Battlestar Galactica Season 4

[Hupp]

According to the Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan, SyFy has decided to bump back the airing of the BSG movie "The Plan" -- no date has been given, but it sounds like it'll likely be next year sometime. The DVD will still go on sale Oct. 27 as planned. I'm guessing this was done to try and further boost DVD sales, but who knows..

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that is a dumb move, it will mean that many more people will probably download it instead of watching it when it airs, just because of world wide dvd release date differences.

[Rappy Veteran]

Just How Uncut And Uncensored Will BSG's Final Cylon Revelation Be?

The Edward James Olmos directed film, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, is gearing up for a release and we've got all the details. The 112-minute feature has all new Cylon-on-human action, plus never-before-seen BSG behind the scenes features.

The new press release describes "The Plan" as a 90-minute feature, but we're guessing that's just the length of the shorter televised version. Amazon is listing the DVD release as 112 minutes long, meaning we'll hopefully get to see a lot more tangled Cylon sex and politics. (And given how racy the Caprica DVD was, this could be pretty strong stuff.)

Here's the official synopsis:

The Cylons began as humanity's robot servants. They rebelled and evolved and now they look like us. Their plan is simple: destroy the race that enslaved them. But when their devastating attack leaves human survivors, the Cylons have to improvise. Battlestar Galatica: The Plan tells the story of two powerful Cylon leaders, working separately, and their determination to finish the task.

The DVDs will include:

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: THE PLAN - BONUS FEATURES

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan on Blu-rayTM Hi-Def and DVD takes viewers deeper into the acclaimed space drama with exclusive bonus features, including:

EXCLUSIVE TO Blu-rayTM Hi-Def:

* BD-LIVETM: Access the BD-LiveTM Center through your Internet-connected player to download more exclusive content, the latest trailers and more!

o MY SCENES: Bookmark your favorite scenes from the movie.

o BATTLESTAR GALACTICA TRIVIA: All-new trivia game.

BONUS FEATURES (BLU-RAY? HI-DEF and DVD):

? DELETED SCENES

? FROM ADMIRAL TO DIRECTOR: EDWARD JAMES OLMOS AND THE PLAN ? A day-in-the-life with director and actor Edward James Olmos, as he tackles the most ambitious Battlestar Galactica production to date.

? THE CYLONS OF THE PLAN ? Features interviews with the actors who play the film's key Cylons, including Dean Stockwell, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, Michael Trucco, Rick Worthy and Michael Bennett.

? THE CYLON ATTACK ? This featurette takes viewers behind the scenes for the planning and execution of one of Battlestar Galactica: The Plan's major action sequences.

? BEHIND THE PLAN - An in-depth look at some stunning visual effects and the role post-production plays in bringing the world of Battlestar Galactica to life.

? FILMMAKER COMMENTARYCOMMENTARY

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan debuts on Blu-rayTM Hi-Def and DVD on October 27.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

I watched "The Plan" last night. I openly admit that I downloaded it, and with every intention of buying it on blu-ray once released.

I don't know how I feel about it really... I will not spoil anything, but will put my comments in spoiler tags anyhow...

To me, it added very little that we don't already know. There was no shocking revelation, there was no real expansion of the back story nor the after story. There was no real padding to the existing story.

I hate to say this, as I was radidly excited to watch it, but it provided me nothing new :(

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

I also found some of the CGI of the aftermath of the attack on the colonies to be very suspect. Almost along the lines of DS9's matte paintings over a decade ago...

[Leo Natan]

I don't know why people are expecting to "learn something new". That was never the point. Instead you see some of the story from the other point of view. Its whole purpose was to show how flawed the "plan" was, and how everyone involved came to understand it (including both Cavils, even though the "bad" one tried to mask it; he knew it even before he killed the kid, which was an act of rebellion against what he didn't want to admit, to himself and to the other cylons). The movie also showed how each model was very individualistic, as opposed to what they showed on the original series, where they were mostly portrayed as single-minded (except the "starring" cylons). If not a great piece of work (I think it is, in context of the series), then it at least can be considered as a great episode.

What were you expecting actually? Everything was already shown on the main series, what "padding" were you expecting?

