umm..battlestar? by terrifried

Quote:
Originally posted by Ironspy:
I'm not sure Battlestar would be what it is right now, if not for Firefly. The zooms, the "found footage" feel, and especially the out of focus CG were all Firefly's first.

Not quite. Crash zooms, unfocused CGI, and the like were used in the battle scene at the end of Attack of the Clones, which was released 5 months before the premeire of Firefly.

But I agree with the other posters. Battlestar rocks! I've only seen the 1st season so far (waiting for the ENTIRE 2nd season on DVD, none of that season 2.0/2.5 crap).

And while no, it isn't as humerouse as Firefly, but it's a much grimmer premise. I imagine it's hard to be funny when you're part of the final surviving 1% of the human race, and you have big nasty robots gunning for you.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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Friday, February 24, 2006 11:49 AM

STILLSHINY

Gotta say Fixedbyfaith & I were introduced to the Battlestar series by some friends. We very reluctantly stepped into the fracking water. Putting aside my love of the original Starbuck Dirk forever!!! & adjusting to the new changes. I soon was hooked. I came home to find a BSG wallpaper on my wife's computer. I soon begand desperately dloading of BTorrent to get caught up. We currently average 2-3 episodes a night. We started last week & should be caught up by next Fridays show.

"We had ties that could not be broken, except by the passing of time. Like a rock. A broken time rock. And you're very special to me, my broken time rock people." - Nathan Fillion

Stillshiny's Shop - I'm thinkin we rose again

http://www.spreadshirt.com/shop.php?sid=4728

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Friday, February 24, 2006 12:03 PM

JPSTARGAZER

Someone jump in and clarify, but I think I heard (or read) something about Joss saying upon seeing Episode II, that they stole his idea, because he was doing the same thing with Firefly. It sounds like it's one of those things where two groups come up with a similar idea independent of eachother, and one comes out first. Does anyone remember where I might have gotten that? I can't remember, I've listened to so many commentaries and read so many interviews.

"All I got is a red guitar, three chords, and the truth...the rest is up to you"
--Bono

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Friday, February 24, 2006 12:05 PM

REXJAYNE

Well obviously it isn't Firefly, but I have to say I've never seen anything like it. It is just amazing. Though I must disagree about the second season, it's getting a little scarier and more intense, but I certainly don't think they're running out of stories. Every episode I end up gasping. They always surprise me, nothing is predictable. The characters grow, actions have consquences, and you're never really sure who the bad guys are. It just keeps you guessing.

The acting is amazing, the writing is great and the whole thing just seems so real. There's nothing on TV to compare to it. The Adamas, Sharon, Starbuck.. We're just totally addicted. We just bought the first season and started watching it over again now that we're halfway through the second season.

Sorry to gush, I've just been rather hollow since Firefly went down and it's been years since I've actually really liked anything being shown on TV.
Thank the gods for the Space channel.

-------
Let's not be excludin' people, that'd be rude.

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Friday, February 24, 2006 12:07 PM

GARBAGECANMUSIC

The crash zooms and unfocused CGI were NOT a part of The Attack of the Clones nor was it an influence.

And I am a Star Wars fan, so I'm not bashing blindly.

How much is that little Geisha in the window?

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Friday, February 24, 2006 12:10 PM

Don't recall reading that anywhere. I can see it being a case of both of them coming up with simmilar ideas at the same time, though. Maybe it was just a matter of the technology reaching a point where it was possible. If Lucas hadn't done it first, Joss would have. If not Joss, someone else...

But chronologically, there's no way Lucas could have really "stolen" the idea - unless maybe Joss called him up just to tell him about it. AOTC was out 5 months before FF premeired, and the lead-time on a feature film is much, much longer than TV (in most cases). Even though I've read that those particular shots/techniques were relatively late additions to AOTC, they still would have to have been put in a good 2-3 months before the May release.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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Friday, February 24, 2006 12:11 PM

NUCLEARDAY

Quote:
Originally posted by jpstargazer:
Someone jump in and clarify, but I think I heard (or read) something about Joss saying upon seeing Episode II, that they stole his idea, because he was doing the same thing with Firefly. It sounds like it's one of those things where two groups come up with a similar idea independent of eachother, and one comes out first. Does anyone remember where I might have gotten that? I can't remember, I've listened to so many commentaries and read so many interviews.

