Battlestar Galactica (miniseries)

Somehow, I expected genocide to be a little more exciting.

Overall, the update to Battlestar Galactica (which I loved as an elementary schooler, even as I knew it wasn’t as good as Star Wars, back before anyone insisted it was actually called A New Hope) works, and works very well. For all the crying about how Dirk Benedict’s Starbuck character has been turned into a woman, it really ends up being a pretty smooth transition, at least in the miniseries. And that’s the way the remake goes overall: Competent, clever, with a few new twists along the way, but not necessarily selling the total package.

There are a few gaps in the storytelling — who dropped a note in the commander’s quarters without anyone spotting them, and how did they know what they knew? — but not any worse than most television series.

The only real knock against the BSG miniseries is how slow-paced it is. For a story telling of mankind being pushed to the edge of extinction in a matter of hours, it sure is casual about it. Other than one small mob (who were presumably waiting around in a field for a spaceship to land nearby) and some radio chatter, there’s nothing to suggest panic or urgency. In a post-9/11 world, we know what people look like when shook up by a major trauma and fear of what comes next, and little of it shows up on the screen.

Still, this is a strong basis for the new television series.

Recommended for curious fans of the original or those looking for an antidote to the strong-jawed optimism of the Star Trek universe.

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