Battlestar Craptacular

[GobotFool]

I don't remember that. I do remember what happen to Marcus was the reason for Susan leaving Babylong 5 and going on to command a White Star ship.

actually she got a big honkin battle cruieser if I remember correctly. A colaboration of Mimbari and Earth tech.

[Effect]

Yeah the discussion did take a strange turn. Your right, I forgot about that. It was suppose to be one of the newer models that was to be a mix of both tech and ship styles.

[GobotFool]

No wonder I'm so confused...  This thread somehow turned into a babylon 5 discussion 

Vostok 7

Just goes to show how good the new Battle Star movie was

Actually I havn't seen it yet. I didn't even realize it had been released. Well I was never a big fan of the original series. Though I would find it odd seeing women running around with all the guy's names.

Edited December 10, 2003 by GobotFool

[Hikuro]

You know who the starbuck chickreminds me of? That one chick from Gal Force Eternal Story, the one with the punked out blonde and red hair and the star tattoo on her cheek who was the rebel girl.

Edited December 10, 2003 by Hikuro

[Abombz!!]

I don't remember that. I do remember what happen to Marcus was the reason for Susan leaving Babylong 5 and going on to command a White Star ship.

actually she got a big honkin battle cruieser if I remember correctly. A colaboration of Mimbari and Earth tech.

If I remember correctly... she was the first captain of the first Warlock class Earth Cruiser. And yes... the reason why she left B5 was because Marcus sacrificed himself trying to save her with the machine the doctor guy (Steven I think was his name) and Sheridan used to save Garibaldy. She got hurt fighting that bunch of Shadow/Earth cruisers with her White Star fleet.

BTW... best B5 episode... the one that is played from the point of view of a 2 repair men.

Now that was just a bunch of useless collection of B5 facts.

[Duke Togo]

Episode 2 isn't half bad...

[Isamu Atreides 86]

I don't remember that. I do remember what happen to Marcus was the reason for Susan leaving Babylong 5 and going on to command a White Star ship.

actually she got a big honkin battle cruieser if I remember correctly. A colaboration of Mimbari and Earth tech.

If I remember correctly... she was the first captain of the first Warlock class Earth Cruiser. And yes... the reason why she left B5 was because Marcus sacrificed himself trying to save her with the machine the doctor guy (Steven I think was his name) and Sheridan used to save Garibaldy. She got hurt fighting that bunch of Shadow/Earth cruisers with her White Star fleet.

BTW... best B5 episode... the one that is played from the point of view of a 2 repair men.

Now that was just a bunch of useless collection of B5 facts.

did anyone see the Ranger movie they made? was the cruiser Susan commanded like that big one in that Rangers movie? the front looked like an Omega destroyer ( like the Agamemnon) and the back looked like some Mimbari ship.....

[Effect]

The one with the 2 repair men was pretty good. I did see the Legend of the Rangers movie but aired it a horrible time. It was the same night as the Superbowl if I'm remembering correctly. It was okay. The other B5 movies were better since it contained more of the series characters but it was good that Gkar was in the last one. A Call to Arms is one of my favorite, that and the one that dealt with the Earth/Minbari(sp?) war.

Not really sure what the ship in the ranger movie was.

[Isamu Atreides 86]

The one with the 2 repair men was pretty good. I did see the Legend of the Rangers movie but aired it a horrible time. It was the same night as the Superbowl if I'm remembering correctly. It was okay. The other B5 movies were better since it contained more of the series characters but it was good that Gkar was in the last one. A Call to Arms is one of my favorite, that and the one that dealt with the Earth/Minbari(sp?) war.

Not really sure what the ship in the ranger movie was.

yep. thirdspace sucked. so did the one about those Soul Stealers.

