Pilot (18 May 1979)

After the destruction of the human colonies, the last major fighter carrier leads a makeshift refugee fleet in a search for Earth.

Director:

Richard A. Colla

Writer:

Glen A. Larson

Stars:

Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, Lorne Greene

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Hatch	...	Capt. Apollo
Dirk Benedict	...	Lt. Starbuck
Lorne Greene	...	Cmdr. Adama
Herbert Jefferson Jr.	...	Lt. Boomer
Maren Jensen	...	Athena
Tony Swartz	...	Sgt. Jolly
Noah Hathaway	...	Boxey
Terry Carter	...	Colonel Tigh
Lew Ayres	...	President Adar
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Sire Anton
John Colicos	...	Baltar
Laurette Spang	...	Cassiopeia
John Fink	...	Dr. Paye
Jane Seymour	...	Serina
Ray Milland	...	Sire Uri

Storyline

(Information provided from episode summaries created by the Battlestar Galactica mailing list) The story of how the 12 colonies of man are destroyed after a 1000 year war with the evil Cylon Empire. Through deceit, the Cylons are able to destroy the Colonies' entire fleet, except for the Battlestar Galactica, captained by Commander Adama. Adama gathers up the few remaining humans left on all the twelve worlds and embarks on a journey to find the mythical planet Earth, the supposed thirteenth colony of Mankind, lost millennia ago when humans first left the motherworld, Kobol. With food and fuel running out, the fleet heads for an ore planet, Carillon, hoping to get what it needs. The Ovions, who populate the planet, are being controlled by the Cylons, who set a trap for the Galactica. The fleet gets food and fuel, and escapes, destroying Carillon and a Cylon Base Star.

---

Plot Keywords:

refugee | escape | diaspora | robot as menace | tv series pilot | 

---

Taglines:

Two years in the making...Presented at a cost of $14,000,000.

---

Genres:

Sci-Fi | Action | Adventure

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 May 1979 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Long Beach City Hall - 333 W. Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Glen A. Larson Productions, Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

148 min 122 min (Ontario) 125 min (Québec) 125 min (theatrical)

Sound Mix:

Mono Sensurround (theatrical print)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Footage of the 'Agroships' is from the film Silent Running.

---

Goofs

Shortly after Apollo and Zac launch, as they make a turn there is a very brief moment when a Cylon Raider is visible in the lower left hand of the screen (only on the New Box set, Saga Of a Star World)

---

Quotes

Lieutenant Starbuck: I had this, uh, wonderful speech all prepared -
Cassiopeia: About this being your last night here? About possibly not seeing another night as beautiful as this one, or another girl as beautiful as I am, ever again?
Lieutenant Starbuck: Yeah, well, that speech is a little better than the one I had. Would you mind if I borrowed it on some future occasion?

---

Connections

Followed by Battlestar Galactica (1978)

---

Soundtracks

"It's Love, Love, Love"
John Andrew Tartaglia, Sue Collins, Glen Larson
Performed by the Space Angels

User Reviews

better story than Star Wars but worse effects

Battlestar Galactica did have a heavy impact on my childhood. I remember all of my friends trying to rebuild Battlestars and Vipers in various designs out of our LEGO space edition tiles. And how much fun it was to blast the other's ships into pieces! LEGO must have earned millions through us. Never ever has there been another spacecraft as illustrious in design as the Galactica (forget Star Trek's clumsy saucers). Unfortunately, the special effects appeared a little simple, because they were persistently reused. And YES, another commentator was right: Maren Jenson is THE reason to watch the show! Of course, there are one or two things about the story which are quite dubious. For one, the praised military leadership being better than a civilian one is a little hard-core cold-war belief. And in the series, those partially overemphasized religious elements sometimes got a little annoying in the otherwise splendid science-fantasy plot. But after all, those elements formed a heterogeneous mix promoting tolerance and gave the show its uniqueness. Definitely worth watching!