Review of Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome (2012) by Don C — 28 Jun 2016

"So Say We All".

This is going to be different from a regular review because I'm a Battlestar Galactica/BSG fan. So, I won't simply make the detached commentary but express some genuine concerns for the future of this franchise and all the people that make the magic.

The Syfy channel's re-imagined BSG has a strong fan following and deservedly so. It seems that most true fans will remain loyal. This loyalty allows them to forgive some truly unwatchable, cringing, and mood destroying moments of bad writing and acting indicative of some shows. They do so because of an uncontrollable hunger for the next project which can only be satisfied with the next movie or episode. It's analogous to people that prefer a favorite restaurant based on the name alone. However, some fans have a more discriminating judgment and taste. That's the type of fan I am. I need more than a full belly. I need taste, polite and expedient service, and ambience. The entire experience must be enjoyable. If not, I rarely come back unless there's an expectation of a better experience next time because I know that the staff are capable of doing better based on their reputation. Or I have such a strong emotional tie that I simply want to see them do better.

In 2003 Ronald (Ron) Moore and David Eick of R&D TV raised the bar on weekly sci-fi TV dialogue with the BSG miniseries. The scripts were as highly detailed as the work from their award-winning CGI artist. They beat the odds and overcame obstacles as well such as, overzealous fans of the original BSG version from the 70's and Syfy channel's horrible productions at that time. In fact I missed the 2003 launch and didn't watch the pilot till the 2005 series launch. Admittedly I've been slow to warm up. But I've been hooked ever since thoroughly enjoying Ron and David's continuous rising of the standards not just on their own series, but on the entire sci-fi genre. And of course I heard the protractors, some of who I know that are still stuck in the late 70s, longing to see the cigar chomping caped Starbuck with his hairdryer like Ray gun. Surprisingly most of these naysayers are about 15 to 20 years younger than I. Obviously they're victims of brainwashing parents. However, my loyalty was vindicated as R&D TV earned many awards and accolades including, Emmys and Rolling Stone magazine's endorsement as the best show on TV, even when compared to entertainment other than sci-fi. To no lesser a degree I enjoyed Caprica as well and I'm still disappointed that a second season wasn't produced.

The latest BSG project, Blood and Chrome is a prequel where we see a young Galactica and a young Adama both in their prime and with their war faces on. The CGI geniuses upstaged themselves yet again with a fresh from the factory, full metal jacketed Galactica bristling with turrets that hopefully we'll see used in later missions. Neither is any detail spared in the interior. We are treated to a multileveled, fully populated and mechanically complex hangar deck and we see the old style rail-like shuttle which is an obvious wink/nod to the old series. Other ships in the Colonial and Cylon fleet are modeled maintaining the BSG theme while expressing the level of evolution to the timeline depicted. The premise can't be better in my opinion. A fresh from the Academy, William Adama working his way up the ranks is an excellent idea that genuinely caught me by surprise. Hopefully this direction will inspire a new series with infinite possibilities and many seasons. Fans of BSG and Caprica will enjoy some familiar faces working again. As I recall from podcasts commentary during Caprica, the explanation for such appearances were: they're the grandparents or other miscellaneous relatives of the later characters. I found this to be a more acceptable than just a convenient explanation. Will we see Nicki Clyne and Kandyse McClure find a role in future of BSG projects? Pleeeeeease?

And yet the dialogue this time seems to be out of step with proven BSG standards. It turns out Ron Moore wasn't involved this time leaving David to fend for himself. Could this be the missing ingredient? It would seem that such a behemoth as BSG fares better with more than one helmsman at the controls. Of course that's just my hypothesis based on observations as an eight year fan. I'm not privy to the inner workings of the decision-making outside of what's revealed in standard commentary. Whatever the reason I have to say, sadly of course, that the dialogue this time was a definite fluctuation in the steady stream of excellence R&D has produced in the past. I definitely can't agree with the protractors and their knee-jerk attacks. Nor can I go along what the blind faithful. R&D and its entire staff deserve a more critical thinking/analysis than that. And that's entirely their fault for they set a standard that doesn't allow me to watch any sci-fi with much compromise no matter how good the CGI is.

But my hunger for more quality BSG is still there stronger than ever. So back to the kitchen, fire or hire as many chefs as it takes to give us BSG fans the same high-quality cuisine that we know you're capable of, thank you.

Special Features: A little on the light side in my opinion because I feel I never get enough of the behind the scenes featurettes. The CGI artist and supervisors give us a fairly good overview of their latest magic. The new BSG has always hired the best and brightest and I've heard Ron Moore himself sing their praises. There's an interview with David Eick as well.