Battlestar Galactica: The Plan Review

With Battlestar Galactica over, there has been a large hole in my heart. It truly was one of the best shows, reinterpretation, and sci fi story EVER. I'm obsessed with Lost but Battlestar Galactica is the only show that threatened it for the majority of my heart. Only the slumps and bad episodes later in the series brought it to second place. Either way, it was amazing, and if you are a sci fi fan, you must see this show. Four seasons long, it bowed out when it was good, knowing not to milk it, which I love and hate at the same time.

At the beginning of the year when the show aired its final episode, it was released that The Plan would be coming out later in the year which was just the other day. I was happy to know that more Battlestar would be coming eventually even if it was only in the form of this straight to DVD release.

I just finished watching it and thought it really was fantastic. Directed by Edward James Olmos, The Plan is an exclusive look at what the Cylons were doing/planning throughout the series starting from the attack on the 12 colonies. It was impossible for this to be shown, let alone conceived since slowly throughout the series the 12 Cylon models were revealed to us. But now that we know who all 12 are, it was interesting to see how they all fit into the "plan".

The star of the show is Dean Stockwell of Quantum Leap fame, though his work on Battlestar was always fantastic. Most if not all of the Cylon models are featured in the dvd apart from the 3's played by Lucy Lawless, probably due to her stardom/cost. Anyway, it leaves room for others like Simon to be expanded upon so much more than ever in the series. Leoben's obsession with Starbuck is given an origin and Boomer's new additions to her story fit seamlessly into the canon of the show.

In only an hour and forty some odd minutes, The Plan wraps the entire series up in one cohesive, eye-opening, and entertaining addition to Battlestar Galactica's canon. And now with the last of Battlestar finally explained, I am heavy at heart. The ending credits featured an alternate version of the opening theme that was a lament for the colonies and our Galactica friends. It truly is a heartbreaking song that will evoke emotion in any diehard Galactica fan. I downloaded it right afterwards and sat while reminiscing about an amazing series.

Listen to me, if you like science fiction, real and human, Battlestar Galactica is one of the best ever. Like all shows it had its ups and downs but I never have been affected by a show like I was with Battlestar. I loved the characters, I loved the series, and I loved the ship. I know I will never look at science fiction again. Its that good. I will always miss it.

Is A New Battlestar Galactica Necessary?

Just a few months ago, we saw the end to the critically acclaimed re-imagining that was the newly renamed network Syfy's Battlestar Galactica. Albeit the show had its few ups and downs, more of them being later on in the show's life, yet I still very much enjoyed it if not being borderline obsessed with it. I started watching during a time where my computer was inoperable due to the fact that my power cord had burnt out which left me with my slow internet on my PS3. I found some random chinese site where I could watch the entire series in a two week span and I fell in love. Sad but very true...

When the show was over we were told there would be a new and completely unnecessary series set decades before BSG called Caprica. Also it was released that "The Plan" would be coming out depicting what the Cylon's were doing while we followed Galactica and company. Of course I loved this news but I knew that the show had run its course and they were trying to milk the success of the series as long as possible. In between I even found time to watch all 20 something episodes of the original show which were fun but awful. AFWUL.

Anyway, now there is all this news about Bryan Singer directing a new Battlestar Galactica movie based on the original series. And me, being a huge Battlestar, am left asking why?

First off, the new series was a complete re-imagining that utilized a lot of the Glen Larson's original notes of things he would have changed on his original story: more women, more character driven stories, no Muffit. The new series surpassed the original and did so with flying colors, so I'm at a loss to see how the studios thought it would be a good idea to re-imagine and already re-imagined story from an already flawed concept. It's preposterous. Really, it gets me angry and frustrated.

I like Bryan Singer but even he can't cram all of the massive mythos of Battlestar into one movie. And if they make a franchise, I'm going to throw up. Its redundant, unnecessary, and quite frankly ignorant of Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica. If I were Ron I would be pissed.

Hollywood, listen to me, let things go. No more Terminator, Rocky, Rambo, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Spider-man, or any other movie franchises that made you money. Think of something new before I lose all respect for you.