Post by koenigrules on Jan 14, 2005 1:27:09 GMT -5
www.nowplayingmag.com/content/view/605/47/
www.nowplayingmag.com/content/view/606/47/
Reviews of Battlestar Galactica - "33" and "Water"
By SCOTT COLLURA
As the Sci Fi Channel's new rendition of Battlestar Galactica begins its first season tonight, only five days have passed since the events of the pilot/miniseries (which aired 13 months ago for we the viewers). And in those five days, the crew of the Galactica haven't gotten a wink of sleep. You see, they've been way too busy having to coordinate the very laborious process of jumping to lightspeed, and they've had to do it every 33 minutes since we last saw them. It's the only way they can stay ahead of the vicious Cylons, who somehow are able to track the humans' location, no matter where their FTL jumps take them. Like clockwork, it takes the homicidal robots 33 minutes to appear after each jump.
But doesn't it figure that executive producer Ron Moore's newly re-imagined Galactica would start off with a bang? When the miniseries aired in December 2003, it impressed as many genre fans as it put off. Those Galactica diehards who'd been campaigning for a sequel to the original show were irate that Sci Fi would choose to remake their beloved series, but what were they thinking? A sequel to Galactica, with the original cast returning, was never a viable option.
Instead, what we did get was the new face of sci-fi TV, a show that happens to take place in outer space but otherwise is as strong a drama (so far) as any other series going right now. What Moore and his partner David Eick have done is take real, human characters and placed them in a genre setting. Sure, the space battles and visual effects are cool, but it's the dynamics among the characters that make this show so good.
The entire cast from the mini is back, with Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell leading the group as, respectively, Commander Adama and President Roslin. Uneasy allies, the two are attempting to work together to lead the space convoy that makes up the mere 50,000 survivors of the Cylon holocaust that has decimated humankind. But despite their best efforts throughout this episode, that 50,000 count keeps slowly ticking down. And then, after the most recent FTL jump, one of the ships in the convoy disappears. Did its jump engines fail? Did the Cylons take it out before it jumped? Was the ship full of Cylon impostors?
Don't look for answers, because Battlestar Galactica is more interested in posing questions than answering them. What, for instance, is the deal with Boomer (Grace Park), the Galactica officer who we know from the miniseries is a Cylon, or at least a base model for a line of Cylons? And how about Helo (Tahmoh Penikett), the officer who was left to die on the irradiated planet Caprica in the miniseries? In a brilliant move, Moore has decided to take us back to what is now Cylon-occupied Caprica each week and continue to follow Helo, who must surely be doomed. Or is he?
Of course, there's plenty more going on here, and this is just the first episode. Adama's son Apollo (Jamie Bamber), hothead pilot Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), second in command Col. Tigh (Michael Hogan), Chief Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), brilliant but deceitful (and bordering on insane, perhaps) Doctor Baltar (James Callis), and let’s not forget his constant companion, the Cylon known as Number Six (Tricia Helfer)...these are all characters who are given their due in this episode alone.
To paraphrase Tyrol from the miniseries, Moore has gotten this old girl ready to roll and is ready to kick some Cylon ass! A
The Sci Fi Channel is kicking off the first season of its new Battlestar Galactica series by airing the first two episodes tonight back to back. So if the first hour, "33," wasn't enough to get you hooked, then hour number two, "Water," should do the job.
This episode forces me to do something that I would rather not do, and that's compare Galactica to modern Star Trek. The recent Trek series have become an easy target these days for genre fans who feel that there's a lack of quality sci-fi programming on the air, and they're right to say that Trek seems to have hit a dead end. Galactica only reinforces that notion, and this episode really brings the point home.
As Commander Adama and the fleet have managed to avoid the Cylon threat, at least temporarily, what passes for a normal day-to-day existence seems to be developing onboard the fugitive ships. But when the Galactica's water supply is sabotaged, an entirely new danger arises. H2O is going to run out fast, and rioting is already beginning in some parts of the fleet as people begin to panic.
Now, if this was Star Trek, Picard or whoever would just replicate more water. Or they'd warp to a "Class M" planet and beam some water up. Whatever, there'd be water.
Not in Galactica. As Col Tigh says, "Most planets are just hunks of rock and balls of gas. The galaxy is a pretty barren and desolate place when you get right down to it." These guys need to find water, and fast, but where?
To continue the Trek comparison, the water supply was compromised when a crewmember apparently stole several high-grade explosives from the weapons locker and blew the hull of the Galactica out. Adama now realizes that at least one Cylon must be living onboard the Galactica. And Boomer, who has already been established as having some relation to the Cylons, wakes up soaking wet and with one of the missing explosives in her bag as the episode begins. She has no recollection of how she wound up in such a state, and she begs her lover Chief Tyrol to help cover it up, but is she responsible for the sabotage?
Watch the episode and judge for yourself, but Galactica isn't passing judgment on her one way or another just yet. Would Star Trek ever - ever - let an episode end with even a shred of doubt about a character's integrity? Of course, Trek vet Ron Moore is running Galactica, and he's finally getting to do all the things he wanted to do over on Trek that he wasn't allowed to.
Other plot points continue to develop quickly in this episode, while new character interactions are beginning as well. Starbuck and Baltar, for example, wind up in a high stakes card game together that is bound to lead to some kind of relationship between the two. Lee Adama (Apollo) is still trying to balance his loyalty to both his father and the President, while also struggling with the tragic events of the previous episode. And Baltar, when he's not playing cards, is digging himself deeper and deeper with lies about building "Cylon detectors" and other fictions for Adama.
