Sarensaas Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 (edited) The new Viper from the Sci-Fi channel Battlestar galactica remake airing soon. Looks nice! http://www.gabekoerner.com/fx/Gallery/vipe...r_mk2_707_3.jpg http://www.gabekoerner.com/fx/Gallery/vipe...r_mk2_707_4.jpg http://www.gabekoerner.com/fx/Gallery/vipe...r_mk2_707_6.jpg http://www.gabekoerner.com/fx/Gallery/vipe...r_mk2_707_8.jpg http://www.gabekoerner.com/fx/Gallery/vipe...r_mk2_707_9.jpg Edited November 18, 2003 by Sarensaas Quote
yellowlightman Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 Is that for the new TV show or movie or whatever? Looks pretty nice. Quote
myk Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 Someone should put up a picture of the original 'Viper for comparison. After seeing the commercials for the new series on the Sci-Fi channel, I can't help but notice the bold chance that they're taking with the story. I hope they execute it well..... Quote
gnollman Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 Gorgeous! If this is what the new BG is going to look like, I am gonna have to record this one... Quote
eriku Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 Not too hard to design a spacecraft when you just take someone else's design and chop the wings off. *cough*X-Wing*cough* Quote
Knight26 Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 Definite improvement over the original design, and while it may share a similar fuselage design the Viper is a much different craft then the X-Wing. Quote
drifand Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 Actually, what's wrong with the old Viper? It was already pretty nice. Anyway, for the new design... LIKES: Nifty streamlining and interesting mecha detailing. DISLIKES: Aircraft markings look TOO CONTEMPORARY. You mean millions of miles and years apart from our reality, spacecraft designers would ALSO use 'RESCUE-in-an-arrow' diagrams? And what about that USAF-looking emblem on the nose? Come-ON! You can do better than that! Quote
yellowlightman Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 Actually, what's wrong with the old Viper? It was already pretty nice. Anyway, for the new design... I think they did a good job making it look both liek the original and old, while still being new and modern, without messing it up too much. Definately better than most star fighter designs we see nowadays. Quote
Sarensaas Posted November 18, 2003 Author Posted November 18, 2003 You mean millions of miles and years apart from our reality, spacecraft designers would ALSO use 'RESCUE-in-an-arrow' diagrams? And what about that USAF-looking emblem on the nose? Come-ON! You can do better than that! You could also ask why they are all speaking english too, which could be a complaint of both Galacticas and most of Sci-Fi if you get that critical. I read the approach to this version of Battlestar Galactica is more of a real one, like Space: Above and Beyond, hence the warning markings. Quote
F-ZeroOne Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 Main criticism I would have of that is the same one thats been made about the Space 1999 Eagle, which is also, ahem, "well endowed" with engine nozzles... ...where does the fuel go?! Quote
B-52 GUNNER Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 The Primary Blade openings are oval. How do they spin in the intake when it's not circular? I also think they need the old canopy. Other than those two gripes they look OK. Quote
Californium Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 Looks more like a radial radiator grill than intake blades to me. That's among the most convincing CG spaceships i've seen yet. (Speaking of the quality of the render, and not any alleged "realism.") I like it. Nice design. Though I agree the markings should look more unusual. Like replacing the shield on the nose with that stars-in-a-circle emblem that represents the Galactica. (The one you see on all their uniforms in the old series.) And then replacing part of the tail number with a small arrow, the color of which would represent the squadron. (Blue squadron, Gold squadron, Plaid squadron...) And yeah... get rid of that blasted rescue arrow. ... I wish they had kept the old helmets. May have looked silly to some, but it did wonders to convey the "displaced ancients" theme that ran through the show; something that I always thought was rather important to the nature of BG. Quote
skunkobot Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 If this is a space craft, why does it even have engine intakes. And if it is an atmospheric craft, how in the bloody hell is it supposed to fly, it looks as airworthy as a brick. Love all those forward facing flat surfaces, and the lack of wingspan. So either way I'm confused. Quote
Radd Posted November 18, 2003 Posted November 18, 2003 Personally, I like it, but I just don't like the direction they're taking with this new series. They would have been better off making something completely original, instead they took an already existing franchise, attempted to weed out all of the 80's cheese, and wound up removing everything that made the show original to begin with and replaced it with a bunch of overused sci-fi cliches, while at the same time telling us these cliches were original.The only merit I see in this show, in fact, is the new Viper design. "Taking the 'opera' out of 'space opera'" makes about as much sense as "Taking the 'science' out of 'science fiction'" or "Taking the 'mystery' our of 'murder mystery'". Quote
Wabbit Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 (edited) Is it a remake of the series or a sequel? If it is the latter, it explains the English language and Earth-like symbols on that Viper; Earth is now fighting too. If it's not, they shouldn't have done that. Should make the 'Galacticans' (forgot the original name of these cousin species) more alien in culture and language to make it relatively believable... Edited November 19, 2003 by Wabbit Quote
vt102 Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 Someone should put up a picture of the original 'Viper for comparison. Here ya go. Quote
GobotFool Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 It's okay. It lacks the grit of the original design. I really miss the industrial appearances that older sci-fi star-fighters had. Quote
Californium Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 I'd forgotten how awesome the original could look. If I had to pick one, the new version would lose out. Quote
