Battlestar Galactica (miniseries)
| Battlestar Galactica | |
|---|---|
| File:BattlestarGalactica2003.jpg | |
| Created by | Ronald D. Moore |
| Starring | See Cast and characters |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 2 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 183 min. |
| Original release | |
| Network | Sky One Sci Fi Channel |
| Release | December 8 – 9, 2003 |
Battlestar Galactica is a three-hour miniseries written and produced by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer. It was the first part of the Battlestar Galactica reimagining based on the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series, and served as a backdoor pilot for the 2004 television series. The miniseries originally aired on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States starting on 8 December 2003. The two parts of the miniseries earned, respectively, a 3.2[1] and 3.8[2] Nielsen rating, making the miniseries the third most-watched program on the Sci Fi Channel ever.[3]
Plot
The miniseries opens with the following text, during a scene in which the Cylons make their first appearance in over forty years at a remote space station, the Armistice station:
- The Cylons were created by Man.
- They were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies.
- And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters.
- After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared.
- The Cylons left for another world to call their own.
- A remote space station was built...
- ...where Cylon and Human could meet and maintain diplomatic relations.
- Every year, the Colonials send an officer.
- The Cylons send no one.
- No one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years.
It is revealed that the Cylons have gained the ability to mimic the human form. They proceed to destroy the space station.
The Cylons return from their forty-year absence in an attempt to exterminate the human race, beginning with a sudden, unexpected and simultaneous nuclear bombardment of the Twelve Colonies. The attack is made possible by the Cylons' infiltration of the Colonies' defense mainframe, through a Cylon agent known as Number Six who mimics a human woman both physically and behaviorally. Number Six poses as an agent of a company seeking defense contracts and is able to seduce a scientist working for the Colonial military, Dr. Gaius Baltar. In exchange for his access to government mainframes she helps him design a navigation program used by Colonial warships, covertly creating backdoors in the program. When the Cylons attack, they are able to penetrate software security firewalls, disabling entire fighter squadrons outright and sabotaging vital capital-ship systems. (In one incident, an entire battlestar loses power, enabling the Cylons to destroy it easily).
The computer systems of the Battlestar Galactica are not networked and are unaffected by the sabotage. It was in the process of being decommissioned and converted into a museum to honor its role in the first Cylon war, when it receives news of the attack and learns that fleet headquarters, and a significant portion of the colonial fleet, have been destroyed. Commander Adama, Galactica's commanding officer, assumes command of the fleet after hearing that Admiral Nagala has been killed.
To avoid Cylon forces, Galactica makes a 'faster-than-light' (FTL) jump - an instantaneous teleportation - to Ragnar Anchorage, where it can restock on ammunition. Meanwhile, Colonial Heavy 798, which was carrying Secretary of Education Laura Roslin back to Caprica following Galactica's decommissioning ceremony, learns that Caprica City has been destroyed by the nuclear attack. When all 42 government officials ahead of her in the presidential line of succession fail to check in per emergency procedures, Roslin assumes the presidency and Colonial Heavy 798 becomes Colonial One. In the aftermath of the attack, surviving civilian ships turn to Roslin for leadership. Dr. Baltar manages to escape Caprica when Lt. Karl "Helo" Agathon trades his spot on a Colonial Raptor with him. Karl's partner, Lt. j.g. Sharon Valerii, reluctantly consents and flies back to join Galactica and the ragtag fleet. Fearing an attack after they are spotted by a Cylon Raider, Roslin orders those civilian ships with hyperjump capability to rendezvous with Galactica at Ragnar. She makes the agonizing decision to leave behind those ships (and consequently the people in the ships) with only sublight engines, including the ship (a Geminon Botanical Cruiser) of a little girl she had just met. Her decision is proven correct when the Cylons promptly appear and destroy every ship left behind just as they hyperjump to safety.
Roslin eventually convinces Adama that the war is lost. He finally agrees that the best course of action is to escort the civilian fleet and find a new world on which to rebuild civilization. The stockpiles at Ragnar Anchorage are used to rearm Galactica and resupply the fleet. However, the ships cannot jump safely from the immediate vicinity of the base, which is surrounded by a radioactive gas cloud. The Cylons, more vulnerable to the radiation, besiege the cloud and wait for the fleet to emerge. Adama devises a plan: Galactica holds off the Cylon attacks long enough for the civilian ships to exit the cloud and jump to the Prolmar Sector, then joins them.
Afterwards, during the mass funeral for the dead, Adama lifts his crew's morale by claiming that he knows the location of the legendary thirteenth colony known as Earth.
In the final scenes of the miniseries, Number Six warns Baltar that Cylon agents, who may even be programmed to believe that they are human, could still be within the fleet. Adama finds a cryptic message in his quarters reading simply, "There are only 12 Cylon models." On Ragnar, a group of humanoid Cylons free Aaron Doral (Galactica's tour guide, who was left behind after Baltar "discovered" he was a Cylon). The last Cylon to enter the room is another copy of Lt. j.g. Sharon Valerii, revealing that the one on the Galactica is a Cylon as well.
Cast
Awards
Wins
- 2004 Saturn Awards, Best Television Presentation
- 2004 VES Awards, Outstanding Visual Effects in a Television Miniseries, Movie or a Special
Nominations
- 2004 Emmy Awards, Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Miniseries, Night 1)
- 2004 Emmy Awards, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Miniseries, Night 2)
- 2004 Emmy Awards, Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Miniseries, Night 1)
- 2004 Saturn Awards, Best Supporting Actress on Television, Katie Sackhoff
- 2004 VES Awards, Outstanding Compositing in a Televised Program, Music Video or Commercial
- 2004 VES Awards, Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Televised Program, Music Video or Commercial
Tie-in novel
In 2006, Tor Books published Battlestar Galactica (the miniseries), by Jeffrey A. Carver — a novelization of the 2003 miniseries. The book incorporates deleted scenes and gives background information not seen on screen. Because much of this information conflicts with much of what is later revealed in the series, the novelization is not considered canon.
See also
References
- ^ Battlestar Wiki. Miniseries, Night 1
- ^ Battlestar Wiki. Miniseries, Night 2
- ^ NBC. "NBC SPOTLIGHTS SCI FI CHANNEL MINISERIES HIT 'BATTLESTAR GALACTICA' IN SPECIAL PRESENTATION ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 8","The Futon Critic", 6 December 2004. Accessed November 11 2007.
External links
- Battlestar Galactica miniseries site at SCIFI.com
- Battlestar Galactica at IMDb
- Template:Tv.com show
- Miniseries, Night 1 at the Battlestar Wiki
- Miniseries, Night 2 at the Battlestar Wiki
- The Official Site for the Battlestar Galactica Props & Costumes Auction
- BattlestarGalactica.com
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