BSG DVD set (also with season two spoilers)

[Matt]

I'm going to see how many Browncoat converts I can raise in Iowa. I showed the first episode to my girlfriend, who usually can't stand how much science fiction I show her, but she loved it. I'll try to get her hooked on BSG, too.

(Thoughts coming up on Battlestar Galactica 2.03 after it airs at 1 o'clock at the morning. In fact, I'll post as I'm watching, since I'm on wireless and my laptop.)

[Matt]

Why not wait, anyway, until the long preview can be ripped and put up on the Internet?

[nacho]

Why not wait, anyway, until the long preview can be ripped and put up on the Internet?

Just got it!  It's downloading now.

[Matt]

Fuck, why must this series be so good!?

FUCK this is so fucking hot.

Spoiler

The people in charge have such a disdain, perhaps, or hubris about their positions of authority. Roslin is not above manipulating a guard's faith to secure her the drug, which she's hooked on like a heroin addict. Tigh just threw everything into a tailspin, frakking things up even more after he says he created a mess for Adama. He's still drinking. Baltar manipulates the situation with him and Tyrol, and, when you think about it, he was the one who betrayed the group and killed Crashdown.

This hubris is what makes the show, IMO. The show is hyper-realistic but also very dramatic. It's playing like a Greek tragedy, in a sense. The one thing I wonder about is how they could possibly end the series. I'm sure they have many plot turns and twists ahead, but I just don't know how you could top some of the beats and moments in these episodes. They're all fucking great.

Based on the preview, we're finally going to see some inter-fleet conflict. I'm fucking psyched. I was having trouble getting into this episode and was kind of worried if the spell was over, but then they brought me back for the final act. I'm hooked.

[Matt]

I also would note that it's reminding me of Dune, the way the leaders are handling their respective situations. But that's okay. Dune is fucking awesome.

[nacho]

My connection died last night.    I'm having trouble getting stuff to download  now.

Also, let's stick season two discussion to this thread:

http://www.greatsociety.org/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=355

Because keeping threads on topic is very important around here, am i rite guys?  

[Tyson]

Or not.

Me me me!

On topic!

Llama sex!

[nacho]

I'm reading reviews on Amazon for the Battlestar Galactica season one boxset... Some real gems in there.

I prefer Sci Fi that explores various alien cultures and worlds. Battlestar is so much like West Wing that it sacrifices any hope of such exploration. Olmos even said he'd quit if they added aliens. I like this slightly more than West Wing, but only slightly.

911 is not a part of this great program. Stop saying it does!! Idiots!! Stop mentioning the Christian monitor!! There's more to lfie than Christians and America.

Mark Serrahn says this is not sci fi. Ignore him. This series IS sci fi. Nice try Mark. Better luck next time.

Nice try, Khan, but I'm...still...alive...

What's up with these 'fans'? They aren't happy that many people have noticed that the series is influenced by 9/11 and the War on Terror. They say it isn't true. Why is that? They say that people who notice the influence of real events on the series are 'sad' and 'idiots'. Why are such fans bent on hiding the social commentary of the series? I suspect it's because that's the weakest part of the series. Denying the references doesn't help. Moore says he wants references to Iraq and 9/11 in the series. The series does contain social commentary. Moore points those things out in his podcasts and articles. So now Moore is sad and an idiot? With fans like that who needs enemies?

And he gets a reply --

You now claim that the 911 and Iraq aspects (which you insisted weren't part of the series in your original statement) are being used as part of an allegory. I'd like to read your interpretation of this allegory. I'd also like to read your apology. You admit that the 911 and Iraq references are there. You were thus incorrect when you insulted me and insisted that they were not.

Okay, kids.  Let's just take it easy, now.

There are many replies, actually.  On and on fighting about 9/11 because one guy said shut up about 9/11.

I like to relax with something fun after a tough day at the office, after hearing all the news about the hurricane, all the news about the terrorism, and all the news about the war. It's always nice to come home to my family, unwind, and enjoy a nice Science Fiction escape every so often. I can't do that with this series.

BSG has "grown up". The FUN and JOY of the original series has been replaced by PRETENSE and MISERY. It's like revisiting a childhood friend and discovering they've become a depressed drunk who insists they are more sophisticated. Many people will join that club, but I'd rather be a happy kid at heart. FUN and JOY are good things.

I don't question Hollywood for taking a beloved cheesy children's show and turning it into a modern remake. Remakes are all the rage these days. Unfortunately this one is way too serious for it's own good. Will I really find the answers to life's great mysteries in a serious version of a cheesy kid's show? LOL!

[monkey!]