[reddsun1]

I have an honest question here:

What does everyone see in the original Battlestar Galactica that they don't see (and somehow hate) in this new one? I watched the original BS: Galactica back in the '80s when it was on TV and I didn't think much of it then and still don't think much of it now. Sure it was the only thing on that was Sci-fi aside from Buck Rodgers (which was another terrible '80s show that everyone likes) so I'm chalking this up to "Star Wars syndrome" in that everyone is thinking of the original show with a patina of fond childhood memories and not remembering how terrible and stupid it was... I mean for god's sake it got cancelled... it had more reused stock footage and plot holes than Robotech. In my mind it isn't like they can screw the show up any more than the original one so I'll watch a few more episodes until I tire of it... which will most likely be tonight as it moves at a snail's pace with less action than nuns see in a convent.

Now before my poop gets jumped by the crazies, I don't like this new one either... but I don't have a burning hatred of it and wish it dead. I see it for what it is, which is about the same thing as the original. Need I remind you all that BS: Galactica went downhill like a fat man on a greased sled after the first season? Anyone remember Battlestar "Conquest of the Earth"? Remember Wolfman Jack and the flying motorcycles? 

If anything it is on par with the current Sci-fi TV shows on the tube: it is shallow, poorly written, cg'ed out the wazzoo with glaring mis-mathces with the real props, it reeks of "rip off" from several "bigger name" sources and it is staffed by B actors (including a bloated and rather sick looking Costello from Miami Vice) who are most likely crossing their fingers that their paychecks clear the bank. I bet Sci-fi will run the bajebus out of it like "Taken" until they come up with some other terrible mini series to take it's place (anyone up for a remake of Kidd Video?)...

ROTFLMAO!! Hear! Hear! Well said, sir! I think your observations on this new show are very well put. Long time lurker, first time poster (on the new board, anyway).

I happen to think this new "retelling" of the Battlestar saga sucks donkey's balls, from a storytelling point of view. But I do like the special effects--the combat scenes are very well done, I think (but there are definitely some bloopers to be found--just saw one in ep. 2 tonight). I also will go out on a limb here and say with a fair degree of certainty that I'm sure the visual effects producers of this show are DEFINITELY Macross and/or Robotech fans (as well as other shows--the influence of earlier works on producers can be found in just about any movie). Just watched ep 2 tonight, and there are definitely a lot of similarities. C'mon, don't those huge volleys of Cylon missles streaking through space make anybody else think of Macross, like in the opening battle of DYRL? (ironic that the BAD GUYS use missles so much in this show, huh)

[reddsun1]

I have an honest question here:

What does everyone see in the original Battlestar Galactica that they don't see (and somehow hate) in this new one? I watched the original BS: Galactica back in the '80s when it was on TV and I didn't think much of it then and still don't think much of it now. Sure it was the only thing on that was Sci-fi aside from Buck Rodgers (which was another terrible '80s show that everyone likes) so I'm chalking this up to "Star Wars syndrome" in that everyone is thinking of the original show with a patina of fond childhood memories and not remembering how terrible and stupid it was... I mean for god's sake it got cancelled... it had more reused stock footage and plot holes than Robotech. In my mind it isn't like they can screw the show up any more than the original one so I'll watch a few more episodes until I tire of it... which will most likely be tonight as it moves at a snail's pace with less action than nuns see in a convent.

Now before my poop gets jumped by the crazies, I don't like this new one either... but I don't have a burning hatred of it and wish it dead. I see it for what it is, which is about the same thing as the original. Need I remind you all that BS: Galactica went downhill like a fat man on a greased sled after the first season? Anyone remember Battlestar "Conquest of the Earth"? Remember Wolfman Jack and the flying motorcycles? 

If anything it is on par with the current Sci-fi TV shows on the tube: it is shallow, poorly written, cg'ed out the wazzoo with glaring mis-mathces with the real props, it reeks of "rip off" from several "bigger name" sources and it is staffed by B actors (including a bloated and rather sick looking Costello from Miami Vice) who are most likely crossing their fingers that their paychecks clear the bank. I bet Sci-fi will run the bajebus out of it like "Taken" until they come up with some other terrible mini series to take it's place (anyone up for a remake of Kidd Video?)...

