Even though the 1978 Battlestar Galactica is often derided as a campy sci fi show, this pilot episode / movie is a fun and entertaining story. The effects are pretty good for their time and the plot has actually held up well. In this day and age where people are so divided in their opinions about things such as immigration what happens in Saga of a Star World gives an unbiased vision of what can happen and how it affects everyone rather than just a chosen section of people. Both sides of every argument are on show here.
The cylons are pretty awesome and so are the space ships. Lorne Greene adds real weight to proceedings in the way that Alec Guiness did in Star Wars, while Starbuck and Apollo are closely based on Han Solo and Luke Skywalker.
I actually prefer the 1978 version of Galactica to the much lauded 2004 reboot.
5 Reviews
Aged well!
mm-392 May 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I remembered the T V series which my whole elementary school, friends on the street loved. One of the last DVD stores, in the mall, had the box set. For under 40 dollar I said Mike this is some cheap entertainment. Is Saga of a Star World as good as I remembered the series when I was around 9 or 11 years old? Well my wife and I watched the pilot movie and hope this was not a Mystery Science Theater dud! Saga of a Star World ages well. The Star Wars style effects look good, and are not cheesy. The characters are likeable, believable and have strong performances. Lorene Green just drives the story with strong acting. Apollo and Starbuck characters are likeable with Apollo being the conflict hero, and Starbuck the womanizing comic relief. Saga of a Star World is a mix of mythology with plot twist which keep viewers wanting more. Baltar, and the Cylons makes interesting characters as the sub plots unravel. Sag of a Star Would end on a strong climatic end. Star Wars influence whit a different flavor.
Great show- Fox sued why, now?
whatch-1793114 May 2021
It's pretty strange Fox thought they had any claim of this show stealing from Star Wars. Star Wars didn't invent space opera and other than good guys and bad guys, it's hard to see much similarity. Maybe the Cylons looked a bit too much like Storm Troopers? I don't know, especially considering Star Wars is itself a pastiche of older material. The story isn't remotely close.
Though, I'm sure the huge success of SW is what got this pilot green lit with a handsome $8 million budget.
Anyway, this is a great pilot. Still holds up fairly well. The spaceship battles and such are pretty dated, but the interiors of the Colonial ships are still pretty believable.
Though, I'm sure the huge success of SW is what got this pilot green lit with a handsome $8 million budget.
Anyway, this is a great pilot. Still holds up fairly well. The spaceship battles and such are pretty dated, but the interiors of the Colonial ships are still pretty believable.
they sure light up the sky, coming in like a school of sharks
RavenGlamDVDCollector8 April 2017
For entertainment value, this one's hard to beat. Did it stand the test of time? It could never. Something like this is instantly outdated by any progress in filming technology. By now it's an oddity, with its flaws that are numerous and patently obvious. Yet it has very likable characters you can root for. Also several you can disdain. The best heavies in the annals of TV, the oafish burly silver steel-plated ping- pong red-eyed Ceylons. Marvel at the patriotic sight of a Colonial Viper in full flight. Scowl at those manta ray winged Ceylon Raiders swooping down like hungry sharks. And hear the lasers going zap-zap-zap as all hell breaks loose.
Just try not to notice that the proper perspective of the angles invariably gets lost, the shortcomings imposed by the relatively primitive techniques used. Something like superimposed images, of which the two do not always work together. A loss of real depth. It's not as in tune as it should be.
But it has HEART! And a whole lot of it!
It also has:
Jane Seymour, former Bond girl Solitaire of LIVE AND LET DIE, she with the long, long hair, in an earnest performance as Selina, the TV hostess for the grand spectacle of the great peace ceremony, which goes horribly wrong when the Ceylons bomb everything to smithereens. Unfortunately, the character is a bit wasted by her being the mother of Boxey, we learn that there is some past history there regarding the missing father figure, what it is, we have yet to find out.
