DVDFile

Universal Studios Home Entertainment / 2004 / 754 Minutes / Unrated
Street Date: December 4, 2007

Richard Hatch - the original Captain Apollo of ABC’s late ‘70s television series Battlestar Galactica - campaigned for years to resurrect that epic story. He didn’t quite pull it off, but in 2004, a miniseries based on the original premise was reimagined, produced, and shown on the SciFi Channel, later to be released on DVD and included in this six-disc set. So successful was the miniseries that Battlestar Galactica was picked up as a series and has been cablecast at irregular intervals for several years. (The final chapters of the series is due spring of 2008. Sigh.) But if your experience with this show has been limited to cable and think you’ve really seen Battlestar Galactica, think again. A cablecast can’t possibly compare with the quality of High definition on disc.
 
I was not enthusiastic about the original series; I found it a bit juvenile and, at the risk of offending its fans, tacky. Perhaps it was a manifestation of the television acting style of the time, but the characters were neither multifaceted nor complex. The Cylons were clearly men in costumes (I never understood their little miniskirts). I watched for a while, and then lost interest as the writing devolved. (More vivid than my memories of the series is my recollection that George Lucas sued Glen A. Larson and Universal, claiming that the series ripped off Star Wars.) So when a new telling of Battlestar Galactica was on its way, I had few expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised.
 
The basic premise remains, but somewhat massaged. A manmade “race” of cybernetic machines rebelled decades before the miniseries opener. An uneasy truce existed between the humans and the Cylons until in one devastating, coordinated attack; humankind is nearly destroyed. The survivors, about fifty thousand from the billions that lived among the twelve colonies, flee. The only surviving battlestar, a class of vast interstellar warship, is the Galactica. It was about to be decommissioned. Its systems intentionally retro to avoid the cybernetic viruses that could infect the complex network of computers found on the more contemporary battlestars, it was deemed beyond obsolete. Ironically, its technological regression is pivotal in its survival. With the Galactica leading a ragtag fleet of interstellar vessels of all kinds, humankind makes a run for it, the Cylons a perpetual threat. Their destination is the legendary thirteenth colony, Earth. Vague scripture holds the keys to the planet’s possible location.
 
The Galactica is commanded by William Adama (Edward James Olmos); the surviving ranking officer, he becomes the ostensive head of the military. Secretary of Education Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) is the only surviving cabinet officer and she assumes the role of President. They will not always agree on a course of action. The new series creators take some risks, recasting two notably male roles with women: Lieutenant Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) and Lieutenant Sharon “Boomer” Valerii (Grace Park). Captain Lee “Apollo” Adama (Jamie Bamber) remains the ranking combat pilot. The series creators make some other interesting choices, as well. The Galactica Executive Officer, Colonel Saul Tigh (Michael Hogan), is an alcoholic, fighting demons that include a harpy wife. And Dr. Gaius Baltar (James Callis) is not the overt traitor found in the original series, but a narcissistic egocentric who betrays mankind for sex. Ah, sex… and here’s where we find our most interesting new development.
 
The Cylons had not been idle during all those decades of isolation. They excelled at bioengineering, creating biological entities that are virtually indistinguishable from humans. And the loveliest and most seductive model, Number 6 (Tricia Helfer), has taken such complete control of Baltar that he’s become delusional, having encounters with Number 6 that only he can experience. So as he flees with the rest of humankind, he has company: the illusion of Number 6.
 
What really sets this series apart from both its genesis and almost every other science fiction series produced for television is that this is not a science fiction story inhabited by humans and aliens. Instead, this is high drama with complex characters stressed to their limits, facing annihilation, battling a superior foe, and struggling to survive, all set within a futuristic background. Science fiction is ever-present, but the humanity and conflicts take precedence. The characters react to stress believably. Political conflict internal to the fleet is no less a threat than the Cylons. And there is the unrelenting risk that undetected Cylons are among the humans. Like the 9/11 terrorists who hid in plain sight, these sleeper Cylons strike without warning and inflict great harm.
 
And perhaps more than any other science fiction series produced for television, there seems to be a genuine effort to portray a realistic environment. Ships need repair and maintenance. Fuel is an issue. People need water and sleep. This is a gritty, almost dirty environment that smacks of authenticity. Military terminology, procedures, and protocol add another touch of realism. And the cinematography is intentionally rough, with many handheld shots that evoke a feeling of documentary. Even the style of the CGI special effects contributes. The simulated camera moves also resemble handheld documentary style. And the high-performance fighters maneuver with reaction jets, precisely how they would have to in the vacuum of space.
 
With a uniformly excellent cast, compelling writing, and an intriguing visual style, I’ve become quite hooked. 
 
The Video: How Does The Disc Look?
 
The mini series was shot in 35 mm film and the series was shot in 1080p24; the aspect ratio is 1.78:1. The episodes have been compressed with the VC-1 video CODEC. I don’t know if it was intentional to create the illusion of a roughly shot documentary, but the miniseries shows substantially more grain than season one. This is a reasonable set of high definition transfers, not close to perfection, but pretty good. The edge halos found on the DVD releases have been banished. Small object detail is excellent and finely grained textures are also quite fine. In a close-up of Edward James Olmos’ craggy face, every crevice and crease is quite clear. Chroma, based on natural flesh tones, is accurate. The filmmakers play with the palette from time to time, and when the color is exaggerated, it is very vivid. This is predominantly a dark series, particularly the interior shots of the Galactica. Blacks do tend to get a little crushed. Viewed on an eight-foot wide screen, I was very pleased with how the presentation conveyed the drama. But even though the clarity of the images benefitted from high definition, I expected a greater improvement over the DVD editions.
 