Doktor Gonzo Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 Hard to evaluate based on a test render, but I really hope the f/x team ups their game for the actual production shots. Those images are several shades shy of photo-real. There are several people on these boards who could do a better job... Quote
Noriko Takaya Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 While the new Viper looks nice, I am partial to the older version. It just looks a lot better if you ask me. Quote
gnollman Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 I dunno... I'm really enjoying the new one.... Quote
Knight26 Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 IMHO the new version corrects for the biggest flaw, a really poor cockpit design. The canopy on the Viper, like the X-wing is poorly laid out and gives really bad visibility. Many 70's era sci-fi starfighters have this flaw to them. Quote
mechaninac Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 (edited) I saw a bit of a Galactica special on the upcoming miniseries on the Sci-Fi channel, and while I don't mind a retelling of the story I do not like the PC direction they've taken on one of my favorite characters from the series...THEY'VE MADE STARBUCK A WOMAN, DAMMIT! Starbuck was a womanizing, fast talking, cynical, arrogant, extremely loyal, hard-drinking gambler with an endearing child-like zest for adventure that made HIM a perfect counter-balance to Apollo's goodie-two-shoes persona. Now Starbuck is a Xena/Beca Valentine (Andromeda) clone. Other changes that are a bit jarring to a series fan: Baltar looks like a wuss (In the series, while Baltar was a bit 2 dimensional, he was a cool villain); Cylons were created by humans (Cylons got their name from the extinct reptilian race ,that revered the human form as the epitome on perfection, that created them ); the council knows about Earth and Adama knows where it is (Only Adama held the old legends as fact but only had a vague idea where to look for the decedents of the 13th tribe) The special effects are, not surprisingly, light years better than the original series, and the new Viper does look cool and instantly recognizable; but, as with many new shows and films based or related to older (60's, 70's, early 80's) sci-fi...cough-Star Wars-cough-Star Trek-cough...it lacks all of the charm or the original. I just had to vent...I feel much better now Edited November 19, 2003 by mechaninac Quote
B-52 GUNNER Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 If they could have taken the old design and added more modern details like the afterburners of the new design and a more modern cockpit avionics LCD screens etc. they would have a winner. Of all the things that will cause me not to watch the show it would be the GALACTICA. If they don't hold true to the GALACTICA design all is lost. Quote
bsu legato Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 Sorry, but it's still the original Viper for me. If they were going to redesign it, they should have started from scratch instead of "modernizing" the original design. The new one's OK, but not as good as the original. What do the Cylon Raiders look like now? Or the Cylons themselves? Quote
B-52 GUNNER Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 Here is a screen shot of the game and I think the GALACTICA is the same in the show. As for the CYLON's I think they will look Human. Quote
sidearmsalpha Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 I still prefer the old design, but the new one looks pretty tight, too. Who designed the old one? Is he/she famous or well-known? The Viper, Cylon Raider, and that earth fighter from Buck Rogers have to be the coolest space fighters in American sci-fi shows yet, IMHO. The first Star Wars trilogy had some cool ships (i.e. X-Wing and Snowspeeder), too, but I still like the one's I mentioned above better. Quote
bsu legato Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 I still prefer the old design, but the new one looks pretty tight, too. Who designed the old one? Is he/she famous or well-known? I believe it was none other than Ralph McQuarrie, of Star Wars fame.... Quote
Californium Posted November 19, 2003 Posted November 19, 2003 If they could have taken the old design and added more modern details like the afterburners of the new design and a more modern cockpit avionics LCD screens etc. they would have a winner.Of all the things that will cause me not to watch the show it would be the GALACTICA. If they don't hold true to the GALACTICA design all is lost. Indeed! Quote
Vespaeda Posted November 23, 2003 Posted November 23, 2003 Despite the CGI & PC/GenX-character personalities, it looks to me like a lot of tried & true t.v. scifi show stitched together to impart some constitution to the plot( ). Late '70's to '80's conceptual design to draw that audience segment, glossed over w/SG:SG-1 meets "Wing Commander" FX & visual texture. The personalities, outside of James Olmos, will probably be straight from Xena or that awful Cleopatra 29---whatever. Most of the actors are Canucks(ohhh, the embarrassment!!) and probably dropped off the scripts from "The Outer Limits" with their resumes. Ohhh, give me back "Space:Above & Beyond" if they want to try and tell this kind of story properly; thats where they've 'stolen' the Cylon BS(read the details on SFChannels site...AI's/Silicates anyone? ). Even a "..whatever happened to Wildcards & Valley Forge?" ,5-episode, postminiseries of S:A&B would satisfy what the network is trying to achieve. Especially since we are still in Iraq & pro-"Our boys(& girls)" T.V. still gets the public's support. Save whatever credibility SciFiChannel might have left & give us back Farscape! Vesp Quote
Uxi Posted November 23, 2003 Posted November 23, 2003 Hmm... I like the old one, but agree about the canopy design, etc. The new simply looks like an evolved version of the original. Which isn't necessarily bad... But that leads into the whole remake thing. They should have just made this a sequel and not a remake. Keep what little continuity they have... (:shudders at memorys of Galactica 1980 or whatever it was called:) Have the Galactica leave Earth and draw the Cylons away and have it be years, decades or whatever later. That way they can have the new characters, as cheesy and PC as they're gonna be, and not "rewrite" over the original. Ah well. Speaking of Cylons they could have had them evolve away from the mechanical automatons we all knew (though I'd have preferred if they just kept them the way they were). Quote
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