Battlestar Galactica (2003)

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The 18,421 users who count themselves as Battlestar Galactica (2003) fans have written a total of 567 reviews.

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The Best Show on Television? Yes, according to Time Magazine, The National Review, Rolling Stone and New York Newsday. Praised by The New York Times, The New Yorker, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune and many other publications, Battlestar Galactica won a prestigious Peabody Award in the...  more

The Best Show on Television? Yes, according to Time Magazine, The National Review, Rolling Stone and New York Newsday. Praised by The New York Times, The New Yorker, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune and many other publications, Battlestar Galactica won a prestigious Peabody Award in the spring of 2006.

Ronald D. Moore, the producer of Carnivale and writer for Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, boldly re-imagined the original 1978 space opera of humans versus the robotic Cylons. He teamed up with fellow executive producer David Eick on a powerful and dramatic update of the Galactica story.

Gone are the technobabble, disco-themed costumes and Egyptian helmets of the original series. The modern show introduces new elements to the Galactica story. The Cylons have developed human-form models that are indistinguishable from real humans. The Cylons have a monotheistic religion in contrast to the polytheistic religion of the human Colonies. The approach is serious and intense, with a focus on tough political, philosophical and religious issues set in a tale that manages to keep the focus on realistic and not always perfect characters.

In the miniseries, the Cylons launch a massive attack against the humans and wipe out the Twelve Colonies, sending the 47,000 survivors on a desperate search for the fabled 13th colony -- Earth.


Season One Overview

The Cylons declare war on humanity, wiping out billions in an unprovoked first strike. The Colonial fleet is all but eliminated leaving just a handful of ships, including the soon to be decommissioned battlestar Galactica. Galactica is manned by a crew that never expected to be involved in real duty. With the president gone and the government all but eliminated, Laura Roslin, the Education Minister, takes on the mantle of President of the 12 Colonies.

Gaius Baltar, a top researcher in Artificial Intelligence, inadvertently betrayed humanity by allowing a Cylon agent into the defense network, rendering it and all of the Colonial military forces impotent in the face of the Cylon attacks. He sees her everywhere when no one else can. He initially attributes this to stress-induced hallucinations. She tells him that she implanted a chip in his brain during their time on Caprica, which enables her to talk to him. Over the season Baltar falls in love with the Cylon, Number Six, eventually betraying humanity again and again.

A lone soldier is trapped on Cylon-occupied Caprica, having given up his seat on a transport for Baltar, as he believes that his own life is not as important as one of the greatest minds of their time. He struggles against the odds, trying to stay alive amid the hostile Cylons. He is surprised to learn that Sharon Valerii, the pilot of the transport, returned for him. However, the truth is that she is actually another human-form Cylon. Sharon and Helo spend the season trying to escape Caprica. Sharon also finds herself falling in love with her human target. The season ends with her pregnant and fighting to save his life.

Meanwhile, the copy of Sharon onboard Galactica (known as "Boomer") has set off several bombs and engaged in other acts of sabotage. The season ends with a stunning turn of events after a successful mission to disable a Cylon base ship.

For a more detailed overview of the first three seasons, visit the pinned thread titled "Battlestar Galactica in Just Ten Minutes" located in the forum.

Awards and critical praise

The 2003 miniseries was the highest-rated miniseries on the Sci Fi Channel (soon to be known as Syfy) at the time. It was also the most successful cable miniseries that TV season.

The first regular season premiered to excellent viewer numbers and critical acclaim. After the midseason break in Season Two, the show received widespread recognition from the mainstream media, including several outlets not always known for their interest in science fiction. As mentioned above, Time Magazine named BSG the best show on television for 2005. Rolling Stone Magazine and New York Newsday also named BSG the best show of the year. Many other publications like the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune lavished praise on the series.

The American Film Institute added the show to its list of the ten best television shows of 2005. The show won Emmy Awards in the usual sci-fi categories of special visual effects but it also received Emmy nominations for writing and directing. It also won a prestigious Peabody award for its general excellence in creativity in the television medium.

The Sci Fi Channel has used creative means to promote the series, including the release of certain episodes as free streaming video on the official website. In the month leading up to the start of Season Three, the Sci Fi Channel aired a Web-only series titled Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance. The brief, 2 to 3 minute episodes revealed key events from the time period between the Season Two finale and the Season Three premiere episode. Another Web-only series was shown on the official website in the lead-up to the Season 4.5 "final" episodes.

A Battlestar Galactica television movie, "Razor", was broadcast in late 2007, followed soon after with a release on DVD. The story followed the struggles of Admiral Cain and young Kendra Shaw as they tried to survive the Cylon attack on the Colonies. The hard-hitting movie was well received by fans and critics.

