Gamertell

Title: Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5
Price: $49.98
Format: DVD
Release Date: July 28, 2009
Publisher (Distributor): Universal Studios
Rating: Not Rated
Pros: The same great story, acting and effects we’ve come to expect and appreciate throughout the series. Most everything is nicely wrapped up without a dumb, dangling sequel-generating element.
Cons: Purely subjective dislikes that might include unusually paced scenes, the enigmatic Starbuck, the last few scenes and intentionally unanswered phenomena.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 95/100; A; * * * * 1/2 out of five.

The final half season of the groundbreaking revamp TV series, Battlestar Galactica, wraps up all of the mysteries, visions and even relationships that had been developing throughout the series. Even with all the bonus footage, extended episodes and commentary tracks, that doesn’t mean the ending will make any more sense.

But do not despair. This is the perfect followup to the amazing first half of the final season and a beautiful, even if somewhat intentionally enigmatic conclusion to the series.

So Watched We All

Caveat Emptor: Small spoilers ahead.

The story picks up with the disappointing discovery of a charred Earth which exasperates existing frustrations, causing bigger rifts and inciting dual civil wars. You’ll see surprising defections, lead characters being killed, at least one character unexpectedly returning and a lot of action. As for the Fab Five Cylcons, they eventually learn more about their past with seemingly random and uncontrollable events colliding into a grand climax even for them.

Baltar continues his twisty existence as a religious (and scientific) leader, resulting in the outing of a main characters’ resurrection. Adama gets a little more nookie and gets to fire off many shots. Starbuck, even though she finds herself, her strange past continue to haunt her as do musical echoes that will, of course, become very important later. And Tyrol continues to get crapped on, which, of course, makes him even more cranky.

Eventually Adama leads the crew and a deteriorating Galactica into one final mission which ultimately brings the series to a rather finite end. The series definitely goes in unexpected directions and, at every turn, it’s a joy to watch.

The pace of the final season swings between intense action, suspense and long, thoughty pauses, which is rather unusual compared to the previous seasons. Some of it is rather intentional, especially with the final episode, may annoyingly slow down the pace for some viewers down but, overall, even those moments offer slight respites and moments of profound background.

And, yes, the theme song from the original series does get its own moment in the final episode. Aside from that, the nods to the original series are almost completely gone save the re-emergence of an old foe for only a few brief moments.

Don’t Lose an Eye

For those of you looking for hard answers to those little mysteries, forget it. What you see on screen is essentially what you get in terms of deeper meanings although they do bring together a lot of the series’ images (the Opera House), resolve those little things that have been developing (Starbuck and her childhood childhood visions and recent musical interests) get couples together for good and even put the Galactica to rest. Even with all that, the series’ creators have intentionally left a lot up to be interpreted in many ways.

That means the commentary tracks will ultimately prove useless to those who need something more solid to help them come to grips with the end of the series. Instead, the writer, director and others talk about off screen experiences, hardly relating to whatever is happening on screen. When you see that key moment or two you’ve been waiting an hour to have explained you will instead be listening to the middle of some tangent about filming or set design. In terms of film education, that’s all useful information but, for fans that’s not necessarily what you want to hear right at that moment.

Deleted scenes also don’t add much to the overall experience (although I almost always enjoy seeing what was left out). The extended versions include footage that is blended well enough that it’s hard to recall exactly what you didn’t see when the episodes aired. It is nice to have the podcasts collected in one place.

Perhaps the most interesting revelation in the bonus features is that much of the success is due to a “manifesto” written by series’ developer, writer and producer Ron Moore (who gets a big ol’ cameo in the final scenes). Interestingly, it was meant for the sales team to use and was instead copied and accidentally sent out with copies of the script. As fate would have it, that page, called a “manifesto” by everyone except Moore, proved to be vital to the series being picked up, developed and getting a great cast. It’s hard to think that didn’t play into the series story lines, even if unconsciously. Even more interesting is that they did not want the series to become a “space opera,” though it certainly had operatic imagery, undertones and even tragedies.

I’ll Buy That for a Starbuck

If you get this set expecting to watch all of the bonus footage and listening to hours of commentaries to get all of your questions answered, you will be massively disappointed. That should not, however, deter you in any way from getting the final episodes to this amazing series. It’s worth a watch for anyone, even if only once.

The only reason not to get this and the previous seasons might be to save up and buy the pricey Blu-ray complete series set (MSRP $349.99). In any case, I cannot imagine why you would not (or not have already) complete(d) your Battlestar Galactica home video collection.

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