Stills from the set of Battlestar Galactica.
A photo from our visit to the set of Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica has re-invented the epic space and sci-fi genre. The story is similar to many space dramas: Humans of the planet Kobol are almost annihilated in an attack by the Cylons, which are intelligent robots built by humans.
Some human survivors make it to the remaining Battlestar, the Galactica, led by Commander Adama and President Laura Roslin. Their hopes are to reach the far off homeworld of Earth, the humans must fight for their survival against the agressive and now more humanoid Cylons.
The Sci-Fi Channel features Battlestar Galactica, the television series, and it is a remake of the 1978 movie that launched a previous short-lived TV series.
The twist with Battlestar was the premise that the ancient civilizations on Earth were actually from another planet. Earth was visited by aliens in the distant past who influenced the Greeks and built the pyramids. The crew of the giant space carrier, Galactica, had names that were rooted in mythology.
Back in 1978, Battlestar Galactica had the story line that the 12 colonies of mankind which were named after the signs of the Zodiac, were ready for peace, yet they end up getting wiped out by their enemies, the Cylons.
The last remaining carrier, the Galactica, contains the refugees as they head across space in search of the mythical 13th colony: Planet Earth.
The 2003 version of Galactica still had the 12 colonies of humankind attempting to make peace with the Cylons, which were human creations in this retooled version of the series. There is a theme of hell hath no fury like a God angered by man attempting to engineer life.
Battlestar Galactica's appeal for the new and old-school fans is the re-inventing and tweaking of the story. The writers have done an excellent job keeping the series fresh and relevant, and the cast is top notch.
The new TV Galactica also paid tribute to the original 1978 movie that starred Lorne Greene as Adama, with some visual and sonic references from the film.
Today Battlestar has a cracking cast featuring Edward Olmos as Commander Adama, the technophobe and last commander of the Galactica. British actor Jamie Bamber plays Adama’s son, Apollo. The evil Cylon infiltrator Number Six is played by Tricia Helfer. Mary McDonnell is cast as the Secretary of Education who suddenly has to assume the Presidency when the rest of the cabinet is killed.
Battlestar Galactica features an excellent crew behind the scenes, with superb special effects, costuming, set decoration and overall production design. Hair and Make-up too. The attention to detail by the below the line crew makes this series a must see and collect on DVD.
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