Saturday, September 8, 2012

Battlestar Galactica

Pilot Season
*****

As the Battlestar Galactica is being decommissioned to be turned into a museum, the colonies come under Cylon attack. Commander Adama and his crew find themselves once more at war with an enemy that disappeared over forty years ago.

I was working at a comic book store when the Galactica remake was announced, and I can remember the absolute fury that some of my customers felt when they heard that Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) was a woman. I avoided watching the mini-series when it aired out of a need to plead my ignorance to anything related to the subject when it came up among the disgruntled regulars in the store, but as soon as the series proper started to air, I was hooked from beginning to end.

Number Six, played by Tricia Helfer, is a fascinating character, interested in the investigation of what it is to be alive due to her love of Gaius Baltar (James Callis) and her need to understand what it is to love him. Her need to understand life comes from her fear over the impending death of human civilization, and her realization that the man she loves will be amongst the dead. Her interest in the human baby, how it's neck manages to support the weight of it's head, and her remorse over accidentally killing it, is all-too-human for a creature designed to be inhuman.

When Laura Roslin, played by Mary McDonnell, receives word of her imminent demise, she holds herself together until she's granted a moment alone, and, having had time to mull over what it is to be dying, breaks down in private. She allows herself time to grieve for her own life, and quickly goes back to business as usual so as not to disturb anyone else. Later, even before she has the presidency of the colonies thrust upon her, she takes charge of her situation to relieve the chaos felt during the attacks. Roslin is played as an incredibly strong and moral character, recognizing her duty to protect and serve the people, not only as the president, but as a citizen.

As the end of the first feature-length episode draws nearer, it begins to seem as though Lee (Jamie Bamber) is taking Roslin's orders in order to spite his father, which ultimately undermines both Lee and Roslin as characters.

I understand that it's an homage to the original series, but Boxey is more suited to a call sign than a given name, and the character's inclusion seems almost unnecessary if it's purpose was only to make use of a name from the original series. Had he introduced himself with a full name, perhaps a surname involving the word 'box,' and Boomer (Grace Park) happened to give him Boxey as a nickname in order to ease his nerves, it would have played far better, but as it is it just seems like a nostalgia trip for any fans of the original series.

Every performance in here is outstanding, from the leads to the tertiary characters. Edward James Olmos lends incredible presence to Commander Adama, Sackhoff's Kara is wonderfully head-strong and abrasive, but the two greatest performances are Helfer's study of Number Six and Callis as Dr. Baltar. Callis' performance as he comes to understand his involvement in the fall of humanity, his self-destruction as he watches the world end, is nothing short of phenomenal.

Director Michael Rymer does an incredible job with this mini-series, every shot is stunning to behold, from the views in Baltar's lake house to the sight of nuclear blasts cascading across the planet. The sound of the engines overpowering the sound of Roslin's doctor relaying her results is a powerful moment, letting the viewer know that the news is bad, but not letting us in on what's wrong with her health. It mimics what she's likely to have heard, being unable, and unwilling, to process the news, she is tuning out of the action just as much as we are tuned out of the moment, and despite not knowing the specifics of her struggle, we feel for the character as though we already know her.

Written by Ronald D. Moore and Glen A. Larson, the script is full of captivating character moments, incredible action, and a great deal of talent that words alone cannot describe. The use of tour-guide Aaron Dorral (Matthew Bennett) allows the show to discuss the antiquated computer systems and corded telephones without viewer criticism, and the refurbishment of Galactica and it's raptors allows for an extra stumbling block for the characters that doesn't seem unnatural.

Galactica is, at heart, a character piece during war time. The setting may be completely out of the ordinary to the average television series, but it works because it's not set up specifically as a space-opera, it is written to be an intense war-drama that just happens to take place, for the most part, in space. The series doesn't pull punches and is unafraid to tell the hard stories, and it does so with elegance.

Battlestar Galactica is in the running to become the feature for Saturdays. The series ran from 2004 to 2009 on Sci-Fi with a total of 75 episodes.

0 comments:

Post a Comment