User reviews

Battlestar Galactica is one of those fine and cheesy sci-fi shows of the past that still shine bright: like the Buck Rogers show and movies, Space: 1999 or the Planet of the Apes stories, the original Battlestar Galactica (like the remake) has one main feature - for its time well done special effects and settings (now looking dated of course, but in a good way, at least in my opinion) and strong casts and characters. Everyone who grew up with that kind of sci-fi (including the first Star Wars movie and Star Trek original series) will never forget characters like Starbuck or Apollo. After all those years, besides a few too cheesy episodes, Battlestar Galactica is still an epic adventure.

It is very easy to see why 'Battlestar Galactica' was popular at the time, even with its early cancellation, and had high ratings, as well as still having people very fond of it.

At the same time it is also easy to pick faults with 'Battlestar Galactica', which through adult eyes is an uneven show with the flaws much more noticeable. With me, there is still fondness for it from a nostalgic point of view, it fascinated and entertained me as a child and it still does now as a young adult. However, 'Battlestar Galactica' is a long way from a perfect show and could have done far more with the potential it had. It is a long way from a bad show, just not great.

There is a lot to like. Apart from costumes and hairstyles that feel very 70s and date the show a bit, repetitive use of effects and lack of scope for space itself (space is huge, this felt pretty compact), the look of 'Battlestar Galactica' is fine. The sets are eye-catching, it's very nicely shot and the effects themselves were great for the 70s and even though used in a repetitious and recycled fashion hold up reasonably well now with the odd limitation here and there.

With the music, one has to love the rousing bombast and playful energy of the scoring, while the theme tune is up there with the most iconic theme tunes of any show from the 70s and of the sci-fi genre. There are many nice moments in the script, with some knowing humour and thought-provoking opening narration and closing quotes. Tonally and quality-of-plots-wise, 'Battlestar Galactica' is inconsistent. When it was not good it was cringe-worthy ("The Young Lords", especially the annoying interplay of the child actors and the child actors themselves) but when it was good it was fantastic ("War of the Gods" took a darker and bolder approach and at the same time ended up epitomising what the show is all about).

'Battlestar Galactica's' stories could have benefited better from having a time-line, which would have made the tone more focused and the quality of stories more consistent. Due to that the show can get bogged down by some childish antics, that turned out not to be cheesy in a good way it sometimes got embarrassing (like they were trying too hard to appeal to children or a family-friendly audience). As well as too many homages (like in "The Magnificent Warriors" or that clumsy and weird cowboy in space episode "Lost Warrior" - in an attempt to appeal to older audiences, indicating a confusion as to which target audience to aim it at- that serve little relevance or point, loses the whole focus of the story in question and like they'd forgotten what the quest was. When it took a darker and bolder approach with more challenging subjects, it was often very engrossing and that approach could have been explored even more.

Most of the characters work very well, Starbuck (a favourite among fans and with good reason) and dignified Adama are my favourites. Apollo and Boomer are also great. The exceptions are the child actors in "The Young Lords", annoying and trying-too-hard-to-be-cutesy Boxey (played to not much better effect by Noah Hathaway, who went on to give a great performance in 'The NeverEnding Story', so the blame lies on the writing not Hathaway) and the less said about Muffit II (especially painful in his very over-exposed role in "Fire in Space") the better. The Cylons are also inconsistently characterised, sometimes menacing at other idiotic and made to look like fools.

The performances, apart from the children, are in fine keeping with the show and hold up well on their own, Lorne Green, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict being especially good. Patrick Macnee, Herbert Jefferson Jnr and John Colicos are sterling support as well.

In conclusion, uneven but entertaining. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Battlestar Galactica is one of those series you either love or hate, or else didn't watch. I loved it. It had a great concept and, generally good effects. The writing was a bit uneven at times, with the "homages" to other genres and movies getting way out of hand (Magnificent Seven, Guns of Navarone, Shane, Dirty Dozen, Perry Mason, Towering Inferno, etc.). As far as the criticism of "rip-off" goes, Battlestar Galactica was vindicated in court and in saga itself. The only real similarities with Star Wars are that both are space opera, both have bad guys in armor, both had dogfights in space, and both had John Dykstra supervising the effects. Otherwise, the biblical story of Galactica bore little resemblance to the mythical Star Wars. Besides, Star Wars was inspired by Flash Gordon, Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, The Dam Busters, King Arthur, and the works of Joseph Campbell. I think a series based on Exodus and Erik Von Danekan can be cut a little slack.

