous and her flaws are analyzed in more depth throughout the show. I think Gaius Baltar is the most improved character of the show. He is also probably the most complex character who goes through phases of self-discovery. I think his interactions with Number 6 (a gorgeous, sexy, blonde Cylon woman) make the show in the first 3 seasons.The BIGGEST CHANGE from the original series is that Cylons look just like humans and it is impossible tell Cylons apart from humans. Apparently, Cylons found a way to create a new versions of themselves that are almost human. This new concept opens up a lot of opportunities about the interactions between humans and cylons (there can be cylon spies on Galactica which may be undetectable).In the original series, Baltar was a sleazy guy who conspired with Cylons and betrayed human kind. Baltar in the new series, as I said, is a more complex character. His motives are not always clearly malevolent. Unlike the original character, he evaluates his actions and their moral implications. He is brilliantly portrayed by the actor, just superb acting, amazing performance throughout the show, Oscar caliber, I say. Tricia Helfer has also done a brilliant job of portraying the sexy Cylon Number 6. She is not just a sexy robot; she goes through many different emotions. And you will see her role is written for multiple characters (there are many Number 6s) who display different personalities which make it very challenging. The relationship of Baltar and Number 6 is quite mysterious as you will see. Everytime they come on, it’s like fireworks in the sky. You will also see their relationship is the key to mystery of the overarching story. I say Baltar, Number 6 and Starbuck are probably the most important and elemental characters.Special and visual effects are far superior to the original series which was made in the late 70s when filming techniques were less advanced and there was lack of budget.Overall, I think they improved the story drastically. I especially loved the way they improved upon the mythology from the original series (looking for earth, the thirteen tribes, Kobol, etc.) and combined it religious elements. They almost wrote a whole new mythology that perfectly combines science fiction with religion. I also liked the way they covered military leadership and political leadership and how sometimes those different types of leaderships worked together and sometimes they turned against each other. I also liked how they portrayed positive qualities and flaws of both Democracy and Military Leadership under given circumstances. Even though I had reservations about it at first, I ended up loving the new show.Now as for the criticism; I thought the cylons are “so human” that they cannot be detected a bit unbelievable especially within the confinements of them being referred to as “machines” or “robots”. They are more like the “replicas” in Blade Runner (1982). They are made of flesh and blood. There is nothing mechanical about them. Robot means machines. Machines have mechanic parts. So Cylons are not really machines or robots (I am referring to the new models, not the “toasters” as they call the old robots). How did machines create human replicas, is a mystery never explained. It’s also never explained whether the cylon copies (the sleeper spies) that looked just like humans were always copies from the very beginning or whether they killed off the original human characters at one point and started to impersonate them. For instance, let’s say a character XYZ turns out to be a Cylon. Was there ever an XYZ character as human? And Cylons cloned that human, created a Cylon copy and got rid of the original human (kind of like in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers)? Or XYZ was always a Cylon, right from the very beginning? But then, they would be never born, they wouldn’t have an ID, no mother/father data, etc. That part is not explained.Another criticism is that sometimes the show does feel like a soap opera in space, with a lot of sexual relationships, betrayals, romance, cheating, jealousy, etc. At times, it felt like “Dallas” or “Flamingo Road” or “Falcon Crest” in space to me LOL.Blu-ray set was priced very reasonably when I picked it up (I think I paid $40-50). Some episodes are grainy and overall HD clarity is not entirely satisfactory but I think that’s due to the way the show was shot. Some TV shows and movies are just shot that way so even when they are HD, the clarity is not crystal (I am only assuming this since I have not watched the show when it aired on TV).I also did find it annoying that the creator of the show comes up in the beginning of each season, first episode without any option to turn it off (they could’ve added an option like “watch with intro” – “watch without intro”). I think special features are pretty good. There are tons of feature commentaries, deleted scenes, etc. Overall, I think this is a great set for any sci-fi fan.

God quality SIFI, well played and serius good Actors and overall stories.e not roward the last few episodes ,But you have to see them , otherwise you can`t sleep , one Must Know the end

It's great to have the whole series and I'm loving watching it again. I am not sure if it was shot on standard definition originally but on the big screen but it is a bit grainy and the sound in the pilot was a bit muffled. So don't expect glistening Hi Def images but it is still very watchable and the extras are nice. Packaging and delivery were faultless.

It was similar to watching a series and missing three or four episodes. I could follow the story, but I was confused enough to replay the last CD and still didn't really know what happened.