My first thoughts on it all

[Sairnath]

First off, I'm a die-hard Original Series fan. I watched it when i was a kid and i had been known to actually skip days of work when SciFi would run a day long marathon of the series. I resisted for a long time posting to any forum concerning BG. I did sign every single petition i could find and kept tabs on the mini-series fiasco.

I tried to keep an open mind. tried to look past the changes. couldnt as a fan its not possible. But I still watched part one tonight. I wanted to at least give it a shot. I wanted to feel something for Moores "realism" vision he had for the mini series. As i watched i scribbled notes about things that caught my eye. So here goes.

The First thing that got my attention was Apollo's "Calling the ball" upon his landing aboard the Galactica. First this is a purely Earth term in nature and this is not Earth its Kobol (but dont get me started on that). Secondly he approached by coming over the docking bay hitting retros and turning immediately inside. Unless the "ball" was on the back of the ship hanging in space there was nothing for him to see or guide himself in on.

Second thing was Adamas arguing with the Minister of Education on how there will be no Network computers on his ship as long as he is in command. I was under the Impression that the Galactica was being retired and his command was over in a few short hours. Why was this arguement even happening no longer his call.

Third - Adamas "We Suck" speech at the retirement ceremony. I think Moore needs to get out more often because hes is just way out there.

Fourth- (this is turning into a list) - The fact that the Cylons were able to stroll right up to Kobol (Grrrr) and deliver their nukes flat out disturbs me. I dont care if Six, Seven of Nine, or whatever her name is disabled the defense systems palnetwide Moore is trying to have me believe that a society that doesnt believe in advanced computers doesnt have people sitting at their systems to not notice "Hey this Radar isnt working"

Fifth - Lack of Emotion. What struck me about the OS was the emotion portrayed by the characters. When their homeworlds were destroyed you could feel their sadness and anxiety. With this crew i was waiting for someone to break out the popcorn. They all might as well have been Cyclons (human versions)

Sixth - Intership Vibration Communication. My god that was annoying Even our own Space Shuttle, International Space Stations dont have communications that bad.

Seventh - Cag the flight leader. Back to the Realism for a Second. CAG as it should be stated is naval ling for Carrier Air Group Commander. He is not a Flight leader hes usually a retired/deactivated Pilot now on the command deck his job is to monitor air movements on all craft aboard ship. Hes not out there flying thats for the younger pilots

Eighth (think i have issues) Ballistics in Space. Firing ballistic projectiles in space would seem to me to be a very bad idea for one reason alone. Inertia. They Dont Stop. Their speed and killing power is still constant whether you miss or not. thats alot of loose firepower to be floating around.

Ninth - Kobol is being leveled left and Right by 50 megaton nuclear weapons. The Galactica takes one of the same Nukes broadsides and barely Flinches. What the heck are these ships made out of.

Maybe im just nitpicking. But when i watched this show i set aside my anger over character changes and omissions. over story changing and recreation for personal ego boosting. I sat there trying to imagine his real Vision and left confused whether i was watching Wing Commander or Space Above and Beyond.

My final nitpick is this. Moore threw in many throwback items in to appease those of us Original Series. The Cyclon diagram on the paperwork at the beginning. The original Cyclon mockup in the glass case. The Old Viper given to Adama even the snipit of the Old theme song. What should have been done is this. In the old picture given to Adama his entire family was wearing Earth-type Flight Suits. Had he wanted to give us something else it would have been to have his family in the OS Colonial Warriors uniform. But this is just my opinion.

[Rally]

great points Sairnath, I just got through watching this thing. It looked very cheap (as with most Sci-Fi channel stuff) and corners were cut everywhere. There were some interesting ideas, but no follow-through.

One thing Ron Moore said bothered him about the original was the way in which the Colonial Fleet is destroyed. He couldn't understand why all ships would be in one place and so easily destroyed. In his version, the destruction of the fleet takes place totally off screen, we never see it, we also know that at least 30 (over?) Battlestars were destroyed in the initial Cylon attack. Hell, the original only showed 5 Battlestars in the battle. I can buy the fact that there could be 5 capital ships in one area at a time, but 30? Come on, Ron! Yeah the Cylons knocked out our radar, but there is no explanation as to how they got so close to the colonies. Maybe I missed something there.

