Battlestar Galactica (2003 Mini Series)

Despite voluminous protest and nitpicking criticism from loyal fans of the original TV series (1978-80), this 2003 version of Battlestar Galactica turned out surprisingly well for us viewers with a tolerance for change. Gone are the flowing robes, disco-era hairstyles, and mock-Egyptian fighter helmets. Also missing are the "chrome toaster" Cylons, replaced by new, more formidable varieties of the invading Cylon enemy, including "Number Six" in hot red skirts and ample cleavage, who tricks the human genius Baltar into a scenario that nearly annihilates the human inhabitants of 12 colonial worlds.

Thus begins the epic battle and eventual retreat of a "ragtag fleet" of humans, searching for the mythical planet Earth under the military command of Adama (Edward James Olmos) and the political leadership of Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), a former secretary of education, 43rd in line of succession and rising to the occasion of her unexpected Presidency. As directed by Michael Rymer (Queen of the Damned), Moore's ambitious teleplay also includes newfangled CGI space battles (featuring "handheld" camera moves and subdued sound effects for "enhanced realism"), a dysfunctional Col. Tigh (Michael Hogan) who's provoked into action by the insubordinate Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), and a father-son reunion steeped in familial tragedy. To fans of the original BG series, many of these changes are blasphemous, but for the most part they work--including an ominous cliffhanger ending. The remade Galactica is brimming with smart, well-drawn characters ripe with dramatic potential, and it readily qualifies as serious-minded science fiction, even as it gives BG loyalists ample fuel for lively debate.
And, to be fair, the original was hardly a classic, was it?

This opening movie to the new series is utterly fantastic. If Sci-fi is your thing (and even if it's not), you really need to see this. Once you've watched it, expect to be eager to follow the story with the first, second, third and upcoming fourth series box sets, as well as another recent movie spin-off 'Battlestar Galactica: Razor'.

All I can say is: keep them coming... SUPERB!

My mate lent me this DVD and i was unsure, i cant stand star trek and other sci-fi drama stuff like that but this had me hooked.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and i didnt care that it was almost 3 hours long because it wasnt boring at any part.
I am absolutely going to see season 1 now because i have to know what happens next.
Oh and if i could build a Cylon robot like that one i would never leave the house! :)

I have never experienced the orginal series and this marked my entry into the Battlestar universe.

It is genuinely superb. Well scripted, well acted and very though provoking. Its a great set up to a character driven drama and it did its job of hooking me in very well.

I would say though, anyone wanting to get into the series really does need to start here. You wont get a good enough introduction from the Series 1 re-cap.

Big fan of Firefly, and still can't understand why they only did one season. Farscape reminds me of H.R. Pufnstuf in space, and I can't understand why they did more than one season!! So when I bought this DVD, I wasn't expecting too much. It was cheap and so I bought it. I was actually impressed to the point where I have seasons 1 and 2, have orderd season 3 and waiting to hear about No. 4. It is similar in style of filming to Firefly, with camera zooming in and out and losing focus in big battle scenes, and that for me gives it a very 'real' feel. Being a bit of a geek, I did spot a ship outside the Doctors window, when madame president gets her results which looks incredibly like Firefly's 'Serenity' in the top left hand side of the screen. That was a cool find! Top DVD. Good script, very well acted, superb special effects.