The BSG DVD TRIVIA THREAD

[Muffit]

Okay folks! Here's your chance to point out anything special, funny, unusual or otherwise worthy of mention in the new BSG DVD set!

Before I mention my finds, let me quote one of the funniest lines in the series, one of a couple of jokes spoken by Cylons:

===============================================
-- From Saga of a Star World, when the Cylons realize the Colonials have out-guessed their little surprise attack:

Imperious Leader: "How can this be? We took them completely by surprise!"

Centurion: "Apparently it was not as big a surprise as we hoped..."

This always cracks me up!!!
===============================================

Okay, now for two interesting bits of trivia. Someone mentioned the first one long ago but now that we have DVDs I can point you all right to it. Insert Disk 1 Side 1, Saga of a Star World, Chapter 4, Time 31:55. In green in the upper left corner of the Galactica's monitor screen you will clearly see: "Made in USA"! :D

And for the second bit of trivia, there appear to be actually 2 different joysticks in the vipers. Again, in Saga of a Star World, Chapter 3, Time 22:24, you can pause and see that 2 of the 3 buttons on the joystick read "Stores" and (I think) "Camera Pulse", where "Stores" is used to fire the weapons (I can't read the center button - somebody please let me know if you find it). Throughout the rest of the series, the 3 buttons are "Fire", "Turbo" and "IM". (The last one, "IM" I don't know what it stands for, does anybody know? I think it is used to brake/reverse).

That's it for my trivia for today!!! Please feel free to post yours here too as you find them!!! :D

:muffit:

[jewels]

IM is Inverse Manuever. (reverse thrusters) :)

I'm hoping that I will finally see that, ahem, "message" in the lights of Caprica that I've heard much about.

Jewels

[Muffit]

Hi Jewels! Thanks about the IM stuff!
Lights of Caprica? Ooh, a new one to check out! Guess I better do some more scanning... :)

:muffit:

[jewels]

Oh Muffit, NO! it's a bad word--I just want to know they haven't been making it up for 25 yahren!

[137th Gebirg]

Screen Cap from Battlestar Galactica Fan Club:

http://patriot.net/~jstevens/web/lights1.jpg

Can you see it? It's in there...

[Flamingo Girl]

What is wrong with me that I've never been able to see it?

I did notice that on the Lion King DVD they have removed "sex".

[jewels]

If the second word in the lights is "off" it's easier to read that

Look at the biggest concentration of lights in the right foreground.

UPS is saying my set won't be in until 11/3 :(

[137th Gebirg]

For those who still can't see it, I have provided a convenient mod to the image:

http://patriot.net/~jstevens/web/lights2.jpg

Enjoy! :D

[137th Gebirg]

Two bits of trivia:

1. A somewhat klunky variation of the opening BSG music was used in the episode "Take the Celestra" during an award ceremony for Commander Kronus (Commander of the Celestra and a one-time Commander of the Battlestar Rycon). This implies that the theme music is actually an official Colonial Anthem, either the Anthem for the Colonies itself, or a military anthem akin to music that is used by the branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. I believed some of the novelizations referred to the song by name as "Star Kobol" (also the name of the ship on which the armistace between the Colonies and the Cylons was to be signed in the pilot episode), inferring that it may have been the planetary/national anthem for the Colonials' original homeworld.

2. The magnetic solenite mines/grenades used throughout the series (particularly in Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Living Legend and Fire in Space) were made from old 20-round magazines that are used in M16/AR15 assault rifles. When I first watched the show at age 8 I of course didn't notice that, but when they started showing them on Sci-Fi a few years back, I instantly recognized them. The tip-off are the angled bottoms and ribbed imprints of the box. The producers just put a switch and light on the top with a silver dial from Radio Shack (probably to represent some timer). Pretty nifty little prop. I plan on making a few for myself. They would make cool refrigerator magnets!

[Belloby]

I can answer the joystick question.

There was one joystick designed specifically for the Viper with the Forward, Thrust and Inverse Manuever on it.

The other one that you see is actually the joystick to the camera the John Dykstra used for special effects.

Since the Galactica was always edited till the last minutes(rumours at the time said the film was delivered one hour prior to it's Sunday night airing) Dykstra had no time to go back and reshoot any joystick shots. So he shot himself handling his camera's joystick.