My goodness - you really have a hard on for BSG.

It's worrying.

[nacho]

I like pretense and misery.

[yotoc]

I fucking hate the internet.

[nacho]

A Shameful Abomination Of The Original series,

The new series took everything that was cool about the original series and tossed it out the window. Gone is the great opening theme music that got you excited and ready to watch the show. Gone are the cool suede warrior jackets. Gone are the great special effects of awesome ships, dog fights and explosions. Gone are the cool flashgun lasers. Gone are the cool Cylon robot voices. Instead we have ambient "music" (and I use the term loosely) that opens the show. Boring costumes. Lame CGI effects. Edward James Olmos is not exactly easy on the eyes. The robot Cylon's don't talk. They have switched the genders of the characters- Starbuck is no longer a cigar smoking ladies man, he's now a woman! What's so sad is that the younger generation is eating this up like it's so great and they have no idea what they're missing. Some people may say to get over it and move on, but it's hard to do when you've experienced greatness and then get handed trash. Every month the new show continues, I keep thinking about what a wasted opportunity this was. They should have brought back some of the original actors, (which were available and ready to work) mixed them with a new cast and furthered the epic saga in the original style.

Battlestar Galactica isn't for everybody. Some reviewers insist that we should be blind followers of NEWSDAY, TIME, and TV WITHOUT PITY. Following only what the critcs say is a fool's game. TV WITHOUT PITY gives Six Feet Under good reviews while NEWSDAY doesn't. What do all the zombies who just follow these reviews do then?

Another person stated that TIME considers Battlestar Galactica to be a top ten show, but TIME did NOT consider it good enough for their best of TV top ten list for 2004. Previously TIME even included the O.C. on the 2003 BEST list as the number 5 best show!

Speaking of the O.C., I noticed that TV WITHOUT PITY has often given episodes of the O.C. higher ratings than Battlestar Galactica. So have vistors to that site. Does that mean the zombies who only follow these sources like the O.C. more than Battlestar while attacking those who don't like Battlestar for being less sophisticated and brainy? It would seem the issue would really be a matter of soap fans versus those who may not like soaps.

I have been trying to get into Battlestar Galactica and not having much luck. By the middle of the first season I'd grown weary of hearing about GOD GOD GOD GOD while the series crawled along at the pace of a snail.

I would like to ask Ron Moore,what was he thinking?The three hour episodes that aired on NBC,now I see why the ratings are low.I have the DVD to the original Galactica feature film and I get more sense out of it than what is in the new version.Sex,the space battles are not good like in the original,changing the Cylons including not hearing them talk,trash talikng and disrepecting in the Colonial warriors ranks,what's next?I am working on my own space war epic and I would like to give Mr Moore a big piece of advice,listen to the fans of the original version of Galactica.

[Matt]

I would like to ask Ron Moore,what was he thinking?The three hour episodes that aired on NBC,now I see why the ratings are low.I have the DVD to the original Galactica feature film and I get more sense out of it than what is in the new version.Sex,the space battles are not good like in the original,changing the Cylons including not hearing them talk,trash talikng and disrepecting in the Colonial warriors ranks,what's next?I am working on my own space war epic and I would like to give Mr Moore a big piece of advice,listen to the fans of the original version of Galactica.

So original BSG: 1 season.
New BSG: midway 2nd season, almost guaranteed a third.

Fuck those old school bitches.

[nacho]

So original BSG: 1 season.
New BSG: midway 2nd season, almost guaranteed a third.

Fuck those old school bitches.

You're forgetting Galactica: 1980, man!  




High quality!

[nacho]

So I got the boxset recently and am quickly working through the special features (just about an hour into the mini series now,    ) because as soon as I got the set, all of my friends who work a million hours a day and have missed the whole BSG thing said OMG loan me the boxset right fucking now gonna die if I don't see this!!

The commentary track is terrific, and makes the mini-series all the more of a Thing.  I was a bit lukewarm on the mini-series but, looking back 23 episodes later, and now hearing the whole idea behind putting it together, well, it's brilliant.

So I know Matt's devoured this stuff.  Let's dig in and be 100% Geek on this goddamned show that has brought Sci-Fi back and started a revolution within the genre.

Step One -- "taking the opera out of space opera."  The "Soviet-style" of the culture of BSG and human "naturalism" in the script.  All with a top level of big name actors and a group of nobody actors blending perfectly together.

Also the big shocker -- Tricia Helfer's active career consists of Number Six and playing a dead body on CSI.  Yet, as we've seen by now, she's a powerful actor.  Pure luck?  Or is it all about guiding hands?  A perfect storm of actors, writing and vision?