Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome [Blu-ray]

I feel your pain my friends but the only way this could've become a series is if it were sold to TNT or perhaps AMC! They are the only channels showing anything bold or even remotely considered sci-fi. That would be a show called "Falling Skies", the single closest thing to sci-fi on American television. Shame. The actual SYFY channel has completely abandoned all things science fiction. A few years ago MGM was taken over by new management and they immediately decided to cancel the following: SG:A, SG:U, the new SG-1 movie (SG: Revolution), and the new SG:A movie (SGA: Extinction). As long as this current bunch of skin-jobs is in charge we will never get real sci-fi. Instead we get a steady diet of rediculous monster movies with horrible acting and direction. We get fed one ghost hunting show after another. We're up to 5 of those shows now right? Oh and my personal favorite - wresting. Wrestling? What the fraaaaak? I just cant wait to see steroid injected men all greased up in baby oil throwing eachother around for a buck. Yup. That qualifies as sci-fi now folks. Unfortunately for us "real fans", we will never see a full blown BSG: B&C series. Not while those circle jerkers are in charge...! ...............UPDATE (3-20-13)................. I finally got a chance to watch this pilot/movie for the first time and mow im pipping mad! I cant believe America has given up on all things science fiction and let this one go. BSG:B&C is nothing short of spectacular. The story is compelling, with a bit of a callback to G. Baltar of the origanal series. They really know how to perfectly cast the BSG universe with the makers recasting many BSG/Caprica alumni. Us real fans will identify them immediatly. The new faces are top picks as well including the guy playing young (and dumb) Adama. The picture quality is brutally sharp and crisp on Blu-ray disc. The audio is big and precise, as I expected, especially for those of us with surround sound systems (Definitive Technology 8.2). The CG effects for Blood & Chrome are only rivaled in the movies! A small gripe for us computer animators - we'll instantly notice the underdeveloped dynamics programing and very quick decay rates on those effects but other than that it's all top grade stuff. I understand that the action-packed nature of the pilot/movie is to give the viewers a glimps of the kind of quality and intensity the show has to offer with following episodes. To bad that's not going to happen. I will forever be se stunned at how something this amazing will never get off the ground. We have screwed ourselves out of truly brilliant story telling. Again. I was hoping for Bryan Singer's BSG movie to get going but I suspect after he sees this he might give up on it. Blood & Chrome is just that good!

This movie I really enjoyed. A great extension to the show. It was not what I expected. Very fast paced with a good story line. Watch this as a new show.

great movie

Trying to piggyback off the success and cult following of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series from Ron Moore, Blood & Chrome gives us the story of a young William Adama and his first mission as a member of the Colonial fleet. Fresh out of the academy, Adama (played by Luke Pasqualino) is assigned to the powerful battlestar Galactica, where he's met with contention from his co-pilot Coker (Ben Cotton), and is assigned to escort a beautiful but mysterious woman (Lili Bordan) on a secret mission. Originally shown in small "webisodes" online, almost every shot from Blood & Chrome was done on green screen. The result is A LOT of CGI, most of which looks really great. The space and aerial battles especially look marvelous, and the few Cylons you see look really good as well. There were a few action and landscape shots I thought looked kind of cheap but overall, when you consider almost the entire show was created in post-production, the effects rival a lot of shows on TV today and look very similar to those seen on the BSG series. Blood & Chrome was created with hopes of getting a series order in mind, which probably won't happen, and because of this the story and character development felt rushed to me. There's really only the three main characters, none of which I really got attached to, and a few other supporting characters that had a few lines. Perhaps because the creators thought they would get a series out of the show, they were going to save some of the backstory and further development for later. However, as it stands the 90 minute show doesn't really tell you much about who these characters are or what brought them to the Galactica. It also didn't help that the cast is made up of relatively unknown actors who, thought they try, don't have the chops to keep up with the actors from the reimagined BSG series. The story was fun and engaging, I just wish there had been more depth. The Bluray set comes with DVD and digital copies, as well as a few extras including a bunch of deleted scenes and a making-of featurette that delves into the visual effects created for Blood and Chrome. This behind-the-scenes feature is quite interesting to watch as it interviews most of the people involved in the creative process behind the special and gives some awesome insight into the development and creation of making a show that's most computer generated. If you're a fan of the Ron Moore, series I would definitely check this out. It's not quite up to par with the series but is still a fun adventure that will make you want to revisit the sci-fi series. On a side note, the 188 minutes Amazon lists as the running time is inaccurate; the feature itself is around 90 minutes and I think Amazon added the Bluray and DVD discs together.

