Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of potential here. But if a series does materialise out of this, I hope they bear a few things in mind.
Firstly, and most annoyingly, don't employ drunks to do your camerawork. I'm not referring to the sudden and somewhat disorienting camera motions during the space battles. No, I'm referring to the "wobbling camera" syndrome that appeared in a number of set piece scenes, almost to the point of making me wonder whether I was watching some "hidden camera" documentary.
Secondly, don't overuse the "human Cylons" routine. Whatever your motives for putting them in the script, ultimately it just looks like you're too cheap to splash out on effects. Especially when the new and souped up mechanical Cylons are only on screen for about a minute in four hours!
Thirdly, the Cylon "eye" on the Cylon fighters was, quite frankly, ludicrous in the extreme. What was the point of that? We know they're Cylons, that they have a new weapon, etc, etc. I didn't know you could "ham" up special effects, but this did it, and did it to truly Porcine proportions.
OK, so what was good about the show. Well, it introduced some character traits into the main players. Colonel Tighe's a drunk, Adama has a problem with his son, and sundry other minor "people are real 'cos we've given them problems" features. So, in that sense, I suppose it's an improvement over the original, which had precious little character development.
My main gripe, though, was with Starbuck. Not that they'd given him a sex-change. I can understand that entirely. Think about it. Dirk Benedict is really only known for two roles - as Face in the A Team, and Starbuck from the original BSG. Considering the age of the original, he must have pretty much made the part his own for people to remember him so vividly. The script and casting staff are to be commended for realising that no man could fill his shoes in that role. So I'm OK with the gender change. But try as I might, I just can't seem to like the new Starbuck. They seem to have tried to make the role too similar to poor old Dirk's, right down to the cigars. And trust me, seeing a woman chew on a stogie ain't something that's ever gonna be attractive in a female role. Add the character's insane attitude, compared to the original happy-go-lucky Starbuck, an actress that can't quite do the "tough girl" role, and you have an instantly dislikeable character.
I also have problems with the way they are doing the Baltar role. It's good that he's not a one-dimensional cardboard maniac, as portrayed by dear old John Colicos, in the original. However, the whole "Baltar's talking to himself - or is he?" routine started to grate on my nerves, as did the overuse of the sex scenes between the two characters. In fact, the continued reappearance of "Number 6" began to get silly very early on. As for her giving Baltar a hand job at one point - give me a frickin break!
In fact, considering the target audience probably consisted to a great extent of former BSG fans, I felt there was altogether too much unecessary babbling, sex and dialogue, and nowhere near enough action. A lot of engagements between the Cylons and the Colonials are talked about, but never seen, a bit like the new Cylons themselves.
All in all it's a valiant attempt to update the franchise, make it a little bit more "adult" and a little less "space opera". It has potential, if they address a few issues in any resulting serialisation, but I wonder how much mileage there is in a series where each week the cast and crew run away from searching Cylons, whilst doing little other than argue who's in commmand or who's fault it was Apollo's brother got killed, or perhaps punching out a superior officer to add excitement. A series can survive on one of two things - story, or characters - preferrably both. The story isn't very strong here and so far, to my humble opinion, neither are the characters.
There's none of the charm or humour of the original, which was what made it so popular way back when, and a humourless show, with no strong characters and precious little story, cannot hope to succeed.
All in all.......disappointing.
Firstly, and most annoyingly, don't employ drunks to do your camerawork. I'm not referring to the sudden and somewhat disorienting camera motions during the space battles. No, I'm referring to the "wobbling camera" syndrome that appeared in a number of set piece scenes, almost to the point of making me wonder whether I was watching some "hidden camera" documentary.
Secondly, don't overuse the "human Cylons" routine. Whatever your motives for putting them in the script, ultimately it just looks like you're too cheap to splash out on effects. Especially when the new and souped up mechanical Cylons are only on screen for about a minute in four hours!
Thirdly, the Cylon "eye" on the Cylon fighters was, quite frankly, ludicrous in the extreme. What was the point of that? We know they're Cylons, that they have a new weapon, etc, etc. I didn't know you could "ham" up special effects, but this did it, and did it to truly Porcine proportions.
OK, so what was good about the show. Well, it introduced some character traits into the main players. Colonel Tighe's a drunk, Adama has a problem with his son, and sundry other minor "people are real 'cos we've given them problems" features. So, in that sense, I suppose it's an improvement over the original, which had precious little character development.
My main gripe, though, was with Starbuck. Not that they'd given him a sex-change. I can understand that entirely. Think about it. Dirk Benedict is really only known for two roles - as Face in the A Team, and Starbuck from the original BSG. Considering the age of the original, he must have pretty much made the part his own for people to remember him so vividly. The script and casting staff are to be commended for realising that no man could fill his shoes in that role. So I'm OK with the gender change. But try as I might, I just can't seem to like the new Starbuck. They seem to have tried to make the role too similar to poor old Dirk's, right down to the cigars. And trust me, seeing a woman chew on a stogie ain't something that's ever gonna be attractive in a female role. Add the character's insane attitude, compared to the original happy-go-lucky Starbuck, an actress that can't quite do the "tough girl" role, and you have an instantly dislikeable character.
I also have problems with the way they are doing the Baltar role. It's good that he's not a one-dimensional cardboard maniac, as portrayed by dear old John Colicos, in the original. However, the whole "Baltar's talking to himself - or is he?" routine started to grate on my nerves, as did the overuse of the sex scenes between the two characters. In fact, the continued reappearance of "Number 6" began to get silly very early on. As for her giving Baltar a hand job at one point - give me a frickin break!
In fact, considering the target audience probably consisted to a great extent of former BSG fans, I felt there was altogether too much unecessary babbling, sex and dialogue, and nowhere near enough action. A lot of engagements between the Cylons and the Colonials are talked about, but never seen, a bit like the new Cylons themselves.
All in all it's a valiant attempt to update the franchise, make it a little bit more "adult" and a little less "space opera". It has potential, if they address a few issues in any resulting serialisation, but I wonder how much mileage there is in a series where each week the cast and crew run away from searching Cylons, whilst doing little other than argue who's in commmand or who's fault it was Apollo's brother got killed, or perhaps punching out a superior officer to add excitement. A series can survive on one of two things - story, or characters - preferrably both. The story isn't very strong here and so far, to my humble opinion, neither are the characters.
There's none of the charm or humour of the original, which was what made it so popular way back when, and a humourless show, with no strong characters and precious little story, cannot hope to succeed.
All in all.......disappointing.