Hot on the trail of Star Wars fever was Battlestar Galactica, a fantastic science fiction series set in outer space that ran on ABC from 1978 until 1979. It didn't last too long, but it had enough time on the airwaves and was seen by enough people that it did manage to develop quite a loyal following despite the show's short life.

The show was originally conceived of as a series of made for TV movies (though at one point it was thought that the pilot would get theatrical play) and then at the last minute, ABC decided they wanted to make a weekly series out of it. This lead to a rushed production schedule and some technical problems for the cast and crew. Because of this, things didn't turn out as well as they could have and ratings dropped off extremely quickly, causing the show to suffer a premature death after only two dozen episodes aired.

During its lifespan the show had the dubious honor of being the most expensive show per episode ever filmed. At over $1,000,000.00 per episode, the show was way ahead of anything else on TV at the time in terms of scope, and especially in terms of special effects. Battlestar Galactica was lucky enough to have John Dykstra on their team, the same John Dykstra who had developed many of the special effects that Lucasfilms/Industrial Light And Magic used in Star Wars. Some of the similarities in fact were a little bit too close for comfort. While the show was hardly a rip off of that famous story that takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away it was similar enough to irk George Lucas so much that he took the producers to court for infringing on some of the ideas he'd developed for his films.

The show had all manner of historical and religious references worked into it if you looked a little bit below the explosions, lasers, and mechanical reanimated dogs. More than once instance of Mormon theology can be seen in the show (when marriage is referred to as 'sealing') and the parallels to ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians are obvious in the helmets that many of the pilots wore in their fighter ships. This gave the series a sometimes ethereal feel that a lot of other science fiction shows like Star Trek or Space: 1999 lacked. And despite borrowing a few things from Lucas' movies, the show did have a very strong streak of originality running through it from the first episode to the last.

The series also benefited from a great selection of guest stars. Jane Seymour, Britt Eckland, Richard Lynch, Lloyd Bridges, Patrick Macnee, and even Fred Astaire all showed up in small roles throughout the series short run, adding a fun 'spot the famous person' game to the show.

The first six discs in this set contain the fullframe versions of the episodes, while discs seven through twelve contain the widescreen versions.

Saga Of A Star World (3 Part Pilot Episode): This is the one that started it all and introduced us to the Galactica and its crew. The Cylons destroy the Twelve Colonies of Man after a war that lasted 1000 years. The Battlestar Galactica, a spaceship that managed to make it out alive, carries two hundred and twenty survivors through space and hopefully towards a safe haven. Adama, the ship's commander, knows of a thirteenth colony that lives on Earth, and he hopes to be able to get the Galactica there before they're found out and hunted down by the Cylons, but there is a traitor named Baltar in their midst.

Lost Planet Of The Gods (2 Part Episode): Apollo and Serina are about to get married when a nasty disease breaks out on the Galactica. The entire fleet of Viper pilots falls sick all at once, and it seems that they brought the sickness back with them from space. Apollo and Starbuck are the only two that don't end up bed ridden, and when the Cylons launch a surprise attack against the ship, it'll be up to them to lead a very green civilian crew against them or die trying.

The Lost Warrior: While out on patrol one night Apollo distracts a Cylon squadron away from the Galactica, and in doing so ends up landing on a strange world full of farms. When he runs into some of the locals they prove not to be so friendly, and neither does 'Red Eye', the defective Cylon that are under the locals' control.

The Long Patrol: Scientists have developed a new version of the Viper fighter ship, and Starbuck gets to play test pilot. Or at least he thinks he does. Unfortunately for everyone, an escaped criminal steals the craft and heads on out to space. Starbuck goes after him but is mistaken for the thief and imprisoned on the prison planet. While he's there, he digs around a little bit and finds out about the mysterious past of those who lived on the planet before it was a prison.

The Gun On Ice Planet Zero (2 Part Episode): Baltar leads the Cylons to the fleet and they force it towards an inhospitable planet of ice under Cylon control. On that planet the Cylons have a powerful laser that they hope to use to destroy the fleet once it is within range. Adama soon becomes wise to their motives, and he sends Apollo and Starbuck down to the ice planet to band together with a troupe of demolition experts who have escaped from prison and who may not be as friendly as they seem (and they don't seem friendly at all).