And yes, some of the Caprica and other colonies CGI was awful, but it didn't detract from the overall story.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

I totally agree that it showed how flawed the plan was. But we knew that, and we knew that the cylons knew that.

We knew that they were individualistic. Evidence had been seeded throughout the series to show that.

I just don't see the overall point of this extended episode. It gave me nothing new. If within the series context it would have been "filler" at best.

[Leo Natan]

Even so, any extra piece of Galactica we get, "filler" or with "padding" (:rolleyes:) is more than welcome. :)

I'm so sad the series has ended... :(

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Is there a need to roll your eyes? We are discussing our opinions on an extended episode - I feel no need to belittle the choice of words used.

Anyhow, I don't believe it has "ended" per-se. I think Caprica will give us a lot of back-story, even though not strictly sci-fi - they will still want to keep the existing fans with small nuggets of relevance.

And I'd not be surprised if we see another TV movie or such...

On another note - the whole "starbuck thing"... I just recalled how "weirdly" the character's ending was dealt with in the original BSG. Suddenly "Daybreak" doesn't feel such a pain.

[Rappy Veteran]

On July 24, 2009, Edward James Olmos suggested that The Plan will not be the last BSG movie, saying that he had written a script involving the Galactica characters in which a crisis occurs at some point after their arrival on Earth.

:D

[Hupp]

I watched "The Plan" last night. I openly admit that I downloaded it, and with every intention of buying it on blu-ray once released.

I don't know how I feel about it really... I will not spoil anything, but will put my comments in spoiler tags anyhow...

To me, it added very little that we don't already know. There was no shocking revelation, there was no real expansion of the back story nor the after story. There was no real padding to the existing story.

I hate to say this, as I was radidly excited to watch it, but it provided me nothing new :(

i agree i honestly wanted more of a backstory leading to the war and less of scenes from the series just shot from a different p.o.v. I would of liked to see more time with the original 5 and creating cavil and why he is what he is but oh well. And did he really have to zoom in on the guys junk ?

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

I loved it. There was only one part that I found highly bizarre: The kid named John. Why did Cavil kill him?

[Pallab]

The BSG finale was good and dissapointing at the same time. The shortcomings of the show-runner was pretty evident. In the end everything was explained away as God's doing.

Not too terribly excited about the Plan, since I have basically moved on. Don't plan on watching Caprica either.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Anaron: I think he did it, because he found himself becoming too "human", his "friends" all letting him down and being too "human" - it was his act of rebellion... Maybe?

[Ji@nBing]

Watched The Plan a few nights ago. It was ok. Cool to see the story from a new perspective, but at the same time, there was so much re-used footage that it was ridiculous.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Agreed. Also, a lot of the soundtrack was a re-use of existing tracks, not newly composed.

I know these are gripes that seem lame - but the whole "plan" project was hyped as "You will see their side of it and it will make you want to re-watch BSG in a new light." It really didn't. It felt like a cop-out!

[Rappy Veteran]

ADMIRAL ADAMA THINKS BATTLESTAR CAN STILL FLY ON

This morning I sat down for a video interview with Admiral Adama himself, Edward James Olmos. We were chatting about The Plan, the Battlestar Galactica movie that tells the events of the first two seasons of the show from the Cylon point of view; Olmos directed the movie, which weaves in lots of footage from the original series alongside brand new stuff that fills in gaps and answers some questions you didn't even know you had.

Olmos said that the internet leak of The Plan may be a big problem for the franchise, since he believes that if the DVD - on sale tomorrow (click here to buy it from CHUD) - does well, there will be more stories to tell in the Ron Moore version of Battlestar Galactica.

Now, that seems a little far-fetched, as the series finale really wrapped things up pretty well. But if you listen to the commentary on The Plan you'll hear writer Jane Espenson say that this was only one of three BSG movies that were pitched; because most of the writers had moved on only one could be made. So there are still two more Battlestar stories floating around out there.

One of them may have become the comic book Battlestar Galactica: The Final Five, written by friend of CHUD Seamus Kevin Fahey. The series (collected in a trade you can order here) tells the story of how the Final Five invented resurrection technology and began the whole big mess. But even if that was one of the movies pitched, that still leaves another BSG concept floating in the ether.