The acting was generally good, although the child actors were not the most skilled (but, hey, they're kids). Lorne Greene was great as the fatherly Adama, leading his people on a search for their brethren. Richard Hatch was the mature and stoic Apollo; the cerebral hero. Dirk Bennedict is the reckless and fun-loving Starbuck, the true fighter pilot in space. John Colicos is the evil Baltar, traitor to his people; part Benedict Arnold, part Herod, part Hitler. Add a well rounded supporting cast and you have a fine ensemble.

Yes, there is much dated material here: feathered hairdo's, disco clothes, social interaction; but it doesn't detract from the better stories. The use of a unique slang was a nice idea, but a bit distracting. The music was good and the Egyptian influences were interesting in the designs. The uniforms were stylish and gave a sense of military symbol and function. The ship designs were cool (can't say it any other way).

The biggest fault in this series is the tendency to depart from the overall saga into homage episodes. "Gun on Ice Planet Zero" was a fine remake of the Guns of Navarone and the Dirty Dozen, but it also presented a threat to the fleet and a new obstacle they must overcome. Others, like "The Lost Warrior" or "The Magnificent Warriors" had little consequence for the fleet and tended to get bogged down. The series was at its best when the Galactica found a new clue to the lost tribe, or overcame the Cylons to live another day. Unfortunately, the producers didn't have a timeline in mind when they created this show, unlike Babylon 5. Had they determined how long the journey should take, they could have avoided unnecessary episodes and concentrated on the overall saga, bringing character development and drama into the story, without losing sight of their goal. As it was, we were teased with false Earths and little idea when the Lost Tribe would be found. Unfortunately, when it was found, the series took a complete nosedive.

It will be interesting to see what the future will bring for this series; but, for the present, I will continue to watch my tapes. Is it too much to ask for a DVD release for the entire series?

Battlestar Galactica protects the surviving ragtag convoy of two hundred plus refugee ships from the Twelve Colonies after the devastating conquest by the Cylon Empire. Commander Adama (Lorne Greene) leads the search for the mythical thirteenth colony Terra. Captain Apollo (Richard Hatch) and Lieutenant Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) are the leading Viper pilots. They struggle to escape the traitor Baltar (John Colicos) and his Cylon cohorts under Lucifer.

This Star Wars inspired franchise stumbles from time to time but at the end of the day, this is good sci-fi TV especially for its day. The biggest stumbles are the various human settlements that the convoy encounters. It puts the central premise under problematic rewriting. The basic premise is that these are the last of humanity looking for salvation. That's the drama. All these other human populations punch holes in that premise. They could stop at these places or gather up these survivors. It doesn't help to have unicorns either.

The best episodes are probably Battlestar Pegasus and Fire in Space. The human settlements episodes are repetitive and degenerative. I'm also not a big fan of Boxey and Muffit. The Ship of Lights is memorable and could be expanded. The idea for Ice Planet Zero is classic but flawed at its core. It's a stationary weapon after all. There are quite a bit of recycling in the action FX sequences but that's to be expected for TV. One does grade on a curve and this is one of the better ones in its era.

It's a very good, and very well made sci-fi classic.

It has it's own style and feel to it, and unlike most sci-fi films it doesn't stretch the boundaries of human knowledge and lend siege to a bunch of aliens or space fights or whatever. It lays down themes that although seem a million light years away, are in fact maybe closer to our time than we first thought.

With a riveting story, depth to characters and amazing memorable acting from Dirk Benedict, Richard Hatch, and Loren Greene

I think it is only suffice to say that this film is a marvel of it's genre and with criticism and technicalities aside I think you cannot argue that this film is great in all proportions.