The Magnificent Warriors: Cylons destroy a pair of ships in the fleet and a third ship is damaged in the same attack. This results in a food shortage for the Galactica and its crew, and Adama decides that an ulterior food source will have to be found. He personally leads a reconnaissance mission to the planet of Sectar where he finds an old ex-girlfriend of his who may hold the key for the future of the Galactica.

The Young Lords: Starbuck crash lands on the planet Attila, and finds that most of the adults on the planet have been wiped out by Cylons and that only their children remain. The children rescue him and take him in, but soon finds out that they intend to use him as a bartering chip with the Cylons, who hold their father prisoner.

The Living Legend (2 Part Episode): Apollo and Starbuck are in trouble when they run into Cain, an infamous military officer who is in charge of the Pegasus. Everyone thought that the Pegasus had been destroyed in the Cylon attacks but here it is, in the flesh. Cain thinks that the Pegasus and the Galactica should launch a full scale attack on the Cylons but Adama thinks that doing so would only result in their own deaths. Cain's daughter, Sheba, soon falls for Apollo and Cain's mental health is questioned by one and all.

Fire In Space: A massive Cylon attack manages to cover the Galactica in fire, which means no one can get in or out of the ship. Adama gets hurt quite badly in the attack, and the fire is spreading throughout the ship. The only one who can get the fire fighters through the blaze to put it out and save the ship is Moffit, the mechanical daggit.

War of The Gods (2 Part Episode): The Galactica finds itself surrounded by a bunch of bizarre, glowing space orbs. A squadron of Viper pilots head out to take a look and they vanish into thin air. Starbuck, Apollo, and Sheba head out to find where they were ported off to, and they meet a strange man named Count Iblis. They bring him on board the Galactica and soon his friendly demeanor becomes sour and he endangers the entire crew of the ship.

The Man with Nine Lives: Fred Astaire plays Chameleon, a small time con man who is running from a gang that want his head on a stake. Chameleon pretends to be Starbuck's long lost father in hopes of making his way into the inner circle of the Galactica's crew, and thus find relative safety from his pursuers. Starbuck and Chameleon hit it off immediately, and Starbuck has to wrestle with what it all means to him to finally come into contact with the man he thinks is his father after all these years.

Murder On The Rising Star: Ortega winds up dead when a Triad game goes horribly wrong, and Starbuck stands accused of his murder. Apollo is the only one who believes that his friend is innocent, and he sets out to prove it to everyone involved and clear Starbuck's name. Unfortunately for Starbuck and Apollo, the only man who can help them is Baltar.

Greetings from Earth (Two Hour Episode): While out on patrol, Starbuck and Apollo find a strange alien spaceship. What they discover is that on board this ship are six humans, trapped in suspended animation! In time, they find out that the six humans are not from Earth but from Terra, and they were trying to escape the violence that had recently broken out on their planet. Starbuck and Apollo get them back on track and help them out on their trip to Paradeen, in hopes of finding out more about the situation on Earth, but soon they find out that the Alliance that was after them before they were frozen are still after them and that this will definitely not be an easy trip.

Baltar's Escape: Baltar enlists the aid of the Alliance and the Nomen races, decides he's sick of being in prison and that it's time to bust out. Adama is forced to allow him out lest the Galactica get shot up during the prison break, and Baltar is let loose. Apollo and Starbuck are hastly sent after him, to get him back once things cool down.

Experiment In Terra: The mystical Beings Of Light choose Apollo to execute a rescue mission that should save the planet Terra from the sinister Eastern Alliance. He's sent down to Terra under the guise of a Terran astronaut, and he's soon found himself with the daunting task of playing diplomat in order to prevent the seemingly inevitable attack that could spell certain doom for all involved.

Take The Celestra: Kronus is a Colonial war hero who is in charge of the spaceship Celestra. When it's time for a celebration to recognize his remarkable military career, Starbuck shows up only to reunite with Aurora, his former girlfriend. He hopes to win her back and talks Apollo into helping him out, but things of course get complicated and do not go as planned.

