Battlestar Galactica

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Television series
German title Battlestar Galactica
Original title Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica Logo.jpg
Country of production United States ,
Canada
original language English
Year (s) 2004-2009
length 42 minutes
Episodes 75 in 4 seasons ( list )
genre Drama , military science fiction
Theme music Richard Gibbs
idea Glen A. Larson ,
Ronald D. Moore,
David Eick
production Ronald D. Moore ,
David Eick
music Richard Gibbs (miniseries),
Bear McCreary (seasons 1-4)
First broadcast October 18, 2004 (UK) on Sky One
German-language
first broadcast		 October 4th, 2005 on SciFi
occupation

Battlestar Galactica is a reinterpretation of the military science fiction classic Battlestar Galactica from 1978, which was produced and broadcast from 2003 on behalf of the American SciFi channel . From 2005 she was first seen on German television at SciFi . Executive producers were Ronald D. Moore , who was also involved in the production of the Deep Space Nine and Roswell series, and David Eick.

The framework story is based on the original "Kampfstern Galactica", although towards the end it becomes more complicated and less clear than the original from 1978. The focus in the new edition has shifted more to the drawing of the characters and social problems. In addition, Greek mythology flowed more strongly into the fictional civilization, whereby the Mormon influences woven in by the then producer Glen A. Larson have almost completely disappeared. The biggest difference is probably the origin of the Cylons. This was explained in more detail in the prequel Caprica, which has since been discontinued : If they were foreign invaders in 1978, they are now androids developed by human civilization itself.

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Although the background story of the original series serves as the basis for the plot , the new edition has been completely redeveloped. According to the authors and producers, the series is specifically aimed at adults because of the complex plot. As in everyday life, technology also plays a central role, but only as a means to an end. The focus is on the plot driven by the complex interaction of the main characters.

franchise

The series ended in March 2009 with the fourth season.

Between seasons 2 and 3 as well as 3 and 4, so-called webisodes only available on the Internet were produced. In addition, a full-length feature film ( Razor ) was produced in the run-up to season 4 , which also has a secondary line of the main storyline that is not shown in the seasons. Another feature film ( The Plan ) depicting the events from the perspective of the Cylons was released in November 2009.

The franchise was continued with the prequel Caprica , in which the creation of the Cylons is illuminated. However, it was canceled after only one season with 18 episodes.

Another planned prequel called "Battlestar Galactica - Blood & Chrome" has not yet been implemented on a larger scale for cost reasons. Originally planned as a web series, only the pilot episode was produced as a television film that could have served as the starting point for a series. The pilot episode was divided into ten chapters, seven to twelve minutes in length, and gradually broadcast from November 9 to February 2013.

series

TV Miniseries (2003)

The two-part pilot ( miniseries ) was shown in the US on December 8th and 9th, 2003 and had the highest ratings of any miniseries on cable television . It was broadcast in Germany in 2005 on Premiere and in February 2006 on the private broadcaster RTL II .

First season

After the great success of the miniseries, the first season with 13 episodes was produced, which was initially broadcast in Great Britain ( Sky One ) from October 2004 . In the USA, the series has been broadcast on the SciFi channel since January 14, 2005 . It was assumed that many Americans had already downloaded the programs via file sharing and would therefore no longer watch them on television. In fact, the series hit a ratings record. In Germany, the series began to be broadcast on free TV on RTL 2 on February 8, 2006.

Second season

The second season - with a three-month break after the 10th episode - aired in the United States on July 15, 2005. In Germany, the second season was broadcast on Premiere on September 28, 2006. It was broadcast on RTL 2 from November 28, 2007.

The Resistance

There is a period of several months between the second and third season. This period was bridged as a ten-part online series (so-called webisodes ) with the title "Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance". From September 5, 2006, the series was broadcast on SciFi-Pulse every Tuesday and Thursday and has a total length of 25 minutes, divided into episodes of 2 to 5 minutes in length.