First off, don't write this off as a complete Star Wars rip off because Star Wars itself ripped off older movies. With that said, this show's storyline is pretty cool. These robots known as the cylons, constructed by an alien race, wage war against the humans. The human race consists of twelve colonies with a thirteenth colony said to inhabit earth. The humans were all wiped out in the war and all that remains is the colony residing on Battlestar Galactica. The Battlestar, whilst fleeing from the cylons, journey in search of the long lost planet earth to claim as their new home. The cylon's design and voices are frakking epic! What weighs it down? The characters. They just don't have much good interactions. The cutesy kid is annoying. Tragic things might happen and he still just acts like he's the most innocent thing in the world in the very next episode. The design of cylon, Lucifer, is especially cheeses out. The evil Boltar helps lead the cylons, as a traitor to the human race, and he is an amusing edition to the show. A bit too stereotypical in his personality but a menacing presence and helps add to the freshly cut cheese. The show has potential with it's storyline it just needed better writing and thankfully this show was rebooted in 2003 to make for a much better written program.

This series made big impact when i seen it as a kid , somewhere in the early 80's .

I did rewatch some while ago .

I think the real strongpoint of the series , is the design .

The vipers , the cylon fighters , the battlestars , the baseships , the cylons , these are all very nicely designed in my view .

Then the series has some nice actors that are well casted for their roles .

Dirk Benedict is a fine example of this .

Watching back it has it flaws at times , some episodes can be slow moving , or there can be a cringy moment .

But all in all this is a nice series in season 1 .

Season 2 its sad , but its just some worse then season 1 .

Battlestar Galactica had so much going for it, and so much working against it from outside influences. That is has held up as an engaging sci-fi epic despite its myriad off-screen problems and short network run is a tribute to its many strengths in concept, overall production values, cast, and presentation.

Galactica was conceived as a series of TV movies, similar in format to the Columbo-McCloud-McMillan movie series format from earlier in the 1970s. However, late in the going ABC asked for a weekly series, a contingency for which Glen Larson, Universal, and company were not prepared. As a result, the series had a very uneven quality to the scripts, most notoriously shown in the standard-western scripts of the episodes "The Lost Warrior" and "The Magnificent Warriors." The passage of time, though, has been kind even to such clichés; the standard-western format of these early episodes can be traced to the western gunslinger themes of Star Wars and other 1970s sci-fi, and the performances of the casts, primary and guest, shine through and make these scripts work.

And as the show progressed mistakes were learned from and the writing became better. "Saga Of A Star World," "Lost Planet Of The Gods Part II," "The Long Patrol," and "The Living Legend" were more-sharply written stories combining the excellence of the cast with very good twists. It was with "Living Legend" (highlighted by Lloyd Bridges' show-stealing performance as Commander Cain, for which he will always be remembered) that really got the show's writing on a truly solid base, and excellent scripts followed in "War Of The Gods" (another story highlighted by the performance of the guest star, in this case Patrick Macnee, who immortalizes himself as Count Iblis), the excellent character-driven "The Man With Nine Lives," the surprisingly sharp murder mystery "Murder On The Rising Star," "Greetings From Earth," and the show's strongest and smoothest action drama "The Hand Of God."

The cast shines through good and bad in the show, from Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, Lorne Greene, and John Colicos (my personal favorite of the show) down through Herbert Jefferson Jr., Laurette Spang, Terry Carter, Jane Seymour in her all-too-brief involvement, and mid-season addition Anne Lockhart. The underused George Murdock, Jack Stauffer, John Dullaghan as Doctor Wilker, Ed Begley Jr., Sheila DeWindt, Janet Louise Johnson, Tony Swartz, and Larry Manetti also sparkle in their appearances, as does veteran character actor Olan Soule as agro ship caretaker Carmichel.

Guest stars were used to superb effect in many episodes. In addition to Lloyd Bridges and Patrick Macnee (both as Count Iblis and the Cylon Imperious Leader - the show smartly gave Iblis an angle on the fact that his voice is the same as that of the supreme Cylon), other show-making guest performers included Lance leGault (of later "A-Team" fame), Lloyd Bochner, James Whitmore Jr., John Hoyt, Murray Matheson (in two roles, Sire Gella and the Cylon IL Specter), and Ina Balin. The interplay between the characters in the main and guest casts was always superb, and the off-screen camaraderie among the cast (most hilariously shown in Galactica's in-house gag reel film displaying series outtakes, where Macnee lampoons his opening narration and Colicos concludes by offering to sell some swampland in Florida in full Baltaresque charm, and in the closing top-hat number "We Gotta Find Earth" sung hilariously by Hatch, Benedict, and Greene) made the performances all the better.

