Gamertell

Title: Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0
Format: DVD
Price: $49.98
Release Date: January 6, 2009
Publisher: Universal Studios
Rating: Not Rated.
Pros: Continues the amazing saga Battlestar fans have come to love. Plots are turned around, new Cyclons are revealed and the set ends with the unexpected cliff-hanger that launches the final half’s conflicts. Very few weak episodes. Several deleted scenes, “My Favorite Episode So Far” featurette and extended version of the “Razor” story.
Cons: Another two-part season set. Not available in Blu-ray.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 95/100; A; * * * * 1/2 out of five.

Caveat Emptor: This review includes spoilers.

There are so may reasons to enjoy the new Battlestar Galactica series. This latest DVD set, featuring the first half of the series final fourth season, exemplifies why the series remain strong, defeating story pitfalls that would crush other series and yet remaining in parallel with the original series.

This half season may be one of the best complete halves of the series with hardly a weak episode, plenty of suspense and several surprising plot turnabouts.

A Cylon Infusion

This set has Apollo in politics, Starbuck sorta lost in space, Baltar realizing his role as a religious leader, long-time friends coming into major conflict, the “Final Five” Cylons being revealed to everyone and Admiral Adama and the Colonial President falling in love. Of course, Admiral Adama does it in the manly way that is only appropriate for a gruff yet mushy-hearted military leader of the Colonial fleet.

Besides regular-season episodes, it also includes an extended, unrated version of the Razor” storyline which features the second Colonial ship, the Pegasus under the command of Admiral Cain. You also get all of the mini episodes featuring a young William “Bill” Adama’s early fights against Cyclons which originally aired in segments during the season.

The Cylons and Colonials also start to form alliances that, those who watching this season already know, have larger implications for both fleets and further demonstrate the parallels between the conflicted societies.

A Cylon Infusion

This half season focuses a bit more on politics and psychological difficulties than previous seasons, further drawing out the Cylons’ humanity and allowing many main characters to be mortally, if not fatally, flawed.

The “Razor” story line shows what could have happened to Galactica if Adama weren’t such a stand-up character and some of the repercussions. That’s followed up by the re-emergence of Starbuck, thought dead from the previous season, with the kookie promise of being able to sense the way to Earth and unfortunate suspicions she may be a Cylon. This sets her into space, allowed to wander around in hopes of finding the right direction. It results in some less-than exciting visual scenes but quite thoughty story that takes her out of her comfortable, ovary-sure zone. It also helps viewers get of the on-again-off-again relationship with Apollo for a while.

Meanwhile, Baltar’s personality also undergoes an unusual, though entirely within character, transformation from megalomaniac scientist to a religious leader loved by many. This is contrasted by Lee “Apollo” Adama struggling as a politician and President Laura Roslin struggling not only with her own religious beliefs but also her health. Also, pretty much every character you’ve come to love is in conflict with someone they love (or loved).

The video transfers are quite clear, with only a few of the darkest scenes experiencing some digital fatigue. Battle segments are certainly the clearest except where intentionally blurred for realism’s sake. The soundtrack remains as strong as ever and, as the series creators describe in one of the extra segments, the series does show visual refinement as well, using the documentary-esque cinematic effects with appropriate subtlety.

As I already noted, pretty much every episode is quite strong. The possible exception for most will be the episode “Faith” which has several Starbuck stuck-in-a-ship segments and Rosalin, in a hospital getting cancer treatments, is talking with another patient who is finding comfort in Baltar’s teachings. Even if not dramatically enticing, this is an episode that will appeal to those who enjoy the more psychological side of the series. Some of the Baltar teachine moments and Rosalin flash-backs/forwards are a bit slow but usually offer insights and elements important to more exciting plot points.

The only real downside to the DVD set is that you are getting only half a season that ends with the mid-season cliffhanger (which is already beginning to be resolved with the last half of the final season airing on SciFi Channel now), meaning you’ll have to buy a second DVD set to complete the season. Granted, there was a giant pause between the first half and second but, for completionists, it’s still rather annoying.

Continually Taunting the Razor Shark’s Edge

So many times this series comes close to completely jumping the shark - or warping into bad space - yet, episode after episode, proves it can survive plot cliches more powerful than a Cylon attack.

Part of the series’ success comes not with only good acting, (amazing casting), special effects and a decent over-arching plot but also from the writers’ ability to successfully break the conventions of good story telling. Flash forward one year? A faux pas in most shows but Battlestar did it with amazing finesse, successfully reversing the roles of humans as slaves to the Cylons (the opposite started the Colonial-Cylon wars as you may recall), letting main characters fall in love, have kids and get married, killing off a few mains and even injecting new human-looking, undercover Cylons. And the mid-season downer of a cliffhanger which pretty much crushes the fleet’s goal from the beginning of the series, even if it was started as a moral-inspiring lie. Any of these would have crushed another series yet Battlestar continues to going and us coming back for more.

If you’ve seen the original series, then you’ll already have noted many of the parallels between it and this series - the discovery of a lost ship, a new breed of Cylons, the admiral and colonial senate coming to heads and Baltar becoming a traitor, leading the Cylons and then being brought back into the human fold. There is, of course the unfortunate second Battlestar series in the 1980s where they find Earth (with a new set of doppelganger actors) and go on merry adventures with a young boy. There is still a half season left, so maybe we’ll get to see a masterful variation of this as well.

Still So Frackin’ Good

With the revelation that this is the final season of Battlestar Galactica (though I have a theory it might continue as a series with a different name), every segment contains a vital piece of the overall story. Pretty much every episode is worth watching several times to glean more insights you might have missed the first two times through.

Frack, yeah, you should get this set. And every set before it. The series continues to amaze, confuse and entertain in a way that may prove impossible for any other series to emulate.

Site [Battlestar Galactica TV Series]

Check out the gallery: Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0 screen caps