Battlestar Galactica (2004): The Complete Series

Simply the finest science fiction I have ever had the pleasure of watching. I grew up in the early 80s eagerly watching reruns of the original Battlestar Galactica. I feasted on Buck Rogers, ST TOS, ST TNG, I remember the miniseries 'Something is Out There' and even Moonbase Alpha. So, I am an unapologetic, huge sci-fi nerd who fiercely believed that no show could ever do equal to or better than 'Babylon 5'.Battlestar Galactica consists of the four-hour pilot miniseries and then four seasons followed by 'The Plan' (not included in the DVD collection). I highly recommend watching it at least in HD if you can. We watched if the first time through on an old-fashioned tube TV and are now watching the entire series again--in HD. It really is a whole new show--visually--if you watch it in HD. While Bear MacCreary's enchanting soundtrack is worth listening to all by itself.Let's get right to the ***Spoiler Alert***As a fan of the original BSG, I had certain standards that needed to be met. Two of my favorite things was the actual structure of the Galactica and it's commander, Lorne Greene's Adama. So, the new BSG right away had a hard act to follow, and I knew I would be uncomfortable seeing a different ship or Adama.They could not have done better than Edward James Olmos as Bill Adama, who, hands down, remains my favorite character of the series. You got to love those sad droop-dog eyes of his that he gives everybody. His face is just legend.Then you get some of the old characters revisited, Starbuck, Apollo, Tigh, Baltar, Boomer, and a whole new set too including, Billy, Helo, Dualla, Gaeta, Leoben, Cavil, Sam, Doc Cottle, etc. Maybe I am just easily impressed but--I thought everybody's acting was amazing throughout most of the series. It's hard to think of a character I could have done without. Everyone who gets screen time is game-on and convincing.My spouse and I watched this straight through over the course of about two weeks--and almost needed some therapy for mild PTSD. Reality never lets up for the crew of the Galactica, starting with the first post-miniseries episode, '33', with the Cylons jumping after the ragtag fleet every thirty-three minutes. Knuckle-biting. The stress hits everyone--even the viewer.One of the things that I love so much about Babylon 5 is that the cast is flawed. There are no Mary-Sues in Babylon 5. Subjects like rebelling against the State, addiction, family loss and prostitution were broached and played with a little. It was a very refreshing change of pace from the good, clean-cut characters of Star Trek.BSG takes that to an entirely different level. Like in real life, everyone in BSG has a problem. They may be gifted, talented, attractive or successful, but they are -all- flawed. From the Admiral and the President on down to the lowliest knuckle-dragger.Issues tackled in this show include but are not limited to:Alternative medicine. Kamala extract fills in for medical marijuana and is useful for treating pain.Addictions to or recreational use of an assortment of substances including stims, booze and tobacco.Homicide for varying reasons.War crimes tribunals.Labor unions and workers rights.Maintaining government and freedom in times of extreme crisis.Birth control and access.Love, lust and recreational sex.Marriage and divorce.Right to refuse medical treatment.Guerrilla insurgency, sabotage and patriotism.Blatant military recruitment and government propaganda.Peace movements and civil disobedience.Depression, suicide, psychosis and other mental illness.Religion--at least two different religions are presented in this show, along with agnosticism and atheism.--All handled amazingly well in my opinion. I wanted to serve on the Galactica before the miniseries was over.Other thoughts. Doc Cottle is the coolest doctor in science fiction--ever. Show includes some amazing father-son tension between not-so-goody two shoes Apollo and his old man. The chemistry between Roslin and Adama is one of the most precious interactions in the show. There is a moment when Starbuck is being kept by the creepy psychopathic Leoben in a doll house and she is eating her steak while glancing over at the recently deceased copy and she wipes her mouth with her bloody hand-- if you've seen it, you know about the scene. It's really just amazing.It should be noted that the CGI is topnotch and although heavily used--never abused. The backdrops and ships are lovingly detailed. There is something totally steampunk in how the venerable and aging Galactica relies on it's old model Vipers and corded phones and lack of computer networks yet we still have some classic sci-fi devices like FTL jumps, anti-gravity that is never discussed and some pretty good futuristic technology--but no energy shields, turbo-lasers or transporter-beams.They really downplay the tech parts making it seem like the culture and reality of the people of the Twelve Colonies could very believably be us in the not-so-distant future. Throughout most of the show, there is this pressure of Cylon extinction overshadowing everything--but it quickly becomes obvious that the remaining humans may not be able to survive themselves.BSG makes people act like they do in real life and one of the overarching themes is--do we humans really have the right to inherit the earth and the galaxy for that matter? What makes us so good? There are more than a few times when you want to root for the Cylons when you see the survivors make one blundering, self-defeating mistake after another.After we watched the ending for the first time, my spouse said "I'll never be able to watch Star Trek quite the same again." --I agree. This show will spoil you for other sci-fi which will seem quaint and innocent if not naive after watching BSG.Oh yea, the packaging is bad, blah blah, We didn't buy it for the packaging. We made our purchase the week after the Universal's new packaging deal expired. Frak! So we put our DVDs in a plastic DVD binder in order of the seasons. It prevents the DVDs from getting scratched up as happens when you take them in and out of the stupid cardboard DVD holders that came with the box.I've lectured enough--gods damn it. I frakkin love this show. You will too.