"All I got is a red guitar, three chords, and the truth...the rest is up to you"
--Bono

I believe that in the "Train Job" commentary Joss and Tim are talking about that. How they thought they were doing this really neat and new technique with the CGI, and they saw Attack of the Clones, and there were a few scenes there that used it too. (Think it's during the scene at Niska's place IIRC.)

Quite frankly, it feels a bit more natural with Firefly. With that show it's more about fitting the CGI elements in with the rest of the camera style. In Star Wars they likely threw that in just 'cause they thought it looked neat.

________________________________________________
You can take my hope when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

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Friday, February 24, 2006 12:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by garbagecanmusic:
The crash zooms and unfocused CGI were NOT a part of The Attack of the Clones nor was it an influence.

And I am a Star Wars fan, so I'm not bashing blindly.

How much is that little Geisha in the window?

Go watch AOTC again, at least the Geonosian battle at the end. The crash zoom/unfocused shots were not all over the scene or anything, but they were there. One that springs to mind is a shot looking past some clones on the ground, which crash-zooms to Padme in a troop transport in the distance (Anakin and Obi-Wan are in the ship, but Padme is the focus).

There were even articles written up in some FX and video journals, becuase those zooms were done in post, and were brought up as a strength of the (then-new) HD cameras they were useing, since with film, you can only zoom about 15% in post without noticable quality loss, but with HD you can get about a 30-50% zoom without much loss (for clarity, the shots was mostly CG, with Padme having been shot in live action).

And just to be a nit-picking bastard

, there's no "The" before "Attack of the Clones".

Sorry, I'm not just a fan, but a raving Star Wars nut.
"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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Friday, February 24, 2006 12:31 PM

CHRISTHECYNIC

I'll speak my bit without reading what anyone else has said.

Firefly and Battlestar Galatica have a lot in common, and a lot that isn't in common.

What they have in common are that they are shows set in space with Firefly camera work centering around people in futures with no aliens.

Centering around people is probably the big thing.

-

What they don't have in common is that the people in Galactica are fugitives who were once in charge and are now actively being hunted down, the people on firefly are just plain fugitives.

Galactica has no aliens, like Firefly, but it does have cylons, and they are a driving force in the plot.

Firefly is a western, a land of opportunity and death, Galactica is just a land of death, there is not much room for humor. The Joss line that went something like, "Make it dark, make it edgy, make it something, but then for the love of god tell a joke," is not heeded.

Galactica is also a land of politics.

-
-

The end result is that if what you like about Firefly is realistic human being who have real problems of various natures and live in a non-antiseptic space that looks like it could really exist as shown via Firefly style camera work and effects Galactia will work for you.

If what you liked was the humor, the non-gigantic non-epic story, the fact that they were not active in changing society and certainly not in positions of power, or any of that sort of stuff steer clear.

-

The reason that the camera work looks the same, as someone has probably already said, is that the people doing Galatica said they wanted it to be like Firefly, the reason the effects work looks the same is that they are done by the same company.

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Friday, February 24, 2006 2:24 PM

IRONSPY

You know, I never noticed that in Attack of the Clones. Probably I was too busy cringing to pick up on the nuances.

But still, there's a big difference between camera effects added in post-production just for the hell of it and camera effects added for the sake of internal consistency and immersion.

If anyone was really immersed in Attack of the Clones for any reason, then I don't know how you could have liked Firefly, because you are made out of plastic.

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Friday, February 24, 2006 2:50 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ironspy:
You know, I never noticed that in Attack of the Clones. Probably I was too busy cringing to pick up on the nuances.

But still, there's a big difference between camera effects added in post-production just for the hell of it and camera effects added for the sake of internal consistency and immersion.

If anyone was really immersed in Attack of the Clones for any reason, then I don't know how you could have liked Firefly, because you are made out of plastic.

Ouch.

But, sorry. Last I checked, I was still all fleshy. Just happen to like a lot of different types of scifi.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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Friday, February 24, 2006 3:02 PM

STARSONG

Quote:
You know, I never noticed that in Attack of the Clones. Probably I was too busy cringing to pick up on the nuances.

funny. :D

As to BSG... it's very very done for what it is -- I do like it, most especially because it shares one very important quality with Firefly -- the characters are human. The society is recognizably human, not some utopian hodge podge where every human failing or political point is given its own special race.

