Battlestar Galactica the Miniseries
Apr. 9th, 2008 10:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gategrrlI should be doing something else, but what the hell, I stayed up late enough to finish watching it, so why not write about it? I'm a few years late, but it's like new to me.
I'm not putting spoiler cuts on this because, duh, it's a few years old now, and I proclaim it is past the spoilage zone. If you feel like complaining to me about it, hold your tongue and move along.
Battlestar Galactica the Miniseries
The Guy went out and bought season 1 yesterday, to my astonishment. It sat there on his desk all shiny and reflective in its foil covered box with a sexy Six in a red dress on the cover (with two other characters in the background). He started the first disc up around 11pm just after I'd fallen asleep on the couch with The World Without Us on my tummy (closed and bookmarked). I woke up a few minutes later somewhere at the twenty minute mark - at least, past the scene where the Caprican Six murders the infant in its goofy looking carriage. "Yeah," admitted the Guy this morning, "I fast forwarded through that scene and the through the unnecessary introduction part where the Six makes out with the human guy, and allows the other Cylons to blast her and the space station to bits."
I'd like to make a note here that when the miniseries came out, I was excited and wanted to watch it BUT that baby-murder scene right at the beginning put me off like nothing else, and I only sporadically watched (and remember watching) the rest of the miniseries.
That Scene aside, and once the plot really got moving, once the Cylons attack (look ma! All those pretty mushroom clouds!) it was pretty good. It was even better watching it now, with hindsight 20/20 and all that. I think once the series ends, it'll be fun for BSG fans to look back at the series in its entirety (er...with the exception of that stupid romance quadrangle) and see if there were any clues set into the script. I'm sure there are die-hard fans who do that now anyway, but with the airing of the fourth and final season, I'm sure it's going gang-busters right now.
Characterization was raw - the actors and writers were feeling out where they were, and it shows here and there. Olmos and McDonnell were terrific. Of course, there's even more depth to the President once the series truly gets underway, like the Galactica on it's hide-and-seek egg hunt. It owes a lot to earlier movies (Alien, Bladerunner, Star Wars) for its Lived In look. Unlike the Millenium Falcon, of course, the Galactica isn't the family minivan with wrappers under the seat. Although there's likely to be a lot wet spots on the upholstery in THIS version of BSG!
The first scene between Boomer and Tyrol (oh, we thought we knew you well, Chief!) felt by-the-numbers and farcicial, like it should have been edited into another movie: perhaps Spaceballs. Moore and company had to get sketch out in shorthand, often cliche, their character's character building scenes and get a lot of exposition in there to ground the audience in the world(s) of the Twelve Colonies. There are moments here and there where it feels like the dialogue is going to lapse into "As You Know, Bob" infodumps, but fortunately, Moore and the writers are a shade smarter than that. After all, these are smart characters who sometimes act dumb, or make bad decisions based on the little they understand and are under tremendous pressure to keep the species alive.
As nutty as I think Mormonism is, Glen Larson believed it had a good story behind it. I agree with that: the best stories feature people struggling to survive, making it against a superior force (The Ten Commandments, The Prince of Egypt and other biblical tales come to mind) and winning. What's not clear in BSG, even in the beginning, is if these people are going to win. Are they going to "win" in their personal lives? Are they going to survive?
What I fear is, based on what I saw in the miniseries, that Moore won't or won't be able to go to the edge of that. It's a topic broached in a recent interview with Katee Sackoff, who plays Starbuck in the series. She has an excellent grasp and awareness of *story*. I only hope that SciFi Channel, with its incompetent executives allows Moore & Co. to not wrap up the storylines in neat little boxes with bows on top. The Galactica is not the Good Ship Lollipop - but then, neither was Farscape, and although that show ended on a postive note, it gave enough for closure (at least for this fan).
More impressions as I plow through the rest of the season. It may not be steady, though, because, well, Life. You know?
