Battlestar Galactica - newby.

[DavidXBrunt]

I've been vaguely interested in the new version of BG, put of fby memories of how little the original lived up to my expectations. Despite being stoney I couldn't resist buying the first three seasons from British Heart Foundation this morning, though I'm shocked to discover that series three seems to be only two days old. Was it really only released on Monday?

Anyway, good buy? Without treading into spoiler-city (Wiki spoiled the end on the mini series) have I spent £30 wisely? And should I wait for the mini-series to arrive from Play?

[Goaty]

wait for Mini-series!!!! it worth it!

[Goaty]

Also I am try to get Series 3, but do you know anyplace it very cheap????

[Eldritch]

I'm into the last 7 of S3: excellent. Great cast, amazing effects - best space battles on small or big screen, ever - spread the word.

[Dark Jimbo]

Generally speaking I loathe yankee sci-fi (no offence, american boarders). Trek, Wars, Babylon 5, Stargate, Farscape - embarassing tosh all. I couldn't get into a single one and would never even have contemplated buying any on DVD.

BSG is the exception. I'd always liked the premise of the original (rag-tag fleet, remnants of humanity, etc) even if not the actual series, so I took the plunge early this year after hearing good things on the board and haven't been sorry. Barring some weak episodes in the middle of series 2, it's been one of the most gripping series - sci-fi or otherwise - I think I've ever seen. It is for me what so many others seem to find in Lost and Heroes, shows I can't seem to get as excited about as the zeitgeist says I should.

Yes, series 3 did just come out on Monday, and yes, you should wait and watch the mini-series first.

[Bico]

Very po-faced, the backstory doesn't hold up to scrutiny, the physics are underthought for a supposedly 'realistic' show, it's main plot thread of evil robot doubles is poorly-realised onscreen (argueably misogynistic in places) and there's an odd absence of African-American actors for a show  whose original iteration boasted a black character in 'the big three' and a black guy as second in command of the space-guns under Him Off Bonanza - the only black person on the main cast of the new series is a carbon-copy of Uhura from Star Trek; go affirmative action!  Though it's damning with faint praise, BSG is still the best sci-fi show of recent years, even if only because Firefly got kneecapped before it could become a decent franchise.
The miniseries is pretty weak and overlong, but it's probably a good idea to watch it before the actual show, as the first episode of series one - '33' - is a fine piece of television, and possibly sets too high a bar for much of what follows.  Series three drags terribly in the middle, too, as the opening episodes are belters, and the less said about the pretentious guff that ended s3 the better.

That all reads very negatively, but the show still stands up well and is definately worth watching.

[DavidXBrunt]

Blimey. Somebody has charitised a D.V.D within forty eight hours of it's release. Stonking. Could be a reviewers, perhaps?

[Ignatzmonster]

Writing this through hot tears over Jimbo's Nationalistic dismissal of my country's SF ouvre. Any man who hates Firefly must hate freedom and want the terrorists to win.

BSG absolutely worth it. You will hear mutterings over Season 3 (some of that muttering may even come from me). I believe that's due to the beginning of the season just rocked the socks off all viewers so that the rest seemed pretty paltry in comparison.

[Dark Jimbo]

Writing this through hot tears over Jimbo's Nationalistic dismissal of my country's SF ouvre. Any man who hates Firefly must hate freedom and want the terrorists to win.

Oop! I forgot Firefly. Yeah, that surprised me by being utterly bloody good, yet didn't feel the need to be quite so relentlessly dark as BSG.

No offence meant, American Scifi (generalising hugely here) just doesn't seem to speak much to me. When I think of my favourite SF it's generally homegrown stuff like H.G. Wells, John Wyndham, Quatermass, Doctor Who and Tooth, of course. It's all just more in my idiom, I guess.


Go terrorists!

[Funt Solo]

I love Firefly - such a huge, crying shame that it got taken into the desert just outside Vegas and buried alive.  (Mind you, it went out on a high - if you ignore the movie.)

BSG is very good - a lot better than most of the stuff DJ lists.  Mind you, I've a real soft spot for original series Star Trek, and I got totally addicted to Farscape.  Oddly, seeing recent repeats, it seems far too loud and obnoxious.  Must have been a timing thing.

[Ignatzmonster]

**No offence meant**

Deeply offended!!

No, no, it's true Wars, Babylon 5, Stargate, Farscape are tosh. Not embarassing tosh mind you, just tosh. The old Trek I find deeply enjoyable tosh.

Without any intention of doing so I've probably read or watched more British Sci Fi than my own country's.

Do you guys get Eureka? That is some benign and affable tosh, indeed.

[philt]

Battlestar Galactica? Focus grouped, US Centric aul bollox, designed for people who can't bring themselves to admit they are watching a "sci-fi" show. If you've ever watched any other SF programme you'll recognise the tired cliches albeit tarted up for the mainstream. The robots have assumed human form (gasp), they have a president who has a blue and white ship called Colonial One, the "banter" between the pilots is sub Top Gun. While the original BG was bollox it was unpretentious bollox, it never pretended to be commentary on the human condition or current US foreign policy. But worst of all is that they don't use the original fucking theme tune.

[TordelBack]

Noo-BSG:  Good overall, awesome in places, stretched in others (For example: "This week, Apollo dates a hooker!", has very little interest in yer actual SF concepts, but a good sense of drama and impending doom.

Firefly:  Funt, your mouth is full of strange - why you no like Serenity-movie, Funt?  Good compromise, me thought.

[I, Cosh]

I always thought Farscape was Australian. Oh well.

Still not got round to watching BSG. Must give it a try some day if I can find them in a charity shop.

Firefly was alright but vastly overrated. It would have been more interesting if at least one of the 97 crew members had been properly bad.

Bring back Lexx I say.

[Bico]

Always thought it was curious that new BSG's quality dips notably when it lowers itself to try actual sci-fi in it's stories, like the pseudo-mystical search for Earth - the bit where they follow a prophecy to old ruins was embarrassing to watch in a way that even the original's creepy space-monkey-dog never was.

And I disagree that BSG is focus-group-led.  If it was, there'd be a gay or black guy on the cast - although he'd be a bit lonely.  If anything, I'd say it was just two-dimensional and lacking in any character depth, but you can blame that on the original miniseries, which had to be sufficiently dumbed-down (and cleansed of any ethnic presence that couldn't do an FHM photoshoot) in order to get the Sci-Fi Channel to foot the bill for it - don't forget that the only reason the series that followed was made was because Sky (UK) - not the Sci-Fi Channel (US) - was willing to pay for it.
If you watch the Sci-Fi Channel version of Earthsea, you may also be surprised how white a great many of the black characters from the original stories now are.