Amazon seems to have combined all the BSG download reviews and spotlighted my previously separate ones of both Season 3 Unbox and Story So Far, so I’m going to update this review to comment on the free downloads and focus on the ones you have to pay for in the other review.
BSG: The Story So Far is an interesting splicing of the highlights of the first two seasons. While now two seasons behind, it’s good as both a quick catchup on older material as well as containing the added bonus of getting to listen to Mary McDonnell narrate the highlights of the journey through New Caprica through Roslin’s eyes, which is interesting in itself. Like some of the best Unbox downloads, it also has better-than-DVD video quality, which is about as good as the series will look if you haven’t gotten to watch it in HD. Recommended.
BSG: Phenomenon is a neat 30 minute tribute to the show by various celebrities, including Joss Whedon of Buffy fame, S. Epatha Merkerson and Jesse Martin of Law and Order, and numerous others. It’s certainly a promo, but what’s fun here is that the various stars don’t seem to have been hauled in by the ear to talk up the show by the network; they come across as genuine fans who were just pretty excited to get to talk about how they started watching and what they love about the show (and beg for a walk-on cameo before it’s over so they can see the sets and meet the cast.) Good stuff.
BSG: What the Frak is a hilarious 8 minute run through of the first three seasons with a rapid-fire tongue-in-cheek narration. Won’t ruin some of the great lines here, but one example as Tricia Helfer struts: “There are 12 humanoid Cylon models. Some actually look like models.” Probably shouldn’t watch if you haven’t watched the first three seasons and plan on it eventually; too many spoilers, the humor is inside, and the pace is too much to really get a clue as to what’s been going on – but for the fan who’s watched it, it’s a riot.
Finally, BSG: Revealed is a misnomer and not worth watching. It’s marketed as a sneak preview of Season 4, but there’s almost no new material and the commentary by stars and producers on it is mostly old news. There’s also a very annoying banner at the bottom of the screen during the entire broadcast promoting the premiere. PQ via Unbox is surprisingly mediocre given it and Phenomenon are airing in HD on UHD too. Not worth it even for free.
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I love BSG. So much so that I took a risk and put Unbox on my computer… however, there is NO OPTION to turn closed captioning or any sort of subtitle on. I’m deaf and I can’t watch anything without closed captioning. Amazon, please make this fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and provide closed captioning. There’s no reason not to.
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Battlestar Galactica’s new incarnation is superb entertainment. The first two seasons were the best show on television, SciFi or otherwise. Huge themes, such as an apocalyptic vision of the end of the world born of the robot servant’s revolt (the Cylons); or a theory of human genesis that posits sister worlds, is interwoven with minute intimate personal detail of fascinating charaters. Characters are explored – their pasts delved into to reveal their evolving natures. These individual threads are picked up and engage the main threads and build towards exciting conclusion after exciting conclusion. The central plot – humanity’s struggle against the robot Cylons is nuanced as well. There are moments of savagery on the part of the humans, and moments of odd tenderness, vulnerability, and spirituality on the part of the Cylons. Like life, there is little black or white. Hated characters become humanized, then loved. Characters evolve and change. They are scarred by their experiences (physically and psychically) – and are never again the same. This all increases the sense of reality and our (the viewer’s) sense of involvement. Many of the plots echo current events – New Caprica looks like Iraq, for example. The writing, on the whole, is exemplary.
Battlestar’s staging succeeds as well. The special effects advance the state of the art for television. As others have noted, technology does not dominate. In fact, many key technologies are familiar – or even retro: they use telephone handsets with intermittent audio problems; guns shoot bullets; space fighters look like 1960s jet fighters; “Dradus” looks like contemporary radar; books are on paper (albeit with a trapezoid shape); their computers are not networked by design. Like the rest of the writing, even these small details are explained and woven into the plot – the anti technology slant is a reaction to the Cylon’s revolt. This allows the plotting and writing to remain in the fore – transcending the SciFi genre. I didn’t even mention the subtle and addictive language “Galactica speak” that you will soon be talking (if you don’t already). This is some ‘frackin’ good stuff indeed.