That said... I'm kinda tired of shows focusing on all manner of official heroes. Call it Starfleet, call it EarthForce, call it the Colonial Marines (take your pick which set ;) ), heck, call it the Alliance... it's gotten old.

One of the best things about Firefly/Serenity is that they're just regular folks, and don't have the near-infinite resources of a great big ol' military behind 'em. Makes the stories more personable, more human. I like it.

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Friday, February 24, 2006 6:24 PM

ASEDATEDMOOSE

I saw a couple of episodes of BSG on NBC sometime last year (I think). I enjoyed them enough that when I saw that the first season was on DVD I giggled like the little schoolgirl I'm not and very excitedly paid the forty bucks from my rapidly decreasing funds. It's one of the best shows I have ever seen, alongside Firefly, but for different reasons.

The main thing that the two shows have in common is that they feel realistic and even plausible. But after that and the spaceships, they're completely different. BSG is even darker than Firefly and without much humor to speak of. But one of my favorite things is that you see the echos of anything that happens, and there's a sense of urgency through the whole thing.

You should check it out.

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Friday, February 24, 2006 7:48 PM

Does anyone here remember the origonal Battlestar Galactica? I know it is pretty dated compared to todays tv, but it had the humor that the new one doesn't. I admit that it wasn't "gritty". No tv from the early eighties was, though. Since it was cancelled after one season, (do I see a pattern here, hmmm?) we didn't get the chance for characture development. I think the networks were more controlling then and trusted action over substance. They are not much better now, but a few shows like Firefly and V. Mars are proof that when the network steps back and the writers and directors are allowed to do their work, we get something wonderful.

I am sorry for any spelling errors, I'm sick, it's late and I'm to lazy to check right now.

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Friday, February 24, 2006 8:34 PM

CHINDI

LOL I am old enough to remember the original and there was more humor.. I remember that the tour at Universal Studios used to have "Cylons" (the old model) who were pretty scary (at the time) and said "By your command" all the time...lol scared the bejeezus out of the little kids!!

I remember too when the Gallacticas finally got to Earth and saw the traffic on the LA freeway.. they were impressed that these "ships" were able to go in such great lengthy "formations".. it was funny...

I still prefer the humor and humanity of Firefly... but I do thinks the new BSG is pretty good and I like all the actors.. they do a great job.

Chindi

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 6:12 AM

The old series was a piece of shit. The man who wrote it was forced to make a made-for-TV version of star wars. He had great ideas but had to tone them down and produce generic fodder for public consumption.

The great strength of the original BSG was the fact that "the creator" of the show had creative control over the special effects. Cylons were the coolest chrome-ified robot enemies ever, led by Gaius Baltar who destroyed 12 whole planets right off the bat. Forget the gay-ass Gaius Baltar in the "re-imagined" BSG2. The original was evil incarnate, an "in-your-face" bad guy. In the new BSG, Gaius is a weak-ass boytoy who is sleeping with a Cylon (but hey, it's been re-imagined).

Bonnie Hammer took over Sci-fi chan. Her influence is felt in this show. It's been "re-imagined". Did you know you aren't allowed to talk about this shit in the "official" Sci-Fi channel forums? Your posts will get deleted and your ISP banned.

The new BSG has NOTHING to do with the old one. It's basically a morality play about how a bunch of political do-gooders would react in space if they had ships that could travel across the galaxies and earth were destroyed.

It is not a remake of the original show. It's just a sci-fi version of daytime soap operas. But hey, what do I know? I'm just ignorant.

I tried to follow the new one, in spite of everything. I quit 3-4 eps ago. When Sci-Fi chan is on a political mission to try and resemble modern-day life with modern-day issues in the middle of a science fiction show, they stop being able to make decent sci-fi. Thx Bonnie Hammer. I'm glad Gaius Baltar is a conflicted science man of conscience and cylons are just misunderstood persecuted people (oh never mind that they destroyed 12 planets and annihilated presumably trillions of people, they are misunderstood and need to have a "resistance" support-structure on board the fleet of survivors ~ adios reality, hello hollywood politics).