Much has been made of how the show reused SFX shots every episode; the criticism usually ignores the reality that no sci-fi series of the time could afford not to reuse stock SFX footage - Galactica's practice was hardly unprecedented to fans of the earlier Land Of The Lost series. Made today of course the show could feature new SFX each episode given the advances in SFX technology.

The combination of concept, cast, overall production values, and presentation made for an immensely enjoyable sci-fi series. Comparisons with the new Ronald Moore Galactica series are inevitable, but both add something to a superb concept.

I always wanted to see original version of Battlestar Galactica, i was never impressed by new one, so i finally watched it and i loved it, yes maybe special effects are outdated but still this show has a soul, heart and message, you also really got connected with the characters, and they are all very interesting and cool. The outstanding performance comes from legendary Lorne Greene as Captain Adama, you really have a feeling he is a leader and commander of Galactica, brilliant casting, also Terry Carter as Colonel Tigh is great, also performance from Richard Hatch(Apollo), Dirk Benedict(Starbuck), Herb Jefferson, Jr. (Boomer), John Colicos (Count Baltar), are worth mentioning. Story is solid, i was only disappointed with the ending but they planned to do second season. Loved also the design of spaceships and Cylons, Cylons in original version looked better 100 times than CGI ones in new series, and their vocoder voices just amazing. Through the series in some scenes we see clear moral and ethic messages and influence of Mormon faith(creator of the series was Mormon). I really enjoyed this serial, and really don't care for the new ones, but because of bad reviews i am not planning to watch Galactica 1980. I am recommending this one to all lovers of 70's sci-fi, space opera and generally people interested in retro things. my Grade 9/10.

While BG 1978 original series lacked the budget, realistic effects and polished look available in BG 2004, it is a far superior series because it was a story of triumph, hope and the human spirit unlike BG 2004. It had a positive conclusion that would lead to the re-establishment and survival of the human race. The downside; The scripts were uneven and the teleplay dialogue could be lacking and like every other TV show of its era, the pace is much slower than TV and movies had become by 1990. There were many missed opportunities but Battlestar Galactica was just lucky to even be greenlit at all. BG 1978 was uplifting unlike BG 2004 which was just depressing. BG 1978 was a very interesting story with an interesting cast of characters. The Cylons in original Battlestar Galactica was a warning about creating technology that could become self-aware and turn on and destroy humanity. In BG 1978, humans did not create the Cylons (it was a lizard like race). I actually liked the Cylon origin story change that humans created the Cylons in BG 2004 because it was a more plausible reason they turned on humans and furthered the cautionary tale of creating AI that could supplant humans. However, that was the only change I liked about BG 2004. Galactica 1978 was positive and had some redeeming characters while BG 2004 was the most convoluted stprytelling that made absolutely no sense. Yes, the writing was uneven like all low budget sci-fi TV series, it was treated as a "red-headed step-child" and was expected to fail before it began.

BG 1978 was all also hamstrung and blackballed because George Lucas filed a lawsuit claiming BG was a ripoff of Star Wars which is was not and Lucas eventually lost. However, the damage was done and arrogant George Lucas badically caused the cancellation of BG 1978 because of all the legal cost and Lucas himself turning the fanatics of Star Wars against BG. All the while Geprhe Lucas himself got most holis ideas for Star Wars from other sources including books; Perleandra by C. S. Lewis, Dune,The Foundation Books by Isaac Asimov,, A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs and many others along with a borrowing a few elements from Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry. So thanks to Lucas, BG was boycotted by Star Wars fans and got bad publicity.

BG 1978 was ultimately uplifting despite the human race almost being wiped out. The Cylons in original Battlestar Galactica was a warning about creating AI technology that could become self-aware and turn on and destroy humanity. In BG 1978, humans did not create the Cylons (it was a lizard like race). I actually liked the Cylon origin story change that humans created the Cylons in BG 2004 because it was a more plausible reason they turned on humans and furthered the cautionary tale of creating AI that could supplant humans. However, that is the only change I liked about BG 1978 was a great story with a great ending. Yes, the writing was uneven like all sci-fi TV series, it was treated as a "red-headed step-child" and was expected to fail before it began. It has only been the last few years that sci-fi has been given the same respect of other genres on TV. Sci-fi cost much more to produce if done well due to costuming, sets, special effects and makeup. That is why we get sub-par sets and effects and creation of episodes that take place almost all in one area with dialogue to explain what is going in.

