'Battlestar Galactica' may be in for a fight on home planet - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

diergray · 07-11-2003, 07:19 AM

Whole article here

In a nutshell:

Edward James Olmos, the star of the new ``Battlestar Galactica,'' has some advice for devoted fans of the 1970s sci-fi series: Don't watch the remake.

In some ways this makes it easier for me to watch. If I think of it as a new sci-fi series and not a remake I won't get upset.

wondash · 07-11-2003, 07:26 AM

Starbuck...

MikeyChalupa · 07-11-2003, 07:29 AM

Wow... I didn't even know there was a remake in the works.

I guess I'll have to check it out. Funny that they mentioned the new show would be "sexier". Doesn't EVERYTHING on TV, particularly sci-fi, get "sexier" than the original eventually? I'll never forget the decontamination scene in the Enterprise pilot and thinking how Gene Roddenberry was probably spinning in his grave.

I mean, don't get me wrong, watching Jolene Blalock nipping as she oiled herself up was fun, but not exactly Star Trek. Let's see what the new Galactica has in store for us. Muffit is instead of a robot dog, a sexy babe who wears little clothing?

-Mikey

edit: Boomer is an Asian female now.

http://www.galactica2003.net

Lots of info about the new show. The more I read, the less I like.

MikeyChalupa · 07-11-2003, 08:11 AM

I'm not done.

Quote:

Battlestar Galactica:
Naturalistic Science Fiction
or
Taking the Opera out of Space Opera

Our goal is nothing less than the reinvention of the science fiction television series. We take as a given the idea that the traditional space opera, with its stock characters, techno-double-talk, bumpy-headed aliens, thespian histrionics, and empty heroics has run its course and a new approach is required. That approach is to introduce realism into what has heretofore been an aggressively unrealistic genre.

Call it "Naturalistic Science Fiction."

This idea, the presentation of a fantastical situation in naturalistic terms, will permeate every aspect of our series:

Visual. The first thing that will leap out at viewers is the dynamic use of the documentary or cinema verite style. Through the extensive use of hand-held cameras, practical lighting, and functional set design, the battlestar Galactica will feel on every level like a real place.

This shift in tone and look cannot be overemphasized. It is our intention to deliver a show that does not look like any other science fiction series ever produced. A casual viewer should for a moment feel like he or she has accidentally surfed onto a "60 Minutes" documentary piece about life aboard an aircraft carrier until someone starts talking about Cylons and battlestars.

That is not to say we're shooting on videotape under fluorescent lights, but we will be striving for a verisimilitude that is sorely lacking in virtually every other science fiction series ever attempted. We're looking for filmic truth, not manufactured "pretty pictures" or the "way cool" factor.

Perhaps nowhere will this be more surprising than in our visual effects shots. Our ships will be treated like real ships that someone had to go out and film with a real camera. That means no 3-D "hero" shots panning and zooming wildly with the touch of a mousepad. The questions we will ask before every VFX shot are things like: "How did we get this shot? Where is the camera? Who's holding it? Is the cameraman in another spacecraft? Is the camera mounted on the wing?" This philosophy will generate images that will present an audience jaded and bored with the same old "Wow -- it's a CGI shot!" with a different texture and a different cinematic language that will force them to re-evaluate their notions of science fiction.

Another way to challenge the audience visually will be our extensive use of the multi-split screen format. By combining multiple angles during dogfights, for example, we will be able to present an entirely new take on what has become a tired and familiar sequence that has not changed materially since George Lucas established it in the mid 1970s.

Finally, our visual style will also capitalize on the possibilities inherent in the series concept itself to deliver unusual imagery not typically seen in this genre. That is, the inclusion of a variety of civilian ships each of which will have unique properties and visual references that can be in stark contrast to the military life aboard Galactica. For example, we have a vessel in our rag-tag fleet which was designed to be a space-going marketplace or "City Walk" environment. The juxtaposition of this high-gloss, sexy atmosphere against the gritty reality of a story for survival will give us more textures and levels to play than in typical genre fare.

Editorial. Our style will avoid the now clichéd MTV fast-cutting while at the same time foregoing Star Trek's somewhat ponderous and lugubrious "master, two-shot, close-up, close-up, two-shot, back to master" pattern. If there is a model here, it would be vaguely Hitchcockian -- that is, a sense of building suspense and dramatic tension through the use of extending takes and long masters which pull the audience into the reality of the action rather than the distract through the use of ostentatious cutting patterns.

Story. We will eschew the usual stories about parallel universes, time-travel, mind-control, evil twins, God-like powers and all the other clichés of the genre. Our show is first and foremost a drama. It is about people. Real people that the audience can identify with and become engaged in. It is not a show about hardware or bizarre alien cultures. It is a show about us. It is an allegory for our own society, our own people and it should be immediately recognizable to any member of the audience.

Science. Our spaceships don't make noise because there is no noise in space. Sound will be provided from sources inside the ships -- the whine of an engine audible to the pilot for instance. Our fighters are not airplanes and they will not be shackled by the conventions of WWII dogfights. The speed of light is a law and there will be no moving violations.

And finally, Character. This is perhaps, the biggest departure from the science fiction norm. We do not have "the cocky guy" "the fast-talker" "the brain" "the wacky alien sidekick" or any of the other usual characters who populate a space series. Our characters are living, breathing people with all the emotional complexity and contradictions present in quality dramas like "The West Wing" or "The Sopranos." In this way, we hope to challenge our audience in ways that other genre pieces do not. We want the audience to connect with the characters of Galactica as people. Our characters are not super-heroes. They are not an elite. They are everyday people caught up in a enormous cataclysm and trying to survive it as best they can.

They are you and me.

Turns my stomach.