The Hand of God: In the final episode, the Galactica discovers a Cylon base within range. Adama decides that the time is right to launch a strike against the base and so he readies his crew. They figure the best way to take the Cylons by surprise is to send out their two best pilots, Apollo and Starbuck, to sneak into the base and disable its scanner systems so that the Galactica can approach undetected. The reason Adama is so enthralled with this idea? This Cylon base is all that stands between the Galactic and its mission to find Earth.

Galactica 1980:

The short lived follow up series, comprised of ten episodes, is contained in its original fullframe aspect ratio on discs thirteen through fifteen and in widescreen on discs sixteen and seventeen. When the original series went off the air, NBC decided to bring it back after a letter writing campaign proved to the network that there was still very much a fan base for the show. Hence, Galactica: 1980 was born. But it didn't last long.

In the series, Commander Adama (Lorne Greene) and Colonel Boomer (Herb Jefferson Jr.) Captain Troy (Kent McCord), the adopted son of Adama's own flesh and blood, Apollo, to North America. Joined by Lieutenant Dillon (Barry Van Dyke) they meet up with Jamie Hamilton (Robyn Douglass), a news journalist, and become involved in a plot that includes a trip to World War II era Germany where the rebellious Commander Xavier (the great Richard Lynch) is trying to alter history. Meanwhile, the scientists of Earth are trying to come up with new ways to beat the Cylons as members of the Galactica group of survivors head to Earth themselves, only to find that when they arrive they have powers that regular Earthlings do not.

This series didn't last long and it's not hard to see why. Starback and Apollo, definitely the two most popular characters from the original series, aren't here and the epic production values of the original series were rolled back in an attempt to reel in the costs associated with the series. As such, not only are the coolest characters gone but the awesome look of the original run is tamed down in a big way. Setting the series thirty years after the original and placing it basically on Earth for the most part leads to the exploration of some interesting ideas but it's easy to see how this didn't catch on. Revisiting it for the first time in years, the follow up show is entertaining enough and maybe it would have gone in more interesting directions had it been given more time but that didn't happen.

Battlestar Galactica 35th Anniversary Edition Feature Film (Series Pilot):

The feature length movie version of the pilot is contained on disc eighteen. An edited version of the show's pilot did get a theatrical release in various territories. It's a trimmed down, alternate take running about one hundred and twenty-five minutes compared to the TV version's one hundred and forty eight minute running time. Most fans are going to prefer the original cut, but including the alternate theatrical version in this set is certainly a good thing. This disc appears to be use the same transfer as the older single disc release, framed at 1.85.1 using a VC-1 encode.

Video:

Universal has touted out Battlestar Galactica in two versions: the original 1.33.1 fullframe broadcast aspect ratio and, for HDTV nuts who need those pesky bars on the sides of their set eliminated, new 1.78.1 widescreen versions. While both options (and options are indeed a good thing to have) are presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition, there are more differences than there are similarities. The fullframe versions look much better, have stronger detail, better black levels and more natural color timing. Skin tones look good and texture and detail get a really bug bump over the past DVD version. The fullframe versions look… great. There's really not much to complain about here at all and the series, which was shot on film, really shines in HD.

But what of the widescreen option? That's a different story. First of all, there's the framing. Surprisingly, the 1.78.1 masking (which mostly removes info from the top and bottom of the fullframe image) has been done fairly carefully. So while you do lose some top and bottom info, you're not missing the tops of peoples' heads or anything like that, mostly just open space. There are also some shots that, when compared to the fullframe versions, seem to show more information on the sides. So yeah, the framing is okay. Purists will want that fullframe option but again, options are a good thing to have. As to the video quality here, surprisingly enough it is NOT identical to the fullframe transfers. The colors here are a bit darker, there is a suspicious blue tint in some scenes (possibly in an attempt to make it look less like a product of its time?) and contrast is a bit spotty. Black levels are rarely perfect and are sometimes closer to dark grey, that blue tint occasionally pushing them into purple more than once. Detail is still good and this is quite obviously a legit HD picture but the fullframe picture, for whatever reason, has ‘more' to look at. This looks only okay where the fullframe material looks genuinely great.