I was a fan of this series... when I was SEVEN YEARS OLD. Even then, though, at an age and maturity where I possessed no critical discernment whatsoever and loved any movie or show with action or in space, I could somehow sense that this show wasn't really that good and was very cheesy.

Recently, out of curiosity because of the excellent 2004 series that bears the same name, and because Netflix offered me some free hours of instant viewing, I watched the old series again. Not only did it confirm my 7-year old memories, but it actually turned out to be worse than I imagined: trite, bad special effects, completely devoid not only of any authentic drama but amazingly any excitement or visceral action, mediocre acting, insipid writing, etcetera, etcetera.

The ONLY appeal it could have to anyone above the age of let's say, 12, is camp. Even then, since the series hilariously took itself seriously, the camp is not as much as you'd expect. The barebones of the plot -- that our Earth was once one of 13 colonies of a futuristic civlization that bears many similarities to our own Ancient Greece -- does have some interest but they do little with it. Actually, I take the first statement of this paragraph somewhat back because no 12 year old today is going to watch this, as its special effects are laughable and the action is so so lukewarm.

It's pretty sad when the best and most dramatic acting of your first episode is by RICK SPRINGFIELD. NO JOKE.

I won't even compare this to the recent 2004 remake since they are so far apart in quality, and it's very unfortunate that the 2004 remake bears the same name as this series because it's lost a lot of potential viewers and accolades because of it. This original series is exactly the same quality as the Buck Rodgers movie and TV series starring Gil Gerard that came out at the same time. However, that TV series was more fun because it knew it wasn't that good from the get go and didn't take itself so seriously.

Only in the last five years or so has "Battlestar Galactica" begun to emerge from the unfair stigma that was attached to it for so many years as a "Star Wars ripoff". Although a lot of people don't know this, based on what gets written by BG bashers in their histories of sci-fi TV, George Lucas's lawsuit against Universal was dismissed on all counts and found to be without merit. Indeed, considering how Lucas had "borrowed" from so many other genre stories of the past his lawsuit claiming Galactica stole from Star Wars was the biggest case of hypocrisy ever.

For me, "Galactica" continues to age well and is even better than it was when I first experienced it as a child in 1978. Unlike the Star Wars series, which increasingly came to be about FX at the expense of characters, BG's appeal has always lied in its characters. The characters of Apollo (Richard Hatch), Starbuck (Dirk Benedict), Adama (Lorne Greene), Sheba (Anne Lockhart) and even the wicked Baltar (John Colicos) were fascinating and multi-dimensional. And unlike Star Trek, there was a semblance of continuity and character development whereas the former was entirely self-contained from week to week with no development in the characters.

Was BG flawed? Certainly. But it also attracted a larger audience in its one year on ABC than any Star Trek series ever has in syndication. What can't be forgiven is ABC's quick dismissal of this show and then insulting the intelligence of us all by bringing it back in a bastardized version known as "Galactica 1980".

Hopefully, Galactica fans will one day get the last laugh if there is a successful revival with the original cast. It's a show that deserves another chance even more than Star Trek did.

Used to love this as a kid. It still has a certain charm. So many good actors and great episodes.

Make no mistake, this is series everything great and horrible in sci-fi simultaneously.

The whole TV series was a great idea in the wrong hands (or perhaps in hands that simply never got the support they needed). The series, I think was most loved and most watched by the 8-18 year old generation (I don't think I saw it until it was in reruns, at age 10 or older)of the late 70s-early 80s. Evidently a very small group, as seen by the show's short run.

Seeing it now I can see why it was canceled, but I also still see why I loved it. The shows were exciting, uncomplicated, sci-fi battle. And, as poor as the FX were, the model, character and set designs were and still are fantastic, fresh and contemporary.

For those curious, the FX were only slightly sub-par(and for TV, as good as it got--The problem when FX artist try to exceed their budget and capabilities) at the time, but the repeated use of the same scene over-and-over again was highly noticeable.

