Battlestar Galactica [DVD] [1980]

The premise for the series is that just as the humans are about to make peace with the Cylon Empire, the Cylons attack the fleet and the colonies and destroy pretty much everything except the Galactica, the last remaining battlestar. This happens as a result of the naiveté of President Adar (Lew Ayres) and the tainted advice of the traitor Count Baltar (John Colicos). The military catastrophe is rather forced, requiring stupidity on the part of pretty much everybody in the government and military with the exception of Adama. Putting all your Battlestars in one quadrant and providing two sentry ships for the entire fleet pretty much insures a Pearl Harbor type disaster.

But once you get past the neat models you are pretty much dealing with a standard space opera where the main theme is to remind people of "Star Wars" as often as possible (although the Vipers are not as cool as the X-Wing fighters). Lt. Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) is a free spirit in the Han Solo mode, Captain Apollo (Richard Hatch) is a more mature Luke Skywalker, and Adama is the wise Obi-Wan Kenobi father figure who actually happens to be a father (I have a question: how you go from naming you first two children Apollo and Athena only to name the third one Zac? I teach Classical Greek & Roman Mythology and there is no mention of a Zac. Just curious).

With the success of "Star Wars" science fiction was suddenly in and big bucks could be committed to a television series while Hollywood started remaking old classics like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Flash Gordon." But while "Battlestar Galactica" offered promise, it did not live up to its potential. Every week the group of humans continued their quest for Earth with the Cylons on their heels while the humans bickered among themselves in an allegory of contemporary social problems (the people from our planet are better than the people from your planet) and engaged in standard soap opera love stories (Will Athena get over the death of Zac and learn to love the trying to be serious Starbuck?). Watching the pilot is going to be of nostalgic value to those who watched it with eager anticipation back in 1978 and really wanted it to be something worthy of all the hype, i.e., "Star Trek" instead of "Space 1999." For those who did not catch in the first time around and compare it to "Farscape" and "Enterrprise," they will wonder what all the fuss was about. The answer is, not much beyond some great models from Dykstra.

Thus begins the tale of Battlestar Galactica, full of meaning and hope and mystical importance.

Okay, enough theology for the moment.

Or, maybe not. This movie (actually a cut-up version of the pilot for the television series) definitely has theological undercurrents. It is the fight between good and evil. It is a wandering in the desert (of space) looking for the promised land. It is about hope and humanity, sensitivity and courage.

And, as a 12 year old (when I first saw it) I of course understood none of this. I merely loved the special effects in my own home (as opposed to the Star Wars which required payment at the movie theatre), the characters and the technology. I was amazed that every computer on the bridge set of the Galactica actually worked.

Today I'm amazed that the computer on which I'm typing this review has more power than all those computers combined!

The story is basic. Ambush in space, a quickly-organised escape from the evil mechanical Cylons (who both symbolise the terrors of technology as well as of autocratic rule--remember the Cold War?), a daring journey, and finally a hope. Unfortunately the series became a wandering in the desert with little hope for reaching the promised land, and in television-series timelines and lifelines, this just wasn't acceptable.

In addition to this film, there are about a dozen videos available with episodes from the rest of the television series. It is frustrating that not all of them are available, so to watch them in sequence leaves some gaps. There are enough dedicated fans who would purchase these videos should they be made available (as is evidenced by the amount of BG 'junk' being auctioned at ebay and other such places).

The series was fated only to last one year, due to high costs (a million an episode may be a standard ER actor's salary, but back then it was big bucks even in Hollywood), a slumping viewership (which in retrospect was never as small as reported), and an overall lack of direction. The journey was just taking too long for the era of instant gratification.

There was a short-lived attempt to revitalise BG with Galactica 1980, but due to underfunding, choppy stories and the absence of several more popular regulars from the preceding series, it failed dramatically. There is a chopped-up edited version of one of those episodes available too -- do yourself a favour and fly light speed away from this one.

But do get the original movie, the best of the best episodes.