Sci-Fi chan:

You've re-imagined BSG for me and it smells like the nightly news.

and PS ~ (ADAMA) E.J. Olmos will NEVER be equal in acting ability to Lorne Greene. He sucks, he sucks real real bad!

XG

No such thing as gravity. The "Earth-that-was" just sucks.

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 6:12 AM

I try to forget that Galactica 1980 ever happened. WOW, was that bad! Not in a campy, funny way, either, but in a cringing, "OMG what have they done to my favorite show" way. I mean really, they can fly in space and they are going to be impressed by gas engines and radio waves. I think this one was created by network execs in committee rather than actual writers.

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 6:24 AM

HAZE

I think the new BSG is a nice little slice of Sci-fi. Its quite true it owes a huge dept to Firefly in its visual effects style (Isn’t the CG done by the same company?)

--------------------------------------------------
Who do you suppose is in there?

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 6:33 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by XeroGravity:
The old series was a piece of shit. The man who wrote it was forced to make a made-for-TV version of star wars. He had great ideas but had to tone them down and produce generic fodder for public consumption.

The great strength of the original BSG was the fact that "the creator" of the show had creative control over the special effects. Cylons were the coolest chrome-ified robot enemies ever, led by Gaius Baltar who destroyed 12 whole planets right off the bat. Forget the gay-ass Gaius Baltar in the "re-imagined" BSG2. The original was evil incarnate, an "in-your-face" bad guy. In the new BSG, Gaius is a weak-ass boytoy who is sleeping with a Cylon (but hey, it's been re-imagined).

Bonnie Hammer took over Sci-fi chan. Her influence is felt in this show. It's been "re-imagined". Did you know you aren't allowed to talk about this shit in the "official" Sci-Fi channel forums? Your posts will get deleted and your ISP banned.

The new BSG has NOTHING to do with the new one. It's basically a morality play about how a bunch of political do-gooders would react in space if they had ships that could travel across the galaxies and earth were destroyed.

It is not a remake of the original show. It's just a sci-fi version of daytime soap operas. But hey, what do I know? I'm just ignorant.

I tried to follow the new one, in spite of everything. I quit 3-4 eps ago. When Sci-Fi chan is on a political mission to try and resemble modern-day life with modern-day issues in the middle of a science fiction show, they stop being able to make decent sci-fi. Thx Bonnie Hammer. I'm glad Gaius Baltar is a conflicted science man of conscience and cylons are just misunderstood persecuted people (oh never mind that they destroyed 12 planets and annihilated presumably trillions of people, they are misunderstood and need to have a "resistance" support-structure on board the fleet of survivors ~ adios reality, hello hollywood politics).

Sci-Fi chan:

You've re-imagined BSG for me and it smells like the nightly news.

and PS ~ (ADAMA) E.J. Olmos will NEVER be equal in acting ability to Lorne Greene. He sucks, he sucks real real bad!

XG

No such thing as gravity. The "Earth-that-was" just sucks.

Hi zerog,

I am so with you there. I can't go so far as to call it a piece of shit, though. I like the stories and actors too much. But yeh, if the network hadn't interfered so much and cut the budget way down, we could have had a higher quality show. Hatch, Benidict, and Greene will always have a special place in my heart. They gave the charactures a sense of nobility, the new ones just seem a little whinny to me.

Doesn't it seem like they threw poor Hatch some kind of bone with this series, after he worked so hard to get the origional back?

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 6:39 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Haze:
I think the new BSG is a nice little slice of Sci-fi. Its quite true it owes a huge dept to Firefly in its visual effects style (Isn’t the CG done by the same company?)

--------------------------------------------------
Who do you suppose is in there?

I thought that Firefly came before the BSG series? I had heard that it's the same CGI company. Maybe they developed the technique and the producers of both shows liked and used it?

Sorry,never mind me,I read the post backwards.

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 6:51 AM

Hatch is a whore. He tried to "lead" the way on the revive BSG campaign, even wrote fiction books on BSG (against the will of "the creator").

He acted like he gave a shit about the show criticizing the direction sci-fi chan was taking it in, and now that's it back on the air (re-imagined), he has a starring role. He's a whore.

Benedict has kept out of it but I imagine we'll be seeing him sooner or later getting an actor's paycheck (just like hatch) ~ actors will be actors.

Hatch didn't work hard to get the show back on the air. He just milked the efforts of die-hard BSG fans who fought for 20+ years to get back on the air, and at the first hint of a payday he betrayed them so he could get his buttugly wrinkled face back on the air. Screw him.

I hate the new BSG. It's lame as hell.

The orginial cylons and their 1/2-disc ships didn't need to be re-imagined. It was the only thing about the show that I looked forward to seeing revamped with CGI graphics. Instead they just threw it out (baby with the bathwater).

But throw in a couple hot actresses as leads, a bunch of washed-up no-talents, and make it all political-now'ish. You have a "critical" hit.

Sci-fi chan didn't have to sell out, their audience was finding them (slowly but surely). They sold out in the moment of truth, and now we get this load of horseshit.

XG

No such thing as gravity. The "Earth-that-was" just sucks.

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 7:06 AM

UNREGISTEREDCOMPANION

Sorry XG...couldn't disagree with you more. The new BSG has a depth never even imagined in the first series. It is like comparing the Adam West Batman to Batman Begins. Both serve a function, but one is pure camp, while the other is great drama.

That being said, last night's episode was FRACKING AWESOME!!!!

~~~~~
"Funny and sexy. You have no idea. And you never will."

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 7:36 AM

ARCADIA

I love BSG. I have the everything through season 2.0 on DVD, and was going to wait until 2.5 came out in DVD to see it (sadly, I don't get scifi in the dorm, or at home because I don't get digital cable), but ended up breaking down and downloading all the episodes through "The Captain's Hand" off I-tunes. I love, love, love the show.

I am so pissed that last night's episode isn't on I-tunes yet.

On a weird note, I was looking at Aaron Douglass's website yet and he was talking about the break he gets between seasons two and three and I was like, "wait... so there will be a season three!" :-) And then I realized that of course there would be. It's scifi's top rated show. I'm so used to shows like Firefly, Veronica Mars, and Arrested Development being on the verge of cancellation that I find it totally weird to watch and show knowing that it won't be. Bizarre.

"Objects in Space"
River: It's just an object. It doesn't mean what you think...

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 11:34 AM

GIXXER

New BSG. I saw the miniseries, and it wasn't terrible. (Mrs G, being a diehard original fan, refused to look at it.)

Equally, though, it wasn't all that fantastic. What killed it for me was:

- the human-looking cylons. Stupid idea. Was there a chrome shortage or something?

- the same-old same old. Ooh look, an ultra-villain appears week after week and never bloody gets caught. Crow's exit was how it should be.

-nobody appeared to be having a good time. Being all tortured and moody and stuff. And that bleeding president woman. What a moany git. Get over yourself. Where's Sigourney Weaver when you need her.

-dark, mumbly dialogue.

-getting nightmares when I saw the New Cylons. Damn. Somebody is channelling Sky Captain like mad. Same shape robots and the same desperately dull monotonic delivery of lines that made me give up without watching it to the end.

-the Apollo Guy's acting. Black hole of charisma or what? Guest speaker at an Actuaries' Convention. He has stories. Funny and sexy. Oh wait, they're not.

Pardon me, me head appears to have exploded.

G

Hands up! You are surrounded by armed bastards!

(Life on Mars - Watch for it on BBC America. You'll love it.)

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 11:50 AM

PRETTYPRETTY

Apollo's acting? I am a huge fan of Jaime Bamber's..I think he does great with the material. Then again, I am a 23 year old who was an obvious Simon fan, so take my adulation for what it's worth. Hot boys + space =happiness.

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 12:05 PM

Quote:
When Sci-Fi chan is on a political mission to try and resemble modern-day life with modern-day issues in the middle of a science fiction show, they stop being able to make decent sci-fi. Thx Bonnie Hammer.

In case you weren't aware, the original intention of science fiction is to use fantastical, fictional settings and circumstances to reflect and/or comment on current political and social issues.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 12:07 PM

JUBEL

Firefly rocks...

battlestar rocks too...

the flamers obviously have too much time on their hands. it's a show. watch it. don't think.

fracking browncoats rock!

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 12:23 PM

LEEH

OMG, YES!! I've watched every major scifi TV series for the past thirty years, and this one blows all of them out of the water. It's even better than our beloved FF, although not as funny; but it's better conceived and executed (although FF could easily have beaten it had Fox not killed it untimely). The characters aren't as likeable as our FF family, but they are very very real.

Smart story lines, socially-conscious themes, good writing, top-notch acting--that's what it's all about, isn't it?

"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle. . . ."

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 2:22 PM

KNIBBLET

Quote:
Originally posted by XeroGravity:
It is not a remake of the original show. It's just a sci-fi version of daytime soap operas. But hey, what do I know? I'm just ignorant.

Forget the gay-ass Gaius Baltar in the "re-imagined" BSG2 ... weak-ass boytoy who is sleeping with a Cylon .

I have to ask, which is Gaius? Gay or a boytoy to a female model cylon? Unless of course you were using 'gay' as a slur.
I would have to agree. You are ignorant. And a bigot to boot. Good for you - be multi-talented.

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 4:02 PM

Ok everybody, work with me here...

Basic synopsis of the show:

(this is the original premise as Glen Larson would have wished it to be... it should be noted that he ~ "the creator" ~ hates the new BSG, and I'm totally with him on this one)

Earth is the long-lost "13th tribe" of humanity. Apparently, many 1000's of years ago, human beings were advanced enough to have space travel. Somehow, chaos erupted and civilization collapsed. All of humanity de-evolved to become primitive and warlike. The 12 major planets fared ok, but the 13th planet (Earth, the most distant) became lost to history among the 12 worlds of BSG. It disappeared into myth. The people of Earth also forgot their roots and what was once the religion of their ancient ancestors is dismissed out of hand. That religion on Earth exists only as Greek mythology with all it's gods ~ Zeus, Apollo, Hera, Poseidon, Hermes, Ares, Nike, Dionysus, Athena, etc. etc.

So there is your basic premise... Earth evolved along a separate track from it's 12 cousins and now those cousins have been annihilated by artificially intelligent robots led by Gaius Baltar ~ note to jackass Knibblet: "Gaius" as in "Gaius Julius Caesar. Baltar was a power-mad psychopath who used the robots to destroy the planets in a bid to conquer his neighbors (like Caesar destroying the Roman Republic and replacing it with an imperial tyranny that ultimately doomed Rome.

Before there was ever "The Terminator", there were cylons. Larson was a fuckin genius. Sadly, the TV executives made him take his original vision for BSG and water it down with unbelievable gayness (like disco-teques in space, and feel-good optimism like you find in children's shows). If Larson had been given a free hand, the original BSG would have been 10X better than Trek.

A strange parallel with the original BSG and Firefly... both were ruined by greedy executives meddling with them, and doomed before they ever had a chance to blossom and grow.

The new BSG is gay as hell. The new Gaius Baltar is effeminant and weak... he doesn't inspire a sense of dread or fear in me. The new "Adama" has a bad actor with no gravitas... am I supposed to believe R.E. Olmos has leadership quality when he slurs his words and his acting has zero passion? And this Pres. Rosalin chick? She looks like a wide-eyed deer caught in the headlights. Oh ya, she's totally believable as leader of a people under siege by maniacal murderous robots. I love the flashbacks where she's education secretary fighting for the rights of underpaid teachers. Just kinda tugs at my heart strings. Oh Jesus my eyes are getting misty. I'm fuckin touched.

The whole storyline of this new show is just too friggin stupid to be believable. Why couldn't they get Larson into the loop and let him call the shots? The show would have been a timeless masterpiece of sci-fi. Nahh... they had to "re-imagine" it... gotta make it a fashionable and hip soap opera (kinda like disco in space was in the 70s).

XG

No such thing as gravity. The "Earth-that-was" just sucks.

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Saturday, February 25, 2006 5:51 PM

DARKJESTER

Man. Bitter much Xero?

You don't like the new BSG, we get that. The old BSG would have been great(er) if the networks hadn't meddled, we get that too. But you called my friend a jackass for no good reason, 'cept perhaps she poked fun at you.

I was willing to read to your arguments, even though I disagree with most of them. The way you polarize the issue - something is either the greatest ever, or the absolute worst - is a great attitude for blind polemics, not so much for a discussion among friends.

Let's just watch the namecalling, eh? No, I'm no-one important. No penalty for telling me to go to hell. I'm just a Browncoat, asking for a little civility.

MAL "You only gotta scare him."
JAYNE "Pain is scary..."

http://www.fireflytalk.com - Big Damn Podcast

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Sunday, February 26, 2006 1:21 AM

Darkjester:

Hmm let's see. Knibblet calls me ignorant and bigoted. Doesn't add any substance to the debate. Just calls me names. So I called her a jackass. Why? Because she's a jackass.

Enter stage left:

You come charging to the rescue (you're so very heroic). There's always your type out there... cloaked in false group-hug humanitarianism ~ can't debate the facts before you gotta step in and announce "let the healing begin." Oh... let's not forget you get your digs in, insult me, and try to couch it in a fakey-ass heartwarming aura of wholesome goodness. I love the subtle insinuation that somehow I've already stated the facts of my case (which I hadn't). Perhaps your debating tact seems smart to you, but I can see you've been mercifully spared the ravages of intelligence. You're an idiot.

I know your type.. you can be found in Starbucks buying $5 cups of coffee (double-tall cafe latte decaf with soymilk), you hang out with alienated nihilists and existentialists (wannabes that run in packs), you have pseudo-intellectual discussions where everyone is categorized as "obtuse" or "bourgeoisie" or "blind polemics".

I have a picture of you in my mind... ponytail, wire-rim glasses, turtleneck, black beret and goatee, probably playing the bongos.

XG

No such thing as gravity. The "Earth-that-was" just sucks.

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Sunday, February 26, 2006 4:14 AM

DARKJESTER

Who was it said "give 'em enough rope...."?

I thought you called yourself ignorant, she was agreeing with you.

Calling someone names adds nothing to the argument, therefore you call them names. I ask for some civility, so you call me names. Do I see a pattern here?

MAL "You only gotta scare him."
JAYNE "Pain is scary..."

http://www.fireflytalk.com - Big Damn Podcast

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Sunday, February 26, 2006 8:59 AM

BROWNCOATSRISEAGAIN

How about characters who are fundamentally flawed but still rise to the occasion when destiny demands it? (all the characters in both BSG and Firefly)

How about plotlines that aren't cookie-cutter and often cause our 'heroes' to show their failings?
(all the stories of Firefly and BSG)

How about an enemy so insidious and evil that they could be your best friend and you wouldn't know it?

How about leadership that is too weak at times and overbearing strength at others. (The Pres and Adama and Tigh versus Mal, the Operative, etc.)

Sounds more like a future reality than black/white characters and plots that some seem to prefer in this thread.

All entertainment has some tie-in to the reality it is part of. Otherwise you get art that no one understands or wants a part of. Commentary on current events is part of that tie-in.

My .02 Please flame on...

Andrew Schultz
www.browncoatsriseagain.com

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Sunday, February 26, 2006 9:09 AM

TMURRIE

Battlestar Galactica is absolutly genious. They are pushing the bounds of creative television for the masses, even though most of the masses won't understand it and will resort back to WWF, or WWE, or whatever it is

I love battlstar Galactica so much, I think I'm gonna marry it.

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Monday, February 27, 2006 1:07 AM

When the miniseries first came out, I knew it was gonna be bad 15 minutes into it. 4 torturous hours of boring dialogue, bad script writing, and bad acting ~ 4 hours with virtually zero combat. Where was the epic battle of human versus cylon? You hear about it but don't see it. Shit, if they couldn't budget any money for a decent space battle, or some skirmishing with cylons on the planet's surface, why bother remaking it in the first place?

And then there's the wardrobes... the minute I saw everyone from the homeworld running around in Brook's Brothers, Gucci, and Armani suits, I realised that the people making it were never fans of the original show (or misunderstood it's basic premise). This is supposed to be a culture of humans who've developed independantly of us for 10,000 years plus?? They all look like they just jumped off the cover of GQ magazine. And I'm not buying the "low budget" argument. Creative laziness, plain and simple. In the original BSG (which was low budget), they actually employed a wardrobe department and gave people tech-modern costumes that were reminiscent of ancient Grecian robes, togas, etc. The viper pilots and battle-crew's uniforms had a military feel about it which blended both ancient and modern-day world. The old brown costumes with the riding-boots were slick. Look at the original viper-pilot helmets... it's design had a cobra-like feel to it. Now they are wearing plastic bike-helmets with cheesy lighting and $20 jumpsuits that you can buy at any surplus store. Wow. They really went overboard in "re-imagining" that part. Whoopity doo and shit.