The Resistance can currently only be viewed by Internet users with an American IP address on the SciFi website. It is still unclear whether it will officially be made available to other viewers in the future. However, the individual episodes of The Resistance are also available for download on various fan homepages for web users outside the USA.

All ten webisodes are available as bonus material on the second disc of the German DVD box, which contains the first ten episodes of the third season of "Battlestar Galactica".

Third season

The third season was - with a month break after the 11th episode - from October 6, 2006 to March 25, 2007 on the American "SciFi-Channel" broadcast. The German premiere took place on November 16, 2007. The third season was shown on free TV from February 18, 2009 on RTL 2. It is now available in Germany on DVD with a German soundtrack (September / October 2009).

Razor / Flashbacks

Razor (also on a knife's edge ) is a separate television film from the series that revolves around the story of the battle star Pegasus. Chronologically, Razor joins episode 17 of the second season. The first broadcast was accompanied by another, this time seven-part series of mini-episodes entitled Flashbacks , which take place during the first Cylon War. However, the plot of these mini-episodes ends a short time before the events told in the two-part pilot from 2003. The TV movie was first broadcast on American television on November 24, 2007. The Flashbacks aired as a two-minute short episode every Friday from October 5 to November 16, 2007 during the broadcast of Flash Gordon . In Germany, Razor was seen on RTL 2 on February 24, 2010. The flashbacks are included on the DVD release of the film in the US, UK and Germany (with German subtitles).

Fourth season

Even before the fourth season was released, the producers announced that it would be the final season and that the story arc was coming to an end. Initially, only ten episodes were filmed because of the US scriptwriters' strike, and production stopped for several months. The season started on April 4, 2008 and ended after the tenth episode was broadcast on June 14, 2008. The second half of the season, which also consists of ten episodes, started on January 16, 2009 and ended on March 20, 2009. The German The first part was first broadcast on November 15, 2008 on FOX Channel . The second half was shown there from September 15, 2009. The fourth season ran on German free TV from March 3, 2010 on RTL 2.

The Face of the Enemy

The break of several months in the fourth season was bridged by a ten-part online series with episodes between three and six minutes in length. The mini-series takes place in a disabled raptor that has been separated from the fleet. On board are Lt. Felix Gaeta and two models of the “number 8” as well as several other people. Under mysterious circumstances, the crew members begin to die.

The plan

In 2008 filming began on a second full-length feature film, directed by Edward James Olmos. The direct-to-DVD release took place on October 27, 2009, and it was first broadcast on Syfy on January 10, 2010.

The film takes up the events up to the end of the second season from the point of view of two Cylon agents of model "1" ( Brother Cavil ). One coordinates the actions of the Cylon agents hidden in the fleet and wants to complete the genocide of mankind through their attacks (e.g. suicide bombings and the attack on Adama), the other infiltrates the resistance cell of Sam Anders on Caprica. The film fills in certain "gaps" in the series, especially with regard to the motivation of the Cylons. Half of the film consists of new material, the other half of scenes from the series that were edited together.

Blood & Chrome

In the summer of 2010, another prequel series was already being worked on, which was to be entitled Blood & Chrome . This was made public through producer Michael Taylor , who also wrote the scripts. In autumn 2010, SyFy confirmed the project by ordering a two-hour pilot film. Directed by Jonas Pate , Luke Pasqualino took over the leading role as a young Adama . After the shooting was completed in spring 2011, SyFy moved away from their series project. Instead, SyFy President Mark Stern announced at the Comic-Con in San Diego that he wanted to use the filmed material as a web series, which was finally confirmed in March 2012. Starting in November 2012, Blood & Chrome was put online with around 12-minute clips on the Machinima YouTube channel every week . Ultimately, the web series as the original film version was still broadcast in autumn 2013 on SyFy with revised special effects due to pressure from fans. This version came on the market some time later. Blood & Chrome has been available in Germany since spring 2016. The German free TV premiere took place on June 4, 2018 on Tele 5.