There was maybe one shot in the entire series that I was able to tell the difference between Dykstra's stick and the Viper one. But now with the advent of DVD, we can tell every single time Mr. Dykstra had to become "extra creative" in order to get the job done.

[Charybdis]

I had not noticed that early on myself, but funny thing is, I have two of those clips in my closet right now, one of them loaded with live ammo!!!

[Westy]

at time index 0:42:08 in the movie on the DVD when Apollo is on the Freighter Gemini looking for solium leaks, the name Kennedy is clearly seen on a pipe near Apollo's left hand.

[Muffit]

Cool Westy! I'll check it out...

:muffit:

[Bijou88]

I always thought the IM on the Joystick was short for Impulse. By my reckoning, this would be used for maneuvers that require short bursts of thrust. By my way of thinking, the reverse thrust maneuver performed from time to time depended on the skill of the warrior flying the viper rather than a single push of a button.

[Muffit]

Hi Bijou88! I think I haven't welcomed you yet, so welcome to Colonial Fleets! :)
:muffit:

[Bijou88]

Thank you for the welcome!

[Westy]

In the scene where the 2 Centurions enter the Imperious Leaders chamber to report that all baseships are in position for the attack to begin I noticed 2 really interesting things:

#1: Why is one centurion shorter than the other? If they're robots, why aren't they all the same?

http://groups.msn.com/BattlestarGalactica/interestingpictures.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=196

#2: The ever present lizard? A lizard sitting on the Imperious Leader's left arm/shoulder.

http://groups.msn.com/BattlestarGalactica/interestingpictures.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=197

The lizard moves too. If you watch it when he is told by a Centurion that the Battlestar Galactica survives, you will see it moving around a bit.

[Muffit]

Those are both cool observations Westy. Isn't this fun? :)
:muffit:

[Westy]

I think I've watched the whole movie 2 times now. I can't wait to lay my hands on the whole series :)

[Muffit]

Hi all! I finally found a good snapshot of the second joystick! Go to disk 2 side 2, Gun on Ice Planet Zero part 2, chapter 3, time index 26:10. You will very clearly see the 3 buttons and their names:

Stores
Camera Auto
Camera Pulse

Interestingly, if this were temp and the real joystick names/footage were to be put in later, you can clearly see the background of the console is correct (horizon indicator, etc). Why would they film the right background but wrong foreground? Also kinda funny, in this ep you can clearly see someone wearing a watch moving the joystick! :)

Love this trivia... :)

:muffit:

[jewels]

Did anyone notice this:
In Fire in Space, Sheba launches into the 1st battle (the Cylon ramming attack) with a Pegasus helmet. During the battle her closeups show her in a Galactica helmet inside her viper. Oops. ;)

(Muffit, thanks for telling me where this thread was)

[Trevor Angelus]

Originally posted by jewels
Did anyone notice this:
In Fire in Space, Sheba launches into the 1st battle (the Cylon ramming attack) with a Pegasus helmet. During the battle her closeups show her in a Galactica helmet inside her viper. Oops. ;)

(Muffit, thanks for telling me where this thread was)

If I remember correctly that happened quite often in series with even other pilots!

[Charybdis]

I had noticed that one a long time ago. I guess they used some flight footage when they originally shot Anne Lockhart in Living Legend and reused them in Fire in Space after they had shot new stuff where she was wearing the Galactica flight helmet.

[Gemini1999]

I don't know if anyone's seen this bit before, but while I was watching "Take the Celestra" yesterday, I noticed two things:

1) A scene where Sheba was carrying a Galactica helmet in her hands (like others have mentioned in other episodes).

and

2) When Starbuck and Apollo land on the Celestra and the ships pull into the bay (studio shot), the Viper in the foreground (I think that it was Starbuck's) has a very short nose ahead of the cockpit and if you look very closely at the bottom of the screen, you can see that the "skin" from the bottom of the nose is missing - you can see the structural ribs inside.

It was really weird - I had to run it back and freeze the frame to make sure that I wasn't seeing things....

My best to all,
Bryan
________
UGGS (http://uggstoreshop.com/)

[jewels]

The one with the ribs was for shooting the closeups of them in the cockpit: it was literally a partially finished viper. That was a bad blooper on the cameraman/director's part if the ribs showed.

Somebody (probably Peter) had a website link months ago that showed the partial viper and the full size mockup and some of the construction too.