Maren Jensen, the lovely model who took the part of warrior Athena. She is a glorious dream-girl even if the fast-paced script allowed not a moment of grief over the loss of her mother and only a fraction for the loss of her brother. Leggy barefoot lingerie scene comes quite unexpected, it is really, really delicious, oh to be Starbuck just being there with that delicate frame.
Starbuck and Apollo, matinée idol heroes. Extremely likable. I've already mentioned that. But coming from The Raven who only once in a blue moon even comments on male performances, that is some compliment. They are the kind of idols a young boy's hero worship is made of, enough of the old-fashioned hero in them so that nobody of modern times can hold a candle to them, no way!
And Colonel Adama, a powerful performance by Lorne Greene. Obviously wise with a lifetime of experience, he commands respect at first sight.
Not forgetting the awesome majesty of the Battlestar Galactica, etched like a glistening white whale against the infinite deep black velvet of space, hovering on, rumbling like the colossal juggernaut it is.
Okay, people, you have to suspend disbelief. Watching this if you are only intent on ridiculing it, oh what fun you are missing out on. I saw it back in the day, and now, about forty years later, I can just marvel at the glory of it, the joy of the glory of it, my mind latches on to every mistake, but the heart, the heart loves it. My mind screams out for a remake, the kind of remake that would simply restore the bits that needed to be redone to their intended glory.. No way would I want other people to be those characters, I want Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, Lorne Greene, Maren Jensen, Jane Seymour, and yes, bad guy John Colicos... Well, Laurette Spang's a disappointment, and that Muffet is just bothersome...
Visually, a treat. Shortcomings or not, it's still freaking majestic.
Of course it's gonna be a nightmare to watch for the majority of people who'd not be into this kind of thing. They'd GO CRAZY!! (to quote a line from the script)
Good advice to would-be viewers on DVD: watch it as three different episodes, it is clear to see where ep. 2 and ep. 3 starts. As a movie, it changes flavor from the first to the second, but especially from the second to the third. It's, personally, about too much to take in one sitting, as that third part is built on a very shaky premise out of touch with the basic theme that they are the last of this civilization trying to find Earth, so where did all those people come from? and the Ray Milland character echoes the reprehensible pacifistic approach of the first part. The quality is patently inconsistent, rather it is the first part that should have been drawn out into a full-length movie, with more character development there.
The heart loves this, and want it to succeed on the screen. It, at times, does, and it's a sight to behold.
Just try not to notice that the proper perspective of the angles invariably gets lost, the shortcomings imposed by the relatively primitive techniques used. Something like superimposed images, of which the two do not always work together. A loss of real depth. It's not as in tune as it should be.
But it has HEART! And a whole lot of it!
It also has:
Jane Seymour, former Bond girl Solitaire of LIVE AND LET DIE, she with the long, long hair, in an earnest performance as Selina, the TV hostess for the grand spectacle of the great peace ceremony, which goes horribly wrong when the Ceylons bomb everything to smithereens. Unfortunately, the character is a bit wasted by her being the mother of Boxey, we learn that there is some past history there regarding the missing father figure, what it is, we have yet to find out.
Maren Jensen, the lovely model who took the part of warrior Athena. She is a glorious dream-girl even if the fast-paced script allowed not a moment of grief over the loss of her mother and only a fraction for the loss of her brother. Leggy barefoot lingerie scene comes quite unexpected, it is really, really delicious, oh to be Starbuck just being there with that delicate frame.
Starbuck and Apollo, matinée idol heroes. Extremely likable. I've already mentioned that. But coming from The Raven who only once in a blue moon even comments on male performances, that is some compliment. They are the kind of idols a young boy's hero worship is made of, enough of the old-fashioned hero in them so that nobody of modern times can hold a candle to them, no way!
And Colonel Adama, a powerful performance by Lorne Greene. Obviously wise with a lifetime of experience, he commands respect at first sight.
Not forgetting the awesome majesty of the Battlestar Galactica, etched like a glistening white whale against the infinite deep black velvet of space, hovering on, rumbling like the colossal juggernaut it is.