And Gixxer took the words right out of my own mouth about the new cylons being copies of that noir-ish "Sky Captain" movie. The most enduring aspect of loving the old show for anyone who grew up watching it was the original cylon ships and bots... The saucers (raiders) were just cool as hell, and the bots had an ominous electrical voice and a red oscillating light in their visors that eventually found it's way onto the front hood of the "Knight Rider" hot-road. We won't call it a rip-off.... we'll call it an "inspiration".

When we finally do meet the cylons in the series (since they never appear in the 4 hour mini), they are fighting a religious crusade to destroy humanity. Why? Cuz God told them to. Gimme a friggin break. Don't you you just kind of hate it when your toaster becomes a holy warrior hellbent on your own destruction? I knew mine was trying to murder me when all my toast came out burnt. Ya know... I'm an atheist. I couldn't give a shit about religion, but this is such a stupid political departure from the original show. This isn't BSG... a bad copy maybe, but they should have given the show another name. "Attack of the Religious Robots"? "Jihad-o-bots"? This whole unending arc about evangelistic androids and the seduction/betrayal of Gaius Baltar is just tedious and stupid.

One final thing to BROWNCOATSRISEAGAIN:

I have no problem with them making the characters in the new show flawed. In fact, that makes it more believable IMHO. The original series was too campy. I also thought making Starbuck into a hawt chick and throwing in the romantic tension potential with Apollo was brilliant. Hell... the android infiltration thing was a decent idea if it had been handled differently. But a handful of decent ideas does not a good series make. The script writing is horrendous, the plots boring ~ a bona-fide sleeping pill. And there are too many inconsistencies in the storyline from one episode to the next (which would take forever to spell out).

I was excited when I heard they were remaking a mini-series and potentially bringing back the show. I've stuck it out since day 1, but it started out bad, and has stayed that way for me. I was nostalgically loyal to the original BSG (watching it when I was a kid, dressing like a cylon on halloween, etc.), and for the last couple years I've tried to maintain an interest in the new one hoping they would, sooner or later, make it interesting. It's a dismal failure in that respect. I hate this show.

XG

No such thing as gravity. The "Earth-that-was" just sucks.

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Monday, February 27, 2006 7:12 AM

XeroG--
Uhh... we got it. You don't like the new BSG. The fact is, though, at least on this board (and seemingly scifi channel's viewership in general), you are in the minority. A lot of people really, really like this new version. A lot don't like the old version. I for one thought it was waaaay to campy and cheesy. But I'm not going to rant and rave and call names just because someone else does like it.

You're ranting in this thread won't change anyone's mind, nor will our views of the show change yours. Go watch the original on DVD, go post on boards for that show. No need to be a troll around here.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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Monday, February 27, 2006 2:11 PM

Storymark:

Gee whiz. I love the "Uhh... ok we got it the 1st time" response. It's getting kind of generic.

I'm sorry dude. I didn't realise this was the "ONLY PEOPLE WHO LOVE BSG CAN POST HERE" thread. I guess if I'm a dissenter, I have to speak my piece, be called names, then lay down and take it... oh wait a minute...

I forgot. I'm THE ONE calling people names. I'm such a shit-disturber. But of course, whats-her-name was "only poking fun" when she called me an ignorant bigot. So very self-righteous. I'm always provoking people.

Get your snout out of Dark Jester's ass dude. Seriously. Dispute me on the facts (if you can). If your brain is equal to the task. Or lay another "Umm.. ok we got it the 1st time" line on me. Cheesy cop-out of an inferior intellect.

I'm a "ranter", I'm a "bigot", I'm "ignorant", I'm a "troll"... I love it. Gimme more.

XG

oh here it comes... part deux to the "Uhh... ok we got it the 1st time" response...

pt. 2:

"don't you understand if you keep discussing this with him you'll only provoke him more. clearly we're intellectually elite cuz he's a (YOUR CHOICE OF THE ABOVE)."

predictable as always.

No such thing as gravity. The "Earth-that-was" just sucks.

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Monday, February 27, 2006 2:24 PM