In terms of content, Blood & Chrome is set around 30 years before the main series and is supposed to form a loose bridge between Caprica and Battlestar Galactica . In it, the 12 colonies have been at war with the Cylons for 10 years when the young fighter pilot William "Husker" Adama was transferred to Galactica. At that time one of the most modern ships in the fleet. He is assigned to the experienced pilot Coker, who are supposed to do a routine mission together, with a certain Dr. Beka Kelly should support. However, during these missions, they are drawn into hostile activity that could decide the war.

Remake

Universal is planning a remake of the material, in which screenwriter Jack Paglen ("Transcendence") and the producer of the original series - Glen A. Larson - are involved. However, Larson passed away in November 2014. Details of the cast and plot are not yet known.

occupation

With Mary McDonnell (twice Oscar nominee), she plays the civilian leader of the fleet, and Edward James Olmos (once Oscar nominee) as the commander of Galactica, two very experienced actors lead the otherwise young squad who come from the USA, Canada and England originates. With Richard Hatch also one of the main characters plays with the original series. If he played Captain Apollo, son of the commander Adama in the original, he now embodied the character of the terrorist and later politician Tom Zarek in his guest appearances.

The series was dubbed at Dubbing Brothers in Munich . Michael Brennicke wrote the dialogue books together with Carina Krause and directed the dialogue.

actor role German voice Miniseries Season
1 2 3 4th
Edward James Olmos William "Bill" Adama Thomas Fritsch Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mary McDonnell Laura Roslin Kornelia buoy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Michael Hogan Saul Tigh Erich Ludwig Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kate Vernon Ellen Tigh Viktoria Brams No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Katee Sackhoff Kara "Starbuck" Thrace Katrin Fröhlich Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Jamie Bamber Lee "Apollo" Adama Philipp Moog Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
James Callis Dr. Gaius Baltar Manou Lubowski Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Tricia Helfer Number six Elisabeth Günther Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Grace Park Sharon "Boomer" Valerii / Number Eight /
Sharon "Athena" Agathon 		Shandra Schadt Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kandyse McClure Anastasia "Dee" Dualla Natascha Geisler Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Paul Campbell Billy Keikeya Stefan Günther Yes Yes Yes No No
Aaron Douglas Galen "Chief" Tyrol Florian Halm Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Nicki Clyne Cally Henderson / Cally Tyrol Kathrin Gaube Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Alessandro Juliani Felix Gaeta Philipp Brammer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Richard Hatch Tom Zarek Wolfgang Müller No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Tahmoh penikett Karl C. "Helo" Agathon Hubertus von Lerchenfeld Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Lucy Lawless D'Anna Biers (The Reporter) / Number Three Claudia Lössl No No Yes Yes Yes
Dean Stockwell John Cavil / Number One Volker Brandt No No Yes Yes Yes
Michael Trucco Samuel T. Anders Crock Krumbiegel No No Yes Yes Yes

The Galactica Universe

action

Battlestar Galactica takes place in a technically highly developed human culture against the background of a conflict between humans and machine beings, intelligent machines - the "Cylons" - that have risen against their creators - the humans. In a first war 40 years before the start of the storyline, the Cylons, created by humans as mechanical robots, were pushed back and a truce agreed, which is broken by a surprise attack by the Cylons at the beginning of the series. Billions of people die in a matter of hours when the twelve human planets - the twelve colonies - are attacked with nuclear weapons. The space fleet of the twelve colonies is effectively switched off by a computer virus and destroyed by the Cylons. Two military spaceships (called "battle stars") - the Pegasus and Galactica - as well as a small number of civilian transporters and freighters with a total of almost 50,000 survivors escape destruction.

While Galactica is fleeing the Cylons with a convoy of civilian ships and is looking for a suitable place - especially the "earth" mentioned in ancient myths of the colonists as the thirteenth colony - for the establishment of a new colony, the commander of the battlestar Pegasus tries the Viewers is only revealed in the course of the series - to continue the war using guerrilla tactics . Severely traumatized by the destruction of their homeland, the people have to discover that the Cylons have developed further. Mechanical robots became partly organic androids, which apart from the fact that the respective series have identical bodies, do not differ in any way from humans. In addition, the people who suspect each other as Cylons have to learn that their opponents are immortal, because after their death they can simply wake up in a new body when the "resurrection ship" is nearby. The viewer also only knows a part of these models, which are gradually revealed in the course of the series; four of the "Last Five", which are particularly important for the plot, are not known until the end of the third, the last only in the course of the fourth and final season.

In the course of the series, the piecemeal rebuilding of a functioning social structure and the associated problems play a role. In particular, the clash of military structures, civil politics and religion repeatedly causes tension in the Galactica convoy and among the main characters. For example, For example, the handling and importance of the colonists' religion, which is based primarily on Greco-Roman polytheism , the relationship between democratically elected government bodies and the military hierarchy, the ethical permissibility of lynching, torture or militarily ordered suicide bombings and abortion. With regard to religion, the almost radical belief in God of the monotheistically oriented Cylons is striking compared to the more liberal polytheistic people. Their destructive blow against humanity was rooted in the conviction that men were unworthy of the love of the one God and that their sins had to yield to the morally superior Cylons. However, as the series progresses, some Cylons revise their view of God's will. Another religious motif are the visitations of Gaius Baltar through angelic apparitions in the form of his Cylon beloved. Neither he nor the audience is clear whether this is an actual apparition or a psychotic state; Baltar is traumatized after he realized that he had given his Cylon lover - without knowing it - access to the defense system of the twelve colonies and that he was actually responsible for the deaths of billions of people. In the course of the series, after the end of his political career, the atheist Baltar becomes the founder of the religion of love and forgiveness, which focuses on the god of the Cylons, but which ultimately fails because of the violent environment. Conflicts among the Cylons, which split into two warring factions in the course of the series, also drive the plot forward.

At the end of the series, viewers learn that the “earth” the colonists were looking for was contaminated in a nuclear war that took place 2000 years ago. Because of the twelve matching star constellations, this earth is the thirteenth colony we are looking for. However, only Cylons of human form lived in this, aging and reproducing. After the colonists and the Cylons allied with them (above all the "Last Five") succeeded in eliminating the enemy Cylons, they finally found a "new" earth that happened to be populated with primitive humans who are genetically compatible with the colonists . The humans as well as the human Cylons (replicants) decide to start all over again there - without advanced technology. The navigation computers of the fleet are coupled with the Galactica system and are steered into the sun by Sam Anders, one of the "last five". The surviving centurions of the faction allied with humans are given the baseship with which they fly away.

The humans and the remaining Cylon replicants settle down together on earth, whereby they, together with the actual natives of the earth, become the ancestors of earthly humanity. The resulting human race (after 150,000 years) consists of hybrids between Cylons, colonists and indigenous people of the earth. The human-replicant hybrid Hera becomes the genetic key for reproduction between all three groups: the colonists, the remaining Cylon replicants, and the Earth's natives.

An essential part of the religion of Cylons and humans is that everything that has happened repeats itself: “All of this has happened before. All of this will happen again. ”In the final scene, two ghostly versions of Baltar and his Cylon mistress are seen talking in modern Manhattan as current advances in robotics are presented.

The people

The twelve colonies

Map of the Twelve Colonies

After leaving the common original planet Kobol, humans settled on twelve other planets. A legendary 13th colony is "Earth". The twelve colonies are politically led by a president with a cabinet as executive and the “ quorum of the twelve”, to which each planet sends a representative, as the legislature. Nevertheless, there were strong political, social and cultural differences between the colonies. The names of the colonies are modifications of the Latin names of the twelve signs of the zodiac, which are commonly used in the English-speaking world .

flag Name of the colony Latin name of the constellation German name of the constellation
Flag of Aerilon
 Aerilon Aries Aries
Flag of Aquaria
 Aquaria Aquarius Aquarius
Flag of Canceron
 Canceron Cancer cancer
Flag of Caprica
 Caprica Capricornus Capricorn
Flag of Geminon
 Gemenon (German Geminon) Gemini Twins
Flag of Leonis
 Leonis Leo lion
Flag of Liberon
 Libran (German Liberon) Libra Libra
Flag of Picon
 Picon Pisces fishes
Flag of Sagittaria
 Sagittaron (German Sagittaria) Sagittarius Sagittarius
Flag of Scorpia
 Scorpia Scorpio Scorpio
Flag of Tauron
 Tauron Taurus bull
Flag of Virgon
 Virgon Virgo Virgin

Military structure

Emblem of the BSG-75 battle star Galactica

Battlestars were the backbone of the former colonial fleet. They represent a mixture of space aircraft carriers and battleships. They are rarely used alone, but usually have an escort fleet, the Battlestar Group (BSG). In contrast to the Cylon baseships, which correspond more to today's concept of aircraft carriers, battle stars are also far superior to powerful battleships and a Cylon baseship in direct firefight. Even for the old Galactica, only at least three base ships pose a serious threat. The battle stars are divided into type classes, which differ slightly. Galactica is technically out of date at the beginning of the plot and is about to be retired. All battle stars house a fleet of Viper fighters and Raptor scouts / bombers.

There is only an indirect indication in the pilot film about the number of battle stars (approx. 120). Kara Thrace comments on the loss of 30 battle stars: "That's a quarter of the fleet".

In addition to Galactica, the following are known by name:

  • Pegasus: Found by the fleet in episode 10 of season two. She is sacrificed in a kamikaze mission by Lee Adama while fleeing New Caprica.
  • Akropolis, Atlantia, Columbia, Pacifica and Solaria are mentioned or reported as casualties in the pilot during the attack by the Cylons.
  • Vortex and Uned: It is on a report that Dualla passed on to Gaeta during the attack.
  • Valkyrie: is mentioned in the 8th episode of the third season. Was formerly commanded by Adama.

The series' ranks are a mix of the US Navy and US Marines ranks carried over from the original series:

Officers

  • Admiral (commander of several battle stars)
  • Commander (commander of a single battle star)
  • Colonel
  • major
  • Captain
  • Lieutenant
  • Lieutenant (junior grade)
  • Ensign

NCOs or crews

  • Master Chief Petty Officer
  • Chief Petty Officer
  • Petty Officer (1st, 2nd Class)
  • Specialist
  • Deck hand
  • Recruit

Cylons

The Cylons (engl. Cylon = Cy Bernetić L ife F o rm N ode) are humanoid robot or android opposite its builders, the people of the twelve colonies of Kobol, rise up. Early examples of the Cylons corresponded to popular beliefs about sedate robots. The newer models have a more filigree body shape. The mechanical Cylons (so-called centurions) and semi-organic raider spaceships (raider for short), both primarily designed for combat use, have a red running light in a kind of visor instead of eyes . The centurions, like the Cylon replicants, are capable of at least primitive feelings. However, in order to be sure of their loyalty, these are switched off by a special component, the Telecenphatic Inhibitor . At the beginning of the fourth season, the raiders develop their own free will, which is to be countered with a lobotomy . Like the Cylon replicants, the raiders even have an adaptive consciousness that is loaded into a new “shell” in the event of their death and thus continues to exist beyond “physical death”. A raider called “Scar”, for example, becomes a serious threat to the patrols of the fleet due to this experience and the resulting increased tactical skills and can only be eliminated by an ambush.

The twelve models

With the second, devastating attack by the Cylons on the twelve colonies, it became known that the Cylons had also developed a new, organic variant. These are practically indistinguishable from humans, both externally and organically. Only the fact that they get sick in certain radiation that cannot harm humans, and synthetic combustion residues make identification possible, or they admit it themselves. There are a total of twelve different models. There are any number of copies of seven basic models that can be reproduced by cloning . Of the remaining five, the so-called "last five" (in the English original "Final Five"), there is only one copy. The seven basic models are all known by the end of the second season; up to this point these seven have no further information about the other five other than that they exist. Four of the "Last Five" appear at the end of the third season ( XO Saul Tigh, Chief Galen Tyrol, Roslin's assistant Tory Foster and Starbucks husband Samuel Anders), the identity of the last model (Ellen Tigh) will not be revealed until the fourth season .