[Dawg]

I beleive some of those pics (or similar) can be seen at CA, in the BSG section that talks about the Viper.

I am
Dawg
:warrior:

[jewels]

http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/Viper/viper30.jpg

this is the forced perspective, partial mockup (thanks peter!)

[Gemini1999]

Julie -

That's the one that I saw. I was just surprised how they used it from the side and all - the nose was so bloody short! I knew about the forced perspective Viper, but I couldn't beleive when I saw the bottom half of it in the scene. The pic you referenced is probably from the same episode - you can see how they rolled it in on that dolly. If it weren't for the editing - the scene would have been very effective.

Thanks for the visual reference...

Bryan
________
Cellin (http://www.girlcamfriend.com/cam/Cellin/)

[dvo47p]

“Deftly done Lieutenant, just like in the old days, aboard the Rising Star”.

I heard this on OWD's Radio Galactica, then saw it on a DVD, it was cut for ad time by Scifi, on the five episode rotation days, go figure?

Back when Starbuck was torn between Athena and Cassiopeia and that guy had shaken down Starbuck said Lieutenant with a bit of Beeb accent, a coincident, I think not!

[Muffit]

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

I found another trivia tidbit folks!!! This one is /really/ cool, wonder if anyone else has seen this?

In "Murder on the Rising Star", chapter 4, time index 27:39 or so, you will see a pan of a ship go by with red Galactica lettering on its side. If you invert your head or flip your screen upside down, you will /clearly/ see the word "UTAH" emblazoned on the side of the ship!!!

Utah of course being the center of Mormon theology.

I practically jumped when I saw it, and definitely had a good chuckle. I think stuff like this is /so/ cool!

Check it out! (I can't make out the second word, the "L' is backwards, perhaps it's intentionally gibberish to hide the first word).

:muffit:

[Flamingo Girl]

I haven't studdied the episodes yet, I went over the bonus features, just to see the deleted scenes, then I also watched Remembering Battlestar Galactica, and my favorite thing in that was Noah referring to himself as a 6 year old Mack Daddy. I also watched Saga of a Star World with the commentary, I'd never done that before and someone should have warned me not to watch it for the movie, but rather for the commentary.

[Karman]

There was one joystick designed specifically for the Viper with the Forward, Thrust and Inverse Manuever on it.

The other one that you see is actually the joystick to the camera the John Dykstra used for special effects.

So the joystick was used to control a camera! I've always wondered what application the "viper flight sticks" really had. Does anyone know if they can still be purchased? I would love to make a video game joystick out of one.

[Trevor Angelus]

One thing I notice in Greetings from Earth is the scene where Hector and Vector meet Starbuck and Vector tells Starbuck what a beautiful girl he is. Hector replies that he is not top of the line, but even he could tell that he was not a female of the species!

Oh if they only knew how funy that was back then! Almost as if they had some knowledge of the future!

[Muffit]

That's a good one Trevor :)
:muffit:

[Muffit]

New trivia tidbit folks!!!

Okay, plug in Hand of God, go to Chapter 4, time index 32:31. You will see an incoming wave of Cylon fighters. But wait! Something is amiss! The last Cylon on the right is ... YELLOW!!! ???

Oooh, Jasta One perhaps? The Bloody Red Cylon of Bimini? :)
:muffit:

[Muffit]

One more in Hand of God... comfy chairs??? (Reminiscing on Flying Circus...which in turn reminds one of both Monty Python and the Red Baron...)

Inside the Cylon fighter, Starbuck and Apollo are seated in what appear to be comfy padded chairs. Hmm, why would a Cylon need a comfy chair? I have heard present day combat fighters have uncomfortable chairs purposely to help pilots stay alert. Oh well, made the ride nicer for our two heroes! :)
:muffit:

[Westy]

heheh I found another interesting thing. I just got my DVD set of the complete epic series (finally!) and immediately popped in Disc 1, Side 1.

At time index 0:05:56 right after Apollo and Zak launch from the Galactica to go on the ill fated patrol, you can notice quite clearly in the lower left hand corner of the screen that there is a Cylon Raider following them!

I realize it's probably a mistake, but it's in the movie, so here's my take on it.

The Cylons had infiltrators shadowing the fleet! :)

[Muffit]

Cool find Westy! I'll have to check it out! :)
:muffit: