Battlestar Galactica (2003)

My personal favorite tv-show. Have seen the series way to many times. Love the story, the "handheld camera feel" and the small details (like the papers edges are cut to save resources) etc. The ending is, in my opinion, great - many long-lasting series suffer from a terrible ending.

Whoa 2003 when it first launched and still one of those great shows that is still watchable today. Not as clean or sanitary as Star Trek and darker and gritter than even good old Babylon 5. I crack out the boxset every five years or so and go down the rabbit hole of a five seasons binge watch. Unlike B5 the special effects have aged well. An emotional roller coaster ride for sure that get you thinking about this and that moral dilemma. Great casting, great characters and great over arching story. Definitely not a kids show for sure. Shame the diversity hire hacks can't write as good as this these days. I miss when they hired actors/writer's on a semblance of talent. 2021 third re-watch and BSG just puts most of the modern mainstream serials to shame. This was 9/10 back in the day, but by todays standards it's a 11/10.

On the one side the story was very interesting and some topics they mentioned were intelligent. The fight for survival was comprehensible. Some effects were nice, especially for that time. Some characters were clearly enjoyable, especially Dean Stockwell as John Cavil was great. Edward William Olmos as Adama Senior was also good. But many characters were very annoying: Kara Thrace and Laura Roslin for example and all the weak men with tears in the eyes (so often) or submissive to women. Overall the political correct gender mainstreaming and feminism were horrible, it destroyed a lot. The hand shaking camera was also annoying after some time, in addition the pictures were often too near to the characters. And the love stories were also...boring + political correct. The best part was the beginning of the 3rd season.

Watched the whole series including the prelude episode (pilot) on bluray back in 2007-2008. It was one of my first TV binging experiences and kept me glued to the screen. Tried re-watching it in 2024 and found it significantly less palatable. I believe TV has again gone through a renaissance of sorts with the quality of modern series being so much higher without the unnecessary pressure of syndicated TV having to pump out 22 episodes a season. As a result the diluted storylines and constant plot twists and misdirection to give the huge cast ample screentime really stood out to me. If you haven't watched it before then I'd highly recommend trying it.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]