vcp
Well-Known Member
1. First and most important: I dont know of any BSG storyline that is self-contained within a single episode. I dont believe it is possible to understand and appreciate BSG unless you start at the Mini-series and go through the episodes in order. There are tons of plot elements that simply aren't explained twice (who is this women and why can't anyone see her but Boltar?). The network broadcast of three episodes last Saturday was a huge confusing disservice to potential new fans. I hope that there will be regular rebroadcasts of the complete series in the future. The Mini-series DVD is available (Amazon, $19.58, any better?), and the series DVD should be out soon (it's already out in Europe, where the series was broadcast first).
2. No cute/whiny/techno-nerd/whiz kids. (They did introduce Boxly, Boxter, whatever his name, but he has had no significant role.)
3. No cute/helpful/obtuse/superior/error-prone/deranged robots. The only robots want to kill you. Simple. And, BTW, the robot CGI is excellent.
4. No cute/furry/dominant/helpful/belligerent/greedy aliens (that all speak engilsh). I bet they saved a fortune on latex.
5. No omniscient aliens who want to test/judge/observe/play with/wager on/eliminate humanity.
6. No control panel explosions. The Galactica took a nuke, and in CIC, *nothing* exploded into a shower of sparks; nuf said.
7. No centons, leptons, meptons, whatever time units. In the old BSG series, the flow of dialog would come to a crashing halt when they would throw in the one of these; glad they got rid of them.
8. No (less, anyway) techno-phony jargon. Without it, Spock/Data, etc., would have had *nothing* to say, but Galactica doesnt need it.
9. No system/galaxy/universe confusion. All series have technical consultants, whose purpose is to keep the real jargon real. The difference here is that somebody actually made the writers listen to them.
10. Fair military jargon. A bit too Top Gunnish, but not over the top, I think. I was impressed when they addressed Adama as Galactica Actual. They did, however, go too far with the aircraft-carrier analog (but much of that is carry-over from the old BSG).
11. Fair spacecraft dynamics. They have attitude thrusters and use them. I think there is still some aerodynamic spacecraft motion, but less than most. And, BTW, the spacecraft CGI is excellent. Getting a bit tired of seeing the same clips repeated tho.
12. Minimal Deus ex Machina. None of the usual enter the secret code and take control of the enemy ship crap. Some, but much less than usual. (Well, the Cylons did disable the human ships, but then, thats what they do.)
13. They seldom interrupt the action for lengthy elementary technical explanations. Good example was when Starbuck was downed on a moon, she whipped out a pen and opened it; it turned red. No explanation needed, it was her atmosphere tester, packaged like you might expect it to be for survival gear, and they trusted that the audience was intelligent enough to figure it out, nice. Basically, you can sum up many of the above points as: They respect their fans; they see no need to dumb it down.
14. Anyone noticed that the theme and background score are excellent. Reminds me of the Kodo drummers (that I would go to see again in an instant, if they return check out Ibuki CD audio clips on Amazon [Zoku in particular, but you really need a good subwoofer to appreciate it still nothing like live].). Interestingly the European broadcast of BSG has a different, also excellent, theme. I wish they would alternate. There are several soundtrack CDs that I might have to check out.
15. A bit too much shakey-cam. Some can enhance the you-are-there feel (e.g., the COPs cameraman running after the cop running after the perp), but a little goes a long way. Likewise the angled camera frame. (Over-the-top example is Battlefield Earth, where there is not a single frame where the camera is level. ...Which is part of its camp so-bad-it's-good appeal.)
16. Hot alien chick. Well, they succumbed to this cliché, but at least there is the reason that she was needed to seduce Boltar. And I like the character; some of the conversations with Boltars implant are fascinating/hilarious (and, yes, hot). And BTW, there is a nude photo of Tricia Helfer on the web (I dont *think* it is photoshopped). Youll have to Google it yourself, but it's clear that she is not human.
17. Well, they also fell for the whiny sky-is-falling scientist cliché. I would have stuffed him out an airlock long ago, but I guess they need him. However I cant believe that he is apparently the only scientific/technical staff present.
18. Fans of BSG might appreciate reading David Webers Honor Harrington series. Similar space opera genre; many multi-book spanning interrelated plot threads. Start with On Basilisk Station. (It too, is a series that must be taken from the beginning; settle in for a long read.)
