Customer Reviews

Battlestar Galactica: Season 2 [2005] [DVD]

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Just so people here know, this version of season 2 is the only one available with the entirety of season 2 on it (apart from the season 1+2 bundle).

The Season 2.0 and Season 2.5 boxsets were only released in the US and contain the first (episodes 1-10) and second (episodes 11-20) halves of the season respectively. Also, season 2.5 contained an extended cut (an extra 10 minutes) of episode 10 which was not televised or included on the Season 2.0 DVDs. These 2 sets also contain deleted scenes from many episodes.

The Season 2 DVD boxset on this page is the UK release and contains all episodes (episodes 1-20) from season 2 except for the original cut of episode 10; we have the extended cut instead, which is a good thing in my book. I've heard that not all of the deleted scenes on the US DVDs are present on the UK one, but the box of the UK version tells me there are just over 6 hours of extras which is more than enough for me.

Now, the only difference between the combined US versions (Season 2.0 and Season 2.5) and the single UK version we have here is that we don't have the original cut of episode 10; only the extended cut, and may not have as many deleted scenes. Other than that, we get the series in one boxset whereas in the US they had to pay for two sets.

I recommend not buying the US DVDs unless you're a serious collector. I also seriously doubt they will release either of the US versions in PAL Region 2 format. So if anyone is waiting for that to happen, do yourself a favour and buy this.

I hope that dispelled any myths the reviewers below me have been spreading.

Brilliant.
Season 2 takes you straight back into the plot that built up to the stunning cliff-hanger of Season 1. The pace is faster, the story bleak and gritty - getting pretty bloody in places - Star Trek it is not.
Like other reviewers here, I was pretty annoyed to only see half of the season when I was expecting the whole thing. It should have stated that only 10 episodes of 20/22 was in the box, I probably would still have bought it, but it should have been in the specs.
Still, the cliff-hanger at the end of episode 10 is nearly as good as the end of Season 1! Buy it.

Battlestar Gallactica gets even better in Season 2 but BEWARE; THIS BOX SET ONLY CONTAINS EPISODES 1-10.

We needed a hero. We needed a saviour. For the past few years we've been sitting in the cinemas waiting for the next big thing that our kids will remember fondly when they're grown up... The Matrix Trilogy wasn't it. The Star Wars prequels weren't it. Turns out we were looking in the wrong place! Hollywood has forgotten how to make characters matter to us in a short space of time, and so instead TV has triumped, lead by a vanguard of shows like The Sopranos, The Shield, and Prison Break. Spurred on by the success of serious, intelligent shows for grownups, the Sci-Fi channel has bravely launched the "reboot" of Battlestar Galactica, and I'm relieved to tell you it's bloody fantastic.

Being a remake of the original series, I had thought that it was going to be like the short-lived Space: Above and Beyond. Namely a series that got too excited about special effects and dogfights, but left us with hollow stereotypes for character development. BG has none of these failings, and in this series there are some great revelations which will definitely make a fan out of anyone with vaguely Sci-Fi tendencies.

This series we see that the Cylons are far more complex than we had first thought. They aren't simply mindless automotons, they each have their own indpendent views, relationships, hopes, and fears. We see more of how the rest of the fleet is coping with the exodus from the colonies. Series one focussed primarily on the battlestar itself and turned a blind eye to the other 48,000 people in this "rag-tag" fleet. Even better, the plot developments that happen are quite feasible and realistic. For instance in the context of extreme rationing, a black market was bound to open up for everything from medicines to prostitution.

The relationship between Gaius Baltar and his "is-she isn't she real?" ex-girlfriend Six takes on a new level of complexity too, particularly when Gaius comes across another incarnation of her that has been tortured and abused by the human military.

Even more satisfying is this season's ending, which takes a shocking and radical departure from the status quo.

I like this series because it really engages your brain. It's clearly been written by fellow sci-fi fans who know all the cliches and want to turn them on their head to engage with their audiences.

I mean throwing in a cameo from Lucy Lawless to a bunch of sci-fi fans?

These guys know what we like, so I say watch it by the bucketload!

A fine addition to anyone wanting to add to their collection. Complete season with a disc of deleted scenes

My main gripe is with the commentary, these are in actual fact podcasts and are only on the first two discs and even then are incomplete in one of the two discs.

Aside from that is perhaps one of the cheapest and most annoying interactive menu screens i have come across

How far the series has come from the original days of Lorne Green, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict! Season 2 of this seminal Sci-Fi series continues in the same vein, high production values, focus on the 'human' interest and wearing the science fiction like a suit to go about its business of telling the story of the last surviving humans from the twelve colonies.

The cast is numerous, talented and cohesive producing without question one of the most consistently successful sci-fi sagas to date. The DVD package is a fine addition to anyone's collection, but I must echo another reviewer in my disappoint at the extras - so much more could have been done, and if Sky Interactive could offer this through digital satellite, surely the R2 DVD producers could have gone one better?

As another reviewer has said, the ideal relief from reality TV, and unlike most shows, each re-viewing often offers yet another something new.

this is a 3 dvd box set of episodes 1-10 of season 2, while the dvd's were good quality and the episodes excellent, the details above fail to point out that this is only half the season and not the whole season as i and undoubtably others were led to beleive

its region 1 and NTSC which means this will not be playable on standard UK T.V's and UK region 2 DVD players,

do what i did and use your PC to watch it, pc's FTW :)

First things first: This version (region 2) is the FULL second season of battlestar galactica. The region one version is 440 min. each, this is 882 min. and (as seen on another site) the cover differs slightly. I guess amazon.uk "borrowed" from amazon.com!

Nevertheless this (full) second season continues where the first one left of. I can honestly say that I have not seen a bad episode.

It is really exciting, it has a nice devellopment of the characters and the story.

If you liked the first season you will like this one even more!

20 episodes of, frankly, the best television on air. starting off where the incredible climax of last season's kobol's last gleaming arc, the season builds to a fabulous mid-season climax with 'pegasus' and the two-parter 'resurrection ship', and then ends with the even better episodes 'downloaded' (the cylon P-O-V episode) and 'Lay Down Your Burdens 1&2'. The latter is a specially extended episode that runs to about 70 minutes overall and ends with another amazing cliffhanger leading to season 3.

'pegasus' is also the extended version as standard - this episode was cut for tv broadcast in the R1 release and is an extra on the 2.5 R1 boxset, but is standard here.

the only disappointments are the lack of extras - because the R2 set was released before the 2.5 release in the US we do not get any of the deleted scenes or commentaries from the second half of the season....

"Battlestar Galactica" is second only to "Firefly" as an SF series.

I am halfway through Season 2 and I am delighted to report that it's as good as the first. The tension rises, passions flare, and the unique opportunities of the Cylons-that-look-human are being fully exploited by the writers.

Buy it, but you really need to watch the mini-series and Season 1 first. It's definitely not the sort of show you can just dip into.

It remains a mystery to me why things like "Lost" find a prime-time mass audience, while far better and more compelling series drama like BG languish on minority channels and end up being seen by more people on DVD than broadcast. Wake up, TV executives!