The viewer is initially unclear about the motivation of the Cylons. At the beginning of the first season it seems - like in the first Cylon War - to be the extermination of mankind. In the course of the series one learns that the Cylons are monotheists , in contrast to the polytheistic people of the twelve colonies. But they believe that as machines they have no soul and want to win the favor of their god. They see a way out in the creation of a hybrid - a descendant sired by a Cylon and a real human. Sometimes they try to convert people to their faith.

In the course of the fourth season, Cylons, people and also the audience learn that the "Last Five" originally came from Earth and are the last survivors of a Cylon War that took place there 2000 years ago. They traveled to their “relatives” in the twelve colonies, introduced them to the method of organic replication and, for this, enforced the armistice with the people. The “last five” are thus the creators of the seven other models.

The seven models form the cornerstone of a quasi-democratic Cylon society. Each model forms its own parliamentary group with the same voting rights, since the same models are to a large extent similar and mostly seem to make uniform decisions, obviously also sharing a collective consciousness to a greater extent. The centurions are subordinate to the organic models. A top leader of the Cylons is not recognizable, but the Cavil model seems to be the driving force behind the war plans, especially since the Cavil model is the only one who still knows of its parents, the "Last Five".

Origin of the "Last Five"

When the fleet reaches Earth destroyed in a nuclear war in the middle of Season 4, it turns out that the 13th tribe that left Kobol thousands of years ago were made up of Cylons (created by the people of Kobol) that differ from the modern day Cylons distinguished. In the flashbacks of the "Final Five" (Engl. " Final Five " ) you can see the earth 2,000 years ago during the nuclear disaster. A society is also shown that is not dissimilar to that of the 12 colonies. There are many more Cylon models on display than the surviving five, including children.

The "last five" needed 2000 years to get from the devastated earth to the colonies, as they did not yet have an FTL drive and could therefore only travel at less than light speed. To survive, they used the technique of "resurrection" during the flight. They reached the colonies during the First Cylon War and moved the centurions to stop fighting by giving them the "Resurrection" in return; each of these five carries a piece of the blueprint. They also helped the Cylons, who until now could only create viable but non-sentient and intelligent hybrids, create eight human-Cylon models. The eighth model - Daniel (actually model number 7) - was sabotaged by Cavil because he couldn't bear that Ellen liked Daniel more. Cavil, as the driving force behind the war plans, finally succeeded in eliminating the last five, sealing their memories and relocating them to the human colonies a few years after the armistice without knowing their identity. As a result, the Cylons lost their knowledge of the "resurrection". Cavil only becomes aware of this after the resurrection center has been destroyed. By doing Cavil, because he closes her memories, this is initially made impossible. He's the only model who still remembers her.

Cylon fleet

The Cylon fleet consists of an unknown number of large and small ships, including the base ships, which are designed as classic carriers and are controlled by a Cylon hybrid connected to the ship. The backbone of the combat units form the so-called hunters (Engl. "Raider") and the heavy fighter. Finally, the resurrection ships are to be mentioned, on which the clones of the human Cylons and the hulls of the hunters are built or stored until they are needed for a new mission. The second largest ship of the Cylons is the so-called Resurrection Hub (Engl. "Resurrection Hub"), which as a control unit of the entire resurrection process, the resurrection ships networked. Only at the end of the last season do you find out about the existence of the "colony", which is the largest ship in the Cylon fleet and is also to be understood as their home. However, this has more the characteristics of a space station , as it is in a fixed orbit around a black hole .

Awards (selection)

Emmy Awards

  • 2007 - Award in the category Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series for the episode "Exodus, Part 2"
  • 2008 - Another award in the category Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series for the episode "He That Believeth in Me"

Hugo Awards

  • 2005 - Award in the category Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form for the episode "33".

Saturn Awards

  • 2006 - Award for James Callis for Best Supporting Actor , Katee Sackhoff received a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress . The series won an award in the Best Syndicated / Cable Television Series category.
  • 2007 - The series was repeatedly named Best Syndicated / Cable Television Series .

