Battlestar Galactica: Season 3 [2006] [2004] (DVD)

You'll watch this because of the first two series but it's nowhere near as good It seems that the writers may have taken themselves a bit too seriously in this installment, because the pacing is incredibly slow. The religious and political aspect of the show takes on a far greater role, and as a result the balance of the show is greatly interrupted. There is far less action, and this is replaced with long, drawn out and wordy scenes which in my opinion are very pompous indeed. Also, the plot lines are a lot less strong-there are some episodes where you just think "oh please, this is just ridiculous." One very important episode springs to mind-the whole series could come to a close, but the ending is preposterous, and is just glossed over, then things move on to the next episode (trying not to include spoilers here). You'll watch it because you have to in order to keep up with the series, but it really is pretty poor in comparison to the first 2 series.

Intelligent, Compelling Science Fiction Season Three contains BSG's best and worst moments. Luckily for this viewer, the worst moments are niggly and the best brave and bold. The writers of BSG had set up an intriguing storyline at the end of season 2 - a huge city on a difficult planet, with the Cylons running a brutal occupation over the citizens of New Caprica. Season Three wastes no time in showing the desperate lengths that the embittered survivors in New Caprica will go to when fighting the Cylon occupation. Suicide bombings, people betraying other people, and double-agents are the de-rigour from the offset. This is challenging science-fiction, showing chilling contemporary relevance and a bold vision. Characters continue to make tough choices, right up until Admiral William Adama arrives back with the Battlestar Galactica to make one of the most audacious rescues in television history. Without spoiling anything, it is pretty special and well balanced with some intense characterisation. The challenging storylines continue with the fleet seemingly 'reunited', but nonetheless still 'split', with the survivors of New Caprica bitter and looking for reparations over their own extreme actions and those who allegedly collaborated with the Cylons. Its at this point though that the season begins to 'sag' a little. There are excellent story arcs here and there, but occasionally the feeling of 'stand-alone' episodes seems to seek in. Opinion seems divided on them. To me the raging-bull-esque 'Unfinished Business' is strong and a brilliant piece of direction, but I felt frustrated by some of the other episodes, as either threads are suddenly buried, or I just didn't feel interested enough in some of the other threads. Still, BSG's weaknesses put most other Science Fiction (i'm not just talking about television), to shame. The acting remains nuanced and compelling, even if a 'soap-opera' feels does permeate the rivalries that develop over the essentially forbiden love of Lee Adama and Kara Thrice. As always though, BSG pulls its best punches in the final third. One character seems to vanish, while the trial of disgraced president of New Caprica, Guis Balthar, provdies a good dramatic weight to anchor the final episodes. As always there's one heck of a shift in terms of story at the end (and without spoiling it), which makes the final season seem like it will have plenty of story to get into, without, one hopes, veering to close to some of the weaker aspects of this series. Certainly when its at its best, BSG is compelling Science Fiction of the highest order. Highly reccomended. (If you're starting from scratch get the mini-series and the 1-3 boxset. It's worth it!)

Basically a futuristic and mystical/religious soap opera I am a big fan of the first and the second season of BG. I did enjoy how the plot has been developed and how characters have grown nicely during the series but I have been really let down with the third series! Many little and not-so-little details, in particular concerning the physical properties of the space, the gravity issue and so forth were widely forgiveable considering a tight and usually fast plot but the third series is pointing almost everything on people. It is exactly like a soap opera with a strong mystical/religious accent. Really disappointed. I will download a couple of episodes of the following series before to buy it because maybe it's not worth it.

Didn't like some basic aspects.... I can see how this is very popular with many people, and bet that I'll get a lot of "unhelpfuls" out of this. There is some polish and some good writing with this series, and that's even before you get into the series proper, which improve. However, as a certain type of fan of the original, I was very disappointed. Yes, I'm glad things are a lot more grown up, but that's where much of the plusses end. If I'm an existing fan, I don't necessarily like change for change's sake. From the original, certain characters have been overly changed, including their gender. Sorry, Dirk Benedict's Starbuck is still the best. Even my wife thinks so! It's not that I am an old fuddy-duddy where boys have to have all the fun. They had female characters that could simply have been reworked and/or updated. Cass., Andromeda, et al. Or, do more about creating new characters, which they have done (nearly got as far as three stars for that!), but not enough. But for me the worst, worst thing, are some of the baddies. One of the worst cliches in sci-fi are "changelings". Well, that and blase time-travel. Why spend so much on making a series, then... I can just see the meeting now. "Oh wait, what about the bad guys? I know, let's make them look like the main characters and be able to pass off as them, until some contrived plot device exposes them." A lazy way to get away from creating an original race, I think. The only time when this sort of thing can work, is when it is used sparingly. Star Trek: Deep Space 9, did a better than average job with it. Summary: This is not bad quality sci-fi or drama. It's just that from where I'm coming from, I didn't enjoy it.

Over long and under whelming ... skip to season 1 ep 1 instead The remake of Battle Star Gallactica didn't take too long to hit it's stride and find it's audience. However, if you're new to the show I would advise you to skip this disc and start with season 1. This mini series is not without it's high points, the scenes in outer space are pretty spectacular (but you'll see them reused in season 1 episodes so again your not going to miss anything by skipping this) and some of the acting is pretty good. The problem is that there just isn't enough story to warrant the 3 hr running time, meaning the whole thing feels laboured and over long. Hard to believe but the original 1978 TV movie, campy as it is, is twice as good as this mini series because it tells the same story in the half the time. If you grow to love the show then come back and check this disc out later, you're bound to enjoy it more that way.