Battlestar Galactica - Season 4.5

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA balances its striking special effects with character-driven drama and social commentary, resulting in episodes that are at once entertaining and astoundingly relevant. This critical favorite from Ronald D. Moore (STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION) reimagines the cult series from the 1970s with a new cast and more impressive villains. In this portrait of the future, androids called Cylons have massacred billions of people, leaving only a small group of survivors. Led by Oscar nominees Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, the remaining human fleet searches for a mythical planet called Earth as they evade their would-be destroyers. This collection includes every episode from season 4.5 and offers never-before-aired scenes fit for diehard fans.

Unique and extraordinary series - 4.5 does lack though.

BSG is a unique and extraordinary series. If Star Trek were the Old Testament, then BSG would be the New Testament. It is an iconic series that in the words of James Edward Olmos (Com. Adams), "It has a beginning, middle, and end". However, the prime of the series was, in my opinion, seen in the earlier seasons, 1 through 3. Certain episodes carried immense thought and profound meaning that helps one understand terrorism, the idiocrasy of beaurocracy, and the appeal of religious myth. It shows humanity at its worst and best. Unfortunately, season 4.5 was the worst. Now, being the worst of an exceptional series, still leaves it being OK. I felt, however, that 4.5 simply lost its direction. Or if it had a direction, I could not follow it like I did the other seasons. And like one of theabove reviews indicated, you should like 4.5 until you watch the last episode. That was the ultimate let down for me. It was weak. Creative, perhaps, but weak. It was to me the difference between ID and Evolution. ID is weak, but some swear by it. Evolution, however, even thought still a theory, has a much greater strength in its science and common sense. Some people loved the ending of BSG and found 4.5 to be genius. However, I felt the the writers just did not know how to end this enigmatic series. They reached, and reached, and reached for a climatic ending to entertain and astound. It seemed, however, that they spent more time reaching than they did finding. I profess to be a BSG fan and think the series should be part of the curriculum in social studies at school. BSG and L. Ron Hubbard's book, Battlefield Earth (NOT the movie version - that was just plain sad. The book was a classic), are exceptional examples of "exopolitics" or the politics of the universe. I plan to view this series over and over (so far two times with some episodes watched 3 times), but I definitely enjoyed the earlier seasons over the darker and less profound later seasons.

Best Science Fiction Ever

Battlestar Galactica is the best science fiction television serier ever made.
I would have preferred having at least two more full seasons of the show so the ending could have been as well made as the first two seasons. While still better than anything else ever made, the last season seems a bit rushed and hurried. Although not part of the original series, the follow up movie "The Plan" was not as well made. In attempting to answer some of the mystery of the series, it omited large chunks of the main story. The best characters Lee Adama and Starbuck have no new scenes, and the ephemeral "Caprica Six" who appears as an "angel" isn't even touched. While the original series was imbibed with a sense of the supernatural, "The Plan" was very mechanical.

My Friend The END

Actually, the story ends like I thought it would ... although I did not see
the twist of the initial arrival at their Earth coming ... and I thought that
was really inventive ... especially how it factored back into the whole
series. However, that pretty well dictates how the final episode will end
... there is not too many options if one thinks about it.

Anyway, things are entertaining, the mutiny episodes makes one think about
when a good person does the wrong thing for what that person thinks is the
right reasons, although it is somewhat depressing ... and again the outcome
is obvious.

The very last episode lingers too long at the end with flashbacks and feel
good scenes in an attempt to wrap things up in a pretty manner ... basically
a waste of 15-20 minutes.

A number of logical loose ends still remain ... like who or what Starbuck is
at the end ... but why let the facts get in the way of a good show ... when
all is said and done, it is fairly satisfy but not thrilling.

BSG 4.5

The final installment of the season is a good conclusion to the series. The extra features are ok but if you are a big fan you'll like the actor commentary and some deleted scenes. It's not "hours" of extras like the dvd says. It's the cut scenes plus the regular scenes all added up for certain episodes. It's more like minutes of extras.