Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series [Blu-ray] [Region-Free]

Battlestar Galactica Blu-ray & Series ReviewI’ve always been a fan of the original Battlestar Galactica show (1978) and I used to watch it as a kid but, truth be told, I had not seen a single episode of Battlestar Galactica 2004 - 2009 revival series until I bought it from Amazon in 2019 (a totally blind purchase). I typically have reservations about rebooting of old shows and that’s why I never got interested in catching the new Galactica. I will review the show and the blu-ray set from the perspective of a fan of the original series who had not seen the new show until recently.The new 2004-2009 show contains most of the essential elements of the original show such as humans and cylons being at war with each other, humans seeking earth, the old scriptures about the tribes of earth, Kobol, etc. Most of the characters from the original series are also present (Adama, Apollo, Starbuck, Gaius Baltar) but some of them have been altered. The biggest surprise for me was that Starbuck is female. Starbuck is still a cigar smoking, insubordinate, rebellious pilot (probably more so than the original series) with a sense of humor. She is also promiscuous and her flaws are analyzed in more depth throughout the show. I think Gaius Baltar is the most improved character of the show. He is also probably the most complex character who goes through phases of self-discovery. I think his interactions with Number 6 (a gorgeous, sexy, blonde Cylon woman) make the show in the first 3 seasons.The BIGGEST CHANGE from the original series is that Cylons look just like humans and it is impossible tell Cylons apart from humans. Apparently, Cylons found a way to create a new versions of themselves that are almost human. This new concept opens up a lot of opportunities about the interactions between humans and cylons (there can be cylon spies on Galactica which may be undetectable).In the original series, Baltar was a sleazy guy who conspired with Cylons and betrayed human kind. Baltar in the new series, as I said, is a more complex character. His motives are not always clearly malevolent. Unlike the original character, he evaluates his actions and their moral implications. He is brilliantly portrayed by the actor, just superb acting, amazing performance throughout the show, Oscar caliber, I say. Tricia Helfer has also done a brilliant job of portraying the sexy Cylon Number 6. She is not just a sexy robot; she goes through many different emotions. And you will see her role is written for multiple characters (there are many Number 6s) who display different personalities which make it very challenging. The relationship of Baltar and Number 6 is quite mysterious as you will see. Everytime they come on, it’s like fireworks in the sky. You will also see their relationship is the key to mystery of the overarching story. I say Baltar, Number 6 and Starbuck are probably the most important and elemental characters.Special and visual effects are far superior to the original series which was made in the late 70s when filming techniques were less advanced and there was lack of budget.Overall, I think they improved the story drastically. I especially loved the way they improved upon the mythology from the original series (looking for earth, the thirteen tribes, Kobol, etc.) and combined it religious elements. They almost wrote a whole new mythology that perfectly combines science fiction with religion. I also liked the way they covered military leadership and political leadership and how sometimes those different types of leaderships worked together and sometimes they turned against each other. I also liked how they portrayed positive qualities and flaws of both Democracy and Military Leadership under given circumstances. Even though I had reservations about it at first, I ended up loving the new show.Now as for the criticism; I thought the cylons are “so human” that they cannot be detected a bit unbelievable especially within the confinements of them being referred to as “machines” or “robots”. They are more like the “replicas” in Blade Runner (1982). They are made of flesh and blood. There is nothing mechanical about them. Robot means machines. Machines have mechanic parts. So Cylons are not really machines or robots (I am referring to the new models, not the “toasters” as they call the old robots). How did machines create human replicas, is a mystery never explained. It’s also never explained whether the cylon copies (the sleeper spies) that looked just like humans were always copies from the very beginning or whether they killed off the original human characters at one point and started to impersonate them. For instance, let’s say a character XYZ turns out to be a Cylon. Was there ever an XYZ character as human? And Cylons cloned that human, created a Cylon copy and got rid of the original human (kind of like in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers)? Or XYZ was always a Cylon, right from the very beginning? But then, they would be never born, they wouldn’t have an ID, no mother/father data, etc. That part is not explained.Another criticism is that sometimes the show does feel like a soap opera in space, with a lot of sexual relationships, betrayals, romance, cheating, jealousy, etc. At times, it felt like “Dallas” or “Flamingo Road” or “Falcon Crest” in space to me LOL.Blu-ray set was priced very reasonably when I picked it up (I think I paid $40-50). Some episodes are grainy and overall HD clarity is not entirely satisfactory but I think that’s due to the way the show was shot. Some TV shows and movies are just shot that way so even when they are HD, the clarity is not crystal (I am only assuming this since I have not watched the show when it aired on TV).I also did find it annoying that the creator of the show comes up in the beginning of each season, first episode without any option to turn it off (they could’ve added an option like “watch with intro” – “watch without intro”). I think special features are pretty good. There are tons of feature commentaries, deleted scenes, etc. Overall, I think this is a great set for any sci-fi fan.

