I’m more of a fan of the reimagining
of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA that came out about 25 years after the original BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, but I did grow up watching it
in syndicated reruns in the 1980s. The original series only lasted one season
and had a one season sequel series (which many fans hated). During the time of
the original series, they edited the first three episodes (SAGA OF A STAR WORLD) into a feature film and it was released theatrically
in the US
in 1979 (after it was released in cinemas in Europe and aired on TV on ABC as part of the TV series). The movie follows the story of Battlestar Glactica and a fleet of ragtag ships full
of human survivors after the Cylons (robots) attack the Twelve Colonies (after deceiving the Colonial fleet that the Cylons
wanted to sign for peace). The feature film is the beginning of the story
of the crew of the Galactica including Commander Adama (Lorne Greene), Apollo (Richard Hatch)- the son of Adama, Athena- Adama’s
daughter, hotheaded womanizer pilot Starbuck (Dirk Bennedict), Boomer, and Tigh in addition to some of the survivors of the
human race. They begin their search for the planet earth while being hunted by
the Cylons. Their first stop is the casino planet which isn’t as bad as
I remembered, but it still sticks out compared to the rest of the movie which is stronger story wise.
The video and sound are great on the blu-ray
which features a remastered picture for the 35th anniversary of BATTLESTAR GLACTICA. Some of the space scenes do come off a very grainy, but the rest of the picture presentation is perfect. The 2.1 Sensurround is included to replicate the stereo sound mix used for the original
theatrical release back in 1978 and 1979.
EXTRAS:
none
other than trailers for BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: BLOOD AND CHROME. I hear the 1978
movie DVD has extras which weren’t carried for this blu-ray. No actual
menu is on the disc other than the pop-up menu you can access during the movie.
FINAL ANALYSIS: Except for no extras and lacking a real menu, the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA pilot movie looks and sounds good
on Blu-ray.
This review is (c)5-20-2013 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.
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