Uriah43 In a distant galaxy, after a long and costly war, a truce is being implemented between humans and a race of machines known as "Cylons". As a goodwill gesture the leaders of humanity order the entire fleet to assemble at a predetermined location to show their appreciation. It's at this time that the Cylons double-cross the humans and launch a two-pronged surprise assault: the first against the exposed fleet and the second upon the defenseless home planets. Both are extremely successful except that one battlestar remains operational—the Battlestar Galactica—and it's this battlestar that manages to return to the devastated home planets long enough to organize an evacuation utilizing assorted space vessels prior to a devastating second strike by the Cylons. Having barely made their escape, the question then becomes whether this make-shift flotilla can evade hostile Cylon task forces long enough to reach their destination—Earth. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this pilot program for a television series was quite good for its time. Unfortunately, it hasn't aged well and there are a couple of flaws in it which are quite noticeable. For example, in a subsequent surprise attack later in the movie the same radar graphic is used which depicts two "Vipers" being chased by Cylon fighters exactly like the scenario involving "Captain Apollo" (Richard Hatch) and his younger brother "Lieutenant Zac" (Rick Springfield). Likewise, the series also contains a few scenes which are reused as well. Even so this was a good pilot for a good television series and despite the fact that it is quite dated I still find it enjoyable even today. Accordingly, I rate it as slightly above average.

BaronBl00d For a television movie that set up a series afterward, Battlestar Galactica was really very entertaining. There is no doubt at all that it is a no-holds barred knock-off of Star Wars. nonetheless it has an interesting plot, enjoyable characters played by enjoyable if not great actors, some top-notch special effects for its day(and some truly horrendous ones as well), and a great score. A war between robots and humans breaks out as a human betrays his people for power. Soon the survivors of a vanquished group of human colonies make their way back to Earth to find their "mythical" sister in race. Lorne Greene plays the chief leader wonderfully and his role gives this film much of its credibility. Actors Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict are playfully acceptable and we get the likes of ray Milland, Lew Ayres, Patrick Macnee(voice very menacing), the always affable Wilfred Hyde-White, Terry Carter, and others who all enhance this production. The film end so a series can take off and though I watched it as a kid I don't remember that all that well. It appears I am not missing much. This tele-film; however, is generally well-made and very fun to sit back and enjoy. There are some detractors of course like some corny situations, dialog, and characters. The boy with the robot dog is so nauseatingly unpleasant.

BumpyRide Being 15 at the time when this show first hit the airwaves I was in Sci-Fi Heaven! After seeing Star Wars and "Classic" Star Trek uncountable times, here was a new show that had great special effects just like in the theaters. The sets, costumes and the actors seemed all first rate for a mere TV show. I didn't ask for much back then because to me, it was a good show. Evil Cylons in their marauders with their telltale red eye seeing, all blasting the rag tag fleet...how much better could it get? Well, it could have been much better. Recently watching several of them when the new BSG arrived I found them to be almost unbearable to watch. The plots were nothing like Star Trek or even Lost In Space for that matter. Characters quickly became cartoon-like, with little character development after the premiere episode. Special, special effects (for that time) do not a show make. However, we have to applaud that the show was even put in production since TV Execs hate Sci-Fi shows, and now we can enjoy the new Battlestar that is everything its predecessor was not.

rebeljenn Although it is a little bit of a dated script and obviously copies off of Star Wars (don't those starfighters look an awful lot like X-wings), Battlestar Gallactica is worth a watch if you're a science fiction geek. If you've seen the new version before, you'll be amazed at how different the old version really is. In the old series, action, jokes, and flirting are much more common. The new version relies on political events and characters.Although this 1978 version of the film moves a little slowly in places, there are the fascinating space battles. The dialog between the characters and some of the comedy is a little dated, however. I would recommend it if you're a fan of this genre.