Season 3 starts where season 2 left us – with the Cylons occupying the human settlement on New Caprica and oppressing the humans. The humans react with armed resistance and acts of insurrection including a suicide bombing. This depiction of armed insurrection as a basic human response to oppression is bold, and extremely brave considering the political environment at the time those episodes were written and filmed. These early episodes in Season 3 are controversial, thus, and as hard to watch emotionally as anything in the series. To folks who feel that this means the writers of this show have joined Al Qaeda, I’d refer them to read history, including the history of the American Revolutionary War. Americans have behaved this way before (not that the humans of Battlestar Galactica’s world are Americans, of course, but they represent us – unavoidably. The 1984 film “Red Dawn” is all about American citizens engaging in insurrection to fight the Russians for example). The resolution of the New Caprica crisis involves a space battle that contains the most thrilling special effects sequence I have ever seen on the small screen. The finale is also extraordinary – involving a mind blowing confluence of events impossible to even remotely characterize without spoilers but involving brilliant plotting, emotional power, and fantastic special effects too.
So why not 5 stars? Season 3 has a tough time exceeding the high bar set by the first two seasons. Other than the New Caprica beginning and that crackling ending, the focus on Gallactica and the Colonial Fleet becomes absolute for much of the remainder of the season and the show loses sight of the Cylons. This is a shame. The battles with the Cylons – both physical and psychological, are the wellspring of the show’s crackling tension. Without the Cylons in view, the show sags. We have an airlock crisis, a whole show about Admiral Adama’s memories of his troubled marriage, a long show trial of Gaius Baltar – that while dealing with great issues and having great moments lacks the life or death slam of events in the first two seasons. Season 3 is more cerebral, and less action packed than the first two. Is it still worth watching? There are many great moments even in the slower episodes. If you’ve come this far you’ve probably fallen in love with the characters and will not mind some psychological background story. Plus, you’re crazy if you don’t watch the first two seasons and if you do you’ll absolutely need to wait on tenterhooks for season 4 with the rest of us – and you’ll need to have watched season 3 for continuity alone. Make no mistake, season 3 is still great television – just not quite up to the heart pounding level of the first two seasons, that’s all. The finale to season 3 is incredible, and…
![Occupation/Precipice [HD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PTTTE9XDL._SL160_.jpg)
For free stuff, Download BSG: The Story So Far, Phenomenon, and What the Frak – but not Revealed,
Amazon seems to have combined all the BSG download reviews and spotlighted my previously separate ones of both Season 3 Unbox and Story So Far, so I’m going to update this review to comment on the free downloads and focus on the ones you have to pay for in the other review.
BSG: The Story So Far is an interesting splicing of the highlights of the first two seasons. While now two seasons behind, it’s good as both a quick catchup on older material as well as containing the added bonus of getting to listen to Mary McDonnell narrate the highlights of the journey through New Caprica through Roslin’s eyes, which is interesting in itself. Like some of the best Unbox downloads, it also has better-than-DVD video quality, which is about as good as the series will look if you haven’t gotten to watch it in HD. Recommended.
BSG: Phenomenon is a neat 30 minute tribute to the show by various celebrities, including Joss Whedon of Buffy fame, S. Epatha Merkerson and Jesse Martin of Law and Order, and numerous others. It’s certainly a promo, but what’s fun here is that the various stars don’t seem to have been hauled in by the ear to talk up the show by the network; they come across as genuine fans who were just pretty excited to get to talk about how they started watching and what they love about the show (and beg for a walk-on cameo before it’s over so they can see the sets and meet the cast.) Good stuff.
BSG: What the Frak is a hilarious 8 minute run through of the first three seasons with a rapid-fire tongue-in-cheek narration. Won’t ruin some of the great lines here, but one example as Tricia Helfer struts: “There are 12 humanoid Cylon models. Some actually look like models.” Probably shouldn’t watch if you haven’t watched the first three seasons and plan on it eventually; too many spoilers, the humor is inside, and the pace is too much to really get a clue as to what’s been going on – but for the fan who’s watched it, it’s a riot.
Finally, BSG: Revealed is a misnomer and not worth watching. It’s marketed as a sneak preview of Season 4, but there’s almost no new material and the commentary by stars and producers on it is mostly old news. There’s also a very annoying banner at the bottom of the screen during the entire broadcast promoting the premiere. PQ via Unbox is surprisingly mediocre given it and Phenomenon are airing in HD on UHD too. Not worth it even for free.