I'm not putting spoiler cuts on this because, duh, it's a few years old now, and I proclaim it is past the spoilage zone. If you feel like complaining to me about it, hold your tongue and move along.
Battlestar Galactica the Miniseries
The Guy went out and bought season 1 yesterday, to my astonishment. It sat there on his desk all shiny and reflective in its foil covered box with a sexy Six in a red dress on the cover (with two other characters in the background). He started the first disc up around 11pm just after I'd fallen asleep on the couch with The World Without Us on my tummy (closed and bookmarked). I woke up a few minutes later somewhere at the twenty minute mark - at least, past the scene where the Caprican Six murders the infant in its goofy looking carriage. "Yeah," admitted the Guy this morning, "I fast forwarded through that scene and the through the unnecessary introduction part where the Six makes out with the human guy, and allows the other Cylons to blast her and the space station to bits."
I'd like to make a note here that when the miniseries came out, I was excited and wanted to watch it BUT that baby-murder scene right at the beginning put me off like nothing else, and I only sporadically watched (and remember watching) the rest of the miniseries.
That Scene aside, and once the plot really got moving, once the Cylons attack (look ma! All those pretty mushroom clouds!) it was pretty good. It was even better watching it now, with hindsight 20/20 and all that. I think once the series ends, it'll be fun for BSG fans to look back at the series in its entirety (er...with the exception of that stupid romance quadrangle) and see if there were any clues set into the script. I'm sure there are die-hard fans who do that now anyway, but with the airing of the fourth and final season, I'm sure it's going gang-busters right now.
Characterization was raw - the actors and writers were feeling out where they were, and it shows here and there. Olmos and McDonnell were terrific. Of course, there's even more depth to the President once the series truly gets underway, like the Galactica on it's hide-and-seek egg hunt. It owes a lot to earlier movies (Alien, Bladerunner, Star Wars) for its Lived In look. Unlike the Millenium Falcon, of course, the Galactica isn't the family minivan with wrappers under the seat. Although there's likely to be a lot wet spots on the upholstery in THIS version of BSG!
The first scene between Boomer and Tyrol (oh, we thought we knew you well, Chief!) felt by-the-numbers and farcicial, like it should have been edited into another movie: perhaps Spaceballs. Moore and company had to get sketch out in shorthand, often cliche, their character's character building scenes and get a lot of exposition in there to ground the audience in the world(s) of the Twelve Colonies. There are moments here and there where it feels like the dialogue is going to lapse into "As You Know, Bob" infodumps, but fortunately, Moore and the writers are a shade smarter than that. After all, these are smart characters who sometimes act dumb, or make bad decisions based on the little they understand and are under tremendous pressure to keep the species alive.
As nutty as I think Mormonism is, Glen Larson believed it had a good story behind it. I agree with that: the best stories feature people struggling to survive, making it against a superior force (The Ten Commandments, The Prince of Egypt and other biblical tales come to mind) and winning. What's not clear in BSG, even in the beginning, is if these people are going to win. Are they going to "win" in their personal lives? Are they going to survive?
What I fear is, based on what I saw in the miniseries, that Moore won't or won't be able to go to the edge of that. It's a topic broached in a recent interview with Katee Sackoff, who plays Starbuck in the series. She has an excellent grasp and awareness of *story*. I only hope that SciFi Channel, with its incompetent executives allows Moore & Co. to not wrap up the storylines in neat little boxes with bows on top. The Galactica is not the Good Ship Lollipop - but then, neither was Farscape, and although that show ended on a postive note, it gave enough for closure (at least for this fan).
More impressions as I plow through the rest of the season. It may not be steady, though, because, well, Life. You know?
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no subject
Date: 2008-04-09 07:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-09 08:00 pm (UTC)I think I've said before - I enjoyed the original series when it was on the air (there was nothing else) and like everything else at the time, it was full of schlock and smarm, and to me, Starbuck was an unattractive amarmy womanizing asshole. I just Don't Get It when it comes to fans of the older show.