Others

  • The series was named Best TV Series 2005 by Time magazine.
  • The series won the Peabody Award in 2005.
  • From 2007 to 2010 the series won the Curt Siodmak Prize four times in a row .

various

  • Even if the series tells a new story, there are always parallels and allusions to the original throughout the course.
    • For example, the theme music from the old series is played during the decommissioning ceremony, and outdated Cylon models from the First War and their ships are very reminiscent of the original.
    • Richard Hatch in the role of terrorist and politician Tom Zarek already played in the original cast of "Kampfstern Galactica" from 1978/79 the role of Captain Apollo, son of Commander Adama and one of the most important main characters of the series at that time.
    • In the original Battlestar Galactica series , the Cylons were extraterrestrial beings rather than man-made artificial intelligences. But they used an army of humanoid robots (the centurions), which rose up against their creators and destroyed them. The resulting robot empire is the antagonist of the human colonies.
  • There are also some references to Star Trek . They are a reference to Ronald D. Moore's time on Star Trek.
  • There are also allusions and parallels to other series.
    • When Laura Roslin remembers a doctor's office in retrospect in the pilot film, you can see various spaceships flying over Caprica through the window, including the Serenity from the series Firefly - Der Aufbruch der Serenity .
    • The battle star Pegasus, appearing from episode 10 of the second season, does not use the Galactica sets. It used cheaply purchased sets that were originally made for the series The Robinsons - Lost in Space (a remake of the 1960s series Lost in Space ).
    • Some of the actors met earlier in the series Dark Angel by James Cameron . Among them are Simon (as detective in the last two episodes of the second season), Leoben (as sheriff) and Chief Tyrol (as bellhop) in the same episode of the second season. Likewise Anastasia Dualla (as the blind "friend" of Joshua of the second season), Felix Gaeta (works at Jam Pony) and Tory Foster (doctor friend of Logan Cale aka Eyes Only of the second season).
  • Battlestar Galactica has been filmed on Sony digital cinema cameras in HDCAM since season 1 .
  • Cinematographer Steve McNutt produces, which is very unusual, the color correction while shooting with his Sony F900-HDCAM camera. Usually the color correction is done in the studio after the shoot.
  • The computer-generated space sequences are blurred and are panned and zoomed in as quickly as an amateur , as if one wanted to give the impression that a tourist happened to be capturing them with his video camera. This stylistic device is also used in various dialogue scenes, especially in the first seasons. In the case of computer-generated scenes, this is associated with additional work and does not correspond to the classic rules of camera work to avoid abrupt changes in perspective when filming and editing.
    • In contrast to many other sci-fi series, only strongly muffled noises are used for outdoor recordings in space, which makes the effect more realistic without completely giving up it.
  • The outdoor scenes on Caprica in season one were filmed in Vancouver . You can see the city library in the form of a Colosseum and the Scotiabank skyscraper .
  • The strikingly strange chant from the German opening credits of all four seasons of the series is a setting of the Gayatri mantra , the most important Vedic hymn in Hinduism .
  • As part of the opening credits , with the exception of a few episodes at the beginning of the second and the end of the fourth season, some striking scenes of the respective episode are anticipated in rapid succession ( spoilers ).
  • In the last sequence of the last episode of the fourth season, passer-by producer Ron Moore can be seen reading an article in a magazine about the archaeological find of a young woman (Hera) in Africa.
  • Battlestar Galactica has a design that is unusual for a sci-fi series: Although the series is neither set on earth nor in our present, it uses more typical objects and design elements from the beginning of the 21st century, in particular civilian clothing (classic suit-tie- Combination), vehicles ( Humvees ) and weapons. Telephones, pocket knives and coffins also look very similar to those of the 20th century. In the prequel Caprica , a slight alienation effect is created for the automobile traffic in that mainly old European car models are shown, which are likely to be rather unknown to the American audience.
    • Papers, photos and screens were regularly alienated by cutting them off into uneven octagons, even if this does not always make sense, for example when the continuous paper has apparently been ejected.
  • The Cylons are often referred to as "toasters" by the people. In one shot you see a toaster that actually looks like the head of a centurion with the typical LED flashing light. A replica of such a toaster, limited to 2,000 copies, and a poster showing the evolution of the Cylons from the toaster to the organic model were available in the NBC Universal Store.

media

Comic

Books

Translated into German

Not translated into German

DVD / CD / BD

The complete series is available in German on DVD and BD . A soundtrack CD is also available for each season (including mini-series). The second, third and fourth seasons are also sold on iTunes in HD, the first only in SD.