Even though the series "ended" on March 20, 2009, with the two-hour broadcast of "Daybreak, Part 2", the Sci Fi Channel (Syfy) will broadcast one final Battlestar Galactica television movie. "The Plan" is scheduled to air in the fall of 2009.

The Galactica franchise will live on, even after the final movie and DVD. A prequel series, Caprica, began production even before Battlestar Galactica ended. The pilot movie will be released as a stand-alone DVD in April 2009. The movie will later air on Syfy along with regular episodes of the new series in 2010. For more information about this look at the early days of the development of the Cylons on Caprica, please consult the separate guide for that series.

Original Broadcast History: Season One
October 18, 2004 - January 24, 2005 - 8:00 PM SKY One (UK)
January 14, 2005 - April 1, 2005 - Fridays @ 10:00 PM Sci Fi Channel (USA) less

• Call to all sci-fi fans: Watch this show!

  I guess most people visiting this forum are already fans, but if you're still in doubt about whether you should see this sho...more

  I guess most people visiting this forum are already fans, but if you're still in doubt about whether you should see this show: Just go watch it already! I just finished the final season, and I was continuously blown away. The show just keeps getting better. Great characters, plot, action and drama, while the show also touches on some pretty deep themes and concepts like the nature of humanity, the need for a goal or cause, personal responsibility, government, justice, faith and science, good and evil, and so on. If you'll allow it, you'll be well entertained, deeply moved and thoroughly impressed. It'll leave you wondering about the nature of things. And if that doesn't get you, there's always Tricia Helfer in some pretty skimpy outfits. So there you have it. You have no excuse. Go buy the DVDs now! less

  Geertvdheide Last online 4 days ago
  3 comments, last one 13 days ago + Add Comment

• How many classes of battlestars where there? (Spoilers)

  In Hero its revealed that Adama commanded another battlestar the year prior to the attack on the twelve colonies Based upon th...more

  In Hero its revealed that Adama commanded another battlestar the year prior to the attack on the twelve colonies Based upon the shots i saw it looks slighlty different from the Pegaus and not like galactica either. Also the interor shots of the CIC don't match either one which leads me to wounder how many different classes of battlestar there where or if the valkaryie is actually a different class of battlestar or not anyone else have anythoughts on this? less

  wedgeantilles54 Last online 1 day, 16 hrs ago
  31 comments, last one Nov 7, 2009 + Add Comment

• Discussion - "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" (spoilers up to S4)

  The Syfy Channel television movie "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" will air later this year. (By that time, the channel will have...more

  The Syfy Channel television movie "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" will air later this year. (By that time, the channel will have changed its name to the Syfy Channel.) The special event will re-examine the lead-up to the initial Cylon attack on the Colonial homeworlds, only this time from the perspective of the human-form Cylons. The featured characters (Cylon and human) will include William "Husker" Adama, Saul Tigh, Sharon Valerii, Galen Tyrol, Caprica Six, Brother John Cavil and Samuel Anders. The script was written by co-executive producer Jane Espenson. Edward James Olmos (William Adama) is the director. No air date has been announced yet but Ronald Moore stated that he believes the movie will premiere in November of this year. November or December is the usual time period for the Syfy (Sci Fi) Channel's annual big-budget TV movies or miniseries like Tin Man and the original Battlestar Galactica Miniseries from Dec. 2003. I decided to add the episode listing to the guide at this time because too many people are unaware of it. I've received several submissions from members that change the status of this series to "Ended". I have rejected all of those submissions precisely because "The Plan" has yet to air. This will be the real finale of BSG on TV, although it will not be a continuation of the story from "Daybreak". Jane Espenson has said that revelations from Season 4 and other seasons will show up in "The Plan" so if you are new to the series, you should watch everything in the order that it initially aired: Miniseries, Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, "Razor", Season 4 and then "The Plan". (There are also the two "webisode" series.) NOTE: Although I posted a spoiler warning for the thread, that mostly applies to spoilers from the previous episodes of the series. You may refer to any events, characters, revelations and story lines from previously aired episodes of the series. But do not post any spoilers from unaired material. This means that you should not post about any secret info discovered from a "spoiler site" about "The Plan". Ronald Moore does not like it when episodes and plot details get leaked in advance on the Internet or elsewhere. I will respect his wishes here and block any attempts to spread leaked info on this thread and forum. Beyond that, those leaks are not authorized and downloading leaked material involves copyright and contract violations. I won't allow this forum to be used to assist anyone in breaking the letter or the spirit of the U.S. copyright laws. (This is a U.S.-based site so we follow U.S. laws here. It doesn't matter whether other countries have a different "official" view about unauthorized downloading.) We know that the movie will follow the human-form Cylons in the time period shortly before the Cylon attack on the Colonies (as seen in the Miniseries). This was explained in the official trailer that has aired on the Sci Fi Channel many times, so this is not an unauthorized release of information. You can post general production-related info on this thread such as confirmed air date(s) or DVD releases, but do not post specifics about the story, characters, etc. unless it was formally released by the Sci Fi (Syfy) Channel. If you have an interesting tidbit from an interview with one of the actors, writers, director or other production staff, hide the spoiler info using the "spoiler" tags. (Use the square brackets around the word "spoiler" and be sure to add a closing "spoiler" tag.) Though "Daybreak" resolved the main story of the wandering Colonial fleet, fans still have one more official BSG installment to look forward to. "Razor" was a successful TV movie. I think "The Plan" will be successful too.less

