New Battlestar Galactica Starts Tonight

http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=19133 | 1/14/05 | "Hercules"

[ChicagoHebrew]

The British have been watching Ron Moore’s reimagined “Battlestar Galactica” since October (and get its 12th installment Monday). But at least America's tardy SciFi Channel is good enough to kick off the show’s first regular season Friday night with two new back-to-back hours. The reviews are pretty spectacular. (Even original “Galactica” actor Richard Hatch stopped badmouthing the new series after it cast him as a guest star!) The critics speak:

http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=19133

[tortoise]

They need to push the President lady out of the airlock...

[FierceDraka]

I watched the first 2 episodes of the new series tonight, and I gotta say that I really like it.

What the miniseries and new series has, that the original did not have, is the undercurrent of sheer apocalyptic horror and desperation that would come from seeing one's homeworlds nuked and one's people slaughtered.

In that respect, it's a lot closer to the hard sc-fi that I hold so dear.

I liked that they showed scenes of Cylon-occupied Caprica, and Lt Hilo setting up claymore mines to destroy the "toasters" that were chasing him. (Something the original series completely neglected was what was happening on the original 12 colonies after the Cylon onslaught) That guy's got BALLS - stuck on a nuked, radioactive planet, fighting a one-man war against an enemy that makes Skynet (The Terminator) look like an amateur.

It's dark, and it's gritty. It's a lot more realistic as far as how the survivors would react than in the original series. Horror and desperation, but with a bit of hope. (Like at the end of the first episode where the President's secretary announced that a baby had been born aboard the Far Star.)

The new Cylons, holy sh*t - those are automatons from my nightmares! MUCH more sinister than the clunky-looking ones from TOS. (That's geek-speak for "The Original Series")

The new Battlestar Galactica is science fiction for adults. Where the characters from TOS were noble, noble, noble from the very start, the new characters are scared, desperate, and very, VERY human. (And occasionally stupid and petty) I've got nothing but praise for the new Battlestar.

Whiners, tossers, whingers, and that guy from The Android's Dungeon on The Simpsons can go p*ss off, stick with their Betamax tapes of Galactica 1980, and go frak themselves.

Sorry about the rant, but I've got another window running with the Scifi.Com message boards, and let me tell ya, the trolls and haters are out in force tonight.

SO SAY WE ALL!

[RandallFlagg]

They need to push the President lady out of the airlock...

Oh, you're tellin' me!
"He's right. We have to go."
"We're staying."
"Madam President, we cannot defend this ship---"
"We're not leaving."

[RandallFlagg]

Aw, MAN! That post almost makes me want to go to the boss, whine, "I'm SIIIICK!" and go home early to watch it.

*Patience, Flagg. Patience*

[ChicagoHebrew]

Watch the series more... she gets damn cool around episode 8.

[RandallFlagg]

I liked her character after she used the line, "You know, you'd better go. I'm getting the urge to strike another superior a$$hole."

[ChicagoHebrew]

The President gets to be a crazy good character later on... I've cheated and seen through ep. 11. The only character I don't care much for is Apollo. I love Adama, the President, Tigh (aka John McCain), and Starbuck.

[RandallFlagg]

Adama rocks. I almost cried when he thought Lee got nuked. He just stood there as Lt. Gaeta stated tensely, "Thirty kiloton nuclear detonation....Cylons moving off....."

[FierceDraka]

'S'alright, Walkin' Dude. It will be repeated. It's the SciFi Channel - they rerun sh*t like "Snakehead Terror" - they'll DEFINITELTY rerun Galactica.

(My girlfriend and I constantly refer to "Snakehead Terror" as the depths of SciFi Channel's occasional suckiness. LOL)

[RandallFlagg]

Oh, I have already preset my VCR to record everything.

[RandallFlagg]

I sure wish they'd rerun MST3K episodes, though.

[Redcloak]

Very cool, but, how long until Jesse Jackson complains because Col. Tigh and Boomer aren't Black anymore.

[RandallFlagg]

Ugh. I hadn't thought about that.

[FierceDraka]

Oh, I have already preset my VCR to record everything.

Good! I'm going to go grab the DVD of the minisries.

When the miniseries came out, I was blown away. Aloow me to enumerate:

Instead of laser cannons, death rays, and various and sundry sci-fi contrivances, they used high-explosive rounds, nuclear weapons, claymore mines, and BULLETS to get the job done.

The Vipers, instead of relying on aeronautical effects (that DO NOT exist in the vacuum of space), actually used attitude jets and thrusters to turn around.

The camera work is outstanding, with a documentary feel illustrated by the shaky, hand-held effects in the both battle scenes and the intimate shots of the crew.

It's the best sci-fi series I've seen in a long time. It's dark, gritty, and realistic, with the characters' very ambiguity and weaknesses that make the whole series very, very - human.

It's kinda like Farscape, in fact. Very character driven.

[RandallFlagg]

Heh! I bought the DVD set the day it came out on the 28th.

[Arkinsaw]

Sorry about the rant, but I've got another window running with the Scifi.Com message boards, and let me tell ya, the trolls and haters are out in force tonight.

Yeah, I like it a lot. I'm always amused by the types who will automatically become full-scale opponents of anything without seeing it just because its a remake. Like the folks who refused to see the Lord of the Rings pics because they opposed making it into a movie on principle.

[AngryJawa]

I absolutely loved the mini series. Last night's episodes were even better.

The parallels to the WOT are handled just right, IMHO. The decision to destroy the cylon-compomised passenger liner and it's after effects was particularly nightmarish.

[beezdotcom]

SO far, I've enjoyed the show - but I keep waiting for it to veer into some serious political correctness. The little half-hour intro section they did had some "viewer email", where somebody asked "will there finally be any gay characters"? They didn't really answer, but the fact that they spotlighted this particular email makes me wonder if they're going to turn the show into a "showcase" of PC. Some might argue they already have, with some of the character switches.

And then again, they might find themselves in trouble. They took the two most important black characters from the original series (Tigh and Boomer), and replaced them with an old white drunk and a hot white chick. Won't be long before Jesse Jackson calls for a boycott!

[freedumb2003]

With a female Apollo?

I can;t get past that.

[freedumb2003]

Sounds like a write-up for "Space 1999" which truly sucked.