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Old December 16th, 2002, 05:55 AM   #1
havoc315
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Default I re-watched the original BSG this weekend...

The original two-hour movie......
Had some positive thoughts, some negative thoughts, and some questions.

First, the perplexing question to the fan base more knowledgeable about the show than myself.....
It appears Baltar is killed by the Cylons in the movie, how was he spared??

Now the thoughts, as they relate to a possible remake/continuation.

The special effects were, while impressive for 70's television, pretty horrible for what modern audiences are used to. Essentially it was a bunch of model ships sitting there, with some poorly executed explosions. THis is one of the biggest possible pros for doing a remake.... Do for the initial BSG battle what Saving Private Ryan and Pearl Harbor did for D-Day and Pearl Harbor respectively. Let's really get to see and feel what it was like aboard the Galactica, in ther fighters, on the planet..... The original lacked the technology and resources to fully convey the horror. Not that it failed, but it could have been so much more.

For those who worry that the new BSG might be BSG 90210, I doubt it could be any moreso than the original. THe original already had the 90210ish love triangle between Starbuck/Athena/Cassiopia, meanwhile Apollo was romancing Serena and playing adoptive daddy to Boxey.... All very 90210.... so I would hope that the remake is less 90210ish than the original.

In the original, there is nothing in the Apollo/Starbuck relationship that requires Starbuck to be male. Unless of course you believe a male and female can't be friends (ala When Harry Met Sally). Every bit of dialogue between Apollo and Starbuck could have worked equally well if Starbuck was female.

The most important character to the original was Adama, IMHO.

The entire story moves way too fast, without time to explore or reflect. In 90 minutes the entire peace process is destroyed, their homeworlds and fleet are destroyed, they witness the devestation to their homeworld, they flee with a rag-tag fleet, and they are confronting the civilian problems and conflicts within the fleet, they talk about the mythical planet of earth...... and then they spend the last half hour with a poor Star Trek type story about evil insect aliens on Karoline. They completely gloss over the fact that many (thousands? millions?) of people were left behind on the homeworlds at the mercy of the cylons.

The best thing I can say about the original BSG, the story still felt timely and urgent, it still resonated.

SciFi has greenlit a 4-hour mini-series project, meaning about 3 hours of screentime after commercials.... That gives about an hour more than the original BSG movie.

So how to best use the 3-hour window? I know very little of RDM's plans. I know there are those here who would simply like to assume everybody already knows about the BSG origin, and would want to spend the 3 hours "catching up with old friends" (ie continuation.

Personally, I want to see the 3 hours spent doing justice to the original story. Extend the battle! Let's get a better idea of what the colonies were like both before the attack and after. Let's see more about the decision to flee the homeworlds, and those who were left behind. I enjoyed the civilian conflicts in the original BSG movie, but let's expand on it a bit more. Let's see why Baltar was so willing to betray the fleet. Perhaps let's even see the cylons' motivation.

I have no idea whether this is what the new project will look like, but it's what I would like to see.
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Old December 16th, 2002, 07:00 AM   #2
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Default Re: Re: I re-watched the original BSG this weekend...

Quote:
Originally posted by Warrior

Based on the reviews I've seen of the script and the information I've received on the script, this is MUCH worse by way of being like 90210.

In fact, IIRC, way back in 1999, it was Bonnie Hammer that wanted a BSG 90210 style remake.

Looks like that's happening now.

WAY too much sex in it, just in the opening. And I don't mean a kiss here or there or someone hiding behind a locker door.

I'm talking actual sex scenes.

This is getting into the garbage TV I mentioned in another thread.
I don't recall 90210 having any actual sex scenes, the problem with 90210 was that it was a show focusing on the tedious non-problems and dating lives of teenagers. And that's what I'm hoping BSG does not become. Nothing wrong with sex, I just dont want to see the show become about who is dating who.

That said, I haven't seen the script, but I doubt there will be much in the way of explicit sex scenes, this isn't HBO. I doubt the scenes will get any more explicit than the original BSG (the steam burn).

Quote:

Starbuck in the original was a male, and that character is the one fans would relate to more than an all new female version.

And before you say new fans could relate to the female Starbuck... well... the new fans haven't been made yet
Yes, we are in agreement.... that's my point. There are those on this board who have said, or at the very least implied, that making Starbuck a female character completely destroys the original BSG. It simply doesn't. Yes, it won't be the same Starbuck that original fans remember and relate to, but it won't automatically change anything that was crucial to the original story. (hmmm..... a love triangle between a female Starbuck, Athena and Cassiopia could be *even* better, lol).

[quote]The relationship with Apollo (and Boomer) goes through the whole OS, not just the movie.

Yes... in the movie Adama was the most important to me as well. But the movie wasn't the entire series [/q]


Ahh.... But an entire series hasn't been greenlit, just a 4-hour movie. Yes, I know the hope and plan is that it will turn back in to a weekly series, but I honestly don't see that happening, even if the mini-series is super successful. I think a new weekly BSG would be doomed for the same reason as the original, too expensive to produce on a weekly basis, especially for a niche cable network with limited audience. I could be wrong, I hope I'm wrong... but my only realistic hope is to get a really good 4 hours out of this, with possible follow-up movies.

Quote:
As to whether or not the new production will look like this or not: No. It won't. It won't look anything like the original.

Michael Faries review of the script will bear that out.
Now that I'm looking forward to.
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Old February 15th, 2012, 08:51 PM   #3
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Default Re: I re-watched the original BSG this weekend...

Quote:
Originally Posted by havoc315 View Post

In the original, there is nothing in the Apollo/Starbuck relationship that requires Starbuck to be male. Unless of course you believe a male and female can't be friends (ala When Harry Met Sally). Every bit of dialogue between Apollo and Starbuck could have worked equally well if Starbuck was female..
Given the BSG mythos' Greek flavor in places, this is not surprising. To the Ancient Greeks, true freindship was only possible between men, doubly so for brother Warriors. Larson was subtil, but it was there, nonetheless. Besides, SB banging the chick of the week gets old fast.




Quote:
Originally Posted by havoc315 View Post

The most important character to the original was Adama, IMHO.
Yes, the Patriarch, like the head of the Greek family, or the Roman Paterfamilias. A less windy version of Nestor from the Illiad. Well written, and well played.



Quote:
Originally Posted by havoc315 View Post
The entire story moves way too fast, without time to explore or reflect. In 90 minutes the entire peace process is destroyed, their homeworlds and fleet are destroyed, they witness the devestation to their homeworld, they flee with a rag-tag fleet, and they are confronting the civilian problems and conflicts within the fleet, they talk about the mythical planet of earth...... and then they spend the last half hour with a poor Star Trek type story about evil insect aliens on Karoline. They completely gloss over the fact that many (thousands? millions?) of people were left behind on the homeworlds at the mercy of the cylons.
Apollo said, angrily: "How many people did we leave behind for lack of ships?" It was addressed, but this is TV, and NitJerk execs demand things on a schedule, not on the basis of art. Even Michaelangelo told the Pope to bug off till he was done.


Quote:
Originally Posted by havoc315 View Post
The best thing I can say about the original BSG, the story still felt timely and urgent, it still resonated.
It does, and it always will.
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Old February 16th, 2012, 08:52 AM   #4
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Default Re: I re-watched the original BSG this weekend...

I think that this sets a record - resurrecting a thread that started 10 years ago...

Congratulations!

BTW - very good responses to the last post!

Bryan
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Old February 16th, 2012, 07:07 PM   #5
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Default Re: I re-watched the original BSG this weekend...

Glad you approved. Nice to know I'm not alone in how I see this stuff.
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