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Explain Battlestar to This Here Newbie

pimentoLoaf

pimentoLoaf

macrumors 68010
Original poster
Dec 30, 2001
2,004
32
The SimCity Deli
How good is it?

Does it seem chintzy or silly or not-quite-real?

I'm a Star Trek fan (all the series save Enterprise). That's my standard. How does it compare?

I was a BIG fan of the 1978 version of BG.
 
one of the best few shows of recent years.

if you're not hooked after the mini-series, then don't bother continuing with the series.
 
Most people who liked the original hate the reimagined because the stories are so different (save the idea of Cylons and humans). Don't start watching it on Scifi now as you'll be completely lost. Watch it from the beginning if you're interested.

In my opionion, it ranks way, way up there with Star Trek. It's definitely realistic a d the writting/plot/acting is fantastic.
 
MUCH better than Star Trek. It takes the Babylon 5/DS9 approach to the story, with a main arc interleaved with minor arcs that run for several episodes, and then one chapter in the story being told each episode. The quality of the acting is beyond superb, and there's a very realistic depiction of how human beings really behave in situations rather than how we'd like to think we do (as in Star Trek). It's a very dark tale, with no clearly defined morality as to who are the good guys etc. Virtually everybody does good and bad as events dictate, and the characters have frequent arguments because they don't live by the ideals they espouse. Even the main enemy of humanity, the Cylons, are just trying to find their own way to survive, with their own infighting and conflicts just as with the humans.

As with other posters above though, start at the beginning with the mini-series (note: That's not series 1 episode 1, which was later).
 
vandozza said:
if you're not hooked after the mini-series, then don't bother continuing with the series.
Click to expand...

i didn't really like the show after the mini-series. it wasn't until well into the first season that it started to get some traction on me. and i didn't fall in love with the show until season 2. still, i agree. the show's worth watching, even with season 3. :)
 
Im a sci-fi fan and it took me awhile (until this season actually) to really get into it...but its not bad and probably worth checking out.

BTW, what exactly are the cylons that look like humans? Are they clones?
 
vandozza said:
one of the best few shows of recent years.

if you're not hooked after the mini-series, then don't bother continuing with the series.
Click to expand...

Agree 100%, see the miniseries first and if it doesn't amaze you, don't bother going through with the rest of it. Personally I like the fact that it is (or at least while they were still showing space scenes) shot in a documentary format, with the camera zooming and trying to catch up with the action. Now that I'm hooked into the story, I don't need those gimmicks, but they were fun while they lasted.
 
pimentoLoaf said:
Does it seem chintzy or silly or not-quite-real?
...
I was a BIG fan of the 1978 version of BG.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I would have to say, in that case, that you'll be disappointed. It's very unrealistic. Nobody so far has mysteriously disappeared into the afterlife and come back dressed in all white versions of their old clothes, and there are no hippie love children with supernatural powers. ;)

Seriously... ;) it's not "hard science fiction" at all -- in that sense, it's very soft. There is also generally very little emphasis on the implications of technology changing society themes that are prevalent in the original Star Trek or the Next Generation one. Compared to either Star Trek or the original BSG, it's also a lot less decidedly moralistic and the characters and situations tend to be much more morally ambiguous.

What it does have includes stunning characters and character development and an extremely timely discussion of what everyday life is like in an extremely militarized environment. In essence it becomes a space opera version of the kinds of militarization questions we've had to deal with in the era since Desert Shield.

I also think it's among the greatest shows on television in the last few years, quite in spite of the fact that it's science fiction.
 
I picked up the first series on DVD the other day (which includes the mini-series) as an impulse buy. I'm enjoying it so far :)
 
Ask me in a couple months. We're in the home stretch of the series ending and although it's been one of (if not THE) greatest shows on TV these past few years, a bad ending will leave me bitter. Just a little nervous they'll give us one of those up in the air endings where they "leave it up to the viewer to decide" kind of thing. Hate those. I've been watching this story for years now, don't make me start guessing at the the most pivotal of times. Sheesh. Makes me nervous just thinking about it.

But I digress... It's great TV. Hope you enjoy it.:)
 
Just watched both episodes (broken-up for no good reason into 1-hour and 40-minute segments each) and ... helluva lots better than the original. :)

I now have a thing for Starbuck. ;)
 
BSG was one of the few series that decided to take the philosophical exploration which forms the core premise of modern Science Fiction without putting in environmental elements that would turn a viewer off. No silly aliens for me thank you.
 
I wasn't a big fan of the mini series, nor the first few episodes. It probably took a good 2-3 epsidoes into the first season until I started to enjoy it. Until then it was somewhat of a chore. That said, I believe I would have a new and better appreciation of the mini series on a second viewing.
 
Superman07 said:
I wasn't a big fan of the mini series, nor the first few episodes. It probably took a good 2-3 epsidoes into the first season until I started to enjoy it. Until then it was somewhat of a chore. That said, I believe I would have a new and better appreciation of the mini series on a second viewing.
Click to expand...

I agree. It was midway through the first series (the mini series and 1st series came together) that I got hooked. Only got better after that.
 
Aea said:
BSG was one of the few series that decided to take the philosophical exploration which forms the core premise of modern Science Fiction without putting in environmental elements that would turn a viewer off. No silly aliens for me thank you.
Click to expand...

To be fair, there are plenty of environmental elements about the new BSG that turn people off: the bleakness of the characters and the sets, the religious fascination, the shaky cinematography, etc. I think that the show, at least the first part, is revolutionary, but not for such banal reasons.
 
Baron58 said:
The *original* BSG was nothing more than Mormon mythology in spaaaace......
Click to expand...

Indeed. The new BSG, in many ways, interrogates the old. So much about it is "different" but not just for difference's sake. It peers much more thoroughly at the same issues. I would say that it's quite a successful adaptation in that way, even if it's not "faithful" to the original in the ways most people expected.
 
I also think the casting of Richard Hatch from the original series as "bad guy" Tom Zarek was a genius decision :)
 
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