Battlestar Galactica: The Original Series + Galactica 1980 - May 12, 2015

[Katatonia]

I pre-ordered The Definitive Collection. Expensive, but this is just a must buy for me.

Here's hoping Universal don't screw it up!

[Stefan1]

is the 125 min episode worth the definitive collection? (Not interested in full screen)

If not, is Remastered worth a blind buy? Love the New BSG series from 2004

[Thomas Guycott]

Originally Posted by Stefan1

is the 125 min episode worth the definitive collection? (Not interested in full screen)

It's just the European theatrical version of the series premiere.

While that can be a cool thing (SENSURROUND!), I'd say the OAR is the main incentive for the Definitive Edition.

[dmarvin]

Is anyone familiar with the show Blake's 7? How does BG compare? I love B7 and the fact that the special effects were mostly goofy. But the writing and characterization was excellent. If BSG has those types of things to recommend it, I just may bite.

[Thomas Guycott]

Originally Posted by dmarvin

Is anyone familiar with the show Blake's 7? How does BG compare? I love B7 and the fact that the special effects were mostly goofy. But the writing and characterization was excellent. If BSG has those types of things to recommend it, I just may bite.

The original Battlestar Galactica is unfortunately nowhere near the tone or execution of Blake's 7. It's a fun show with great characters and visuals (at least until you get sick of them), but the whole thing is mired in a hokey post-Star Wars confusion, like it doesn't really know what science fiction actually is. I know some BSG fans might cry foul at that, but as a fellow fan I'm just being honest.

And a lot of the filler, non-spectacle plot-of-the-week episodes are also a real drag.

(Where the hell is my US DVD release of Blake's 7 anyway? )

[Katatonia]

Originally Posted by dmarvin

Is anyone familiar with the show Blake's 7? How does BG compare? I love B7 and the fact that the special effects were mostly goofy. But the writing and characterization was excellent. If BSG has those types of things to recommend it, I just may bite.

Yeah, I'm a fan of that show and own all of the UK DVD season sets of Blake's 7.

I don't know how much I would compare that series too much to BSG though. BSG is more of a TV clone of Star Wars than anything else. The overall plot and characters are pretty different, and Blake's 7 was also a much cheaper show than BSG. The BSG sets and effects were far more believable overall, in terms of both design and the money they had to construct those...albeit even those do look pretty cheap today.

There is light comedy thrown in BSG though, so it's got that going for it. BSG definitely has a strong 70's cheese factor to it also. You'd probably like the Muffit character, etc..

[DVDave]

Originally Posted by Thomas Guycott

The original Battlestar Galactica is unfortunately nowhere near the tone or execution of Blake's 7. It's a fun show with great characters and visuals (at least until you get sick of them), but the whole thing is mired in a hokey post-Star Wars confusion, like it doesn't really know what science fiction actually is. I know some BSG fans might cry foul at that, but as a fellow fan I'm just being honest.

And a lot of the filler, non-spectacle plot-of-the-week episodes are also a real drag.

(Where the hell is my US DVD release of Blake's 7 anyway? )

Except that BSG postulatated the theory of Ancient Aliens colonizing the Earth LONG before Stargate did it. I'll give you the Space Cowboy shoot-em-up rompiness of the show but as far as sci-fi is concerned, you're dead wrong. Glen Larson infused that show with so much science fiction and spirituality than most so-called TV sci-fi.

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

reformatted to be optimized for the HDTV viewing experience.

The optimal HDTV viewing experience is to be able to watch it the way it was intended. When it was filmed, what aspect ratio did they compose for, or did they compose for two potential aspect ratios?

[dmarvin]

Originally Posted by Thomas Guycott

The original Battlestar Galactica is unfortunately nowhere near the tone or execution of Blake's 7. It's a fun show with great characters and visuals (at least until you get sick of them), but the whole thing is mired in a hokey post-Star Wars confusion, like it doesn't really know what science fiction actually is. I know some BSG fans might cry foul at that, but as a fellow fan I'm just being honest.

And a lot of the filler, non-spectacle plot-of-the-week episodes are also a real drag.

(Where the hell is my US DVD release of Blake's 7 anyway? )

Thanks for the reply, and that's a very good question about B7 DVD's. I've been waiting for it at least 15 years now (and at least 8 since I thought it was a realistic possibility, following the UK DVDs). At least someone was good enough to upload good quality files of every episode onto Youtube, so I can at least watch it now.

As for BSG, I'm a Star Wars fan too, of course, and really a fan of anything sci-fi related that is "confused." I tend to gravitate towards things that never quite worked for one reason or another. I'll be willing to give this a shot once the price drops!

[Rick Grimes]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I imagine it will be identical to the UK set. Perhaps Bill Hunt wasn't aware of that release coming out, and simply referenced the complete set form Germany. That would also explain why he mentions this being a "Region A/English" release despite the fact that the UK release will be Region A friendly, and of course English too.

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Yes, the UK set is also coming out in Japan, which is a 60Hz country like the US and Canada (and obviously, also Region A).

Got the Australian set yesterday. Identical to the UK set. Plus, it unfortunately copies the crappy cardboard box with 2 Amaray cases inside packaging design (BSG 6 disc, G80, 3 disc).