There were some things regarding the destruction of the Colonies that I wish they had done more of, but they chickened out, probably for budget reasons. The attack on Caprica in the original was much more heart rending, especially the reactions of the original Tigh, Rigel, Omega, Adama and Athena ("Oh Zac... and all the others... They trusted us to protect them!") None of this was evident in the new show.

As far as the military stuff goes, I think it was a bit overdone. I was in the Marines and I worked on a flight line, its all business and very relaxed and professional. I heard them say they went through some "boot camp" before they shot this thing, but they obviously didn't teach them how to properly salute. (more crooked than an Enron accountant)

Some interesting ideas that could have been better explored, but this show has no heart or soul (which is what I loved so much in the original BSG)

Rally

[Metro6371]

1. How many ships were at Pearl Harbor?
2. How many ships are inport Norfolk at Christmas?San Diego?

[Rally]

Seventh - Cag the flight leader. Back to the Realism for a Second. CAG as it should be stated is naval ling for Carrier Air Group Commander. He is not a Flight leader hes usually a retired/deactivated Pilot now on the command deck his job is to monitor air movements on all craft aboard ship. Hes not out there flying thats for the younger pilots

You're incorrect here. CAG stands for "Commander - Air Group", he is in command of all aircraft within the Carrier Battle Group, even though his title is CAG, he really is Commander of the Carrier Air Wing (a wing commander), but CAW isn't as cool of an acronym. A CAG does get his flight time in, just like everyone else, though he may not fly as many missions. But in a major combat operation, they would probably be leading the strike. It's not uncommon. Even Lt. General Chuck Horner, commander of US Air forces in Desert Storm flew on some combat missions.

The guy you are referring to who is on the ship is known as the Air Officer, or more affectionately known as the "Air Boss", he is in charge of air operations on board ship, he also serves directly under the Captain of the ship and is part of the ship's crew, not the air group. He is not a retired or deactivated pilot. If you got the gold wings, you have to keep them updated with annual flight qualification.

[Metro6371]

This is a different culture and their salutes should be different. Like the difference between the U.S., Britain, and France. They also salute without covers/hats. Not done in the U.S. Navy.

[Spectre]

Originally posted by Metro6371
1. How many ships were at Pearl Harbor?
2. How many ships are inport Norfolk at Christmas?San Diego?

Hmm, I saw 4 carriers in port today at NAS Norfolk. ;) Lots of others too. A few cruisers here...an Arliegh Burke DDG there.

USMC here as well. Yeah...they couldn't salute for crap. Plus If I was the CO of the ship and some enlisted chief called the XO an a$$hole right in front of me...well...that chief would be one no more...or at least would of scolded him a bit harsher than what Adama did.

The crew was a bit wooden, hell the most believable were Boomer and her Copilot (don't know his name). They acted all "military like" but they nailed the relaxed attitude as well. Most folks in the service really aren't all keyed up all the time, ready to rip someones head off....you DON'T want people like that to have access to weapons. ;)

I feel that if the show was allowed to go to series, it could mature much more. Tons of shows that had horrible pilots ended up being pretty good. Magnum PI, MASH, etc.

[Metro6371]

I missed the calling the ball part, but there could be some type of light system that is circular that is visible green when you're on target and yellow or red when off. This be located inside or on the ship visible from the landing path of the incoming craft.

[Rally]

Originally posted by Metro6371
1. How many ships were at Pearl Harbor?
2. How many ships are inport Norfolk at Christmas?San Diego?

A1 - Eight of the nine Battleships of the US Pacific Fleet were at Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941: California, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Oklahoma, Maryland and of course, the Arizona. (Colorado was in San Diego at the time, the three Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers: Lexington, Saratoga and Enterprise were at sea)

A2 - I'm sure its a matter of national security that the # of ships in port is not publicly reported. The most aircraft carriers I have ever seen in port in San Diego at any one time was 3, and it was a very impressive sight.

[Rally]

Originally posted by Metro6371
This is a different culture and their salutes should be different. Like the difference between the U.S., Britain, and France. They also salute without covers/hats. Not done in the U.S. Navy.