as described

I hated the BSG remake; Razor was a nice separate effort, but generally - unlike so many viewers out there, I simply did not like the second BSG series. That, reader, is caveat one. Caveat two: Witness the smoking crater left behind by Lucas' Star Wars prequels. Yes, you must. Many viewers felt that performances were flat and appearances were off when actors simply moved in front of a greenscreen. Somehow, the result felt as flat as a weather report. Since all the physical sets for BSG II were struck and sold off years ago, everything in Blood and Chrome would have to be done in prequel fashion - all against a greenscreen. Hmm... caveat three: Many viewers compare Blood and Chrome's geeky young Adama unfavorably with the husky Husker shown in Razor years ago. They point out that impetuous young pilots are a cliche. True and true, but remember that Blood and Chrome features Adama senior on his first mission out of the Academy. His physical and emotional type is therefore apt. Some hate the "video game feel" of Blood and Chrome. Indeed, Blood and Chrome was originally meant to BE a video game, but just grew and grew. So how can I like it? Let me tell you. First, the look: I hated the hastily-constructed sets of the second series with a passion. They lacked detail and texture. Since the premise involved humanity eschewing computerization due to the possibility of Cylon infiltration, all that glorious "electronic wallpaper" that ol' sci-fi consumers like me like simply wasn't there. In Blood and Chrome, the effects designers weren't constrained by physical or budgetary constraints on sets. The wartime hanger bay and bridge are feasts for the eyes, making the second series' sets seem even more wretched in comparison. Second, the plot emphasis: BSG - in any iteration - should be a war story, not a prime-time soap opera. The endless exposition of the second series, leavened only with a small sprinkle of nice exterior effects shots here and there, is reversed here. This is wall-to-wall action. If your preferred entertainment is to see endless human/human, human/Cylon, and Cylon/Cylon bickering (the holy "conflict" espoused by embittered Trek expatriates like Moore), it is not central here. Don't worry; there's plenty of moral ambiguity in Blood and Chrome, but it's not virtually the only thing. An extended dogfight inside a space wreck does feel "gamey," but many a good film adaptation feels "stagey;" it doesn't ruin the entertainment value of the film. Third, the antagonism between the sexes in Blood and Chrome is more tolerable than in the second series. There is better balance here, with no Starbuckette chewing the scenery. Inevitably, there is a flitting appearance by a proto-Number Six, mouthing her holier-than-thou's, but not enough to ruin the recipe. So if your tastes are like mine, enjoy. If not, just pop the second series into the player and have some ice cream.

Not great. The plot was just OK. The biggest issue is that there is absolutely no risk to the main character (Adama) because you KNOW how his story ends decades later. The charm of the reimagined BSG drew, in part, from the uncertainty of who's a Cylon, etc. In that show, real characters died, or were maimed, or ended up not being who they thought they were... That guessing game was most of the charm of the show. To try to do a prequel where you already know a lot of the outcomes is just not gripping. Whatever happened to Adama, you knew he was going to be OK & begin a long & successful carrier in the fleet, and that took a lot away from the dramatic tension. Also, I felt that the visuals were chaotic & it was really hard to tell what was happening. It looked great, but often did not know WHAT looked great. The acting, etc. was fine, but I thought that Adama was an odd casting choice. Edward James Olmos has a large build, and not that I ever thought about it but I would have imagined that Adama in his youth would have been a bigger framed more muscular person - the guy playing him was very thin & slightly built. Other than his height & hair color it is hard to imagine him growing into the man we saw on the 2004 series. It's a small thing but it did sot of seem "off" to me. To be fair, if this had aired 1st I'd probably be setting my DVR and looking forward to each episode. But since this is after the 2004 series it seems pointless and redundant. I think they're done milking this particular cow until some time goes by & they can reimagine the whole thing again.

ROCK ON

La verdad es que me esperaba menos de esta película y edición por los anteriores comentarios, pero tengo que decir que me ha sorprendido a todos los niveles de forma muy grata. La imagen y el sonido son espectaculares: -El Sonido es DTS-HD Master 5.1 y el Home Cinema rinde al máximo con la pista en inglés. -La imagen es espectacular a 1080p/24Hz, sin defectos, nitida y un bitrate medio de 35 Mbps. Los efectos especiales son muy buenos, como los de una gran superproducción y realmente han cuidado los detalles. En ese aspecto no tienen nada que envidiar. En cuanto a los extras comentar que son varios: -Escenas eliminadas: hay muchas y muy variadas. -Efectos especiales. La historia explica la 1ª guerra con los Cylon y es la precuela a la serie de Battlestar Galactica. Sobretodo predomina las escenas de acción, pero también tiene una gran carga dramática en algunas escenas. El guión en términos generales está cuidado y se nota el cariño que han puesto en esta producción. A mí al menos me ha dejado con ganas de más y una continuación en serie hubiera estado genial, pero no pudo ser. Tendremos que conformarnos con la película. Eso sí, sólo viene el idioma inglés y con subtítulos en español entre otros idiomas.

Perfect movie for an extension of Galactica 2003. Perfect image and sound. Recommended for everyone. English with spanish subs !

Battlestar Galactica, nonostante qualche comprensibile "licenza cinematografica", è una tra le migliori serie fantascientifiche sia per realismo, sia per l'attualizzazione della storia. Blood & Chrome è assolutamente un prequel di quelli che fanno venire i brividi perché tratta, nel contesto "spaziale", di tutti gli argomenti attuali: politica, corruzione, economia, immoralità e guerra. Ma soprattutto, cosa che l'intera serie GALACTICA ha fatto dall'inizio, si parla e si fa riflettere molto sui pericoli di una meccanizzazione e concessione delle nostre "esigenze" alle macchine. Anche chi non ama la fantascienza può ben comprendere, nelle piccole questioni quotidiane, che già alcuni esempi di questa problematica li viviamo da tempo, come la "perdita di mansioni lavorative" e quindi di occupazione a causa dell'automatizzazione di diversi processi produttivi o di servizi (si pensi banalmente alle autostrade con la progressiva sparizione dei casellanti). Inoltre questo tipo di fantascienza per certi versi è meno spinta delle altre, e risulta quindi più credibile e vicina a ciò che siamo oggi. L'unico problema di questa serie , per chi non capisce l'inglese, è l'assenza di una versione in italiano (includendo i sottotitoli). E' davvero un peccato perché questo prequel è davvero ben fatto...a me ha fatto venire i brividi e ancora penso alla scena finale. Non preoccupatevi...NON VE LA RACCONTO !!! :)

enjoyable viewing

Très bon film qui aurait du donner une série .......il y a encore tant de choses à développer mais les producteurs en ont décider autrement . Un dvd à avoir pour tenter de boucler la boucle de cette grande série issue d' un reboot plus qu' original .