ROTFLMAO!! Hear! Hear! Well said, sir! I think your observations on this new show are very well put. Long time lurker, first time poster (on the new board, anyway).

I happen to think this new "retelling" of the Battlestar saga sucks donkey's balls, from a storytelling point of view. But I do like the special effects--the combat scenes are very well done, I think (but there are definitely some bloopers to be found--just saw one in ep. 2 tonight). I also will go out on a limb here and say with a fair degree of certainty that I'm sure the visual effects producers of this show are DEFINITELY Macross and/or Robotech fans (as well as other shows--the influence of earlier works on filmmakers can be found in just about any movie). Just watched ep 2 tonight, and there are definitely a lot of similarities. C'mon, don't those huge volleys of Cylon missles streaking through space make anybody else think of Macross, like in the opening battle of DYRL? (ironic that the BAD GUYS use missles so much in this show, huh)

[Effect]

I do wish this had been 3 parts instead of 2. Would have been nice if there was more to the story instead of leaving things hanging the way they did with episode 2.

[Smiley424]

I found the show interesting to say the least, nothing too spectacular. I have seen Battlestar Galactica reruns on Sci/Fi and found the show to be okay. I liked how the space battles were done, pretty cool to watch, missile volleys very Macross. I think they could've done a better job with the Galactica, there was just something about it I didn't like. Story and characters were ehhhh. I'm just really watching for the space battles. That's the primary reason I ever watched sci-fi in the first place.

The new designed "Mighty Robots of Battlestar Galactica" were pretty cool, definately kick the asses of the "Gay Robots from Star Wars".

[VF-19 pilot!!!]

Just saw the first two installments of BSG ....and all I can say is:

What a "Frakin" great blend of wondeful acting, superb story telling. and excellent CG!!!.... the new version of BSG stays true to the original series while adding a new spin, and in my opion; " is able to hold its own"!!!

ok MW'ers what do you think?

PS: starbuck is a hottie!!!! sounds wierd but what can I say ...she is!!!

[Vostok 7]

So yeah, I'm watching it now.

Really, it's not bad. It's just one of those movies that should have been made it's own instead of leeching off something else.

There was another movie like that recently that I can't think of. It was another one of these "remakes" that had been so remade it would have been better as it's own deal.

Vostok 7

[Noriko Takaya]

You know who the starbuck chickreminds me of? That one chick from Gal Force Eternal Story, the one with the punked out blonde and red hair and the star tattoo on her cheek who was the rebel girl.

Hey wait a minute! Lufy was a way cooler chick than the butch Starbuck could ever be! And she is an actual woman, not a man who became a woman.

[Skippy438]

I enjoyed episode 2 much more than one ... except for BOXY!!! Where the hell did he come from? Gah, that's just a terrible fanboy throw-in. And don't get me started on the ending ...

[Phyrox]

You know who the starbuck chickreminds me of? That one chick from Gal Force Eternal Story, the one with the punked out blonde and red hair and the star tattoo on her cheek who was the rebel girl.

Hey wait a minute! Lufy was a way cooler chick than the butch Starbuck could ever be! And she is an actual woman, not a man who became a woman.

I never liked Lufy...

But anyways...what does it matter than in the earlier show the starbuck character was a man? Who cares? Was Adama Hispanic? The new show (and its characters) should stand on their own. If you don't like the new Starbuck (which I don't) it should be because she is a one-dimensional cliche, not because the character used to be male, that's just dumb.

[Noriko Takaya]

Oh yeah, here's a disturbing thought... Apollo's brother Zack, who was killed in a training accident in the newer series, instead of being blown to bits by the Cylons of the older show, was actually humping Starbuck. I guess they had to make a male version of Athena.

