Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"We have at last reached Earth.", 3 Mar 2008
Galactica 1980 is one of those curious anomalies in the Battlestar universe in that nearly all fans choose to completely ignore it from the continuity and it has not been included in any of the comics, graphic novels or books published since the 70's. That said, it's really not as bad as people make it out to be and there are some genuinely good moments in the series.
The main arc of the story is set 20 years after the end of the original Battlestar Galactica series. Adama has finally led the Galactica and her fleet to Earth with the help of Doctor Zee, a child with a highly developed mind and consciousness who was born of a colonial warrior and a seraph (see episode 10) and sent to them years ago.
However, their discovery heralds a darker problem - Doctor Zee warns Adama that they cannot land on Earth. Arriving in the year 1980, Earth and it's people are in no fit state to help the Galactica or to defend themselves from the Cylon empire. With the Cylons closing in on the Galactica, the fleet will have to leave and draw their enemy away from the 13th tribe.
They send down covert teams to explore Earth and to make contact with the inhabitants, with the intention of slowly helping Earth's scientists with present day problems. There are those among the council who believe that they should change Earth by whatever means necessary and seek to employ drastic methods to alter technology and history.
One of the teams sent to North America is Troy, a grown up Boxey, and Dillon. They have problems on their first assignment, especially with blending in, understanding humans and trying to remain inconspicuous, often with humorous results. Their missions are further complicated by the actions of renegade council member Xavier.
Out of the ten episodes there are three that stand head and shoulders above the rest. The two part `The Night The Cylons Landed' is a great story when a new Cylon Raider and the next generation of Cylons crash land on Earth. They Cylons are now building machines that look like humans - an idea which is key to the new series. With one Cylon and one Centurion loose on Earth on Halloween (when else!) we get a great story with some funny one-liners from the cast.
The final episode `The Return Of Starbuck' is arguably the best of the bunch and explains what happened to our favourite loveable rogue when his viper is shot down in battle stranding him on a desert planet. He finds the wreck of a Cylon Raider and rebuilds one of the Centurions in an effort to stave off going crazy by himself. There are some truly comical moments in this one, teaching the Cylon Pyramid, how humans give birth and the talks about the need for female companionship.
Adama, Boomer and Starbuck are the only three of the original series cast to feature in the show as the focus is primarily on Troy and Dillon. Troy is played by Kent McCord (who has been in numerous sci-fi shows) and Dillion is played by Barry Van Dyke (yes, that guy who is also in Diagnosis Murder!) and the interplay between them is similar to the Apollo / Starbuck relationship of the original series. Their slow adaptation to life on Earth leads to some funny moments and their views on what we are like as a species allowed the episodes to make commentary on current events like nuclear power, pollution and health care.
They only made ten episodes, mainly multi-part stories so you only get six adventures in total. Alas, the series suffers from aiming the show at a child audience rather than maintaining the standards of the first series and trying to keep the loyal fan base they had established. They also employed several rather more far-fetched scenarios which had never been required in the Battlestar universe such as time travel, cloaking devices and everyone remembers the flying motorcycles. While they assist the plot in certain areas they also hinder it badly in others.
The set is released on 2 discs but has no extras at all, just the ten episodes.
So, all in all, not a bad piece of 80's nostalgia but definitely one for true completists only. Launch when ready!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
one redeeming feature, 16 Feb 2008
Battlestar galactica was cancelled in 1979..the ratings were solid but because the show cost over a million dollars ( a massively high budget in 1978/9) the continuation of the show couldnt be justified unless it was in the top 3 rated shows at the time which it wasnt but did comfortably sit in the top 10 shows all season. Thus NBC/universal pulled the plug but then came up with a way to continue the show but with a fraction of the budget..makes sense they thought. Unfortunately not for the viewer though!! Glactica 80 is pretty lame stuff..gone are apollo,starbuck and dazzling space battles..what we get here is troy and vance ( troy being the grown up boxy from the first show!!) on stupid flying motorbikes and not much else. The galactica has made it to earth but we are 100's of years technologically behind and a decision is made by an even older Adam tostudy earth etc. Great to see Lorne greene (with beard this time) and boomer crops up in the old colonel tigh role (we never find out what happened to tigh). The show was canned after half a season and its easy to see why..a bad idea from styart to finish.
There is however one saving grace. The final episode "THE RETURN OF STARBUCK" Dirk benedict reprises his old role in the show most reminiscent of the old galactica. Adama recounts the tale of what happened to starbuck and its a cracking tale..very sad at the end but won't give away the ending.
Worth getting for the semi-decent opening story and the starbuck ep.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
9 fillers and one decent episode, 1 Mar 2008
Oh boy! I did not recall seeing this series at all but as I watched it I did feel an odd sense of deja vu at certain points, especially the episode with Wolfman Jack. It may be that my memory had deliberately blanked it out to protect my sanity.
It's got annoying kids (especially Dr. Zee), time travel, a rogue Galactican officer, environmental issues, very cheap effects, and no sense of direction at all.
The cover says "all ten thrilling episodes" are here and "It's an epic adventure unlike any other and an absolute must have for any Battlestar Galactica collection!" It certainly is unlike many other shows, thankfully; and it is a "must have" only for Galactica completists. As for thrilling....the writer had certainly never sat through this series.
The ONLY ray of hope is the last episode which has Dirk Benedict re-appearing as Starbuck, a sign that that those in charge had come to realise that Galactica 1980 had stalled so horribly it was kinder for everyone involved if it was put out of its misery.
If it was not for the last episode I would have given it 1 star but Dirk Benedict's appearance and a moving finale gets it a second.
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