BSG - 1978 and Today

[AZRedhawk44]

Just watched the first 3 "pilot" episodes of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica.

Wow.  Talk about Superstellar Disco Party.   Where's a 'fro smiley when you need one?

I was really amazed at the little details in it that they kept from 1978 to today's BSG series.  In particular, there were two civilian ships, the Astral Queen and the Rising Star, that look identical from 1978 to today.  Some of the utilitarian cargo ships that look like they carry shipping containers strapped to a central axis are eerily identical.  Obviously Galactica herself is very similar, too...

The font at the beginning though, and the way the words just zoom out of space straight at the screen... total Star Wars ripoff.  The gun belts and coats of the viper pilots screamed "Han Solo," also.  As well as the laser special effects, the ship model construction for fly-by shots, and the design and flight characteristics of the vipers.  They were very similar to X-wing fighters.

What's funny, though... LucasArts came back in about 2000-2002 or so and did a dirty to the 1978 BSG:  They obviously stole those cargo container ships as a design for their X-Wing Alliance game.  I seriously wonder if that's part of why Universal chose to re-imagine BSG after their cease-and-desist from Fox studios 20-some years ago.  I also wonder if some of the other BSG ships haven't been stolen elsewhere in sci-fi.

The mining ship from BSG-78 looks a lot like the mining ship that Ellen Ripley lands on that unfortunate rock in Alien. 

Frankly, Galactica herself looks a lot like an Alliance Dreadnaught from Star Wars... which wasn't imagined until at least Return of the Jedi... I'm not completely certain that I even saw a dreadnaught in that movie.  Which means that the dreadnaught-class LucasFilms ship was adapted from BSG, too.  The earliest concrete example of a dreadnaught I know of is in the Timothy Zahn Star Wars books that came out in the mid-90's... 

Even "wookieepedia" confirms the similarity.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dreadnaught-class_heavy_cruiser

Dreadnaught-class cruisers have a certain resemblance to the Battlestars featured in the two Battlestar Galactica television series (despite those having prominent hangar bays for more fighters), as well as Tartan-class patrol cruisers in both SW PC games Empire at War and Forces of Corruption.

[Manedwolf]

The new BSG had a hell of a lot of tribs. The Valley Forge from Silent Running is in the fleet at the beginning, and when you first see Laura in the office, Serenity flies by overhead.

And I don't know if you had seen Razor, yet, but there is an old series Cylon Raider in there. Exactly from the old series. Three pilots, everything, it's just that the FX are modern and excellent.

The destruction of the Columbia in a flashback in Razor is chill-inducing. Old-style raiders hitting it, the CAG ordering all fighters out of its vicinity just before the main magazine goes up and fractures it in a massive starburst. And then you can still hear shouting from survivors in the sections broken off over the radios, breaking up into static as they lose power.

[AZRedhawk44]

Yeah, I know about the Firefly-class that flies over Laura's doctor on Caprica.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Evidently the same company that did the Firefly series effects also does BSG today.

I saw Razor and the old Cylon raiders.  That was cool.  I was expecting to see an old base star, too, but they didn't go that far.

Valley Forge?  Silent Running?  Please 'splain.

Starbuck and Apollo in BSG-78 say "Frak" alot.  I'm kinda shocked at that.  I thought "Frak" was an invention of the modern BSG to make it grittier for a modern audience.

Another Star Wars ripoff, but this time it's Lucas stealing:  Baltar's throne in BSG-78 on the base star appears to be the basis of Vader's isolation chamber/throne in Empire Strikes back.

I have to say that the original music from BSG-78 kicks the crap out of the new music, though.

[Manedwolf]

On a related note, this was done by one of the BSG CG art staff for fun.



So was this. Sorry, but THAT is what the Trek weapons should sound like, that last clip. That...sounds like it'd hurt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXa0cfaTlfk&fmt=18

[Gewehr98]

Silent Running, starring Bruce Dern and three of his character's favorite robots, named Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Running

[AZRedhawk44]

That original Enterprise, NCC-1701 (with no letter), looks great.  Even the little glowy light things at the end of the engine pods.  It's breathtaking.

And the phasers?  So much better!  Pulsy and punchy, not squeeky and annoying.  Awesome.

Did you notice George Takei's limo license plate in Heroes for his cameo appearances?  NCC1701.   

G98:  Thanks!  Maned, now I know the ship you're talking about.  Yep.  Total tribute cameo.  Nifty-neato.  I may have to rent that one sometime.

[AZRedhawk44]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxX0DKE3oqw

Here we go... they duke it out once and for all... Star Wars versus Battlestar Galactica.

[TommyGunn]

The font at the beginning though, and the way the words just zoom out of space straight at the screen... total Star Wars ripoff

Yeah, when it was on at the time, it was pegged as exactly that.  IIRC there was even a lawsuit over it.
At the time I enjoyed it but wasn't a diehard fan by a long shot.  I was always a STAR TREK fan though.

I have been really enjoying the new version of the series, though the more recent episodes have been ... well, a bit less than "stellar."

The original series had some clunker episodes as well.  Recalling a lot of that now ... I mean it is '70s, so 70s.
The cylons back then obviously had actors inside, and seemed quite unthreatening to me.  You could outrun them pretty easily unless you decided to take a nap.   

The new series seems "dirtier" and more realistic.  Plus, the CGI cylons actually ARE scary!