If Star Trek went to a total reboot like BSG did, I dunno...I think I'd enjoy it if say, McCoy was changed into a female character, or even Kirk. Spock would lose some of his resonance, but even if he got a sex-change (some would argue that it happened on Enterprise)...I'm not that attached anymore.
What's wrong with kick-butt woman characters? You like Aeryn Soon, I assume, and I know you like Vala...
::shrugs:: It's not a big deal to me.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-09 08:48 pm (UTC)The brothers/buddy relationship between Starbuck and Apollo was always important to me. Heck, that's what made the orignal show for me. I *loved* that and with changing Starbuck into a girl, it ruined that dynamic for me.
They could have made Kara Thrace Starbucks girlfriend/wife/sister or heck, somebody who inherited the call name because she gambled as well as the 'legendary' Starbuck, and that would have been great. But nope, they had to just neuter the character and it's a problem for me.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-10 12:04 am (UTC)However, the woman they changed Starbuck into is (to me) just as gutsy, even more brilliant than the original, has a complicated relationship with Adama and Apollo...Starbuck is written as a person and a trouble one at that; certainly more complex and more layered than the original Starbuck. But then, that's 70's era and 00's era television compared. There really isn't a comparison: it's like apples and oranges.
Until they took Apollo's and Starbuck's relationship to a level I didn't like, they had a very *interesting* friendship and connection. In fact, there were fans calling it "Het Slash" - meaning, Starbuck wasn't played girly and romancy. She was played like...a guy, I guess.
interesting
Date: 2008-04-09 09:53 pm (UTC)As best I remember, I thought of the miniseries as taking the interesting part of the original pilot and ditching the really silly part.
I think they needed a little more world building - I'm still not clear whether the twelve colonies are in one solar system (although if that is the case, I'm not sure why so many civilian ships would have faster than light drives.
I think they did a good job with the ensemble cast - although you're right, they were a little shaky at the start.
While the infanticide by Six really bothered me, I was equally bothered by the wholesale slaughter of the populations of 12 worlds immediately after that. Both establish the Cylons as monsters. But effective monsters.
I like what they did with Starbuck, although I wasn't sure I would at the start. I think they just played to the actress's strengths - and to the chemistry between her and Jamie Bamber (Apollo.) And I think it's a better show because of spreading out the focus.
I think the writing has stayed strong - certainly not perfect, but better than anything else on TV I can call to mind (well, that I'm watching)- and that, along with their willingness to take risks and tell stories about people who happen to be in spaceships under unbelievably traumatic conditions - has worked well.
Hope you like it.
Re: interesting
Date: 2008-04-09 11:56 pm (UTC)The impression I got about the Colonies was that all twelve colonies were in the same star system - there were things Adama said here and there that hinted at that. Just because the planets are in one solar system, however, doesn't mean FTL is useless. It takes two years to get to Saturn, I think, and six months to get to Mars (at a good moment when earth's path and Mars' path are close to each other). It seems like Whedon's Serenity set-up. Tons of inhabited planets, terraformed, around one sun.
Heh, good call - I never mentioned the actual *people* killed by the bombings. Six (if I remember correctly) felt she was doing the child a *favor* by giving it a quick, painless death, but I could be wrong. She's still ruthless.
For some reason I missed the beginning of the fourth season completely. BSG is one of those shows, because it's on SciFi, that I'm wary of watching real time. Why? Because of the huge gaps in time between season halves, and seasons. I'd rather just wait and watch the DVDs when they come out.
Re: interesting
Date: 2008-04-10 12:27 am (UTC)I think you're right - that's more or less where I came down on the question without doing research - but think of the space traffic control issues!
I sort of lost - interest? - in season 3 - so I'll be watching the dvds to catch up. I liked the way season 3 ended. The 4th season opener is interesting - and I suspect they're replaying it Friday night before the new ep, if you decide you want to see it (not sure, mind you, but there seem to be two eps on the schedule.)