The new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

[Ezri's Toy]

Originally posted by Capt. Anderson
My hope was the 12 colonies would have embraced Egyptian culture more. It was a part of orginal that should carried over to this newer version.

In this post-Stargate-SG1 era, the Egyptian motif would seem like a rip-off. Better to drop it.

Besides, Judaic myth has more relevance; The 12 Colonies are the SF version of the 12 Tribes of Israel and humanity, in general, are the Jews wandering in the desert. . .led by Adama, a Moses-like figure.

Of course, the original Galactica mostly just mined names with little regard for the actual meaning of the symbols they used.

[Sho-sa Kurita]

Don't worry Phantom, the Galactica herself still has the same basic structure. She's just armored out the wazoo. My first one or two glimpses, I was kind of on the fence, but once you get a really good look, that's one bad-a$$ hard-fighting battlewagon.

I really enjoyed the show, and would like to see more. Combat rocked! The ship designs were fantastic. Those base-stars are scary!

I only have two "issues."

1) Like others, I would have preferred they use different names, measurements, etc. to set them apart from us. I think they only thing they used was "frack." Nary a "felgercarb" to be heard!

2) Didn't care for the uniforms either. They were just kind of blah.

I think they should have worked more on '1,' but '2' wasn't that big a deal to me.

Anyone else notice the VFX super was Gary Hutzel, one of our long-time Trek VFX guru?

[Grimace]

Originally posted by Phantom
The design I saw reminded me of a Jem'Hader fighter. The exterior of the Galactica has to look like an old battleship, IMO. Does it still have a sembalance of that type of look, or does it look like a bug?

Yes, the Galactica now has a ribbed, rounded look, similar to that of a Jem Hadar fighter. The basic shape is the same as the old ship, but it's (of course) modernized and rounded and "new". And that's always better, right?

I liked the new look of the "new" vipers, but they were wiped out too fast. The old vipers are very, very similar, but little things are missing. Not bad, just missing. The Galactica was different. The cylon fighters were quite different.

Since I didn't watch the second half, I can't comment any further on things.

[Ezri's Toy]

Originally posted by Sho-sa Kurita
1) Like others, I would have preferred they use different names, measurements, etc. to set them apart from us. I think they only thing they used was "frack." Nary a "felgercarb" to be heard!

Boy, I'm glad they didn't! The overused phrase "Now wait just a centon!" was the cheesiest thing and made it very hard to suspend disbelief. And, although I'm glad I heard it, I'm also glad they saved "By Your Command" as the last line of the show.

Sorry, but Farscape's the only show that's been able to get away with making up swear words.

[spyone]

Originally posted by T'lara
I want more this miniseries is not enough. ... This miniseries has too many questions left unanswered and I would be so there if they turn this into a TV series. ...This needs more a TV show or more miniseries. This was brilliant.

Oh, yeah, like this didn't have the stench of "series pilot" all over it.
This was an adaptation not of the Battlestar Galactica series, but of the pilot episode of that series.
I had no idea Edward James Olmos wanted series work.
That said, I'll watch the man count fish if it's on. :P

[spyone]

[spyone's exclusive nitpicker mode]

Even with Galactica the oldest ship still in service, she seemed too new for me. They said she was 50 years old.

On the old show, Galactica was old before Adama was born. She had a vestigial observatory from a kind of navigation that had been obsolete for generations.
Though fitted with the newest weapons and fighters, the ship itself was OLD. And despite there being a full-scale war on, she hadn't been pushed to maximum speed in a very long time (likely since before Adama took command.) There should be more tension when Tigh says, "Commander, it has been some time since the Galactica ...." We should wonder if the ship is going to come apart.
Galactica should also be capable of much greater speed than the civilian ships. The "jumps", while more scientificly acceptable than the gibberish we had before, have the negative effect of making all ships equally fast.

[/king-of-the-nitpickers mode]

[Phantom]

Again going on what was said in the novel the average age of a Battlestar was 500 yrs. These ships have been in service a very long time and should look it.

The other point of contention I have is that it was apparently not easy to get the old girl up to light speed. In "The Living Legend" Cmdr Caine states "And if you don't mind me burning up most of my fuel, I might even get her up to light speed." So, this whole concept of jumps just seems wrong to me.

[Bill Harris]

Originally posted by spyone
And despite there being a full-scale war on, she hadn't been pushed to maximum speed in a very long time (likely since before Adama took command.) There should be more tension when Tigh says, "Commander, it has been some time since the Galactica ...." We should wonder if the ship is going to come apart.

That was because that Galactica had been escorting the Fleet for so long, moving at the best speed of their slowest ship. I'm certain that the Galactica had been going at flank speed in the premiere episode.

[REG]

Cinescape reported that the ratings for the re-imagined BSG is impressive. In fact, the second part of the mini-series scored higher than the first part. It outperforms the competitions on UPN and TheWB that night.

All indications that it will become a series for SCI-FI is now a reality and have hit into overdrive.

Source: http://www.cinescape.com/0/editorial...5&obj_id=40396

[Balok]

Modern aircraft carriers return to port periodically for refits. Almost every military system has *at least* a phase called "mid-life upgrade". This occurs because the successor isn't ready, and a few modernizations can make the old system competitive again.

It seems reasonable to assume that the Galatica has been re-fit a few times during her career. That could certainly account for the more modern look of her interior, and especially her command center (which I really liked).