19. The Mini-series DVD is really a minimal production affair. No printed insert at all, single disk, no disk label, its a flip-the-disk for extras deal. It does have subtitles, which I like to pick up dialog I might have missed; and there is an audio commentary that I havent listened to yet. Havent looked at the extras yet either.
20. Your turn. What else?
2. No cute/whiny/techno-nerd/whiz kids. (They did introduce Boxly, Boxter, whatever his name, but he has had no significant role.)
3. No cute/helpful/obtuse/superior/error-prone/deranged robots. The only robots want to kill you. Simple. And, BTW, the robot CGI is excellent.
4. No cute/furry/dominant/helpful/belligerent/greedy aliens (that all speak engilsh). I bet they saved a fortune on latex.
5. No omniscient aliens who want to test/judge/observe/play with/wager on/eliminate humanity.
6. No control panel explosions. The Galactica took a nuke, and in CIC, *nothing* exploded into a shower of sparks; nuf said.
7. No centons, leptons, meptons, whatever time units. In the old BSG series, the flow of dialog would come to a crashing halt when they would throw in the one of these; glad they got rid of them.
8. No (less, anyway) techno-phony jargon. Without it, Spock/Data, etc., would have had *nothing* to say, but Galactica doesnt need it.
9. No system/galaxy/universe confusion. All series have technical consultants, whose purpose is to keep the real jargon real. The difference here is that somebody actually made the writers listen to them.
10. Fair military jargon. A bit too Top Gunnish, but not over the top, I think. I was impressed when they addressed Adama as Galactica Actual. They did, however, go too far with the aircraft-carrier analog (but much of that is carry-over from the old BSG).
11. Fair spacecraft dynamics. They have attitude thrusters and use them. I think there is still some aerodynamic spacecraft motion, but less than most. And, BTW, the spacecraft CGI is excellent. Getting a bit tired of seeing the same clips repeated tho.
12. Minimal Deus ex Machina. None of the usual enter the secret code and take control of the enemy ship crap. Some, but much less than usual. (Well, the Cylons did disable the human ships, but then, thats what they do.)
13. They seldom interrupt the action for lengthy elementary technical explanations. Good example was when Starbuck was downed on a moon, she whipped out a pen and opened it; it turned red. No explanation needed, it was her atmosphere tester, packaged like you might expect it to be for survival gear, and they trusted that the audience was intelligent enough to figure it out, nice. Basically, you can sum up many of the above points as: They respect their fans; they see no need to dumb it down.
14. Anyone noticed that the theme and background score are excellent. Reminds me of the Kodo drummers (that I would go to see again in an instant, if they return check out Ibuki CD audio clips on Amazon [Zoku in particular, but you really need a good subwoofer to appreciate it still nothing like live].). Interestingly the European broadcast of BSG has a different, also excellent, theme. I wish they would alternate. There are several soundtrack CDs that I might have to check out.
15. A bit too much shakey-cam. Some can enhance the you-are-there feel (e.g., the COPs cameraman running after the cop running after the perp), but a little goes a long way. Likewise the angled camera frame. (Over-the-top example is Battlefield Earth, where there is not a single frame where the camera is level. ...Which is part of its camp so-bad-it's-good appeal.)
16. Hot alien chick. Well, they succumbed to this cliché, but at least there is the reason that she was needed to seduce Boltar. And I like the character; some of the conversations with Boltars implant are fascinating/hilarious (and, yes, hot). And BTW, there is a nude photo of Tricia Helfer on the web (I dont *think* it is photoshopped). Youll have to Google it yourself, but it's clear that she is not human.
17. Well, they also fell for the whiny sky-is-falling scientist cliché. I would have stuffed him out an airlock long ago, but I guess they need him. However I cant believe that he is apparently the only scientific/technical staff present.
18. Fans of BSG might appreciate reading David Webers Honor Harrington series. Similar space opera genre; many multi-book spanning interrelated plot threads. Start with On Basilisk Station. (It too, is a series that must be taken from the beginning; settle in for a long read.)
19. The Mini-series DVD is really a minimal production affair. No printed insert at all, single disk, no disk label, its a flip-the-disk for extras deal. It does have subtitles, which I like to pick up dialog I might have missed; and there is an audio commentary that I havent listened to yet. Havent looked at the extras yet either.
20. Your turn. What else?