The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
 
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is very nicely done; I appreciated the obvious improvements in the timbre compared to the Dolby Digital tracks on the earlier DVD release. Some pans from and to the surrounds envelop the viewer. EX decoding works very well. Deep bass is present. The track has a pleasing dynamic range and the sound effects have a great bite. The sound design is terrific. Communications are distorted, evoking the retro technology found on the Galactica. With the exception of the radio communication audio effects, the dialog remains undistorted throughout. I was particularly enamored with the score composed by Bear McCreary and Richard Gibbs. Instead of the original series’ failed cloning of the sweep and grandeur of John William’s Star Wars score, McCreary and Gibbs go in an entirely different direction. I enjoyed the use of exotic instruments and percussion to create tension and urgency, and the orchestrations and themes are ethereal and slightly alien. The score is conveyed well, and a great subwoofer will enhance the experience.
 
A second English track is available in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1. Optional subtitles are in English SDH, French, and Spanish.
 
The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
 
Universal has tapped into the existing supplements from the previous release on DVD and then added content exclusive to HD DVD. But before I launch into descriptions of the extras, I must mention the packaging. Universal has chosen to mount the six discs on sticky silicone hubs glued to folding cardboard panels. The panels have their corners diagonally cut off, reminiscent of the odd practice in the Galactica universe of lopping off the corners of rectangular documents. The folded disc set slides into a cheap, thin, clear plastic sleeve.

The sticky hubs cause the folded construct to feel like it’s glued together. I thought I was going to rip or break something as I pried the folded cardboard apart. The discs are exceedingly difficult to remove from the hubs; I was afraid I was going to break one in half as I was forced to bend the disc while prying. I finally discovered that if I rotated the disc slightly, back and forth, clockwise and counterclockwise, while pulling gently, each disc will pop off its hub. Although my discs were still firmly mounted to their hubs when my set arrived, a little research revealed that many people have experienced data surface damage due to discs popping off hubs in transit. Clever concept; poor execution. I can only hope that Universal offers a more practical case design for future HD DVD releases of the series.

We begin with an impressive group of ten commentaries; many or all are derived from Podcasts from the series’ official website. Now I have to be completely honest with you; I did not listen to all of them. There are simply not enough hours in my day, acting as site editor, generating new content, and reviewing screeners, but I did sample. So here are my commentary impressions of questionable accuracy.
 
Almost of the commentaries are solo efforts by executive producer Ronald D. Moore. You’ll also hear from producer David Eick and director Michael Rymer. The commentaries provide insights into the series’ production, storylines, technicalities, and concepts. Artistic decisions are discussed. There are unfortunate instances of plot descriptions and character motivations that are intuitively obvious. But then there are a few gems, like Richard Hatch's initial opposition. Is it ironic that he was given a role, or was that a product of negotiations that led him to support the show and bring his fans with him?
 
Behind The Scenes is a collection of eight full screen featurettes; with a thoughtful Play All option, they have generous aggregate running time of 1:03:15. This is an informative and very thorough documentary that addresses every aspect of the show but the catering. All the significant contributions that set this series apart become clear. Much will be a verification of your observations while watching the episodes; discriminating viewers will get it right away. What is fascinating about this documentary is that it reveals how those aspects are brought to the screen. One example is that the series is shot in 1080p24, just like the last two Star Wars films. This affords the director and cinematographer the flexibility to create lighting effects practically. And it enhances the ability to create the documentary style of the shoot. This is an hour well spent.
 
There are over a dozen sequences of deleted scenes organized by episode that have an aggregate runtime of 48:26. These are uniformly interesting, but I didn’t see one that I felt would have contributed to the flow of the existing storylines. We do have the occasional new plot point that smacks of the tensions and pressures felt by these survivors, but I think you’d agree that the series makers have been quite successful in their efforts to convey what is essentially a very human story. So as you enjoy the deleted scenes, just consider them an interesting supplement and not as valuable content removed to allow time for commercial breaks.
 
Sketches and Art is a 4:13 exploration of concept and production designs, set construction, examples of blue screen enhancement to physical sets, all set to music from the score.

The HD DVD exclusive Picture In Picture supplement is quite duplicative, tapping into the content found in the eight-part documentary. And this feature is only provided for the miniseries. I expected more and fresher material.

Encyclopedia Galactica is the now familiar U-Control feature, but it too is only accessible on the miniseries disc. Consider this a trivia track that reveals details about the various spacecraft, the Twelve Colonies, character personnel files, training manuals, and other minutia.

For those who have a network cable running to their home theaters – this writer does not – there is Web-Enabled Content waiting for you.

And last is MyScenes, the Universal bookmarking feature that allows instant access to your favorite scenes.

Final Thoughts
 
The more I watch, the more I admire the series. This is easily the best live action science fiction series currently in production, and arguably right up there with the best every produced. The high definition transfers are quite respectable, the audio excellent, the supplements generous, and the price reasonable. But I think I may have been too hasty in pigeonholing this series as science fiction; I think this human drama has broader appeal. Recommended.


Here’s a note about the apparent duplicate Buy Guide. Our I.T. people are still hard at work on a large project and have not yet had the time to modify the underlying site database formatting code to accommodate the new 0-to-10 rating scales. So until they do, for HD on disc, I’ll insert this note and a Buy Guide at the end of the review text and leave the conventional 0-to-5 Buy Guide blank.