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Battlestar Galactica (TV miniseries)

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This article is specifically about the 2003 Battlestar Galactica miniseries only; for other uses, see the main Battlestar Galactica page or Battlestar Galactica (disambiguation).
Battlestar Galactica
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Genre Science Fiction, Drama
Picture format 1080i (HDTV)
Running time 180 min.
Creator(s) Ronald D. Moore
Starring See Cast and characters
Country of origin USA
Original channel Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sky One
Image:Flag of the United States.svg Sci Fi Channel
Original run December 8, 2003–December 9, 2003
No. of episodes 2
Official website
IMDb profile

Battlestar Galactica is a three-hour miniseries written and produced by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer. It was the first part of the Battlestar Galactica reimagining based on the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series, and served as a backdoor pilot for the 2004 television series. The miniseries originally aired on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States starting on December 8, 2003. The two parts of the miniseries earned, respectively, a 3.2 and 3.8 Nielsen rating, making the miniseries the third most-watched program on the Sci Fi Channel ever.

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The miniseries opens with the following text, during a scene in which the Cylons make their first appearance in over forty years at a remote space station:

The Cylons were created by Man.
They were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies.
And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters.
After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared.
The Cylons left for another world to call their own.
A remote space station was built...
...where Cylon and Human could meet and maintain diplomatic relations.
Every year, the Colonials send an officer.
The Cylons send no one.
No one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years.

The scene, which reveals that the Cylons have since gained the ability to mimic the human form, ends with the Cylons destroying the space station.

The Cylons return from their forty-year absence in an attempt to exterminate the human race, beginning with a sudden, unexpected and simultaneous nuclear bombardment of the Twelve Colonies. They then pursue the Battlestar Galactica as it arms itself against the new threat and escorts a fleet of civilian ships, including a government chartered ship later dubbed Colonial One, fleeing the Cylon invasion.

Image:Caprica burning.jpg The nuclear attack is made possible by the Cylons' infiltration of the Colonies' defense mainframe, through a Cylon agent known as Number Six who mimics a human woman both physically and behaviourally. Number Six is able to seduce the human scientist working on colonial defence, Dr. Gaius Baltar. She helps him with his software algorithms and in doing so covertly creates backdoors in the navigation programs used by the Colonial warships. When the Cylons attack, they are able to penetrate Colonial firewalls, disabling entire fighter squadrons outright and sabotaging vital capital-ship systems (in one incident, a battlestar loses power prior to being destroyed by the Cylons).

The Battlestar Galactica however, thanks to its non-networked computer systems, is unaffected by the mainframe exploits. It is in the process of being decommissioned and converted into a museum to honor its role in the first Cylon war, when it receives news of the attack and learns that the fleet headquarters, and a significant proportion of the colonial fleet has been destroyed. Commander Adama, Galactica's commanding officer, assumes control of the fleet after hearing that Admiral Nagala has been killed.

To avoid Cylon forces, Galactica performs a 'Faster-than-light' (FTL) jump - an instantaneous teleportation - to Ragnar Anchorage where it can restock on ammunition. Meanwhile, Colonial Heavy 798, which was carrying Secretary of Education Laura Roslin back to Caprica following Galactica's decommissioning ceremony, learns that Caprica City has been nuked. When the 42 government officials ahead of her in the presidential line of succession fail to check in per emergency procedures, Roslin assumes the presidency and Colonial Heavy 798 becomes Colonial One. A fleet of civilian ships that were stranded in the Caprica system in the aftermath of the attack look to Roslin for leadership, while Dr. Baltar, who manages to escape Caprica on a ship, joins the fleet. In expectation of a Cylon attack after the fleet is spotted by a Cylon raider, Roslin orders those civilian ships with hyperjump capability to jump to Ragnar and rendezvous with Galactica. She makes the decision to leave behind those ships with only sublight engines, including the Geminon Botanical Cruiser. Thousands are left behind, and Roslin is revealed to have been correct — the Cylons promptly appear and destroy every human ship left behind.

Image:BSG miniseries2.jpg

Roslin convenes with Adama and convinces him that fighting the Cylons is futile, and Adama agrees that the best course of action is to retreat with the civilian fleet and find a new world on which to rebuild civilization. However, the fleet is unable to jump safely from the immediate vicinity of Ragnar anchorage, which is located within a radioactive gas cloud, and the Cylons, aware of the fleet's presence but unable to penetrate the radiation, besiege the cloud. Adama devises a plan, and the fleet move out of the gas cloud while Galactica holds back the Cylon attacks. Civilian ships jump to the Prolmar Sector, and are shortly joined by Galactica.

After the escape, during the funeral for the dead crew on the ship, Adama inspires his crew by stating that he knows the location of the legendary thirteenth colony known as Earth.

In the final scenes of the miniseries, Number Six warns Baltar that Cylon agents, who may even be programmed to believe that they are human, could still be within the fleet. Adama finds a cryptic message in his quarters reading simply, "There are only 12 Cylon models," while on Ragnar, a group of humanoid Cylons rescue Aaron Doral (Galactica's decommissioning tour guide, who Baltar "discovered" was a Cylon). The last Cylon to enter the room is an exact copy of Lt. Sharon Valerii, revealing that Valerii (on the Galactica) is a Cylon copy.

[edit] Trivia

  • After the death of President Adar, Laura Roslin is sworn in as President on her transport ship, which is then renamed Colonial One. Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in on Air Force One after John F. Kennedy's assassination.
  • The scene where the young girl, Cami, is seen playing with her doll as the Cylons attack, is a reference to Lyndon Johnson's "Daisy" campaign commercial against Barry Goldwater.
Image:Serenity BSG.jpg
Image:Enterprise in BSG fleet.jpg
  • Miniseries - During Laura Roslin's visit to her doctor about her breast cancer, a firefly class transport flies past the window, from the TV show Firefly and movie Serenity. The special effects company Zoic Studios was responsible for the effects of both shows.
  • Miniseries - In one of the final shots of the miniseries, one can make out in the distance the Starship Enterprise, from Star Trek: The Original Series.
  • Gabriel Köerner, who appeared in the 1997 documentary Trekkies, worked as a CGI model maker on the mini-series, receiving a Visual Effects Society award nomination.
  • The name of the planet where the Anchorage is located, Ragnar, is an allusion to the mythic battle of Ragnarök. It is also a common Icelandic boy's name, "Ragn" meaning god or power of some sort and "ar" meaning a warrior or soldier. Ragnar therefor means a warrior of the gods.
  • A number of homages to the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series can be seen and heard. These include specs and models of 1978-era Cylons seen at Armistice Station and aboard the Galactica (in the museum exhibit). The music played during the decommissioning ceremony is the opening theme music of the 1978 series. Adama's speech about Earth mentions that according to the old scriptures, "Life here began out there." This is taken from the opening narration of certain episodes of the 1978 series. Finally, a Number Six model Cylon utters the phrase "by your command" in acknowledgement of orders being given by Aaron Doral. This is the same phrase that 1978-era Cylon Centurions use to acknowledge the orders of Command Centurions and the Imperious Leader. These are covered to a greater degree as a Comparison of Battlestar Galactica (1978) and Battlestar Galactica (2003).

[edit] External links

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