In general, remakes—especially of old TV shows—provoke groans and eye rolling, not to mention skepticism and disdain. But now and again a retread comes along that actually improves on the original, which is exactly the case with Battlestar Galactica. The original 1978 series, hastily developed in the wake of Star Wars to take advantage of the enormous new popularity of “space opera,” had some good elements and won a sizable coterie of fans, but the remake is more sophisticated, not only technically but thematically as well. A recent winner of the Hugo Award (science fiction's equivalent of the Oscar), the new series uses the same basic premise of the original: in a devastating nuclear attack, the robotic Cylons wipe out most of humanity and leave the Earth in ruins, after which the relatively few survivors—less than 50,000—are gathered aboard a fleet of starships led by Commander William “Husker” Adama (Edward James Olmos), the highest-ranking military official left. Together with Education Minister Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), a relatively minor cabinet official now directly in line to assume the presidency, Adama and his intrepid warriors work tirelessly to evade the Cylons and bring the humans to safety. Unlike the original, in which the interstellar fighter pilots were testosterone-surfeited young men, the new version makes more of an effort toward gender equality, with characters played by Katee Sackhoff, Tricia Helfer, and Grace Park contributing just as much as their male cohorts, Jamie Bamber and James Callis. The special effects, as one might reasonably expect, are also vastly improved (many of feature-film quality), and the individual episodes among the 2004-05 first season's 13 collected here teem with fascinating subplots and character studies. DVD extras include audio commentaries, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and production art. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)
Battlestar Galactica: Season One
Universal, 5 discs, 877 min., not rated, DVD: $59.98 December 26, 2005
Battlestar Galactica: Season One
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: