Battlestar Galactica

although i haven't seen (though i have made the attempt) the original battlestar galactica, i was intrigued to see the new one.

all in all, it was pretty well put together. the production values are high and really produce a sense of another universe. there aren't many details of note, and unless you were specifically told, there's no relation to earth.

the story takes place 40 years after the events of the original series. during this time, the humans have been at peace with the cylons. in the mean time, the cylons have developed new robots who act and look like humans. with these look alikes infiltration into human society, the cylons are able to launch a fullscale war.

the humans are caught by surprise and the majority of their forces are destroyed. one of the few ships remaining is the battlestar gallactica which was in the process of being decommissioned when the cylons attacked.

the cylons have advanced wireless networking capabilities that allow them to hack any networked computer system. their haxor capabilities allow the cylons to shut down power or weapons systems of any ship except for the gallactica which was designed to be impervious to cylon hacking because of its lack of networked systems.

the acting is fair, nothing exceptional. considering that this was the first episode, you don't really get a feel for who each character really is yet. of course they introduce some minor things. like this one fighter pilot who's really good but always gets thrown in the brig. an old captain from the original series. there was one scene where the captain was having a discussion w/ his son. there was supposed to be tension and hurt feelings and what not, but it didn't come across too well. it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.

the space battles are well done. they show the fighters zoomed pretty far out, making them look extremely small. when they show the gallactica, it looks huge in comparison, which is a nice effect. the best thing about the space combat is the use of inertia. you can see all the little thrusters the fighters use to turn and maneuver. there are several times when the fighters actually turn 180* to face backwards and shoot at a target. the first show to do this was babylon 5.

the story thus far is intriguing. granted not much really happened, it sets up the rest of the conflict well. the sense that much of the human world has been destroyed or is in ruin is conveyed well. this is especially highlighted when the secretary of education, who is 42 tiers away from the presidency, becomes president by default. one of the best story elements is the use of the gallactica as an antiquated ship about to be turned into a museum. they have to deal with a war they are not prepared for while using an old boat. the fact that the gallactica is unarmed adds to the tension and the hopelessness of the situation.

i'm interested to see the rest of the series and consider this a very successful first episode.

some of the only complaints that i have with the show is the heavy lip locking that many of the characters engaged in at the beginning. granted, their relationships have probably been going for some time now, but there are better ways to show these relationships than tons of on screen lip action. this is not to say that lip action is bad, but it just seemed awkward and poorly timed.


rice car

while i was watching battlestar gallactica, sean sent me a link. the thread is hilarious. although i'm not the biggest car affecianado, i can appreciate the humor of the article. watching the car go into greater and greater disassembly is truly enjoyable. considering it only becomes two seconds faster just adds to the humor.

the most interesting thing (if you're patient w/ the thread) is the /. effect. the thread got /.'d and the views shot up to around 97 thousand. very interesting.