"Fleeing from the Cylon tyranny, the last battlestar, Galactica, leads a ragtag fugitive fleet on a lonely quest - a shining planet known as Earth." - Lorne Greene as Commander Adama
Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Epic Series DVD Review
By Jonathan Boudreaux
When Stars Wars became a cultural phenomenon of cosmic proportions in 1977, it was only a matter of time before television attempted to cash in on the public's new fascination with science fiction. The most hyped of these efforts was ABC's Battlestar Galactica, which premiered in the fall of 1978. At the time, Galactica was the most expensive television series ever produced, mostly due to its costly special effects created by John Dykstra, the special effects wizard who also designed the effects for Star Wars.
Many years in the future, the Twelve Colonies of Man and their robotic enemies, the Cylons, are on the verge of signing a peace accord. It turns out that this armistice is simply a ploy orchestrated by traitorous human Baltar (John Colicos). On the eve of its signing, a massive Cylon attack is launched, leading to the decimation of the humans and their colonies. All that is left of their civilization is a single battlestar, the mammoth battleship Galactica, led by Commander Adama (Lorne Greene) and a group of lesser vessels.
Also on board the Galactica are Adama's son, Captain Apollo (Richard Hatch), and his daughter, Athena (Maren Jensen). Along with lieutenants Starbuck and Boomer (Dirk Benedict and Herb Jefferson, Jr.), warrior Apollo goes on frequent scouting missions to protect the fleet. After the death of his new wife, Serina (the leonine maned Jane Seymour), Apollo is also charged with the protection of his stepson, Boxey (Noah Hathaway) and his robot dog, or "daggit," Muffit.
With their home planets destroyed and the Cylons in hot pursuit, the survivors set out to find the legendary thirteenth colony - a mysterious planet known as Earth. The problem is that they are not quite sure where Earth is located - it is, after all, their "lost" colony - and the Cylons, now led by Baltar, will not rest until all humans have been exterminated.
Galactica is sprawling and ambitious, but its ambitions often overshoot its production and storytelling capabilities. The first episode, "Saga of a Star World," strives to be epic, but with its two and a half hour running time, it mostly succeeds at being long. It's not that the episode is terrible, it just wears out its welcome. Galactica often relies on multipart episodes which, unfortunately, fall into the same trap. These episodes tend to feel like one hour's worth of good ideas stretched over an hour and a half. Episodes like "The Lost Planet of the Gods" and "War of the Gods," for example, have an unfocused, padded feel, allowing viewers' minds ample time to wander. Single episodes, which run only forty five minutes, tend to be more concise and move at a less glacial pace. Standout one hour episodes include "The Lost Warrior," in which Apollo crash lands on an agrarian, Old West-style planet that is menaced by a malfunctioning Cylon gunslinger known as Red Eye, and "The Young Lords," in which Starbuck crash lands on an agrarian, Medieval-style planet that is menaced by a troop of Cylons who meet resistance from a group of unicorn-riding children (proving that Galactica, not content to merely "borrow" from Star Wars, is also willing to cannibalize itself with repetitious plotlines). Even "Fire in Space," which, for the sake of variety, stole from The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure, manages to be more zippy fun than other more prestigious episodes.
While Galactica had an enormous budget by television standards, its budget was small as compared to Hollywood's science fiction films. Pulling off Star Wars-esque effects utilizing miniatures on a TV budget proved to be difficult. Because of this, the same effects shots are used over and over again throughout the series. This is not too distracting, and many of the effects look surprisingly good. The horseshoe crab-like design of the Cylon crafts, the visually interesting launches of Galactica's fighters, and the squadron pilots' uniforms and Egyptian inspired helmets are just a few of the design elements that are totally successful. Some of the matte paintings when the cast visits alien worlds do look as if they were drawn with magic markers, though, and some of the "futuristic" costumes would be rejected by any discerning trick-or-treater. Even this tends to add to the show's goofy charm.
Part of Galactica's fun is that even though it is set many years in the future, it is decidedly stuck in the '70s. Most of the characters sport shaggy, feathered hairdos, and those are just the men. The aforementioned costumes tend to favor metallic-looking fabrics and priestly, caftan-like frocks that leave viewers humming "Midnight at the Oasis." The costumes that the warriors wear while playing their handball-meets-basketball sport - essentially Speedos and sports bras - also must be seen to be believed. And what '70s sci-fi series would be complete without an intergalactic disco? Galactica takes the disco one step further by having the dancers employ gilded ropes that look like they were stolen from someone's window treatments to snare each other while boogying through space. All of this adds to the campy fun, making this "futuristic" series a neat time capsule of the Disco Era.
Galactica is sometimes derided as Wagon Train in space. In many ways, this is an apt description, but perhaps a bit too dismissive. Certainly the presence of veteran Western star Lorne Greene helps to fuel the comparison. With fourteen years of Bonanza under his belt, Green hardly seems like the first choice for a futuristic action series, but his strong presence and solid acting helps to ground the show. Like Wagon Train, as the Galactica and its fleet caravanned through space, there were many opportunities for special guest stars, including Lew Ayres, Ray "I never met a role I wouldn't take" Milland, Patrick Macnee, Fred Astaire, Ray Bolger and Lloyd Bridges.
Sure, Fred Astaire is a tony guest star, but connoisseurs of trash television will want to check out the guest star of "The Magnificent Warriors." In this uncharacteristically light episode, Match Game's Brett Somers takes time off from needling Charles Nelson Reilly and misspelling ribald gameshow answers to play a horny old lady who uses extortion to secure Adama's courtship when the fleet needs her generator to seal a key piece of trade. The sight of the bewigged, clown makeup wearing character Somers plays planting a volley of smooches on Greene's Adama is not to be missed. In the comic highlight of this episode, Somers is abducted by a marauding band of overgrown warthogs.
While Somers' large persona is welcome in the comic "Warriors," Galactica is often marred by over-the-top performances in nominally serious episodes. John Colicos is a prime example. His Count Baltar is a bigger ham than Porky Pig. Colicos goes beyond mere scenery chewing, stopping just shy of chewing fellow actors. Some of the other lesser guest actors also suffer from this "too much is never enough" approach. Luckily the other core actors, like Benedict, Hatch, and Jensen, give restrained, likeable performances.
Battlestar Galactica lasted only one season. Many viewers sampled the show when it first premiered, but the audience eroded to such a level that the series' high production cost could not be justified. The following season, the show was completely revamped as Galactica 1980. Only Lorne Greene was retained from the original show's cast. Ratings for this incarnation also failed to ignite, and Galactica 1980 was cancelled after half a season.
The twenty-two episodes that make up Battlestar Galactica are divided onto six discs. Discs one, two, three, and six are double sided. It is hard to imagine why discs four and five could not have been combined onto a double sided disc. The menus are easy to navigate and are also visually appealing. Episodes can be chosen individually, but there is also a "play all" feature. Choosing an individual episode brings up a screen containing the episode's original airdate and a synopsis. The episode can then be played, or the viewer can choose to visit the episode's "Scenes" menu which indicates the six chapter stops included in the episode.
