Battlestar Galactica: Razor

Gonna make it a short review. I see too many peoplehere bashing it to hell. Remind you, those are the people who , at the end, didnt like the show at all! So they are biased on that alone. Some of the old school hters on this remake will never get enough of the hate they want to spread over this show. Period. I dont like the new season of dr who either. Dont hear me complaining all around. What i want to say is: If you dig the show, you will proberbly be in for this extra episode. that's just how i see it. The new Battlestar galactica isnt without its flaws, but as you can see it for what it is , you weil get: amazing acting/ best music ever in a show. and a great story. One of the best drama series out there.

The trick with these sorts of reviews is perspective.

Even today (2014) the rebooted BSG series is considered one of the best produced and written series of all time, addictive, as much a game changer for TV as Buffy or Breaking Bad.

Once you understand that, the question you need to ask yourself is, what purpose do these feature length "fillers" serve? Many of the other reviewers here were expecting greatness, something new, something important, and, having failed to find it, got a little peckish.

I believe that these features are simply a chance for the producers to unwind, to show off, to experiment. Almost like having a fast car that you can't drive fast because you're in the city. Take her out on the hiway and see what she can do...

In that context, this is a solid little entertainer. Great use of flashbacks (compared for example to the over-use in series like ARROW).

Great acting. I believe BSG showed us many actors who were capable of greatness if given a chance, yet, post-BSG, we never really saw much of them again.

The scenes between Michelle Forbes and Stephanie Jacobsen are electric. Both deliver far more on-screen wattage than their resumes would suggest. And Jacobsen's exotic looks (she was born in China) once again showcases the ability of the casting director to pick the right actor for the correct role.

This also gives us a good look at a younger Bill Adama.

In 2012 or so, I rented something called Blood and Chrome, from Blockbuster (Remember those?) - I actually loved it, to the point that I bought it. But I had not been too familiar with Ron D Moore's BSG reinvention beyond the Miniseries. I thought that was it, I didn't even know they had made a show out of it. Not until years later. In Blood and Chrome, Luke Pasqualino plays the fledgling Bill Adama. Now, I thought I really enjoyed that story. But after watching the entirety of BSG and several of the earlier made-for SyFy BSG "movies", I have to admit, it falls way short. Maybe it is just that I don't like giving any film or show negative reviews. Blood and Chrome had its merits, but RAZOR...

Razor really shows us what the young Adama should have looked like, and should have acted. And here, Nico Cortez plays Young Adama in such a way that you can actually see Ed Olmos' face in his face.

Regarding Helena Cain, I love Michelle Forbes, a big fan of Ensign Ro here. I feel she blew it by not being in Deep Space 9. But for her to be in BSG and also in this film, makes up for that loss, in a big way.

I was slightly disappointed with this, I was expecting much more of the Cain story. But after watching this twice in the last 3 days, I say it's the perfect combination of the Pegasus story, the more Current BSG timeline, and events 40 years prior. And the best part of this, is the Homage to the original 1978 BSG: Keep an eye out for "The Original Look" of a few things. You'll see.

There is also an untold story from the Pegasus era, involving a whole new character, someone we never saw. Stephany Jacobsen is Kendra Shaw. You may recognize her as a nurse from Farscape. One of Scorpius' Nurses, or you may not, she looked a lot different there. I think Ms. Jacoby was given a remarkable opportunity to play a major role in this film, and she did it well. In fact, there are three major Pegasus incidents, we learned about when Colonel Tigh would be drinking with Colonel Fisk. She is directly involved with all of them. And therefore answering our curiosity about how in hell exactly these things happened.

And told from this perspective, we can understand why Cain did these things. Not forgive of excuse, just understand.

And the missing Pegasus story fits right into what we missed from the Series. I was wondering who wrote this, but since it was made during the original run of BSG, it had to be the writing team from the show. The other BSG "Films", like "The Plan" are the same as this, made during production or right after, so there are less inconsistencies, like there were with Blood and Chrome.

But if you decide to rent this, pay attention to the ending. There is one Homage to BSG (1978) that stands high above any other homage or reference to the original show, it's like a piece of 1978 was carved out of 1978, and given to us to see here. Enjoy it, when you see it, you'll know what it is.

The film presents an episode of the battle against the Cylons seen through the eyes of the first aide of loony admiral Cain. It has all the good things which got me hooked to Galactica in the first place: edgy characters, dark plot, lots of space action and military strategy, twists of fate. A few more women characters that I would have liked, none of Gaius Baltar, which in my personal opinion is at least a third of the show, but still a heck of a movie, closer to the high powered first season of Battlestar Galactica than to the new philosophical/religious last season.

Bottom line: It was hard to delay watching it until the start of the fourth season of the show, but it was all worth it.

Excellent stand alone/season 4 intro (watch it how you want) that finally puts the whole franchise's roots on screen.

Centurions, vox-boxes, Gold Centurions! Ah, finally. And they don't look clunky, move poorly OR suffer from Stormtrooper Syndrome.

If, like me, you were not yet 10 when Ben Cartwright began to lead his Wagon Train toward earth, then you probably thought it was the most amazing thing you'd ever seen when first broadcast. Oh, how memory leads you astray. Damn you, VHS cassette and VCR, for ever allowing my golden, hazy dreams of days yore to be punctured by cruel reality. Amazing SFX (but what else from Richard Edlund?), blow-them-out-of-the-water opening (complete with sacrificial-lamb), boring, sermonising speeches, standard over-focus on leads (why does Apollo, a pilot, have to space-walk for the blast/oxygen vent, where are the engineers?), zero development of universe (oh, one comment about "loose" Geminese women) and (come the series) repeated FX shots that weren't simply repeated, but were obviously so.

If, like me, you saw all this, but refused to by bowed by it, then Ronald Moore's arrival on the scene (after Todd Moyer's departure, whew, that was close) was cause for pure rejoicing.

But as the series progressed, it gave fewer and fewer nods to its, admittedly dodgy, source material.

Until Razor. How to meld the painful past with the amazing now without destroying either or, worse, both? Write Razor.

Anybody who says that original Galactica was brilliant, current Galactica is a pale shadow and Razor is just crap is lying. Lying to themselves and you. Original Galactica was hamstrung by budget, pacing and imagination (yes, you read that right, imagination, see "over-focus on leads"), modern Galactica needed the legitimacy of the original. Casting Richard Hatch as Zarek was a good start, this is the perfect bridge.

Oh, and it's a great script, involving three time periods, moral conflicts, interpersonal conflicts and some kind of redemption. And centurions, vox-boxes and Gold Centurions.

By your command! 7.5/10