Last Star Trek comparison from us this season, we promise: even if the Galactica crew finds water, they don't have transporters. So how the heck are they going to get it up to the ship? Tune in next week. A
www.nowplayingmag.com/content/view/606/47/
Reviews of Battlestar Galactica - "33" and "Water"
By SCOTT COLLURA
As the Sci Fi Channel's new rendition of Battlestar Galactica begins its first season tonight, only five days have passed since the events of the pilot/miniseries (which aired 13 months ago for we the viewers). And in those five days, the crew of the Galactica haven't gotten a wink of sleep. You see, they've been way too busy having to coordinate the very laborious process of jumping to lightspeed, and they've had to do it every 33 minutes since we last saw them. It's the only way they can stay ahead of the vicious Cylons, who somehow are able to track the humans' location, no matter where their FTL jumps take them. Like clockwork, it takes the homicidal robots 33 minutes to appear after each jump.
But doesn't it figure that executive producer Ron Moore's newly re-imagined Galactica would start off with a bang? When the miniseries aired in December 2003, it impressed as many genre fans as it put off. Those Galactica diehards who'd been campaigning for a sequel to the original show were irate that Sci Fi would choose to remake their beloved series, but what were they thinking? A sequel to Galactica, with the original cast returning, was never a viable option.
Instead, what we did get was the new face of sci-fi TV, a show that happens to take place in outer space but otherwise is as strong a drama (so far) as any other series going right now. What Moore and his partner David Eick have done is take real, human characters and placed them in a genre setting. Sure, the space battles and visual effects are cool, but it's the dynamics among the characters that make this show so good.
The entire cast from the mini is back, with Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell leading the group as, respectively, Commander Adama and President Roslin. Uneasy allies, the two are attempting to work together to lead the space convoy that makes up the mere 50,000 survivors of the Cylon holocaust that has decimated humankind. But despite their best efforts throughout this episode, that 50,000 count keeps slowly ticking down. And then, after the most recent FTL jump, one of the ships in the convoy disappears. Did its jump engines fail? Did the Cylons take it out before it jumped? Was the ship full of Cylon impostors?
Don't look for answers, because Battlestar Galactica is more interested in posing questions than answering them. What, for instance, is the deal with Boomer (Grace Park), the Galactica officer who we know from the miniseries is a Cylon, or at least a base model for a line of Cylons? And how about Helo (Tahmoh Penikett), the officer who was left to die on the irradiated planet Caprica in the miniseries? In a brilliant move, Moore has decided to take us back to what is now Cylon-occupied Caprica each week and continue to follow Helo, who must surely be doomed. Or is he?
Of course, there's plenty more going on here, and this is just the first episode. Adama's son Apollo (Jamie Bamber), hothead pilot Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), second in command Col. Tigh (Michael Hogan), Chief Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), brilliant but deceitful (and bordering on insane, perhaps) Doctor Baltar (James Callis), and let’s not forget his constant companion, the Cylon known as Number Six (Tricia Helfer)...these are all characters who are given their due in this episode alone.
To paraphrase Tyrol from the miniseries, Moore has gotten this old girl ready to roll and is ready to kick some Cylon ass! A
The Sci Fi Channel is kicking off the first season of its new Battlestar Galactica series by airing the first two episodes tonight back to back. So if the first hour, "33," wasn't enough to get you hooked, then hour number two, "Water," should do the job.
This episode forces me to do something that I would rather not do, and that's compare Galactica to modern Star Trek. The recent Trek series have become an easy target these days for genre fans who feel that there's a lack of quality sci-fi programming on the air, and they're right to say that Trek seems to have hit a dead end. Galactica only reinforces that notion, and this episode really brings the point home.
As Commander Adama and the fleet have managed to avoid the Cylon threat, at least temporarily, what passes for a normal day-to-day existence seems to be developing onboard the fugitive ships. But when the Galactica's water supply is sabotaged, an entirely new danger arises. H2O is going to run out fast, and rioting is already beginning in some parts of the fleet as people begin to panic.
Now, if this was Star Trek, Picard or whoever would just replicate more water. Or they'd warp to a "Class M" planet and beam some water up. Whatever, there'd be water.
Not in Galactica. As Col Tigh says, "Most planets are just hunks of rock and balls of gas. The galaxy is a pretty barren and desolate place when you get right down to it." These guys need to find water, and fast, but where?
To continue the Trek comparison, the water supply was compromised when a crewmember apparently stole several high-grade explosives from the weapons locker and blew the hull of the Galactica out. Adama now realizes that at least one Cylon must be living onboard the Galactica. And Boomer, who has already been established as having some relation to the Cylons, wakes up soaking wet and with one of the missing explosives in her bag as the episode begins. She has no recollection of how she wound up in such a state, and she begs her lover Chief Tyrol to help cover it up, but is she responsible for the sabotage?
Watch the episode and judge for yourself, but Galactica isn't passing judgment on her one way or another just yet. Would Star Trek ever - ever - let an episode end with even a shred of doubt about a character's integrity? Of course, Trek vet Ron Moore is running Galactica, and he's finally getting to do all the things he wanted to do over on Trek that he wasn't allowed to.
Other plot points continue to develop quickly in this episode, while new character interactions are beginning as well. Starbuck and Baltar, for example, wind up in a high stakes card game together that is bound to lead to some kind of relationship between the two. Lee Adama (Apollo) is still trying to balance his loyalty to both his father and the President, while also struggling with the tragic events of the previous episode. And Baltar, when he's not playing cards, is digging himself deeper and deeper with lies about building "Cylon detectors" and other fictions for Adama.
Last Star Trek comparison from us this season, we promise: even if the Galactica crew finds water, they don't have transporters. So how the heck are they going to get it up to the ship? Tune in next week. A