"Battlestar Galactica" Pilot (1978)

Director:

Richard A. Colla
(more)

Writer:

Glen A. Larson (written by)

TV Series:

"Battlestar Galactica" (1978)

Original Air Date:

7 July 1978 (Season 1, Episode 0)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Action | Adventure

Tagline:

They were searching for a star called Earth, but first they had to win a great war.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Escape | Refugee | Robot As Menace | Aircraft Carrier | Edited From TV Series

Cast

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
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Flight Sgt. Greenbean
Rick Springfield	...	Lieutenant Zac
Randi Oakes	...	Young Woman
Norman Stuart	...	Statesman
David Greenan	...	Bridge Officer
Sarah Rush	...	Woman on Duty
David Matthau	...	Operative
Chip Johnson	...	1st Warrior
Geoffrey Binney	...	2nd Warrior
Paul Coufos	...	Pilot
Bruce Wright	...	Deck Hand
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Patrick Macnee	...	Imperious Leader (voice) (uncredited)
Myrna Matthews	...	Space Angel (uncredited)
Marti McCall	...	Space Angel (uncredited)
Carolyn Willis	...	Space Angel (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard A. Colla
Alan J. Levi		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Glen A. Larson		(written by)

Produced by
John Dykstra	....	producer
Winrich Kolbe	....	associate producer
Glen A. Larson	....	executive producer
Leslie Stevens	....	supervising producer

Original Music by
Stu Phillips

Cinematography by
Ben Colman		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Robert L. Kimble
Leon Ortiz-Gil
Larry Strong

Casting by
Mark Malis

Art Direction by
John E. Chilberg II

Set Decoration by
Lowell Chambers
Mickey S. Michaels

Costume Design by
Jean-Pierre Dorléac

Makeup Department
Scott H. Eddo	....	makeup artist
Paul Griffin	....	hair stylist
Marvin C. Thompson	....	makeup artist (as Tommy Thompson)
Joy Zapata	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Harker Wade	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Phil Cook	....	first assistant director
Nick Marck	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Martin A. Kline	....	additional artwork: miniature and optical effects unit (as Martin Kline)
Kenneth Milfred	....	set dresser
Andrew Probert	....	additional artwork: miniature and optical effects unit

Sound Department
James R. Alexander	....	sound
Cliff Bell Jr.	....	dialogue editor
Peter Berkos	....	sound effects editor
Earl Crain Jr.	....	sound mixer
Robert L. Hoyt	....	sound re-recordist
Robert Jackson	....	boom operator (uncredited)
George E. Marshall Jr.	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Joe Goss	....	special effects
Karl G. Miller	....	special effects
John Peyser	....	special electronics effects (as John Peyser Jr.)
Ken Speed	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Richard Alexander	....	special mechanical equipment: miniature and optical effects unit
Deborah Armstrong	....	model builder: miniature and optical effects unit
David Augsburger	....	camera: miniature and optical effects unit
David Beasley	....	model builder: miniature and optical effects unit
David Berry	....	optical photography: miniature and optical effects unit
William Brier	....	optical photography: miniature and optical effects unit
Conrad Buff IV	....	editorial assistant: miniature and optical effects unit (as Conrad Buff)
Mark Cane	....	key grip: miniature and optical effects unit
James Catania	....	optical photography: miniature and optical effects unit (as James N. Catania)
Leslie Dennis Bracken	....	editorial assistant: miniature and optical effects unit (as Leslie Dennis)
Angela Diamos	....	animator: miniature and optical effects unit
Don Dow	....	camera: miniature and optical effects unit
Patricia Rose Duignan	....	production assistant: miniature and optical effects unit
Richard Edlund	....	special effects photography: miniature and optical effects unit
Sherry Epperson	....	animator: miniature and optical effects unit
Jonathan Erland	....	model builder: miniature and optical effects unit (as Jon Erland)
Jeff Freeman	....	editorial assistant: miniature and optical effects unit
Steve Gawley	....	model builder: miniature and optical effects unit
Rick Gilligan	....	model builder: miniature and optical effects unit (as Richard Gilligan)
Dan Goozee	....	effects illustration and design: miniature and optical effects unit
Joe Johnston	....	effects illustration and design: miniature and optical effects unit (as Joseph Johnston)
Denny Kelly	....	editorial assistant: miniature and optical effects unit (as Dennis Kelly)
Peter Kuran	....	animator: miniature and optical effects unit
Frederick Langenbach	....	optical photography: miniature and optical effects unit
Mary M. Lind	....	editorial assistant: miniature and optical effects unit (as Mary Lind)
Laine Liska	....	model builder: miniature and optical effects unit (as Lane Liska)
Stephen McCarthy	....	production assistant: miniature and optical effects unit
C. Cory M. McCrum-Abdo	....	editorial assistant: miniature and optical effects unit (as Cory McCrum)
David McCue	....	optical photography: miniature and optical effects unit (as Erroll D. McCue)
Cass McCune	....	production assistant: miniature and optical effects unit
Grant McCune	....	chief model maker: miniature and optical effects unit
Ralph McQuarrie	....	effects illustration and design: miniature and optical effects unit
Alvah J. Miller	....	special electronics: miniature and optical effects unit
David Miller	....	editorial assistant: miniature and optical effects unit
Harry Moreau	....	animation and rotoscope design: miniature and optical effects unit
Max Morgan	....	animator: miniature and optical effects unit (as Maxwell Morgan)
Dennis Muren	....	special effects photography: miniature and optical effects unit
Bruce Nicholson	....	optical photography: miniature and optical effects unit
Masaaki Norihiro	....	optical photography: miniature and optical effects unit
Lorne Peterson	....	model builder: miniature and optical effects unit
Eldon Rickman	....	optical photography: miniature and optical effects unit
James Rickman	....	optical photography: miniature and optical effects unit
David Robman	....	camera: miniature and optical effects unit
Tom Rudduck	....	model builder: miniature and optical effects unit
David Scott	....	model builder: miniature and optical effects unit
Jonathan Seay	....	camera: miniature and optical effects unit
Robert Shepherd	....	production supervisor: miniature and optical effects unit
John R. Shourt	....	production assistant: miniature and optical effects unit (as John Shourt)
William Shourt	....	special mechanical equipment: miniature and optical effects unit
Douglas Smith	....	camera: miniature and optical effects unit
David Sosalla	....	model builder: miniature and optical effects unit
Michael Sweeney	....	production assistant: miniature and optical effects unit
Ken Swenson	....	model builder: miniature and optical effects unit (as Kenneth Swenson)
Don Trumbull	....	special mechanical equipment: miniature and optical effects unit
Jody Westheimer	....	camera: miniature and optical effects unit
Dennis Dorney	....	optical lineup (uncredited)
Alex Funke	....	miniatures director of photography (uncredited)
John C. Moulds	....	motion control (uncredited)