As far as the Cylons looking like humans, consider what Hitchcock said: Tension is when you know there's a bomb under the table. Action is when it explodes.

Enemies you can't readily identify are more of a challenge. Escalating tension is the reason for Adama's confrontation -- to provide a way for them to learn about the humaniform Cylons (since Baltar sure wouldn't tell them). Also, fifth columnists, coupled with the Cylon's belief that the humans will seek revenge (gee, ya think?) provide the reason for the Cylons to follow, and the means by which they may do so.

[Karg]

Very cool mini-series, hope it becomes a series

would of liked some of the Mythology thrown in, but what the hey

[Cybrludite]

If we're going to pick nits, I've got three.




















When they're dealing with the fires after Galactica is hit, they mention not being able to route water to the fire site. o_O Water? In a hanger fire? When they do depressureize the burning area, the folks spaced in the process looked awful big compared to the ship. And my last nit has to do when Baltizar is watching the news. There's a split screen with a studio and a reporter on a remote site. The studio goes to static & there's a flash at the remote site, blinding the reporter. Seconds later, the blast wave hits & the camera falls & goes to static. By my flash-bang calculations, the reporter was well under a mile from ground zero & should have been a flash-shadow on the ground. (Especially since the planetary strikes were supposed to be 50 megaton blasts. Equal to the most powerful nukes tested during the Cold War. (Russian test in early 1962, IIRC. Proof of concept for a 100MT device... ))

[aelius]

Originally posted by Capt. Anderson
I suggest you watch the orginal show again and the statement in reference to why nuclear weapons would be useless against a Battlestar.

Episode is called "Greetings from Earth"

Sorry, I was thinking of the attack on the colonies, not attacking a Battlestar.
Yes I remember "Greetings from Earth" where the Galactica used one uber weapon in the bow to cover the entire planet Terra and blow up literally thousands of nuclear missiles. In the science challenged BSG of the seventies nukes were useless against a Battlestar. In the more, though not totally, science literate version on SciFi nuclear weapons are still a viable option. Although considering how minor the damage from a contact nuclear blast was, I was impressed at the durability of a Battlestar.
As to the various nits, the uniforms were fine. there are only so many designs for military uniforms that don't look cheesy. A military uniform is simply a way of providing a sense of unity among the troops and showing rank and awards. In my opinion less is more with uniforms, if you start making them fancy you start looking stupid.
As to the speed, the jump system only makes them the same at FTL. Sublight speeds are probably very different. And again, complaining that something doesn't work the way that it did in the original is beside the point, most of the "science and tech" in the original was stupid to me when I was in junior high. I don't mind that it got changed.
As to the Galactica seeming to be too new. The New Jersey is very little different on the inside(corridors, ladders, galleys, etc.) than a modern top of the line carrier. Also, too new in relation to what. We never got to see the inside of any other Colonial warships. They might have been as sleek as a Starfleet vessel on the inside which would make the Galactica look very antiquated. In fact they went to great lengths to point out how antiquated the systems on the Galactica were. Just because it is clean does not necessarily mean it is modern.

[Highway Hoss]

Originally posted by aelius
Sorry, I was thinking of the attack on the colonies, not attacking a Battlestar.
Yes I remember "Greetings from Earth" where the Galactica used one uber weapon in the bow to cover the entire planet Terra and blow up literally thousands of nuclear missiles. In the science challenged BSG of the seventies nukes were useless against a Battlestar. In the more, though not totally, science literate version on SciFi nuclear weapons are still a viable option. Although considering how minor the damage from a contact nuclear blast was, I was impressed at the durability of a Battlestar.

You weren't the only one, aelius; there's a thread at the http://www.cylon.org forums discussing that bit about the nuke. What bothers me is that it seems to me even if the hull was resistant to the effects of the nuke, wouldn't the heat melt the nearby less durable superstructures like gun turrets and sensors? Also even if the hull protected the ship's crew from getting lethally radiated, the hull would now be heavily contaminated, making launching fighters and EVA rather hazardous IMHO; also EMP wasn't even mentioned, which I find suprising; even if the Galactica's systems were EMP hardened, what about civilian electronics aboard the ship?. At the least even if the hull can stand up to the nuke the ship would still have a lot of damage to superstructures, have its sensors all fried and be heavily radioactive to boot.

As to the various nits, the uniforms were fine. there are only so many designs for military uniforms that don't look cheesy. A military uniform is simply a way of providing a sense of unity among the troops and showing rank and awards. In my opinion less is more with uniforms, if you start making them fancy you start looking stupid.

Exactly. I always chuckle a bit when they call Trek uniforms "pajamas", because I think its a compliment; after all pajamas are comfortable are they not? The uniforms get the job done and everyone doesn't look like they have a ramrod up their butt.

[spyone]

Originally posted by Phantom


The other point of contention I have is that it was apparently not easy to get the old girl up to light speed. In "The Living Legend" Cmdr Caine states "And if you don't mind me burning up most of my fuel, I might even get her up to light speed." So, this whole concept of jumps just seems wrong to me.

Well, this has to be balanced against the fact that they must have some kind of FTL they normally use or it will take them years to travel between stars.

So "lightspeed" must be some special kind of ultra-fast FTL, or at least maximum FTL speed.

I am kinda leaning towards giving everbody some kind of "warp", but Battlestars can also "jump".