Battlestar Galactica (1978) (TV)

Director:

Richard A. Colla
(more)

Writer:

Glen A. Larson (written by)

Release Date:

17 September 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Adventure

Tagline:

They were searching for a star called Earth, but first they had to win a great war.

Plot:

After the destruction of the human colonies, the last major fighter carrier leads a makeshift refugee fleet in a search for Earth.

Plot Keywords:

Refugee | Escape | Diaspora | Robot As Menace | Spaceship Name In Title

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Richard Hatch	...	Capt. Apollo
Dirk Benedict	...	Lt. Starbuck
Lorne Greene	...	Cmdr. Adama
Herb Jefferson Jr.	...	Lt. Boomer (as Herbert Jefferson Jr.)
Maren Jensen	...	Athena
Tony Swartz	...	Sgt. Jolly
Noah Hathaway	...	Boxey
Terry Carter	...	Colonel Tigh
Lew Ayres	...	President Adar
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Sire Anton
John Colicos	...	Baltar
Laurette Spang	...	Cassiopeia
John Fink	...	Dr. Paye
Jane Seymour	...	Serina
Ray Milland	...	Sire Uri
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Flight Sgt. Greenbean
Rick Springfield	...	Lieutenant Zac
Randi Oakes	...	Young Woman
Norman Stuart	...	Statesman
David Greenan	...	Bridge Officer
Sarah Rush	...	Woman on Duty
David Matthau	...	Operative
Chip Johnson	...	1st Warrior
Geoffrey Binney	...	2nd Warrior
Paul Coufos	...	Pilot
Bruce Wright	...	Deck Hand
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Patrick Macnee	...	Imperious Leader (voice) (uncredited)
Myrna Matthews	...	Space Angel (uncredited)
Marti McCall	...	Space Angel (uncredited)
Carolyn Willis	...	Space Angel (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard A. Colla
Alan J. Levi		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Glen A. Larson		(written by)

Produced by
John Dykstra	....	producer
Winrich Kolbe	....	associate producer
Glen A. Larson	....	executive producer
Leslie Stevens	....	supervising producer

Original Music by
Stu Phillips

Cinematography by
Ben Colman

Film Editing by
Robert L. Kimble
Leon Ortiz-Gil
Larry Strong

Casting by
Mark Malis

Art Direction by
John E. Chilberg II

Set Decoration by
Lowell Chambers
Mickey S. Michaels

Costume Design by
Jean-Pierre Dorléac

Makeup Department
Scott H. Eddo	....	makeup artist
Paul Griffin	....	hair stylist
Marvin C. Thompson	....	makeup artist (as Tommy Thompson)
Joy Zapata	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Robert Shepherd	....	production supervisor
Harker Wade	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Phil Cook	....	first assistant director
Nick Marck	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Martin A. Kline	....	additional artwork
Kenneth Milfred	....	set dresser
Andrew Probert	....	additional artwork

