There is little doubt in my mind that the original 1970's
Battlestar Galactica is a founding classic of my own sci-fi understanding and one of the works that praved my undying love for military science fiction. The original
Galactica had very cool starships, space fighter, cool 1970's hair, and hot 1970's sci-fi women. But taken as a whole, the 1978 series was wanting and mostly half-baked. Recently, the geeky side of the internet was a buzz with a trailer of three minutes of the original
BSG being remastered with new VFX, like the recently
Star Trek: TOS release. While it looks much better than the 1978 original visual effects that lifted from ILM, it still begs the questions: should we remake
BSG? Fans of the 1978 and 2003 series are divided. Some believe that the old
Galactica should be risen from the grave and given a second life that is separate from the newer Ronald D. Moore series. For years, there has been news that Bryan Singer would be making a new
BSG film that drew upon the 1978 series and not the 2003. Once again, should we? Should we not just let the original series just die? Or should we remaster the original series with new VFX and import the 1970's to the 21st century? I am deeply vexed...
I do think that relaunching
BSG with a new disc release of the original series with new VFX would be a nice way to bring the series up to some current standards, and allow a new generation to discover the series, especially if the Sy-Fy Channel aired it...which they totally should. I mean, what the hell else are they airing besides shitty Z-rated films?! The there is the other argument...not touching it, because we all know what George Lucas did to the
Star Wars films...dry humping my childhood memories, and the original 1978
Galactica series is a touchstone of a certain generation of sci-fi fans.
So, what do you, fair readers of FWS, think? Should the original
BSG be remastered with new VFX scenes? Should it be left alone? Or should their be a reboot of the original storyline of
Galactica? Or is the entire universe of
Galactica done with...and we should all move on? I am not sure...should the same thing be done with
Babylon 5 or even
Space: Above and Beyond? Or should some of the vintage favor be left intact? Shouldn't we live in a world with both New Coke and Classic Coke?
Here is the new "remastered"
BSG footage:
http://vimeo.com/112282165
No I want to see bean books novels made into TV show.
ReplyDeleteWilliam, you’ve hit a nerve.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up, I loved “Galactica, TOS,” and when it came out, I hated the Galactica remake. In the original story line, the Cylons were created by an alien race that was now extinct. It was a science fiction approach to the idea of unexploded munitions killing people decades after the war was over. In the remake, it was the “Man Creates His Own Demise” mendacity.
The thing I hated the most about the remake was that most of the conflicts had nothing to do with the Cylons, (When are you guys going to stop fighting each other and start fighting the Cylons!) I think that this was related to something the producer said about the production being more like “Blade Runner.” My first thought was, “He must have hated Lord of the Rings.” Another point I disliked was that there were only two characters, one primary, one secondary, that weren’t white, (to be clear, I only watch the first season, other characters could have been added in following seasons.)
There were some good ideas in the remake. For example, the increased number of female characters, (but I still disliked the “Original Character” Beka Valentine, I mean Starbuck.) The destruction of the colonies was also handled better. In the original series, it was only thirty minutes long, but in the remake, it lasted almost the entire pilot. The 9/11 approach was also an improvement.
There were also other elements that improved story telling. Though I disliked the overall design, the fact that the Galactica had to retract its hangers before it could make an interstellar jump was a good twist. The raptor was also an introduction that the original series should have made. An additional plus is the realistic way the weapon systems were portrayed. As for the human looking Cylons-meh.
William, you’ve hit a nerve, (continued)
ReplyDeleteBoth series reflect the times during which they were made. In 1978, Jimmy Carter was in office, and we were still on a Star Wars High. In 2004, the war on terror was beginning to drag, and we were questioning the decisions our leaders had made. If I were to rewrite the story, I would add a race similar to the Tyranids of Warhammer 40K. The Colonies would be neutral, but directly between the Cylons and their enemy. After multiple overtures from both sides of the conflict, the Cylons decide the best way to handle the situation is to take out the Colonies once and for all. They trick Baltar with a phony peace overture into letting a Cylon assault force into the Colonies.
The Battle starts out very much like the fall of Troy. At first the attack is devastating, but in areas were the Colonial Warriors are able to get coordinated, they are able to put up significant resistance. So much so, that the Cylons begin to realize what a mistake they’ve made. At this point, the Galactica, which had been on deep space patrol, makes a blind jump into the colonies, and by the grace of the Lords of Cobalt, lands in the middle of the assembly area. After wiping out the poorly defended baseships, the warriors are able police up the now stranded raiders.
The surviving colonists are of two minds. Half wish to leave the colonies to find someplace safe to rebuild, while the others want to stay and make life miserable for the occupiers. Before the Cylons return, the resources are spilt between the two groups. The Galactica departs while the insurgents dig in.
The Cylons now have a direct corridor to attack their enemy, but now their enemy has a direct corridor to attack them. To make matters worse, the insurgences are shooting at anything that moves, and neither side can spare enough fire power to effectively deal with the insurgency.
Being that Adama is the last surviving member of the Quorum of the Twelve, both sides send their most heavily armed negotiators to pursue the Galactica. Thinking that they have an edge, the Cylons place Baltar, who has been their prisoner, in command of their diplomatic effort.
As for remaking other of our favorite shows, one has to remember that there will be changes. It will be impossible to bring back the actors that brought our favorite characters to life. The only hope is to find people who can bring their own vision to light.
“Yes my Friends, Walt Disney’s true purpose in making his theme parts is to hide S.H.A.D.O. facilities, and the Disney Cruise line is a way to covertly supply Sky-Driver submarines.”
No, we might as well remake "Buck Rogers" if we're going to do that.
ReplyDeleteNo, too cheesy for the modern world. To wonderfully cheesy.
I would love to see a Blu Ray of the original show with updated special effects, as you posted the link to, and would buy it in a heartbeat. That said, I'm not sure the moment hasn't passed for a full retelling (or extension of) the original series, no matter how much I love it. It's main appeal would be nostalgia for GenXers like us, and I'm not sure with the competition (and perceived confusion) with the newer series that would be enough to carry a new show.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, let us have new digital shots of vipers and Cylon raiders dogfighting. By the Lords of Kobol, I would buy that!