The media could not be loaded.  With respect to  Star Trek , there is simply no show in the history of television that is as bold, thoughtful, and relevant to modern society as the reboot of classic sci-fi cheesefest  Battlestar Galactica , which is possibly the first ever remake to completely and totally eclipse the original work. With themes of humanity taken to a new extreme and deep philosophical explorations of the deepest issues we as humans face and dark character studies played out over the backdrop of the potential extinction of the human race as they flee across the galaxy from their own creations -an AI race known as Cylons- this is a show that fired on all cylinders all the time. It began in 2003 with the epic 3-hour miniseries that packed in more disturbing and racy imagery then any adult science fiction film I've seen while we watched our race get systematically wiped off the face of the galaxy by an AI that has evolved themselves to look like us. Four harrowing seasons followed that pushed the limits of what is allowed on television and continuously expanded in width and depth. The made-for TV film "Razor" brought us back in time following season 3 to explore concurrent events to the first season from the experiences of one of season 2's villains, a mad battlestar commander who made some inhuman choices in the name of survival, and even back to the first Cylon War . All of this and a large amount of extras are included in the Complete Series set.So, political issues. BSG tackled humane treatment of prisoners, the extreme flimsiness of our electoral process (both from our ability to vote with a clear head and the simplicity of skewing the results), unions, terrorism, genocide, human rights from all over, the significance of religion -both positive and negative- in society, holding leaders accountable for their deeds, torture, and all of the other things we pretend wouldn't matter in a survival situation, but are wrong. And most of all, this show is about humanity. Early on we are asked why humanity is even worth saving. A glimpse at our history books will make that a hard question to answer truthfully. But what really pushes this show into the stratosphere in the later episodes is the fact that the formerly mechanical race whose goal was to replace mankind begin to become us instead and seem to not even know why they want to kill us anymore. After all, there is nothing more human then meaningless war. Then they've got to question what makes them any better. BSG never rested o it's laurels, it was always pushing forward, opening up new questions and debates, and offering the characters choices where there simply was no correct answer. Our world is a world of wrong, and when you are on the verge of extinction, it is even more so. The options offered to our heroes are few and terrible and we do not get spared the consequences. When the Secretary of Education becomes President after the 40+ cabinet members ahead of her in the line of succession all perish in the attack she is promptly forced to decide whether or not to abandon thousands of lives to save the rest of the fleet. She makes the "right" call, but we are still forced to watch as a little girl we met earlier on one of the ships left behind sits by herself on a bench, blissfully playing with her doll as the sky lights up behind her and the entire image vanishes in a flash of light. It's all about consequences.This is quite possibly the best cast ever assembled on television. Edward Jame Olmos is absolutely electric as Commander Adama. To me, this is the most memorable character in sci-fi television history since Captain Kirk himself. Olmos's performance is commanding and nothing short of spectacular, as is his female counterpart Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslin. The fact that these two didn't clean up at every Emmy wards show in the past 4 years only proves beyond a shadow of a doubt how useless that institution is. Tricia Helfer is the ultimate vampy/trampy object of nerd lust, Katee Sackhoff's cigar-chomping tomboy Starbuck is the most lovable character for the first couple seasons, and there are dozens more unforgettable performances and characters. Every character does good, every character does bad, and every single one of them has believable motives for their actions. The difference between heroes and villains is almost imperceptible at times and the roles are often reversed. This is what adult science fiction should be all about.I'm trying to keep this shot, but believe me, I could heap praises on this show for days on end. But at this point, I'd like to get back to watching it. BSG is something that anybody who enjoys riveting and thought-provoking television NEEDS to see. You will learn more about politics then a lifetime of cable news and talk radio, you will learn more about what makes us human then a degree in psychology or anthropology, you'll learn more about the real role faith plays in our lives then if you attended every sermon in every church on every Sunday for a lifetime, and you will have a great time doing it. Even if you aren't into science fiction, if you give this show a try you will love it. It's that universal and it's just that good.

I have the collectors edition box with the cylon figure. If you love sci Fi this is a must watch show. The box is so cool to look at on my shelf and gets me in the mood to watch it. The Blu Ray picture quality could be clearer but it is still not 480P. The disks work and I have had no problems after several times watching it.

This show is awesome. One of the best drama/prime-time TV shows out there, and hands down the best Sci-Fi series to date.The actual box-set collection has beautiful packaging, and a very cool Cylon "action figure" type statue. It's a great display piece. The contents of the Blu-Ray discs are identical to the individually sold seasons, which is quite adequate.I do have several small complaints though:1) No additional content for the box-set release. All you get is the box art and the action figure. Both of which are cool, but I wish there were some special footage, such as a movie-style or longer length documentary about the creation and filming of the series.2) No episode guide/disc details. This actually flabbergasted me. There is no booklet or insert telling you what episodes are on which disc. Fortunately, I more or less knew which episode was where, since I've seen the series many times and owned the DVD releases before this, but for a viewer who purchases this as their first disc set of the series, it may be confusing or annoying if they are looking for a specific episode.Even considering those 2 negatives, this box-set is still worth it for ANY BSG fan.

There aren't very many series that bear re-watching. This one does because of it's rich story-telling. There was so much happening and lots of detail, we would watch it again in case we missed something. It did not get old.I decided to give 4 stars only because - the writers having raised the bar so high - I felt that some very important details towards the end could have been handled better (it wasn't as satisfying as it could have been). Otherwise I would have handed out the 5 star rating. That being said, it was enjoyable right to the end.If you are looking for an exciting, fast moving drama to get lost in, this is one of the most exciting series I've ever come across.

The final season was showing sins of JJ-itis. That is the clinical term used to describe the problems associated with poor writing and production choices.The mini series that launched the reboot was excellent. As with anything this ambitious there are going to be some ups and downs. One very frustrating thing with so many reboots is there are too many now.

An excellent remake. I was glued to my TV and binge watched it. Excellent story and the quality of the blu ray content is top notch. The collectors box is big, but is quite cool packaging. Comes with a plastic cylon, what's not to like.