  123home123 Last online 1 day, 6 hrs ago
  23 comments, last one Nov 7, 2009 + Add Comment

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  9.5 Superb

  The most culturally relevant scifi of this decade. hide show

  In the grand fashion of taking an old TV series or movie and revitalizing it, this show found its start. From the impressive miniseries, the tumultuous episodes of season 1, the peace and tragedy on New Caprica, the elation over finding Earth, the devastation over finding Earth, to the timeless series finale, this was an amazing emotional roller coaster of a series.
  
  One of the best aspects of Battlestar Galactica was that, unlike other popular scifi series, characters were never safe. In the 28 seasons of canon Star Trek, only 3 main characters died; Tasha Yar, Jadzia Dax and Trip Tucker. In the 4 seasons of Battlestar Galactica, at least a dozen major characters died. This kept the show fresh and unexpected.
  
  Viewers found themselves emotionally vested in the characters. It was like we were sharing these people's tragic lives every week. This was a new breed of scifi, a bold new future for the genre.

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  vystral Added Sep 14, 2009 All my reviews
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  9.5 Superb

  Great show that says a lot about today's society hide show

  This show is all about gloom and doom, and how 50,000 people are trying to live on after their worlds are destroyed.
  
  There are happy moments, because let's be honest who wants to watch a completely depressing show that just wants to make you slit your wrists? But the main story is about trying to move on when the rest of the world is destroyed. But the show moves us past that by making us want to know the characters, to know about the interaction and to know if they find a way to a new home. The writers of the show are fabulous they take us from the human side to the cylon side effortously. They make the stories and the characters come alive on the screen and make us want to cry when any of the main characters are hurt or die.
  
  This show is about being main stream political issues to a head and making you think about why they are saying and doing these things. They also make you want to change why you think that something that has always been right, may not actually be right.
  
  An awsome show with great characters that just draw you in. You should definatley check it out on dvd, because if you watch it on tv you will just get upset because you have to wait for the next episode.

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  KDHMHE Added Sep 11, 2009 All my reviews
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  10 Perfect

  It´s incredible thrilling for any watcher: fans of science fiction or not. hide show

  It's incredible thrilling for any watcher: fans of science fiction or not.
  I'm a science fiction fan long before I watched this serie. But I have no words to tell how I feel after I watched it. Probably amazed because this is one of the best series I ever watched.
  Battlestar galctica is the most real science fiction serie. And the story is a real piece of art. It's hard to describe it in any other way, because the story is so wonderfully written that the suspense, the emotion and the action feel almost real. Like you are right there in the middle of their fight for survival.
  And the merit must be shared with the cast. They really do a very nice job.

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  Mauro_PB Added Jul 19, 2009 All my reviews
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  10 Perfect

  BSG is one of the best TV shows ever created and if you like Sci-fi you will love it. hide show

  I watched it when it first aired many moons ago. I was hooked. Then the TV series started and I couldn't watch it for some reason. I just never bothered. Then I heard it was awesome. I knew it would be and so I netflixed it and watched every single season to catch up. I then watched the second half of the fourth season in 'real time' and I was so thrilled by every moment because every moment counted. BSG is one of the best TV shows ever created and if you like Sci-fi you will love it.

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  J_Jammer Added May 26, 2009 All my reviews
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  10 Perfect

  Great show, it is sad to watch last episode... hide show

  I love everything about this show the plot, characters, scenes. There is not even one episode that I can call boring or unnecessary or foolish. The show connects everything very well, like passing from multi god religion and Greek mythology to one god religion. The concept of angels and creation. I am happy to say that the plot is written so wisely and intellectual for a TV show , and thanks to writers for that.
  And a really superb ending for this show but I would be happy if a saw more scenes of Lee and Starbuck. This is one of the shows that I really miss to watch.

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  remycathy Added May 14, 2009 All my reviews