Excellent series that I have re-watched 4 or 5 times now. Insanely better than the 70's version of the show. Acting is excellent. It's an exciting drama that anyone will enjoy, you do not need to be a fan of science fiction, or a fan or even familiar with the original 70's BSG. I put this show up there with Breaking Bad, X-Files, Lost, ST:TNG, as some of the best TV ever made.Comparing this set to the US set: The content on the discs is identical. The audio is identical: The menus are in Dolby Digital, the episodes themselves are DTS-HD Master. I own both the Original US blu-ray release that came in the collector packaging, plus this set. The original US set did not include Razor, this set does. The Disc with Razor is the same as the disc sold here in the US that came separately (and later included in the repackaged silver box set), it contains the broadcast version plus an extended version of Razor. The packaging is excellent, and uses normal 2 and 3 disc 14mm blu-ray cases, vs the paper sleeve crap that the collectors version came with (which I subsequently re-packaged into normal cases.) The artwork on the discs is different between the US release and this one. As far as that goes, I prefer the US discs, as these appear more generic in design, but for the price you can't complain, at $65 this set is a steal. The US set split season 4 up into season 4 (2 discs) and season 4.5 (3 discs). In this set they just call season 4.5 "The Final Season". Razor is packaged with Season 4, The disc case is labeled Season 4 discs 1, 2, and 3. The discs are labeled Razor, Season 4 disc 1, Season 4 disc 2.It does not include The Plan, which of course the US set does not include either since it hadn't been filmed/released yet. It comes with a booklet that goes over each major human character, each known cylon model, lists each discs' episode contents, and has a glossary of the terms used in the show. It also mentions The Plan and Caprica: "The Story Continues.." but keep in mind neither of those come with this set. It makes no mention of Blood & Chrome which was created after this set.To make this amazingly affordable set complete, just buy The Plan, and Blood & Chrome, both of which can be found for under $10 each. Adding the Caprica show would complete the modern set of Battlestar Galactica, but that so far has only been released on DVD. If you bought just a single, 14mm 4 disc standard blu-ray case, you could fit both Blood and Chrome and The Plan into this box set. The Plan would go in the new case along with the Final Season (4 discs total, place The Plan as the final disc), and then the original 3 disc case for the Final Season could be used for Blood & Chrome plus discs 1 and 2 for Season 1. Blood & Chrome is a prequel to BSG the fits chronologically between Caprica and Season 1, the Plan came out after the series finale, and would be considered a spoiler unless viewed last, so it would be the last disc in the set.

Parfait

It's great to have the whole series and I'm loving watching it again. I am not sure if it was shot on standard definition originally but on the big screen but it is a bit grainy and the sound in the pilot was a bit muffled. So don't expect glistening Hi Def images but it is still very watchable and the extras are nice. Packaging and delivery were faultless.

It was similar to watching a series and missing three or four episodes. I could follow the story, but I was confused enough to replay the last CD and still didn't really know what happened.

Paquete imprescindible para todos los fans de la serie y de la buena ciencia ficción en cualquier medio. Es, para mí, la mejor serie con esta temática, en lo que llevamos del siglo XXI. Tiene de "ciencia ficción dura" lo que "Damages" tenía de "serie de abogados". "Battlestar Galactica" trata temas sobre política, religión, moral, relaciones milicia-Estado, liderazgo y el eterno drama del ser humano... sólo que en el espacio ¡Una verdadera joya!Sobre el contenido: incluye la serie completa, la miniserie-piloto y todos los extras de la edición en bluray de Estados Unidos.La gran ventaja es que es mucho más barata que la edición norteamericana, dado que esta se lanzó al mercado europeo.Los discos, si bien son región B, funcionan perfecto en cualquier bluray (sin importar que no sea multiregión, dado que los discos están liberados para todos los reproductores).Imperdible a este precio.

Tutta la serie in Blu-Ray ad un prezzo incredibile!!! Mi sto riguardando questo capolavoro coi miei amici, attratti dalla qualità tecnica e di scrittura della serie. Non è in italiano, ma se avete dimestichezza con l'inglese è assolutamente un MUST (e d'altronde le serie televisive sono sempre meglio in lingua originale).