For the younger generation, weaned on TNG, Andromeda, etc., it maybe too distracting, but I remain a loyal BSG fan, and recommend it for those who still love the exciting rush of a sci-fi story and battle.

While there are flaws in the series from the view of today, it IMHO stands up better than most before it.

BSG when it aired, offered the viewers an epic journey of mankind forced into the unknown void of space in search of a new home.

They were fighting for their lives against a foe that destroyed all that they knew.

What more can anyone expect is more central to their survival?

At all cost, the fleet of humans, went into the cosmos to search for a new home.

What more could be a more fitting story?

It remains a fact: You need to take into account when a film or show was made.

Saying that, I can only state that BSG remains a true Sci-Fi classic.

If you shift your view from the obvious conflict man-machine, to the inner conflicts of mankind trying to escape, there is more than enough substance for great entertainment.

Although special effects are not flawless, it was almost revolutionary when it was produced. You are not laughing at even older classics as well.

The score of the show definitely stands out and for me surpasses even the remake of 2004.

O.K. if you were five at the time, rubbish otherwise. Book was better.

What would you do if your civilisation had been destroyed and were being pursued by genocidal robots. Yes that's it you'd stop off for a party at a casino/disco planet. Then, you'd go on ignoring loads of habitable planets in favour of finding a mythical place you were not even sure existed. Al1 at sub-light speed. Definitely for tots of all ages and size

Really they should have called it "Bonanza Waggon Train In space" why they even had pa Cartwright. Take my advice, the new series is infinitely better. Better written, better acted, better effects. Don't waste your life with this. One star

Yeah yeah, so it may be considered a Star Wars ripoff by some. Who cares? As a kid in the 70's, I loved nothing more than the movie and then the subsequent ABC TV series especially with all of the special effects that kids love to see after Star Wars came out. And when the Scifi Channel started to show the series again, I couldn't get enough of it. An underappreciated scifi series in my opinion.

This classic good versus evil is the REAL Battlestar Galactica. Sure the new revamp series has all the multi-million dollar production values etc, but this classic still wins hands down for me. In fact the only thing that ages for me in the entire series is that confounded robot dog, which was dodgy even when I watched the series as a kid.

The new series was good for the first 2 seasons but seriously bombed from Season 3 onwards with boring pointless crap that still leaves me speechless that there's a hoard of mad fans out there who actually enjoyed it.

In comparison, this, the original series is exciting and entertaining from beginning to end and I still love the terrific costumes and sets to this day(notice how they didn't want to change the terrific models too much for the revamp. The simple answer is not to keep it linked to this original(which for that new series is a travesty with it's horrible season 3 and 4) but because the artwork and design of those models is so damn cool, they couldn't top it period.

If you want to be bored to death by the cylons, then watch the new series all the way through. If you want to be entertained and shown a great story of good versus evil and people working together to achieve a common goal then the original is the way to go. Oh and dare I say it, it will provide you with an entertaining re-watchable story as opposed to the new series unintelligible and never to be watched again series 3 and 4.

Also Battlestar Galactica is a great SciFi series that clearly showed that there's more to intergalactic battles of good versus evil than Star Wars, which to be honest is going to be shown for the pretender it really is, when EE Doc Smiths Lendsman series is finally adapted to the big screen(Star Wars is nothing but another work on the themes that EE Doc Smith created decades before Lucas even put pen to paper and those that have read the Lensman series must note how much of a Lensman Rip Off, Star Wars is). I mention all that because Battlestar Galactica was original despite the hideous notion that Lucas believed it was ripping off Star Wars.

After their home planet is attacked and destroyed by the Cylon Empire, a large group of refugees sets out across the universe to find a new home. The armada is lead by Commander Adama in the Battlestar Galactica. Every day is a struggle for survival as the Cylons seek to destroy the fleet.

One of my favourite TV series as a child and one I still enjoy today. It is quite the epic adventure as the rag tag fleet makes its way across the universe in search of a place to live, all the while fending off the attacks of the Cylons. It makes for some great action scenes, tales of heroism and sacrifice, camaraderie and simply a fantastic story.

Enthralling viewing.