You have to assume that Ron Moore and friends would have strike while the iron was hot, before the supposed re-reboot movie comes from Universal and especially before the actors get way too old, as the end of the series really caps off most of their stories in a fairly definitive way. Or could a new movie pick up after the highly controversial finale?

Normally I would ignore this sort of stuff coming from an actor, but Olmos has long been involved with the creative direction of the show. He may be plugged in enough to make his comments carry some weight.

[Rappy Veteran]

some more talk on the future...

So Olmos has been very vocal about saying that he'd like to make more BSG movies like "The Plan." But what would they be about? He explains:

Simple questions, like what happened to the [final] five during this period of time? Where were they coming from 2,000 years ago? How could they be around for 2,000 years, and yet the understanding of Caprica is that the robotic trend on Caprica was started 57 years ago? How did that work? That question comes into play, and I would love to see how they answered it. That, to me, would be explosively unbelievable. I would love to have that question answered. I would also love to know what is going to happen to the people on the Earth. What is going to happen to Adama and all the different people? What happened to the Raptor that got them to the point of finding their dream space? That, to me, is just two simple ones I can think of off the top of my head.... To me, there's still a lot of beautiful story that's waiting to be unleashed in this world.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Anaron: I think he did it, because he found himself becoming too "human", his "friends" all letting him down and being too "human" - it was his act of rebellion... Maybe?

That makes sense. Thanks.

Anyway, I'd love to see those questions answered too. Here's my question though: What is the entity that Baltar and that Six referred to in the very last scene of Battlestar Galactica? Baltar said something like "You know it doesn't like to be called that." Is it God? If so, then why did the One in Battlestar Galactica: The Plan say that "God is a primitive creation of man" or something like that?

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Remember: One is a zealot. Zealots often spout their beliefs as "fact"...

[Valerus]

On July 24, 2009, Edward James Olmos suggested that The Plan will not be the last BSG movie, saying that he had written a script involving the Galactica characters in which a crisis occurs at some point after their arrival on Earth.

:D

gimme gimme gimme!!

[DrewJW]

do want NOWWWWWW!!!!

[DrCheese]

The Plan sucked, it was nothing more than a clip show with a minor bit of story thrown in. If this is the best they can do, I don't want any more films.

The attack at the beginning was epic tho.

[Rappy Veteran]

gimme gimme gimme!!

yeah this is what I want to see because the footage would be completely new

I for the record loved the Plan (Y)

[Hupp]

That makes sense. Thanks.

Anyway, I'd love to see those questions answered too. Here's my question though: What is the entity that Baltar and that Six referred to in the very last scene of Battlestar Galactica? Baltar said something like "You know it doesn't like to be called that." Is it God? If so, then why did the One in Battlestar Galactica: The Plan say that "God is a primitive creation of man" or something like that?

that was cavil's opinion and his short sightedness. There were plenty of religious skin jobs, and of course all the metal cylons had the belief in the one true god.

[Rappy Veteran]

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has finally put up cover art for the upcoming rerelease of Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series Box Set, which will street on April 6. According to the description by the studio, the packaging consists of "Digipaks with outer box". This release will contain the direct-to-video movie The Plan, not included in the previously-released Limited Edition set.

A gross estimate of the dimensions of the box set puts it at around 5.5" (width) x 7.5" (height) x 5.5" (depth). The Limited Edition box set is 7.5" (width) x 8.5" (height) x 7.5" (depth).

Owners of the Limited Edition who want to obtain the new packaging can contact Universal Consumer Relations via their online contact form or email and wait for instructions. This offer is valid for US residents only.

BSG enthusiasts have remarked that this purportedly complete set isn't actually complete, as it doesn't include the Face of the Enemy webisodes. AV site The Digital Bits looked into the matter and all but confirmed that, as this material was produced specifically for webcasting and at least two of the actors on The Face of the Enemy didn't appear in the series proper, contract and rights issues made the publication of these webisodes on disc impractical.

The first edition did not come with a booklet listing the contents per disc. The Bits has confirmed that, unfortunately, no booklet will be included in this new box set either.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the UK release of Battlestar Galactica also has received a makeover. Amazon UK informs that the packaging has now changed from a metal tin to a card box, and that "customers who order this item now will receive it in the new packaging." There is no information as to whether The Plan is included. Probably not, as it is scheduled for release separately on May 10.

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