That would be true, if the saluting in this series was done in a standard way. It wasn't, it just looked plain sloppy (or as we in the Marines would say "nasty")

[dec5]

I am very much a hardcore TOS, so much the fact that I only consider the first 4 eppys "true Galactica".

That being said...I am truly impressed with this remake...which looks better than even the Star Wars trilogy and Star Trek movies combined....this show looked like a 150 million dollar film to me....everything looked 1st rate.....

It had a dark and authentic look in every frame.....everything looked fantastic.....gritty.....and real......

And a lot of depth and emotion......packed in every important scene.

[Metro6371]

True, it's not likely that a Chief would be able to disrespect the XO in the U.S. Navy in front of the Captain. I'm not sure what it's like in other countries.
This show has enormous potential. I hope that they explore the cultural aspect more. Fine, they are like us. But how are they different.
I hope that more people support this show. It would be great if they turn this into a series. I think this show reminds me of SAAB
It would also be great if they found some way to bring that show back.
Until then I hope this show gets support.

[Rally]

Originally posted by dec5
I am very much a hardcore TOS, so much the fact that I only consider the first 4 eppys "true Galactica".

That being said...I am truly impressed with this remake...which looks better than even the Star Wars trilogy and Star Trek movies combined....this show looked like a 150 million dollar film to me....everything looked 1st rate.....

It had a dark and authentic look in every frame.....everything looked fantastic.....gritty.....and real......

And a lot of depth and emotion......

I don't know what you were watching, but it certainly wasn't the same show I just saw.

$150 million? more like $150,000

[Sairnath]

Did anyone even Cry in this one? the entire planet (grrrr) is destroyed. Fleet wiped out and the crew of the Galactica was like "Well thats par for the course"

[Metro6371]

Originally posted by Rally

A2 - I'm sure its a matter of national security that the # of ships in port is not publicly reported. The most aircraft carriers I have ever seen in port in San Diego at any one time was 3, and it was a very impressive sight. [/B]

I'm not going to say the number, but it stands to reason that 30 ships could be in the same place at one time.

I don't think that the focus of s show about the genocide of a civilization should only focus on it's military. What about it's custom, art, history. I want to know about where these people come from. My real criticism of this show is that these people are tooooo AMERICAN(and the city to Trek like). Is the planet Kobol made up of Colonial Americans.
I hope it becomes a serial and they bring in some aspects of the original.
There is a lot of room for this. Fans of the original should keep this in mind and send constructive criticism and suggestions to the writers and producers. The writer Mr. Moore got his start on Star Trek by submitting a screenplay to slush pile. Why not give it a try yourself.

[Spectre]

I can say, as a victim of a natural disaster (Hurricane Andrew, Homestead, FL 1992) that afterwards we all just were numb. Everything was gone and even people were seriously hurt / dead / etc. However all you could do is press on (poke about through the remains of our house for food, water, etc.)

The crying came later...at night, when you felt so terribly alone and scared.

I was 13 when it happened, my father was on duty ferrying aircraft off of the base. We took shelter in the community center....they told us it would be safe there. It wasn't. The wind meter on base broke at around 220mph and a section of our bulding was torn away. A catagory 5 storm has GOT to be the next most frightening thing to out and out nuclear war.

But as I said...you go numb.

[dec5]

$150 million? more like $150,000

Nope....the space suits alone looked $150,000 bucks......

The graphics, sets...lighting.......editing....alone were superior......to most Hollywood productions.....especially compaired to Star Trek's Enterprise sets.


What I loved about it was everything was subtle.....nothing over done.


I am sure we saw the same show.......I just don't agree with your assesment on the new show's quality.....

[Micheleh]

Hey, Dec5, can you send me the show you watched? It sounds cool. I got stuck with the tripe on Scifi. ;)

[dec5]

It's on right now.....;)


Seriously guys......I think this show on it's own really works...

[thomas7g]

Dec5-

I kinda thought the uniforms were too much a copy of Bab5. And the civilian suits were to dang ordinary. I don't want weird, but alot looked like stuff you could by in a bad $5 clothing store.

:(

I felt the show suffered greatly from not showing the action. Were was the rest of the fleet? Why not show some battle between the other warships. Show Atlantia going boom. All the Nukes appeared out of nowhere. Not even a missle contrail. No ships diving down on the planet.

