The end is near. The last half-season of Battlestar Galactica will begin showing this month, and if you have not caught up with the story, the first half of the last season is now available on DVD. This dark and often depressing look at the future of humans is thought provoking and intelligent viewing, tackling some of society’s toughest situations with a unique perspective.
If you have never watched Battlestar Galactica (or have not watched it since the original 1970’s series) the best way to start would be with the mini-series that kicked off the new show. Over the past four seasons the characters have developed and changed and the plot lines have been carefully woven to tell the story.
Rarely has there been a series that builds upon itself so well, making each bit of dialog, story line or visual element an important part of the whole. It has truly been a show that viewers watched and discussed, and one that is collectable for multiple viewings to appreciate the complexities of production and plot.
A literature search of Battlestar Galactica reveals a number of scholarly articles written about the series plots or characters. These range from social science perspectives on adoption to religion discussions of pantheism versus monotheism in the storyline. One can simply enjoy the episodes, or delve deeper into analysis of the human experience.
Battlestar Galactica taps into the human fear that machines will somehow be able and smarter , gaining the ability to plan, the desire to get ahead, and will one day cause our demise. This series chronicles the escape of the last humans from a society that has been overtaken by sentient machines, robots that now have the capability of looking like humans and the intelligence to manipulate the humans through their responses.
Season 4.0 begins with the stories of humans who have just come to the knowledge that they are really machines. For some it is devastating, for others it is viewed as miraculous, a quick way to rise to the top of the heap. In any event, the stories are riveting, and cause a lot of discussions in our house. It is an interesting take on Asimov’s question of what determines life in “I, Robot.”
Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0 is presented in a boxed set that includes the television movie that started the season Razor. It is a prequel to the 4.0 season events, and a fine production in its own rights, and is shown here in the unrated, extended version. The remainder of 4.0 episodes are on three discs.
There are quite a few specials included with deleted scenes and podcasts, behind the scenes featurettes, The Journey, Cylons: The Twelve, Season 4.5: The Untold Story, The Music of Battlestar Galactica and Caprica a sneak preview of the series that will be a prequel to the whole Battlestar story.
In addition there are producer’s video blogs which are highly entertaining, Love In Space, Why Hath David Forsaken Us? So This is It, What Next?, What Now?, Space Cowboys, Lucy’s Breakdown, Are You Frakkin’ Kidding Me? I’m a Frakking Cylon, and Last Call.
This is an excellent set for collector and fans from a series that has endeavored to tell the story without genre stereotypes or clear cut good versus evil scenarios. It has been a fun ride, and it will be most interesting to see how this chapter will end.
Battlestar Galactica - Season 4.0 is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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