I watched Battlestar Galactica after the final commie dinner last night. I think it's meant to only be the setup for the TV series, but it's a damn good film in its own right. Much better than most sci-fi, even though I love sci-fi. It made such refreshing use of time-lapse cuts. Rather than walking you through every issue and every conversation, they assume that most things will go kind of normally and that you don't need to see it all. Which ends up making it feel a lot less scripted because there's a life beyond what you're shown.
The acting is all good and doesn't have that normal sci-fi B-gradiness. The characters aren't fools and there aren't any totally lame idiots in positions of power. Gaius, the homo-economicus of the survivors is actually quite interesting. He's a bit morally isolated from the others, without being condemned by the story.
The Cylons are really good bad guys - not that they are actually bad. The script is mostly gentle and respectful of the audience. It's all just good quality really. The CGI is pretty average, but 99% of CGI is average. I don't think it matters that much anyway. Apart from that it's all good.
Maybe Lawrence and I can watch some of the TV series at our Sci-fi Night tomorrow. If anyone else is interested, they can come too. I think it's at the Enmore house.
Galactica is a cut above most modern day sci-fi. I think it’s going to finish up in another season or two, so they have a definitive arch going on- i’ve seen all of season two and some of season one. Let’s just say they’re not afraid to shake things up.
Did you notice the Cylons are christians and the humans follow a pagan religion?
Miles / 5:39pm / 4 July 2007
I like all that stuff. It’s done a lot more smartly than in Firefly, which I also really like.
Ryan / 6:12pm / 4 July 2007
I watch BSG for its Fun Goodness, not for its social commentary. :)
Willem / 11:53pm / 4 July 2007
But sci-fi can change the world. Deep down, all sci-fi geeks are utopians.
Ryan / 11:05am / 5 July 2007