Okay, people, you have to suspend disbelief. Watching this if you are only intent on ridiculing it, oh what fun you are missing out on. I saw it back in the day, and now, about forty years later, I can just marvel at the glory of it, the joy of the glory of it, my mind latches on to every mistake, but the heart, the heart loves it. My mind screams out for a remake, the kind of remake that would simply restore the bits that needed to be redone to their intended glory.. No way would I want other people to be those characters, I want Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, Lorne Greene, Maren Jensen, Jane Seymour, and yes, bad guy John Colicos... Well, Laurette Spang's a disappointment, and that Muffet is just bothersome...
Visually, a treat. Shortcomings or not, it's still freaking majestic.
Of course it's gonna be a nightmare to watch for the majority of people who'd not be into this kind of thing. They'd GO CRAZY!! (to quote a line from the script)
Good advice to would-be viewers on DVD: watch it as three different episodes, it is clear to see where ep. 2 and ep. 3 starts. As a movie, it changes flavor from the first to the second, but especially from the second to the third. It's, personally, about too much to take in one sitting, as that third part is built on a very shaky premise out of touch with the basic theme that they are the last of this civilization trying to find Earth, so where did all those people come from? and the Ray Milland character echoes the reprehensible pacifistic approach of the first part. The quality is patently inconsistent, rather it is the first part that should have been drawn out into a full-length movie, with more character development there.
The heart loves this, and want it to succeed on the screen. It, at times, does, and it's a sight to behold.
To Save The Human Race
profh-13 December 2010
Warning: Spoilers
A gigantic space battleship, loaded to the gills with warriors, laser turrets, shuttle craft & fighter jets, must travel from one end of the galaxy to another, to save all of mankind from total annihilation. But wait, that's SPACE CRUISER YAMOTO (1974). Creator-Producer-Writer Glen Larson "borrowed" from a WHOLE lot of different sources when he came up with BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, including WAGON TRAIN, THE STARLOST, the general look and vibe of STAR WARS, THE BIBLE, and, a complete surprise to me, The Book of Mormon.
The 70's was a very downbeat, gloomy time for science-fiction. In the wake of PLANET OF THE APES, the motto seemed to be, "the world is going to hell, and there's nothing we can do about it". This was even reflected in several sci-fi TV shows, including UFO, POTA, and most infamously, Gerry Anderson's abominably bad SPACE: 1999. When I first heard of the premise-- 12 colony planets totally wiped out, and the survivors ON THE RUN for their lives (oh great-- another FUGITIVE riff!), I though, Oh no, do we really need this? But I watched anyway. I guess curiosity (and limited choices) will do that to ya.
Unlike YAMOTO (STAR BLAZERS in the US), which got me totally involved on a deep, emotional level from the very first, the BG pilot left me flat. I felt no connection or interest in the planets that were wiped out, and only disdain for the wimpy, incompetent politicians who let it happen. DR. KILDARE himself (Lew Ayers!) over saw the proceedings, helplessly standing by and whining, "How could I have been so wrong?" John Colicos ("Kor" from STAR TREK) actually had an almost "Dr. Smith" vibe when he suggested it "might not be prudent" to sent out a patrol just as the enemy fleet was about to wipe EVERYBODY out.
Amidst all this, are countless scenes of likable character played by likable actors, just standing around saying very little, with dim, confused looks on their faces. WHO was responsible for this? Glen Larson wrote MUCH better on McCLOUD (indeed, his scripts tended to be among that show's finest). I checked out the director, Richard Colla. Whatta ya know! Of all the things in Colla's resume, the ONE that stood out besides this was the PILOT episode of McCLOUD, "Who Killed Miss USA?" That was the one really terrible, almost unwatchable story in what was otherwise my favorite TV series of the 70's. I guess Larson figured if the guy started out one show badly that became a hit, why not give him a chance to repeat his crimes against TV audiences?