Stunts
Hubie Kerns Jr.	....	stunts
Conrad E. Palmisano	....	stunt performer

Camera and Electrical Department
Mario DiLeo	....	camera operator: second unit
Reggie Newkirk	....	key first assistant camera
Michael J. Schwartz	....	electrician

Editorial Department
Tom Benko	....	assistant editor
Walton Dornisch	....	assistant editor
Maureen O'Connell	....	assistant editor
William Young	....	assistant editor (as Bill Young)

Music Department
Sue Collins	....	composer: song "It's Love, Love Love"
Stu Phillips	....	conductor
John Andrew Tartaglia	....	composer: song "It's Love, Love, Love"
Herbert D. Woods	....	music editor
James D. Young	....	music editor
Nathan Scott	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer
Dave Ayres	....	laboratory technician (uncredited)
Glen A. Larson	....	director: epilogue (uncredited)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Glen A. Larson		creator

Produced by
Michael Sloan	....	producer

Film Editing by
John Elias

Art Department
Yarek Alfer	....	property maker

Stunts
Bob Bralver	....	stunt coordinator
Paula Crist	....	stunts
Michael M. Vendrell	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Stephen Vaughan	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Haleen K. Holt	....	costume illustrator

Production Companies

• Glen A. Larson Productions
• Universal TV

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1978) (USA) (TV)
• DiscoVision (1978) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1979) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1979) (USA) (theatrical)
• MCA Videodisc Inc. (1982) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Universal Studios Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Apogee (miniature and optical effects unit supervised by) (as Apogee, Inc.)

Other Companies

• The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra  orchestra
• American Airlines  additional equipment
• Boeing Aircraft Company  additional equipment
• Central Casting  extras casting
• Collins Radio  additional equipment
• Tektronix  test and display equipment
• Universal Title  titles and opticals

Runtime:

148 min | Canada:122 min (Ontario) | Canada:125 min (Québec) | USA:125 min (theatrical version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Sensurround (theatrical print)

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Norway:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Glen A. Larson Productions

Trivia:

Don Johnson was originally offered the role of Starbuck.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Athena is trying to help Starbuck fix his fighter remotely, her monitor clearly shows "MADE IN USA" on one of the schematics she views.

Quotes:

Imperious Leader:Welcome, Baltar. I have grave news. A handful of Colonials prevail, but we will soon find them.
Baltar:What of our bargain? My colony was to be spared!
Imperious Leader:I now alter the bargain.
Baltar:How can you change one side of a bargain?
Imperious Leader:When there is no other side. You have missed the entire point of the war.
Baltar:But I have no ambitions against you!
Imperious Leader:Could you think me so foolish as to trust a man who would see his own race destroyed?
Baltar:Not destroyed, subjugated, under me.
Imperious Leader:There can be no survivors. So long as one human remains alive, the Alliance is threatened.
Baltar:Surely you don't mean me?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Top Gear: Episode #9.5" (2007)

Soundtrack:

It's Love, Love, Love

A for effort, C- for execution

Give the people who made "Battlestar Galactica" credit, it took a lot to make what they did. The concept was good, a war between humans and "cyborgs" (although they seem more like simple robots) to survive, as the humans flee in a collected fleet trying to find the lost colonies of humanity, namely Earth.

That would have been a novel idea for a theatrical movie, and for a TV show it was outer limits. The special effects were (by 1978 standards) top notch, the set design was good, and they even tried to create a different system of measures, since I think even in Star Trek they refer to things by minutes, hours, and years.

What let the movie (and later series) down was the same limits that affected most of seventies television. Schlocky dialogue, storylines sticking on personal and relationship problems, and somebody had the bright idea to put in a kid and a robot dog to go with him. If the series had been made today, or had simply been let free to explore ideas rather than stick to the "conventions" expected of series television, it might have been great. Instead, it's hardly remembered today.