So you don't want to pattern yourself after Star Wars and Star Trek, THE two most successful and profitable sci-fi franchises of all time. Instead, you want to follow a formula that is roundly mocked by ALL fans of the genre you are jumping into. That is, gratuitous T&A in outer space. The humanoid Cylon named "Number Six", or as the site tells us, Six of Twelve? COME ON! Yes, Jeri Ryan enabled Voyager to drag on another few seasons, and was fun to look at, but she wouldn't have been necessary if Rick Berman hadn't started running Star Trek into the ground, starting with Voyager.

Multi-split screen during dogfights? Of course! You're preparing us for the multiplayer "deathmatch" mode of the BATTLESTAR GLACTICA 2003 Video game for PS2 and XBOX, coming to a retail store near you, list price $49.99. It's advertised all over the site.

I almost wish I'd never clicked on this thread. Ignorance WAS bliss.

-Mikey

Cynthetiq · 07-12-2003, 05:50 AM

wow... this sounds like it will be more and more crap...

well let's see how the first episode is....

Lebell · 07-12-2003, 10:35 AM

Mikey,

Tell us what you really think

Persoally, I'll with hold judgement until I see the final product.

But overall, I can't be unhappy that they are remaking BSG, if for no other reason, to see what they do with it.

Maveric · 07-14-2003, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MikeyChalupa

I mean, don't get me wrong, watching Jolene Blalock nipping as she oiled herself up was fun, but not exactly Star Trek.

I've often wondered how many boys became men after watching that scene

SecretMethod70 · 07-14-2003, 06:22 AM

I *LOVE* Battlestar Galactica.

I used to watch it all the time on Sci-Fi channel re-runs.

This is truly sad.

Drider_it · 07-15-2003, 07:38 PM

ok im 30 i remeber seeing star wars.. (my first movie ever i might add) then i remember wathcing buck rogers battlestar and star trek reruns.. but damn..

i still have every bstar toy.. yeah even that weird tank one were you could take out the cockpit part of the fighters and put them in it..

i loved the weird cyber dog.. and ill sit through the mini series but if i get ticked.. scifi will hear from 200k of us that hate it if they take a dump on us.. most of us are the reason there is a scifi channel..

i just dont know.. whats next.. a remake of the bible where everyone is a .. nm wont go into that.. but you get the point

07-11-2003, 07:19 AM	#1 (permalink)
diergray Psycho	'Battlestar Galactica' may be in for a fight on home planet Whole article here In a nutshell: Edward James Olmos, the star of the new ``Battlestar Galactica,'' has some advice for devoted fans of the 1970s sci-fi series: Don't watch the remake. In some ways this makes it easier for me to watch. If I think of it as a new sci-fi series and not a remake I won't get upset. __________________ "Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.” ~ James Bryant Conant

07-11-2003, 07:29 AM	#3 (permalink)
MikeyChalupa Squid Location: USS George Washington	Wow... I didn't even know there was a remake in the works. I guess I'll have to check it out. Funny that they mentioned the new show would be "sexier". Doesn't EVERYTHING on TV, particularly sci-fi, get "sexier" than the original eventually? I'll never forget the decontamination scene in the Enterprise pilot and thinking how Gene Roddenberry was probably spinning in his grave. I mean, don't get me wrong, watching Jolene Blalock nipping as she oiled herself up was fun, but not exactly Star Trek. Let's see what the new Galactica has in store for us. Muffit is instead of a robot dog, a sexy babe who wears little clothing? -Mikey edit: Boomer is an Asian female now. http://www.galactica2003.net Lots of info about the new show. The more I read, the less I like. Last edited by MikeyChalupa; 07-11-2003 at 07:49 AM..

07-12-2003, 05:50 AM	#5 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	wow... this sounds like it will be more and more crap... well let's see how the first episode is.... __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

07-12-2003, 10:35 AM	#6 (permalink)
Lebell Cracking the Whip Location: Sexymama's arms...	Mikey, Tell us what you really think Persoally, I'll with hold judgement until I see the final product. But overall, I can't be unhappy that they are remaking BSG, if for no other reason, to see what they do with it. __________________ "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis The ONLY sponsors we have are YOU! Please Donate!

07-14-2003, 06:22 AM	#8 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	I LOVE Battlestar Galactica. I used to watch it all the time on Sci-Fi channel re-runs. This is truly sad. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

07-11-2003, 07:26 AM	#2 (permalink)
wondash Psycho	Starbuck...

07-15-2003, 07:38 PM	#9 (permalink)
Drider_it Junkie Location: Louisiana	ok im 30 i remeber seeing star wars.. (my first movie ever i might add) then i remember wathcing buck rogers battlestar and star trek reruns.. but damn.. i still have every bstar toy.. yeah even that weird tank one were you could take out the cockpit part of the fighters and put them in it.. i loved the weird cyber dog.. and ill sit through the mini series but if i get ticked.. scifi will hear from 200k of us that hate it if they take a dump on us.. most of us are the reason there is a scifi channel.. i just dont know.. whats next.. a remake of the bible where everyone is a .. nm wont go into that.. but you get the point __________________ It means only one thing, and everything: Cut. Once committed to fight, Cut. Everything else is secondary. Cut. That is your duty, your purpose, your hunger. There is no rule more important, no commitment that overrides that one. Cut. The lines are a portrayal of the dance. Cut from the void, not from bewilderment. Cut the enemy as quickly and directly as possible. Cut with certainty. Cut decisively, resoultely. Cut into his strength. Flow through the gaps in his guard. Cut him. Cut him down utterly. Don't allow him a breath. Crush him. Cut him without mercy to the depth of his spirit. It is the balance to life: death. It is the dance with death. It is the law a war wizard lives by, or he dies.