[dec5]

No where near as flashy as B5....as it should be...no shiny badges...or grand logos......just subtle.....functional.




conundrum7g,.....the absence of seeing the Cylons attack the battlestars...and cities....for what ever reason...cost or artisic judgement....who knows??? I still think it works when all you see are the mushroom clouds and battlestar wreckage.....it is still just effective in displaying the destruction of the colonies......

[thomas7g]

I kinda feel cheated though. A whole onslaught of a civilization. And I only saw two cylons in the beginning, a girl in a red dress, and a few raiders. Granted two took out a a squadron. That was good. But where is the armada necessary to make the cylons a scary force that the bg must run from with the ragtag fleet?

They showed a basestar to take on the Armistis station, but none to take on the colonies.

They kept saying they were going to show more of the destruction of the colonies, and I was disappointed.

[Titon]

What I loved about it was everything was subtle.....nothing over done.

Well you sure were on the mark with this one, nothing over done.

So tell me on a scale from 1 to 10. If you found this so incredible can you tell me what you got out of it? I'm not here to flame you or to start a war but this thing was a disaster. If this was made with high standards and is exceptionally produced and made what scale would you put Lord of the Rings or even the new Matrix movie? They must stink?

Take for instance a few scenes, and bare with me because your standing ground on the *real* and *believeable* aspects of this thing.

1. Balter-Guy is weenie. Plain and simple. He's not smart or dumb enough to get himself into the situation he was in. Plus one minute a nuke goes off and blows out the windows of his home, the next thing he's walking in a field waiting to get rescued. Interesting.

2. Nukes. Now were talking real here mind you, something that Ron was trying to convey to us. EMP's people. When a nuclear devise is detonated it sends out an electro magnetic pulse that knocks out all electronic devices for miles. Anything landing or taking off is instantly down. Then we have the Raptor, not more than what it seemed in the mini as being a mile away from Nuclear detonations and it lifts off like nothing happened. Plus the Galactica is hit and still functions. I'm tellin ya Moore really messed this thing up.

I could go on forever but if you really, truely got what you say you have from the first 2 hours i'm glad for you.

Tell that to my wife who fell asleep on the couch after 15 minutes. Last words she muttered were "sorry, this is boring, tell me what happens".

Honestly though,another thing. The destruction of the fleet and the way it happens really doesn't bother me to much. But the Battlestar Galactica is supposedly the last of her class. So what is the new class of ship look like? Simple, there is none since the one Battlestar you see in flames is the same class that the Galactica is supposed to be the last of.

Guys it just doesn't make any sense, really it doesn't. It jumped around so much in the first 45 minutes i couldn't get a sense of what was even going on. That's not good story telling. It seemed Ron was intended on making this show stand out on it's own by relying on the actors to create his dynamic. Whoops!

All i can say is yeesh!

:rolleyes:

[Stevew]

LOL Don
Wish I had your way with words. This was BSG in name only, far to earthy and shallow. Richards trailer was far better. The FX were stellar. I wich they were a little lighter so we could really see all the hard work you guys put in, they are the only saving grace
S:thumbsup:

[LadyImmortal]

That Dec5 is 'numb' right now and has been brainwashed. I have a feeling the Dec5 we all know and love will return soon!

--Rhonda

[jewels]

Originally posted by Metro6371
Fans of the original should keep this in mind and send constructive criticism and suggestions to the writers and producers. The writer Mr. Moore got his start on Star Trek by submitting a screenplay to slush pile. Why not give it a try yourself.

He was asked about listening to or considering fan input to an ongoing series and his answer was "NO".

It was a very rudely closed door. No hope lies that way. Sorry.

[Metro6371]

Originally posted by conundrum7g
I kinda feel cheated though. A whole onslaught of a civilization. And I only saw two cylons in the beginning, a girl in a red dress, and a few raiders. Granted two took out a a squadron. That was good. But where is the armada necessary to make the cylons a scary force that the bg must run from with the ragtag fleet?

They showed a basestar to take on the Armistis station, but none to take on the colonies.

They kept saying they were going to show more of the destruction of the colonies, and I was disappointed.

Paths of Glory written/directed by Stanly Kubrick starring Kirk Douglas never shows the Germans and it's considered a classic war movie.