Battlestar Galactica (1978) (TV)

Director:

Richard A. Colla

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

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:

Although Cassiopea was a prostitute in the pilot movie, she was never identified as such. The euphemism "socialator" was used (in the Battlestar Gallactica universe, a socialator is defined as a female who is proficient in the arts of music, dance and entertainment, and trained to engage in conversation on a variety of subjects).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Athena is trying to help Starbuck fix his fighter remotely, her monitor clearly shows "MADE IN USA" on one of the schematics she views.

Quotes:

Boomer: Just keep it up, old buddy, you're going to get us into real trouble.
Starbuck: Ten thousand light years from nowhere, our planet shot to pieces, people starving, and *I'm* gonna get us in trouble?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: Lost and Found (#5.9)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

It's Love, Love, Love

A for effort, C- for execution

Give the people who made "Battlestar Galactica" credit, it took a lot to make what they did. The concept was good, a war between humans and "cyborgs" (although they seem more like simple robots) to survive, as the humans flee in a collected fleet trying to find the lost colonies of humanity, namely Earth.

That would have been a novel idea for a theatrical movie, and for a TV show it was outer limits. The special effects were (by 1978 standards) top notch, the set design was good, and they even tried to create a different system of measures, since I think even in Star Trek they refer to things by minutes, hours, and years.

What let the movie (and later series) down was the same limits that affected most of seventies television. Schlocky dialogue, storylines sticking on personal and relationship problems, and somebody had the bright idea to put in a kid and a robot dog to go with him. If the series had been made today, or had simply been let free to explore ideas rather than stick to the "conventions" expected of series television, it might have been great. Instead, it's hardly remembered today.