This time, I'm rootin' for the Cylons <g>

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

I have mixed feelings. I do think that the new BG is a great improvement over the original, but those sex scenes were stupid. And I just can't get used to Starbuck being a female. But I do like the new Baltar--he is really interesting. And I also liked Apollo. But why did this new version remind me of the '70s too much? The technology on the Galactica was too '70s, & so were some of the suits on the civilian guys. If this becomes a series, dump the '70s references! Ugh!

Tammy

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

I must admit I liked the new BG enough to want to watch part two. Given how BAD the original was I expected very little and was pleasantly surprised. I liked the characters Six and Starbuck.

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

That was a great game. Though a bit bias since that was my New England Patriots and snow and everything.

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Hells yeah! I was in Boston, hiding from the snow storm, watching that game with eyes popping and jaw on the floor. You damn right I watched that over Rangers.
And dig this: the Patriots are now #1 in the AFC! Go Pats!

Anyways, I'll probably check this Battlestar thingy out on a rerun.

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

I liked the first part except for the obvious SG glider rip-off the Cylon fighters were.

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Actually, SG probably ripped that design off from the OLD SCHOOL computer game Wing Commander. Those ships looked a LOT like the first Kilrathi fighters that you used to go against in that game. I remember because I used to think the Wing Commander game series was the coolest and best graphics (which it was back then). Those SG fighters and the new Cylon fighters look a LOT like the original Kilrathi fighter that you go against in Wing Commander 1. But lets not be too harsh on this topic, as after all this time, its pretty tough to come up with a totally NEW design for a ship, that still has to resemble the "flying pancake" that the original cylon fighters were.

And Joe, I also thought that opening scene kiss seemed really stupid. In fact, why have that scene at all? Why send 3 cylons to be with this guy when you blow up the station? Just blow the damn thing up and move along. It just didnt make much sense to me, but after that part things started to flow well.

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

yeah i assume it was material(fuel) held in tanks or pumped thru pipes. But even then the fire wouldn't last long in space most of the oxydizing material and oxygen would be sucked out fairly quickly. And have a feeling that the hot gas would be quickly disipated that the flames wouldn't be sustained

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

just noticed something. Galatica miniserise is lacking in black cast members. And the characters that were originaly black in the original like col Tye being played by a old white man and Boomer being a asianic females.

Taking away from one of the more riskie parts of original even though it was late 70's still iffy having a Black 2nd in charge of the whole ship. Then another incharge of a fighter wing.

Dunno why I particaly noticed that or care but figure throw it out.

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

I caught the second showing at ll:00. I found it to be somewhat enjoyable.

The lady playing Starbuck left something to be desired but was not groan inducingly bad.

The kiss scene was not really necessary. I think later scenes did a decent enough job of detailing her sexual proclivities without the opening sequence.

I will be watching to see how it concludes.

Frizzell

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

I liked the new Battlestar Galactica for the most part, however the ending was horrible in my opinion. Hardly any closure of the main story lines. Just a big setup for a continuing series that may or may not come to pass. And without spoiling it for anyone, I thought the revelation of who was the hidden Cylon agent amongst the crew was a poor choice. I'm going to watch the show again to see if there were clues I missed, but to the best of my recollection this might as well have been a random choice. I guess I'm spoiled by the beautifully interwoven story lines of B5.

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

I guess I'm spoiled by the beautifully interwoven story lines of B5.

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Lets not fall back on THAT excuse. Don't even tell me that B5 was this "beautiful interwoven story" during "The Gathering." Because that is what you would have to compare the Battlestar Galactica to in B5 world --- the pilot. B5 was NOT this grand story then, it was just trying to get started and we ALL KNOW that B5 changed a bunch of ITS details as the story went on. A good example being TALIA being a mole! Poor choice? Who knows, but CERTAINLY not planned from day 1. So lets not be too critical of Battlestar Galactica at this point especially about details like that.

I for one think that the choice for the mole was OK, but I thought it was going to be the girl on the bridge that kissed the President's aide. Maybe that was just tossed in there to give us a red herring. They did say that it could be a"sleeper cylon" who doesnt even know he/she is a cylon, so there would be NO clues to look for. So I'm betting the kiss from the bridge girl was tossed out as a red herring as a throwback to the opening scene with the kiss in the station.

Either way I thought the ending was just fine, and expected to a degree. If you watched the original, you know that ITS first episode/movie ended with the end of the 12 colonies and the fleet setting off to find "Earth." This one ended the same way. How can anyone expect it to end up plot threads when it isnt the end of the story, its just the begining?

I also liked how Adama treated Earth. Yes, there is a legend of this 13th tribe --- which is how it was in the original. He doesn't necessairly BELIEVE in it, or know of its existance, but he used it to drive morale up and give everyone hope --- while lying at the same time. Bold and dangerous move but I liked it.

