Product description

Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 [2004]

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Binding : DVD
EAN : 5050582334500
Label : Universal Pictures UK
Manufacturer : Universal Pictures UK
Publisher : Universal Pictures UK
Release date : 2005-03-28
Title : Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 [2004]
Actor : Array
Audience rating : Suitable for 12 years and over
Format : Array
Languages : Array
Number of items : 4
Original release date : 2004-01-01
Region code : 2
Running time : 546
Studio : Universal Pictures UK
Theatrical releaseDate : 2004

Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Battlestar Galactica's Edward James Olmos wasn't kidding when he said "the series is even better than the miniseries." As developed by sci-fi TV veteran Ronald D. Moore, the "reimagined" BG is exactly what it claims to be: a drama for grown-ups in a science-fiction setting. The mature intelligence of the series is its greatest asset, from the tenuous respect between Galactica's militarily principled commander Adama (Olmos) and politically astute, cancer-stricken colonial President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) to the barely suppressed passion between ace Viper pilot "Apollo" (a.k.a. Adama's son Lee, played by Jamie Bamber) and the brashly insubordinate Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), whose multifaceted character is just one of many first-season highlights. Picking up where the miniseries ended, season 1 opens with the riveting, Hugo Award-winning episode "33," in which Galactica and the "ragtag fleet" of colonial survivors begin their quest for the legendary 13th colony planet Earth, while being pursued with clockwork regularity by the Cylons, who've now occupied the colonial planet of Caprica. The fleet's hard-fought survival forms (1) the primary side of the series' three-part structure, shared with (2) the apparent psychosis of Dr. Gaius Baltar (James Callis) whose every thought and move are monitored by various incarnations Number Six (Tricia Helfer), the seemingly omniscient Cylon ultravixen who follows a master plan somehow connected to (3) the Caprican survival ordeal of crash-landed pilots "Helo" (Tahmoh Penikett) and soon-to-be-pregnant "Boomer" (Grace Park), whose simultaneous presence on Galactica is further evidence that 12 multicopied models of Cylons, in human form, are gathering their forces.

With remarkably consistent quality, each of these 13 episodes deepens the dynamics of these fascinating characters and suspenseful situations. While BG relies on finely nuanced performances, solid direction, and satisfying personal and political drama to build its strong emotional foundation, the action/adventure elements are equally impressive, especially in "The Hand of God," a pivotal episode in which the show's dazzling visual effects get a particularly impressive showcase. Original BG series star Richard Hatch appears in two politically charged episodes (he's a better actor now, too), and with the threat of civil war among the fleet, season 1 ends with an exceptional cliffhanger that's totally unexpected while connecting the plot threads of all preceding episodes. To the credit of everyone involved, this is really good television.

Customer reviews

review by: Clive Young date: 2008-10-30 rating:

Very good but not galactic
Following the hugely impressive 2002 mini-series, Season One, which came out in 2004 started strongly and continued its strikingly retro/realistic look and feel. All science fiction is really about the present and BG in particular has a reputation for intelligent even philosophical allegory of the themes preoccupying modern western societies. Unfortunately this seems to get in the way of telling the tale. Much of the middle of the series was really about US politics, as boring as it was ridiculous. The entire population of the space-bound community numbers is supposedly less than 50,000 making for example a 'press corps' a little unlikely. It would have been much more interesting (and challenging) to explore how this traumatised, barely-surviving bundle of survivors would really behave, instead of trite waffle on the nature of democracy. Nevertheless the characters and action remain strong, with the exception in one daft episode about a Star Wars lite raid on a Cylon base. Oh, and irritating tendency to hide information from the audience for naff dramatic tension and leave gaping plot holes. I liked the dramatic flourish at the end of the season, though, which will have me out looking for the next in the series.

review by: date: 2008-10-25 rating:

Toasty
Marvelous first season of a surprisingly impressive remake of what I always considered a cheesy sci-fi series. Excellent thrilling non-stop twists and action. Utterly gripping stuff. You'll never look at a toaster the same way again!

review by: date: 2008-09-08 rating:

Intriguing
So many 5-star reviews for a sci-fi serie with space ships shooting fake laser bullets in typical star wars fashion? You can imagine that there was some hesitation when I bought season 1.

But as so many others, I have been pleasantly surprised. This is not just an action series. This is not just about the survival of the human race or the war agains the self-created robots. Of course there are some action sequences (which are spectacular, but certainly not the best part of the show), but there is so much more.

Each episode brings something new on the table: politics (this review is written around the time of the republican convention and the choice of Sarah Pailin as vice-president, exactly when one of the episodes also discusses the way a vice-president is chosen), religion, and of course many feelings of fear, love, doubt ...

The fact that Cylons look and feel like humans and some even don't know that they are robots, makes Battlestar Galactica very intriguing. And the Ceylons seem to have a belief system which is more christian than the one of the future human race.

The show is not perfect. Many of the characters are rather one-dimensional (the female president, the drunk XO, ...). Results are predictable, and the Cylons are not as clever as you would expect. Gaius Baltar gets too easily too much power. But these downsides are just minor quibbles in comparison with the overall quality.

Season 2 is on my wishlist, certainly after the double cliffhanger of season 1.

review by: date: 2008-08-21 rating:

A slow start but stick with it.
Having now watched the first 3 seasons i am in a good position to write the reviews, this first season is slow to get going it's a good backdrop and sets up the seasons that follow really well but it is hard going at times. The action is few and far between and the subconcious scenes between Dr Balter and Caprica 6 happen far too often and at times add little (at this stage) to the overall story developement this season. But stick with it as season 2 is stunning 5 stars (and obviously you will have to have watched this first) and season 3 is very good as well. If your a sci-fi fan looking for something new buy this.

review by: date: 2008-07-18 rating:

Fantastic
This is such a good up to date version of the original and is extremely addictive and entertaining (even for those who are not usually sci fi fans). It is filmed in a way that really makes you feel like a part of the action during the battle scenes and is cleverly written so that you care about what happens to all of the characters (even the bad guys).

Only thing to mention is that you should definately buy the Mini Series discs before watching this as even though this is the complete season 1 box set it does not contain the pilot episodes. It just launches straight into the action, which is VERY confusing as you don't know who anybody is or what's going on.

Both me and my husband loved watching the whole series (even though he's not really into Sci-Fi) and we can't wait for series 4.

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