Region Free? Well, definitely Region A. Chucked it in my US Model Region A player and not a problem, plays fine.

Like many Universal releases, comes up with an initial menu with Language options. Choose and proceed.

Only interesting thing about the boxing, was that the specs stated English DTS 2.0 for Galactica 1980 when it is in fact English DTS-HD 2.0, with all other languages (from memory French, Italian, Spanish were there) in vanilla DTS 2.0.

Oh yeah. 1.33:1 only... Which matches the authentic feel of the original broadcast at least.
Would have preferred 1.78:1, but it's all we got on offer here and the price point was great; 50 bucks.
Interested in watching it, but I am not a big fan of the original, having seen a couple of episodes on cable. Way to pander to the lowest common denominator. But I guess that was TV before Hill Street Blues changed things from crap to great, which led to The Sopranos and the golden age of TV.

[paustin]

Originally Posted by Monroville

I still wish they did a remastered version of GALACTICA the way they did for STAR TREK:

http://vimeo.com/112282165

Regardless, I wonder if this is what they are going to do with LOST IN SPACE (in regards to the whole "widescreen vs. full frame" bit).

that is awesome

[Treadwell]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

I'm puzzled about the "cropped" widescreen aspect ratio: Does this mean that if you watch the widescreen version of BG on a widescreen TV, the picture will only take up a small portion in the middle of the screen, and you will lose some of the picture on the top & sides?

Just to help you avoid future confusion on this forum and others like it, "cropped" NEVER means that.

[Matt C.]

Originally Posted by Stefan1

is the 125 min episode worth the definitive collection?

Originally Posted by Thomas Guycott

It's just the European theatrical version of the series premiere.

Sorry, just for clarification, are we simply talking about the following stand-alone (U.S.) BSG release below?



If so, I've already got that, but considering I'd absolutely need the OAR versions that I saw as a kid (which doesn't cut anything out), I'm going to need to splurge on the Definitive version, which is fine. What SUCKS, is that I want that black covered version - NOT the atrocious red one. That's going to be completely infuriating having that crappy color, and not the cool black one that looks 1000x nicer, and far better matches the theme of the actual content inside. This is a cool sci-fi space opera, not a "making of Mustafar" documentary. The cylon's trademark eye doesn't stand out on the red version either. They should've done the colors the other way around. Horrible.

(and can we please refrain from having another pointless discussion of "it's about the content of the discs, not the packaging they come in")

[greenguy]

I prefer the original ratio as it was meant to be seen, but at least Universal is not forcing 16:9 on everyone.

I am disappointed that the studio did not see fit to clean up the telemovie versions, or include Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack and Conquest of the Earth.

I already own the German set, but will eventually buy the U.S. release also. The series looks great on Blu-ray, but the remastering job isn't as good as what was done on Star Trek: TOS or the new 66 Batman release. That's just my opinion of course.

I'm glad U.S. fans are getting a decent set. Here in the states, Universal in the past has sorta treated BG as the red headed stepchild.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Danielle Ni Dhighe

The optimal HDTV viewing experience is to be able to watch it the way it was intended. When it was filmed, what aspect ratio did they compose for, or did they compose for two potential aspect ratios?

Composing for one ratio but protecting for another is something that's been going on for decades. It can be accomplished as simply as putting frame lines on a video assist or using a certain ground glass in the viewfinder. Not everything is made that way, natch, but Galactica certainly was.

[rickah88]

Definitive Edition preordered! Looking forward to revisiting this classic!

[OneBuckFilms]

I'll be pre=ordering the Definitive Edition at some point I suspect.

Then I would simply have one place with all of the Classic BSG (I never picked up the TV movie), and I'll try both the 16:9 and OAR versions to see how they compare.

I hope the price point comes down somewhat, but it's not a bad price for a new release.

This is a show that caught my imagination growing up, along with Classic Star Trek, and the production values were high for network TV.

Great news all round that this is being released.

[Lionel Horsepackage]

Originally Posted by Matt C.

Sorry, just for clarification, are we simply talking about the following stand-alone (U.S.) BSG release below?



If so, I've already got that, but considering I'd absolutely need the OAR versions that I saw as a kid (which doesn't cut anything out), I'm going to need to splurge on the Definitive version, which is fine.

Yup, that's the one (it's also included in the Definitive Version).

[al cos.]

Bring on BUCK ROGERS!

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Matt C.

Sorry, just for clarification, are we simply talking about the following stand-alone (U.S.) BSG release below?

If so, I've already got that, but considering I'd absolutely need the OAR versions that I saw as a kid (which doesn't cut anything out), I'm going to need to splurge on the Definitive version, which is fine. What SUCKS, is that I want that black covered version - NOT the atrocious red one. That's going to be completely infuriating having that crappy color, and not the cool black one that looks 1000x nicer, and far better matches the theme of the actual content inside. This is a cool sci-fi space opera, not a "making of Mustafar" documentary. The cylon's trademark eye doesn't stand out on the red version either. They should've done the colors the other way around. Horrible.

(and can we please refrain from having another pointless discussion of "it's about the content of the discs, not the packaging they come in")

I agree about the colors. I don't hate it as much as you I don't think. But why can't they just both be black? Why have a red one?