All in all I think it was a very well done series. I enjoyed watching it a lot more than Rangers I hate to say, but its true. I am actually hoping they do turn this into a new series (which is doubtful, but I wouldnt mind it). There are certainly more possibilities with this version than the original. Pretty good stuff I think.

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

I don't think a new Galactica series is "doubtful" at all, since the overnight ratings for the first half were reportedly pretty good. (Around a 2.3 if memory serves.) Galactica is owned by Universal, which owns Sci-Fi. If the ratings can be sustained they are more than good enough to support a series and keep ad revenues up for Sci-Fi, and from Universal's perspective they also get all the current revenue from any international sales plus future syndication and home video money. (All the things they wouldn't get with something like a Rangers series, owned by a competing network.) So I suspect there is going to be a lot of interest in having a new B5 continue.

And of course a pilot does not resolve every plot thread. Complaining that it is "incomplete" is like complaining that the Voyager pilot didn't end with the ship making it back to Federation space. (On second thought that would have been a better outcome, in that it would have spared us seven years of the show, but that's another thread. )

Recoil:

Of course Talia being the mole wasn't thought of from "day one" since Talia wasn't part of the story from day one. But that there was a mole was part of the plot from day one, as were numerous other elements of the series. They just weren't visible because we didn't know what was coming later. Who knows how much foreshadowing was in the Galactica pilot?

The mini-series (really a 4 hour movie) did tell a complete and coherent story: How an obsolete ship left over from a war won long ago became the "last, best hope" of the Human race after the "defeated" enemy unexpectedly struck back. The fact that this opens up another story doesn't mean the first one is not valid. There's nothing wrong with a story concentrating on part of a larger event or tapestry. Even Babylon 5 told only a tiny part of the long story of The Shadow Wars and the rise of the Younger Races.

And am I the only one who thinks that revelation of the Cylon mole was a little too obvious for them to have meant it? If this thing goes to series I would not be surprised to find out that she isn't the mole and that something else entirely is going on there. I think Moore is a better writer than what that shot suggests and I think he has learned a lot from JMS and B5.

I will admit that the presence of Boxy makes me a litte nervous. Maybe he can die tragically in an early episode. Short of that I at least hope that nobody gives him a cute robotic dog and that the new producers avoid the trap of making all the "alien" words slight variants of English ones. (Much as I hated that little cyber-pooch I think I hated the word "daggit" even more.)

Regards,

Joe

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

I hope it becomes a series, but I think that everyone who wants a series needs to write to SFC *now* & tell them that *this* is the kind of SF we want to see, not Scare Tactics or even the upcoming Mad, Mad House (ugh!). We need to get SFC back on the right track--I am tired of watching their decline.

Okay, what is SFC's address again?

Tammy

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

I hope it becomes a series, but I think that everyone who wants a series needs to write to SFC *now* & tell them that *this* is the kind of SF we want to see, not Scare Tactics or even the upcoming Mad, Mad House (ugh!). We need to get SFC back on the right track -- I am tired of watching their decline.

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Writing letters is not going to get us a Galactica series, not writing them won't fail to get us one. The only fan "feedback" that Sci-Fi is going to factor into its decision (along with business and financial factors) they've already received in the form of ratings. Letters come from the minority of fans that are highly motivated and the networks know this. The only times letters have any effect is when a decision is almost literally a coin-toss, when the arguments for doing a show (or not cancelling it) are exactly balanced. Then letters can tip the balance. But when the objective indicators say clearly "yes" or clearly "no" letters ain't gonna change a network's mind in either direction.

Do you really think they're going to cancel Scare Tactics because we (who don't watch it) don't like it? Not as long as it is drawing the ratings they want. It is very cheap to produce and they make a nice profit on the commercials that air during it. In fact, profits from "crap" like Scare Tactics is what allows them to take a chance on riskier, bigger-budget projects like Galactica, Riverworld, and Dune.

Regards,

Joe

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

After seening Part II, my opinion is still the same: eye candy.

I'm going to go way out on a limb and make a prediction. Owing to the outcry against "cute" and "goofy" in film these days (as in Jar Jar Binks), and the fact that we've only seen four of the 12 Cylon "models," the BG series will introduce a novel and surprising Cylon mole aboard the ship: Boxy.

And, am I the only one who saw obvious similarity between the little girl on the botanical ship just as the Cylons attacked (after the rest of the fleet went FTL) and the infamous 1964 LBJ political ad, "Daisy"?

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

Overall, I liked the story. I had never seen the original. Therefore, I had nothing to compare the new incarnation to.

However, to me it was enjoyable.

At certain times it seemed a little slow, but most programs suffer from that at one point or another. While all of the characters were not instant favorites, none of them turned me off to the program. I thought they did a good job of pulling together the major plot points at the end, while leaving enough of the minor ones dangling to fuel a potential series. It was not the best thing I have ever seen, but it was not the horrible failure that many bbs posts lead me to believe it would be.

If the network picks it up for a series, I will watch to see how it turns out.