Sound Department
James R. Alexander	....	sound
Cliff Bell Jr.	....	dialogue editor
Peter Berkos	....	sound effects editor
Earl Crain Jr.	....	sound mixer
Robert L. Hoyt	....	sound re-recordist
Robert Jackson	....	boom operator (uncredited)
George E. Marshall Jr.	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Joe Goss	....	special effects
Karl G. Miller	....	special effects
John Peyser	....	special electronics effects (as John Peyser Jr.)
Ken Speed	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Richard Alexander	....	special mechanical equipment
Deborah Armstrong	....	model builder
David Augsburger	....	miniature and optical effects cameraman
David Beasley	....	model builder
David Berry	....	optical photography
William Brier	....	optical photography
Conrad Buff IV	....	editorial assistant (as Conrad Buff)
Mark Cane	....	special effects key grip
James N. Catania	....	optical photography
Leslie Dennis	....	editorial assistant
Angela Diamos	....	animator
Dennis Dorney	....	optical lineup
Don Dow	....	miniature and optical effects cameraman
Patricia Rose Duignan	....	production assistant
John Dykstra	....	miniature and optical effects unit supervisor
Richard Edlund	....	special effects photography
Sherry Epperson	....	animator
Jon Erland	....	model builder
Jeff Freeman	....	editorial assistant
Alex Funke	....	miniatures director of photography
Steve Gawley	....	model builder
Richard Gilligan	....	model builder
Dan Goozee	....	effects illustration and design
Joe Johnston	....	effects illustration and design (as Joseph Johnston)
Denny Kelly	....	editorial assistant (as Dennis Kelly)
Peter Kuran	....	animator
Frederick Langenbach	....	optical photography
Mary M. Lind	....	editorial assistant
Laine Liska	....	model builder (as Lane Liska)
Stephen McCarthy	....	production assistant
C. Cory M. McCrum-Abdo	....	editorial assistant (as Cory McCrum)
Erroll D. McCue	....	optical photography
Cass McCune	....	production assistant
Grant McCune	....	chief model maker
Ralph McQuarrie	....	effects illustration and design
Alvah J. Miller	....	special electronics
David Miller	....	editorial assistant
Harry Moreau	....	animation and rotoscope designer
Max Morgan	....	animator (as Maxwell Morgan)
John C. Moulds	....	motion control
Dennis Muren	....	special effects photography
Bruce Nicholson	....	optical photography
Masaaki Norihoro	....	optical photography (as Masaaki Norihiro)
Lorne Peterson	....	model builder
Eldon Rickman	....	optical photography
James Rickman	....	optical photography
David Robman	....	miniature and optical effects cameraman
Tom Rudduck	....	model builder
David Scott	....	model builder
Jonathan Seay	....	miniature and optical effects cameraman
Robert Shepherd	....	visual effects production supervisor: Apogee Inc.
John R. Shourt	....	production assistant (as John Shourt)
William Shourt	....	special mechanical equipment
Douglas Smith	....	miniature and optical effects cameraman
David Sosalla	....	model builder
Michael Sweeney	....	production assistant
Ken Swenson	....	model builder
Don Trumbull	....	special mechanical equipment
Jody Westheimer	....	miniature and optical effects cameraman
David Stipes	....	visual effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Hubie Kerns Jr.	....	stunts
Conrad E. Palmisano	....	stunt performer

Camera and Electrical Department
Mario DiLeo	....	camera operator: second unit
Reggie Newkirk	....	key first assistant camera

Editorial Department
Tom Benko	....	assistant editor
Walton Dornisch	....	assistant editor
Maureen O'Connell	....	assistant editor
William Young	....	assistant editor (as Bill Young)

Music Department
Sue Collins	....	composer: song "It's Love, Love Love"
Stu Phillips	....	conductor
John Andrew Tartaglia	....	composer: song "It's Love, Love, Love"
Herbert D. Woods	....	music editor
James D. Young	....	music editor
Nathan Scott	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer
Dave Ayres	....	laboratory technician (uncredited)
Glen A. Larson	....	director: epilogue (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Glen A. Larson Productions
• Universal TV

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1978) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• DiscoVision (1978) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Universal Pictures (1979) (USA) (theatrical)
• MCA Videodisc Inc. (1982) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Universal Studios Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Apogee Productions

Other Companies

• The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra  orchestra
• American Airlines  additional equipment
• Boeing Aircraft Company  additional equipment
• Central Casting  extras casting
• Collins Radio  additional equipment
• Tektronix  test and display equipment
• Universal Title  titles and opticals

Runtime:

148 min | Canada:122 min (Ontario) | Canada:125 min (Québec) | USA:125 min (theatrical version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Sensurround (theatrical print)

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Norway:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Long Beach City Hall - 333 W. Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach, California, USA

Company:

Glen A. Larson Productions

Trivia:

Footage of the 'Agroships' is from the film Silent Running (1972).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Right before Zac shoots down his first Cylon, they show his joystick. Instead of the normal "Fire/Turbo/IM" labels, it says "Stores/Camera Audio/Camera Pulse".

Quotes:

Lieutenant Starbuck: I had this, uh, wonderful speech all prepared -
Cassiopeia: About this being your last night here? About possibly not seeing another night as beautiful as this one, or another girl as beautiful as I am, ever again?
Lieutenant Starbuck: Yeah, well, that speech is a little better than the one I had. Would you mind if I borrowed it on some future occasion?

Movie Connections:

Edited from "Battlestar Galactica: Saga of a Star World (#1.1)" (1978)

Soundtrack:

It's Love, Love, Love

We was robbed!

From what I remember about what was said in the press about this show, Larson, et. al., had high minded ambitions about this show-He wanted to be fun and interesting for both children *and* adults. Cassiopeia was a "socialator(prostitute?)", remember.

However, it was reported that the network was adamant that it be a kiddy show. This lead to increasingly inane plots and cartoon like characters which ultimately resulted in "Galactica '80".

I still think the premiere episode and some of the subsequent ones were some of the best work ever done in science fiction.

I still sometimes think in terms of "centons", and "microns", and praise the lords of Kobol.

I cant wait for the theatrical remake!