All of the saluting in the show made me feel as if I were back in the Marines. The CAG reference Starbuck gave to Apollo was way to Navy-like. All of the military references made me feel as if I were watching Top Gun in space. I also miss the increments of time and distance they used, such as centons, yarens, and microns. The space battles were cool, though. That much I will admit. The updated Cylons were cool, but the Raiders looked way too much like the droid fighters of the Trade Federation what with the glowing red eye thing on the hull. Making Baltar an unfortunate sap who was being used by the Cylons was crazy, when he was obviously power mad in the old show. Jolly, another of the main characters from the original show was blown away in the first part. The absence of Athena. She was hot. The chick-Boomer is now a Cylon agent and does not realize it. And what happened to Cassiopeia? Will Starbuck fall in love with a man-whore named Cassopeia And a lot of the people on Caprica that were fleeing the nuclear nightmare were wearing flannel shirts. Rednecks and grunge people unite! (By the way, I wear flannel shirts, so don't start anything.)

While I thought the second part of the show was better than the first, I still did not like it. The original show was mediocre at best, but it was still better than the remake in my opinion.

[treatment]

just finished watching it.

All I can say is....

ROFLMAO!!!!

The space-battle continues to be the best part of this show. it's a friggin Macross-DYRL battle remake!

without the transformation and main gun stuff.

The characters still were cheesy. Only Adama and Apollo really acted good and gave it real good. The rest were all Mehhhh. With the capital M. Especially Starbuckett.

Oh, yeah. The asian chick Boomer. She can't act, but she's still HOT! And she's even more hotter as ......

hahaha!

omg! i'm busting out laughing here. hahaha!

by your command.

lol!

oh, man. noriko spoiled it already. lol!

Edited December 10, 2003 by treatment

[Godzilla]

After seeing it, all i can say this show sucked. Noticed how all the missiles hit their mark? Ummm, *Cough* Bull *Cough* $#@! *Cough. Give me break. Even in Macross they missed thier marks on some missiles.

So the human race is in peril... You got that right. The show is in peril. More women on this show. Not that I dont like it but somehowI keep wanting to see Boomer and Starbuck as guys. Now Apollo will prolly get it on with them... big some bad imagery for the old BSG .

Boomer chick is a cylon agent? How? WTF? Too bad I keep channel changing. Too much talking and less battle. Anyways, the asian chick is CUTE. Too bad I wont watch this show anymore.

[Mercurial Morpheus]

To start out, I'm a huge purest. Hell, I'm an analogue purest trapped in a digital world. I tend to however give these things a chance. I liked it. My dad got me into the original show, which I enjoy. This mini series does have its flaws, I'll admit. A lot of cliches like, "Forty more seconds" and such were used, rather well in most cases. I liked how they didn't throw the original ship designs in the garbage and instead reinvented them. That's better than starting from scratch because doing it this way is more Star Trek I:Directors edition than Star Wars:Special edition. They didn't tell Dykstra and crew, "you suck" in the process. I also liked the "floating camera in space" approach to effects. Thats something rarely done. Also, why the Cylons are our creation now instead of a lizard empire that uses machines to kill us I don't know. Thats been done to death with Terminator and the like. Yeah, I didn't like Apollo that much and a female Starbuck sucks as a character, spending most of the time complaining or in the brig, and what's up with the white Tigh? But still, I enjoyed it better than Sci-fi's other original pictures and look forward to the sequel(s) though what with the disappearence of "Legend of the Rangers" who knows if it will be made. I don't like Sci-fi keeping us in te dark of just when these continuations will come though. You got to admit, it was better than "Galactica 1980". What were they thinking when they came up with that. Yes, only the oldest crew member survives to reach Earth with no explanation as to the fate of the rest. Whatever.

Edited December 10, 2003 by Mercurial Morpheus

[Jolly Rogers]

After seeing it, all i can say this show sucked. Noticed how all the missiles hit their mark? Ummm, *Cough* Bull *Cough* $#@! *Cough. Give me break. Even in Macross they missed thier marks on some missiles.