Frizzell

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

And, am I the only one who saw obvious similarity between the little girl on the botanical ship just as the Cylons attacked (after the rest of the fleet went FTL) and the infamous 1964 LBJ political ad, "Daisy"?

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Yes.

But I'll be you weren't the only one to notice the obvious similarity between the new president's inauguration aboard the ship and the photos of Lyndon Johnson's inauguration aboard Air Force One - and therefore to Morgan Clarke's inauguration aboard Earthforce One on B5.

Regards,

Joe

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

I don't think a new Galactica series is "doubtful" at all, since the overnight ratings for the first half were reportedly pretty good. (Around a 2.3 if memory serves.

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Well, that's what I get for trusting my memory. In fact Galactica got twice that number of viewers according to an article on Zap2it.com.

Sci Fi, on the other hand, is ecstatic over the performance of "Battlestar Galactica." Its average audience is the third-best in the channel's history, trailing earlier miniseries "Taken" and "Dune." After drawing just under 3.9 million people for Monday's premiere, "Galactica" averaged 4.46 million viewers Tuesday.

Tuesday's installment was the most-watched show on cable for the night and also beat broadcast networks UPN and The WB in total viewers. It was Sci Fi's best night of the year in total viewers and all key demographics.

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If Rangers had hit numbers like this we would be speculating about the third season by now.

I'd be amazed if Sci-Fi and Universal didn't go to series after these results.

Regards,

Joe

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

I was impressed with the remake. I think it's a substantial improvement on the original source material. The cast was solid, I liked the story and enjoyed the mini.

I also loved the effects. It was very reminiscent of Firefly (IIRC, it's the same FX company), in fact you can see Serenity doing a flyby just before the President meets with the doctor.

If I had any problems with the show, it was the direction. Spinning the camera around the actors is a trick that should be used only sparingly. I think it was used gratuitously here, or just to show off the sets. There were a few scenes were I was saying "Stop the fricking camera!", it was annoying.

I look forward to another mini, or a series. To be honest, I think a series of minis might be better than a weekly series, but that's just a gut feeling.

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

Well I did what I was certain that I would not do, I watched it. It was not as horrible as I was expecting it to be. On a dramatic level it was good. Although much of it worked I still had some problems with it.

Why were the colonials so inempt with their deffence?

Good grief their entire millitary network had less security than the average bank's network.

Their newer Battlstars and Vipers had no apparant advantage over the ones used in their first war against the cylons yet conveniently have all the weaknesses needed to make them helpless against the cylons. So taking this into account who were their newer ships designed to fight?

Bulletes in space battles?

Robots with religion?

How would an AI know how to program itself with such an intangable as emotions?

Getting sleepy will think of more latter.

PS Even with the problems I have with it I hope it makes it as a series. At least it is real scifi.

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

Well remember that the cylon chick had gained access to the defense database and was therefore able to gain information on access codes to all the clolonial ships defenses, therfore shutting them down so they are unable to fight back.

Re: This time, I\'m rootin\' for the Cylons <g>

Their newer Battlstars and Vipers had no apparant advantage over the ones used in their first war against the cylons

They probably had all sorts of advantages over the older ships (else there would have been no reason to retire Galactica in particular while keeping the others.) Presumably most of those advantages depended on their advanced and highly integrated computer systems. Because the Cylon agent worked for the military contractor who supplied many of those systems, and because they left themselves backdoors into them, it is not surprising that the Cylons defeated them. It was not a matter of the Colonies being militarily inept, they were betrayed and their systems compromised "from the inside".

Bulletes in space battles?

1) Who said they were literal "bullets"? 2) Why not? All the battles are taking place at sublight speeds. The speed of the bullet is going to be the speed of the firing platform plus the speed imparted to the bullet by the charge that fires it. The "bullets" we saw could have been tiny missles with their own on-board propellant supply, or they could have been "dumb iron" slugs launched by linear accelerator or even by chemical reaction. The only reason we don't include an oxydizer in bullet cartridges on Earth is that we don't need one with all the atmospheric oxygen. But there is not reason why we couldn't. Include the oxidizer, the charge ignites and explode, and Isaac Newton handles the rest. At close range bullets can be a very effective weapon, and fighter pilots like to have something to fight with after they've launched all their missles. (The U.S. experimented with no-guns, missles only fighters in Vietnam. It wasn't long before the Air Force was mondifying all those "missles only" planes with machines guns and/or canon. Too many of those planes were being shot down by Russian made fighters - with guns.)

Robots with religion?

Why not? Any sentient being is going to wonder if life has any purpose and if his/her/its life in particular has any greater meaning. Some are going to answer this question in the affirmative, and that is going to lead to religion.

How would an AI know how to program itself with such an intangable as emotions?

A true artificial intelligence, a sentient, self-aware being who happens to be made from synthetic materials, might not need to "program" itself for emotions. Emotions might turn out to be a by-product of intelligence, and therefore emerge spontaneously once the AI achieves genuine sentience.

Regards,

Joe