On November 24th, 2011 a limited Battlestar Galactica complete box was released on BD. This box contains the miniseries (pilot), seasons 1–4, the web episodes and the feature films "Battlestar Galactica: Razor" and "Battlestar Galactica - The Plan". The episodes cut for television are contained in the long version in the original with subtitles. The films were both released individually in September 2010 in German on Blu-ray.

Games

Battlestar Galactica - the board game that recreates the journey of the human fleet to Kobol - has existed since 2008 .

The company Bigpoint produces and operates the Battlestar Galactica marketed as a browser game online. In this, players face each other directly as humans or Cylons in space battles. The plot, however, is only loosely based on the television series and continues this as part of a separate story that builds on the second season.

There is also an unofficial and not yet finished, but playable modification of the computer game Freespace 2 SCP called "Beyond the Red Line", the plot of which is based on the series.

See also

literature

  • Anke Woschech: "Bright, shiny futures are overrated anyway." On the change in technology and history semantics in Battlestar Galactica , in: Fremde Welten. Paths and Spaces of Fantasticism in the 21st Century , edited by Lars Schmeink and Hans-Harald Müller, DeGruyter Verlag, Berlin and Boston 2012, pp. 237–260. ISBN 978-3-11-027655-8
  • Ekkehard Knörer : Battlestar Galactica . Diaphanes Verlag, Berlin and Zurich 2013. ISBN 978-3-03734-385-2

Web links

Commons : Battlestar Galactica  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Caprica-City.de (information on the prequel "Caprica")
  2. ↑ Caprica-City.de ("Caprica" ​​is produced)
  3. ↑ Bernd Michael Krannich: Syfy does not order Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome as a series. Reported by Serienjunkies.de on March 22, 2012.
  4. ↑ Lenka Hladikova: Battlestar Galactica: The broadcast date for the Blood & Chrome pilot has been set. Report at Serienjunkies.de from November 6, 2012.
  5. ↑ Caprica-City.de (broadcast of the second season on German TV) ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ RTL2.de . Archived from the original on February 20, 2009. Retrieved February 8, 2009.
  7. ↑ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2007/05/say_it_aint_fra.html
  8. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from December 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ http://www.fernsehserien.de/index.php?serie=7908&seite=12&version=6671&staffel=4
  10. ↑ Official: Season 4.5. from September 15 at Fox ( Memento from July 26, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  11. ↑ Maureen Ryan: SyFy gleanings: News about the 'Battlestar' film, a 'Caprica' challenge, the 'Eureka' love-fest and more ( eng ) In: Chicago Tribune . March 17, 2009. Retrieved March 18, 2009.
  12. ↑ Luna Black: "Battlestar Galactica": Olmos & Park promise surprises in "The Plan" ( ger ) In: fictionBOX.de . July 1, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
  13. ↑ Blood & Chrome: Broadcast dates on Fernsehserien.de
  14. ↑ Mario Giglio: Battlestar Galactica: Re-Reboot for the successful Space Opera. Reported by Serienjunkies.de on April 8, 2014.
  15. ↑ Battlestar Galactica TV series (2004–2009) in the German dubbing file , accessed on December 10, 2014.
  16. ↑ Source ( Memento from June 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  17. ↑ Comment by Dr. Greystone in the pilot Caprica
  18. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from July 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  19. ↑ http://scifiwire.com/2009/12/from-toaster-to-supermode.php
  20. ^ Battlestar Galactica Online