So the human race is in peril... You got that right. The show is in peril. More women on this show. Not that I dont like it but somehowI keep wanting to see Boomer and Starbuck as guys. Now Apollo will prolly get it on with them... big some bad imagery for the old BSG .

Boomer chick is a cylon agent? How? WTF? Too bad I keep channel changing. Too much talking and less battle. Anyways, the asian chick is CUTE. Too bad I wont watch this show anymore.

In the last scene, a bunch of human-like Cylons walk into the station where Galactica ditched the suspected Cylon. There were 9 I think. All of them were copies of the blonde and the arms dealer. Turns out the suspected guy was a Cylon after all, and the last one that walked through the door looked exactly like Boomer.

I don't think Boomer is a Cylon agent. They just made a doppelganger of her, since the real one is onboard Galactica.

[Graham]

I quite liked the original BSG, except for when the got to Earth that was just so bad.

I remember in UK back in 1979 they showed the pilot as a theatrical release. It was great seeing it on the big screen.

I recently rewatched the orginal BSG pilot on an old VHS tape I dug up from my collection and one thing struck me as really hokey is that there is one scene where I think Apollo and Zack are flying in space and Apollo tells Zack to apply reverse thrust and apply maximum air brakes...yeah right, air brakes in space!

Graham

[Radd]

I rather liked the original Cylon backstory over this new telling. The original story just seemed a whole lot more original.

Humans at war with an alien race that's weaker physically, but stronger technologically, so they start making cyborg soldiers to stand up to human soldiers, eventually making completely robotic soldiers. Eventually the cyborgs and robots take over, wiping out the organic population to extinction, then turning on the universe and their old enemies the humans.

What does the new BGS have? Skynet. Ho-hum, seen it before.

Now, admittedly, the old show got real cheesy, real fast, and never lived up to the potential it had from the pilot episode. Bad acting, really lame sidekicks (anyone remember Muffet and that stupid kid?) and just tons of stereotypical 70's and 80's sci-fi cheese (I'm not even gonna start on BSG 1980)...but this new show has almost all of the weaknesses of the original show (just replace 70's cheese with 90's/2000 cheese, and some fancy, schmancy, yet still crappy CG that is the modern equivilent of the original's FX) but then goes ahead and adds even more weaknesses, like cliche backstory for the Cylons, sexaroids and whatnot.

I miss the old Baltar. He was great.

[Mercurial Morpheus]

So all in all, there are three camps when it comes to remakes. The purests, who think the new should be a close carbon copy and hate all changes even if for the better. The "its just a movie " crowd AKA the ones with "lives", who think that changes should be made to rise above the original. The final camp being the middle ground, if its too close, what was the point, if its too different, why keep the name. I think I'm the third but I tend to be indecisive and contradictory, such is the pleasures on a Gemini with ADHD ;;;. There is technically the fourth, all remakes/sequels suck group, which is the extremist wing of the purests. Bottomline, if its profitable once, coat it with paint and a new wardrobe and send it around again. This is shown in remakes, sequels, DVDs, rip-offs and spin-offs. The Eva LA film will suck as an adaption and how Gunbuster will make it through a sequel I don't know. This cycle will never end, so we must learn to live with it.

Edited December 10, 2003 by Mercurial Morpheus

[mechaninac]

Okay, the miniseries is growing on me a bit. I guess I'm a purist with an open mind. The second episode was a little better than the first, but still way too slow in the first half. Now some observations:

1. I still miss the old show's "Chariot of the Gods" motif. It gave depth to the human cultures of the colonies and created an instant link to the lost 13th tribe.

2. As mentioned before, I too would have liked them to have kept the originals time and spatial measuring conventions. It was very original.

3. The president's character was much better on the second episode. I'm actually beginning to like her. The decision to abandon the slower ships to their fate was a tough one. My previous comment that she should have been spaced on an earlier post may have been premature.