TV veteran Lorne Greene doesn't even seem to wake up until the 3rd episode. Until then, the ONLY actors who come across "natural" despite the lame script and incompetent directing are Dirk Benedict (it's no surprise Starbuck was probably this show's most popular character) and Terry Carter as Col. Tigh. I always liked him as Joe Broadhurst on McCLOUD. Here, he keeps getting the BEST lines! Especially the bit where he's collecting uniforms, but over-acts to keep curious pilots from finding out what's going on. "When Commander Adama sees this-- he's GONNA GO CRAZY!" I also give special notice to Maren Jensen as Athena, who showed real promise despite having far too little to do. It was a great disappointment when she all but disappeared in the 2nd half of the run.
All in all, re-watching this was not as painful as I expected, but it still hurt to see something with so much potential not living up to it. I guess we can blame ABC's stupidity. BG was intended as a series of TV movies, like McCLOUD, or the much-later PERRY MASON revival, where each story could stand on its own as a "special event", while in this case also slowly moving the "big story" ahead. The network suit whose decision forced BG to become a weekly series should have been FIRED and never worked in Hollywood again.
The 70's was a very downbeat, gloomy time for science-fiction. In the wake of PLANET OF THE APES, the motto seemed to be, "the world is going to hell, and there's nothing we can do about it". This was even reflected in several sci-fi TV shows, including UFO, POTA, and most infamously, Gerry Anderson's abominably bad SPACE: 1999. When I first heard of the premise-- 12 colony planets totally wiped out, and the survivors ON THE RUN for their lives (oh great-- another FUGITIVE riff!), I though, Oh no, do we really need this? But I watched anyway. I guess curiosity (and limited choices) will do that to ya.
Unlike YAMOTO (STAR BLAZERS in the US), which got me totally involved on a deep, emotional level from the very first, the BG pilot left me flat. I felt no connection or interest in the planets that were wiped out, and only disdain for the wimpy, incompetent politicians who let it happen. DR. KILDARE himself (Lew Ayers!) over saw the proceedings, helplessly standing by and whining, "How could I have been so wrong?" John Colicos ("Kor" from STAR TREK) actually had an almost "Dr. Smith" vibe when he suggested it "might not be prudent" to sent out a patrol just as the enemy fleet was about to wipe EVERYBODY out.
Amidst all this, are countless scenes of likable character played by likable actors, just standing around saying very little, with dim, confused looks on their faces. WHO was responsible for this? Glen Larson wrote MUCH better on McCLOUD (indeed, his scripts tended to be among that show's finest). I checked out the director, Richard Colla. Whatta ya know! Of all the things in Colla's resume, the ONE that stood out besides this was the PILOT episode of McCLOUD, "Who Killed Miss USA?" That was the one really terrible, almost unwatchable story in what was otherwise my favorite TV series of the 70's. I guess Larson figured if the guy started out one show badly that became a hit, why not give him a chance to repeat his crimes against TV audiences?
TV veteran Lorne Greene doesn't even seem to wake up until the 3rd episode. Until then, the ONLY actors who come across "natural" despite the lame script and incompetent directing are Dirk Benedict (it's no surprise Starbuck was probably this show's most popular character) and Terry Carter as Col. Tigh. I always liked him as Joe Broadhurst on McCLOUD. Here, he keeps getting the BEST lines! Especially the bit where he's collecting uniforms, but over-acts to keep curious pilots from finding out what's going on. "When Commander Adama sees this-- he's GONNA GO CRAZY!" I also give special notice to Maren Jensen as Athena, who showed real promise despite having far too little to do. It was a great disappointment when she all but disappeared in the 2nd half of the run.
All in all, re-watching this was not as painful as I expected, but it still hurt to see something with so much potential not living up to it. I guess we can blame ABC's stupidity. BG was intended as a series of TV movies, like McCLOUD, or the much-later PERRY MASON revival, where each story could stand on its own as a "special event", while in this case also slowly moving the "big story" ahead. The network suit whose decision forced BG to become a weekly series should have been FIRED and never worked in Hollywood again.
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