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|Lovve BSG……… but where’s the closed captioning on Unbox????,
I love BSG. So much so that I took a risk and put Unbox on my computer… however, there is NO OPTION to turn closed captioning or any sort of subtitle on. I’m deaf and I can’t watch anything without closed captioning. Amazon, please make this fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and provide closed captioning. There’s no reason not to.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Battlestar is the greatest show, but this was its weakest season,
Battlestar Galactica’s new incarnation is superb entertainment. The first two seasons were the best show on television, SciFi or otherwise. Huge themes, such as an apocalyptic vision of the end of the world born of the robot servant’s revolt (the Cylons); or a theory of human genesis that posits sister worlds, is interwoven with minute intimate personal detail of fascinating charaters. Characters are explored – their pasts delved into to reveal their evolving natures. These individual threads are picked up and engage the main threads and build towards exciting conclusion after exciting conclusion. The central plot – humanity’s struggle against the robot Cylons is nuanced as well. There are moments of savagery on the part of the humans, and moments of odd tenderness, vulnerability, and spirituality on the part of the Cylons. Like life, there is little black or white. Hated characters become humanized, then loved. Characters evolve and change. They are scarred by their experiences (physically and psychically) – and are never again the same. This all increases the sense of reality and our (the viewer’s) sense of involvement. Many of the plots echo current events – New Caprica looks like Iraq, for example. The writing, on the whole, is exemplary.
Battlestar’s staging succeeds as well. The special effects advance the state of the art for television. As others have noted, technology does not dominate. In fact, many key technologies are familiar – or even retro: they use telephone handsets with intermittent audio problems; guns shoot bullets; space fighters look like 1960s jet fighters; “Dradus” looks like contemporary radar; books are on paper (albeit with a trapezoid shape); their computers are not networked by design. Like the rest of the writing, even these small details are explained and woven into the plot – the anti technology slant is a reaction to the Cylon’s revolt. This allows the plotting and writing to remain in the fore – transcending the SciFi genre. I didn’t even mention the subtle and addictive language “Galactica speak” that you will soon be talking (if you don’t already). This is some ‘frackin’ good stuff indeed.
Season 3 starts where season 2 left us – with the Cylons occupying the human settlement on New Caprica and oppressing the humans. The humans react with armed resistance and acts of insurrection including a suicide bombing. This depiction of armed insurrection as a basic human response to oppression is bold, and extremely brave considering the political environment at the time those episodes were written and filmed. These early episodes in Season 3 are controversial, thus, and as hard to watch emotionally as anything in the series. To folks who feel that this means the writers of this show have joined Al Qaeda, I’d refer them to read history, including the history of the American Revolutionary War. Americans have behaved this way before (not that the humans of Battlestar Galactica’s world are Americans, of course, but they represent us – unavoidably. The 1984 film “Red Dawn” is all about American citizens engaging in insurrection to fight the Russians for example). The resolution of the New Caprica crisis involves a space battle that contains the most thrilling special effects sequence I have ever seen on the small screen. The finale is also extraordinary – involving a mind blowing confluence of events impossible to even remotely characterize without spoilers but involving brilliant plotting, emotional power, and fantastic special effects too.
So why not 5 stars? Season 3 has a tough time exceeding the high bar set by the first two seasons. Other than the New Caprica beginning and that crackling ending, the focus on Gallactica and the Colonial Fleet becomes absolute for much of the remainder of the season and the show loses sight of the Cylons. This is a shame. The battles with the Cylons – both physical and psychological, are the wellspring of the show’s crackling tension. Without the Cylons in view, the show sags. We have an airlock crisis, a whole show about Admiral Adama’s memories of his troubled marriage, a long show trial of Gaius Baltar – that while dealing with great issues and having great moments lacks the life or death slam of events in the first two seasons. Season 3 is more cerebral, and less action packed than the first two. Is it still worth watching? There are many great moments even in the slower episodes. If you’ve come this far you’ve probably fallen in love with the characters and will not mind some psychological background story. Plus, you’re crazy if you don’t watch the first two seasons and if you do you’ll absolutely need to wait on tenterhooks for season 4 with the rest of us – and you’ll need to have watched season 3 for continuity alone. Make no mistake, season 3 is still great television – just not quite up to the heart pounding level of the first two seasons, that’s all. The finale to season 3 is incredible, and…
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