Battlestar Galactica - Season One

Product Details

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 frackin' good television.

DVD features
The fifth disc in Battlestar Galactica's season 1 set is highlighted by eight comprehensive featurettes covering all aspects of the series, from its miniseries origins to standard surveys of production design, visual effects, and particulars of plot and character. For hardcore fans and anyone interested in TV production, nine out of 13 episodes, plus the disc 1 miniseries, are accompanied by intelligent and informative commentary originally provided as BG website podcasts, mostly by series developer and writer Ronald D. Moore, who provides tantalizing clues about developments in season 2. The "Series Lowdown" is a cast-and-crew promotional program originally broadcast to attract SciFi Channel viewers who were initially reluctant to embrace a "reimagined" Battlestar Galactica. The strategy worked: First-season ratings left no doubt that the new BG was as good as--and in many ways better than--the original. --Jeff Shannon

Product Reviews

(5 stars) - Excellent sci-fi drama
The miniseries on disc 1 of Battlestar Galactica Season 1 would, as a standalone movie, compete with some of my favorite films. Taken with the rest of Season 1, this is some of the most entertaining television I've ever watched and is a must-see for science fiction fans. Though it's not without the occasional silly trope or unbelievable twist, Season 1 of Galactica stands as evidence of exactly how far the show tumbled in its third and fourth seasons.

(5 stars) - Battlestar Galactica-Season One
I loved the picture and it looked clesrer than when I saw it on TV.

(4 stars) - A good implementation of a Sci-Fi program
Battlestar Galactica is a good show. It brings up really fascinating concepts, but doesn't always deliver in the end. It doesn't transcend to great, but it is very much worth watching. If you like science fiction, you should pick up season one to see if it vibrates on your frequency.

(5 stars) - Provocative sci-fi series weaves its web
It all started with the Pilot episode. Right from the word "go" this show hit it's mark as the cylons appear and then begin to destroy the human civilization. From the opening scene the humans find themselves caught by surprise by the cylons, and then scrambling to survive. What struck me upon first viewing this series was the pacing, and mood of the show, and how the directors carefully orchestrated the drama from constantly surprising angles. Right from the very beginning we get the deliciously provocative entrance of Number 6 as she kisses the human intermediary before his space station is blown to bits.

Season One has many of my favourite episodes, including "You Can't Go Home Again", in which Kara finds herself stranded on a barren, orange world with a fallen cylon fighter which she attempts to kick start in order get back to the Battlestar Galactica, and episode "33", where the Battlestar Galactica is having to jump every 33 minutes in order to evade the cylon ships.

It is interesting to see the pilot episode again after watching the series to the end. One detail that stood out on second viewing was when Starbuck was fighting the cylons. There is a moment when one of the cylon fighters turns around and faces her, but doesn't shoot. This echoes the time when Sam faces a cylon fighter who scans his eyes and identifies him as a cylon.

All in all this is an excellent start to an amazing series that over the course of four seasons has a myriad of mysteries to uncover as the plot grows ever thicker.

(5 stars) - The Mini Series is the Key
Okay, so I seriously tried to watch BSG while it was on SciFi, in the first season, but I could never get into it. I didn't understand it, everyone else that liked all the same shows I did loved it. I was completely lost. The black sheep of the group. So, I just put it off as that I didn't like the show.

During my writer's workshop, my teacher suggested that I watch the show. I'm working on a young adult novel that takes place on a starship and he wasn't sure what feel it had. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure either. So, I was like 'what to heck, I'll just buy the first season on Amazon since it's so cheap.' Really, how many of us are able to watch a series from Blockbuster? I think it ends up costing the same anyways.

The Mini Series was the KEY.

I had started to watch AFTER the Mini Series, when I tried to watch it on TV.

The Mini Series sets us up for the whole show. We are thrown into a not too distant future in which a ship, a Battlestar, is being decommissioned and turned into a musuem. The war with the Cylons (a race of machines that humans created) seems to be over since we humans haven't seen them for decades. All is at peace. The Battlestar in question is the Galactica.

The Cylons had been busy creating humanoid creations of themselves. They look exactly like humans. They end up attacking all of the Twelve Colonies without warning. Civilization as the human race knows it is pretty much wiped out.

The Galactica ends up putting together a fleet of ships that they link up with, among these ships is a ship carrying the surviving member of the presidential cabinet that now takes over as the new president of the twelve colonies, originally just the secretary of education.

This fleet is commanded by Commander William Adama and seconded by Colonel Saul Tigh. These two commanders are old friends and have an interesting relationship. Adama knows how to keep the constantly drunk Tigh under control, he only had joined since it was going to be their last tour. This command team is in charge of a mix-matched group of people. They are not the only ones in command, though, there is also the new president of the Twelve Colonies, President Laura Roslin.

Though there are many bumps between military and civilian authority, the fleet moves on no matter what defending by their Viper and Raptor pilots. We see a lot of these characters. Lee "Apollo" Adama being one of the most prominant and outrightly so in the first season as we see how his relationship with his father evolves along with his rocky relationship with "Starbuck." He sides with President Roslin and puts himself into a deeper hole with his father even though he does not see it as taking a side. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace is a hotshot Viper pilot who drinks and smokes too much. She's seen as a daughter by Commander Adama. Other pilots we also see are: Sharon "Boomer" Valerii and Karl "Helo" Agathon.

The first season takes us back to Caprica, one of the Twelve Colonies that was fired upon by the Cylons, as "Helo" chooses to stay there after his and "Boomer"'s Raptor has to land there for repairs. They take on refugees and he makes the choice to stay behind so that Doctor Gaius Baltar can go back to the Galatica.

The future that BSG takes place in is not one that has been perfected at all. There is still cancer and there are still different ways to go about treating it. People still drink and smoke and do things they know are wrong. The characters are all flawed, though this is what makes them so realistic and human. They have to strive for the survival of the human race.

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