![]() Richard Hatch was the mature and stoic Apollo the cerebral hero. Lorne Greene was great as the fatherly Adama, leading his people on a search for their brethren. The acting was generally good, although the child actors were not the most skilled (but, hey, they're kids). I think a series based on Exodus and Erik Von Danekan can be cut a little slack. Besides, Star Wars was inspired by Flash Gordon, Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, The Dam Busters, King Arthur, and the works of Joseph Campbell. Otherwise, the biblical story of Galactica bore little resemblance to the mythical Star Wars. The only real similarities with Star Wars are that both are space opera, both have bad guys in armor, both had dogfights in space, and both had John Dykstra supervising the effects. As far as the criticism of "rip-off" goes, Battlestar Galactica was vindicated in court and in saga itself. The writing was a bit uneven at times, with the "homages" to other genres and movies getting way out of hand (Magnificent Seven, Guns of Navarone, Shane, Dirty Dozen, Perry Mason, Towering Inferno, etc.). It had a great concept and, generally good effects. I strongly recommend this film for serious science fiction fans.Battlestar Galactica is one of those series you either love or hate, or else didn't watch. This is an unusual quality for SciFi originals, and shows that the network invested in quality directing talent and worked with reasonable production deadlines (as opposed to rush-jobs). None of the actors misstep, and each seems to know their character particularly well. The cast is as talented as it is visually striking - mixing weird beauty, youthful energy, and hard-edged agedness. Though dark, moody, and as fragmented as life often is, BSG is also driven, suspenseful, and very well written. All considered, this is a film about the human will to survive, redemption and the spirit of hope. ![]() From this dire premise, Battlestar Galactica proceeds. The few vestiges left of the once thriving human population are those who were fortunate enough to have been in space at the time of the attack. The invading force has infiltrated all of the defense networks by positioning key agents in positions where they can easily exploit vulnerabilities, and has basically disabled all planetary defenses, leaving everybody and everything vulnerable. The story begins just before an invasion of 12 planets colonized by humans. This is more than a reinvention of BSG, it is a vast improvement over the silly cowboy histrionics the first series devolved into. ![]() To say the least, I was very pleasantly surprised by the production quality, intelligent script, and the cast. If anything convinced me to give it a shot, it was the fact that E J Olmos was hired to play Adama and that Mary MacDonnell was on-board. So, I was not inclined to go into this with an open mind. SciFi hypes their productions heavily, and they are almost always disappointingly silly. I was never a big fan of the original Battlestar Galactica TV show, and I have only seen a few SciFi originals which did not embarrass me on behalf of the entire genre of science fiction (Farscape and both Dune Mini-series being the exceptions). The shots alternate between a hand-held documentary feel and a more standard dramatic presentation. Nevertheless, it works in this film partly because it is not overdone. Hand-held photography- pioneered in groundbreaking series like ER and Firefly - has started to become cliché. This is REAL science fiction, not cheap shock effects strung together with a mediocre plot. Those who are used to SciFi's standard fare are likely to be a bit bored by the realism, character development, intelligent dialog, and lack of explosions, mutant organisms and/or poor special effects.
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