4. I liked the "chick Boomer is a Cylon without knowing it" twist at the end. I must admit I didn't see that one coming. Now let's see what they do with it. Will the Cylons just flip the proverbial switch and she becomes evil like Talia Winters in B5; or will the unknowing sleeper agent be so enamored of humanity that she will become conflicted about where her loyalties lie.

5. I liked the use, reuse, minor updates of many of the civilian ships. It was a very welcomed tip of the hat to the original show.

6. I still think the new Baltar is lame.

7. WTF...Cylon femme fatale turns into Harvey the neuro-clone...no, wait, that was different show...

8. Still think Stabuck with boobs is just awfully lame. I don't mind a female butch character per se, but she should not be called Starbuck (name or call sign).

[treatment]

I fall into the middle-ground after finishing this new one.

Starbuckett was a bad idea. A really bad idea. It prolly would have worked if the acting and the actress was good, but she wasn't. She was just flat and lifeless and fugly as a character.

I know it's a tall order to re-do or re-place the original Starbuck, but this Starbuckett-compromise just did not work out.

Other than her and the obnoxious pit-crews, the other characters (boomer, adama, apollo, beltar) were good upgrades from the original.

The new Cylon Centurions were okay overall. The upgraded ships (cylon and colonials) were really done and animated well. The battle-scenes were spectacular.

The one thing that this new Galactica was thoroughly missing was the humor of the original, perpetuated by none other than Starbuck. The very presence of Starbuck in the original alone was good comedy in itself.

Also, the dark aspects of the new show were just so cheap.

The new show's writers and actors should have watched and study how to do dark aspects and dark humor from the X-Files.

--treatment--

[Myersjessee]

wow...guess I am in the minority...loved the original BSG as a kid. I have seen it recently, and it is campy and fairly lame. I thought they tried to do what Star Trek did with the newer series (Voyager) and make it more realisitic, and deeper in terms of characters and plot/motivation. Baltar, for instance, is no longer simply evil for sake of being evil. I don't know why they made Starbuck and Boomer girls...but I like girls, so Im okay with it. Bring on more ...I want to see if they can make it better.

[Duke Togo]

The thing about Starbuck in the original was that it was essentially Dirk Benedict playing Dirk Benedict. There is only one Dirk Benedict. He played the exact same character as Face in the A-Team. Kinda like Reese Witherspoon always plays the same character. If someone played a role that was hers, it just wouldn't be right.

Starbuck was basically a lounge lizard in the original. He's the kinda guy in the sleezy suit you see hanging out at the bars in Vegas. If anything, he was probably a pussy. So, of course, they have to make the chick Starbuck a tough girl. They lost the essence of the character.

[Mechamaniac]

As if anyone should be surprised that they botched this.....

How soon we all forget that piece of crap they passed off as DUNE.

[rocco_77]

So what is the deal? Is this going to be a regular series or what? I was looking at the SciFi Channel website, and it doesn't say anything about it...

So has anyone heard what will happen with it? Was the mini-series kind of a test bed to see if a series may be profitable?

[Vostok 7]

As if anyone should be surprised that they botched this.....

How soon we all forget that piece of crap they passed off as DUNE.

Excuse me?

How is the new Sci-Fi version of Dune a POS when it's 100x closer to the book than that 80's movie called "dune" and didn't even have Sting in it to boot?

Explain, please.

Vostok 7

[Effect]

I agree. The Dune and Children of Dune mini-series were pretty good and a lot closer to the novels then the first Dune movie. I thought those were handled very well. It would be nice if they did mini-series of the books after Children.

[Vostok 7]

I agree. The Dune and Children of Dune mini-series were pretty good and a lot closer to the novels then the first Dune movie. I thought those were handled very well. It would be nice if they did mini-series of the books after Children.

I'd like to see the new prequel trilogy turned into a mini-series.

Vostok 7